My son turned 3 in January and I am nowhere near having him potty trained. Its very frustrating because I can't even get him to show an interest. We were doing really well for a while where he would at least tell us when he went peep (his word for pee) or poop. Now he doesn't even do that. I'm at the point where I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. I know all children are different but most of my friends' children are potty trained and are younger than him. I've tried potty training boot camp and made him run around with no diapie or undies on for a weekend like my doctor suggested...that did nothing. He just went on the floor and then pointed it out. My husband and my step son take him in with them when they go and all he wants to do is flush. He's a very smart boy and catches on to everything very easily. He just seems to be very lazy about this one thing. If anyone has tried anything that has worked with a hard to train child PLEASE let me know what that is! I'm desperate!!! Thanks so much!
Sometimes you just have to let them go at their own pace, our 5 year old was fully potty trained 1 month before she turned 4 years. We tried everything then one day she woke up and decided to be a big girl. All I can really say is continue to incourage him to use the potty, especially in the morning right when he wakes up, that should help to motivate him some.
Just like walking and talking- when children are ready- they will do the task. My advice to you is to back off, ask him when he thinks he will be ready (his answer might surprise you) and every once in a while prompt him in an encouraging way that he can use the big potty.
You can't compare your child to other people's children who are already using the potty. Kids mature at different rates.
I never "potty trained" my kids. I am not the kind of mom who follows a toddler around asking "do you have to pee pee". I'd rather just wait and have them use the potty when they are ready.
One day diapers, next day underwear- it's much easier to let them lead the way.
D.
If he loves to flush, tell him he can flush his peep or poop, other than that we don't "play" with the potty. The reward of flushing migh be the thing. Good Luck, I have girls and the first didn't like dirty diapers and was trained at 2, the 2nd is 16 months and I'm ready to try.
But like someone else said all kids are different and boys I hear are definately harder.
Good Luck
S. Gallo
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This might sound silly but get try colorful toilet paper pieces in the toilet and tell him to sink the ships. It will also teach him to make it in the potty. We did that with our son until his interest increased. If you make a game out of it he will find it more fun and interesting.
My son was difficult as well. The one thing that worked well was kinda weird! On our back stoop we used to have a banana tree and he loved watching the "river" flow down the leaves! Have you tried letting him teach a stuffed animal how to go potty? That worked very well with our daughter. I would pretend to be the doll talking and she would show it how to go potty. When she pottied I would let the baby doll go potty too.I hope it works out for you! Don't let your friends younger children that potty already make you feel insecure though! I know it's hard and we all compare our children to others. Just relax, oh, have you made him clean up his own accidents? That may help too!
My daughter is also 3 but she turned 3 in Oct, she has no interest at all in potty training. I am not pushing it right now, we drive 80 miles a day to take my other 2 to school, so that makes it hard for me.
She was doing pretty well for a while also, at least peeing in the potty when we would do a change or she would pee when she got up in the morning, but she lost interest completely. I plan on getting her trained this summer, cause I will not have to drive so much and we can concentrate more wholely on it.
I'm sure you've heard this before...the harder you push it with him, the more he's going to resist. Why should he work at potty training when his baby sister can still wear a diaper?
My two oldest have the same age gap as your boy & girl. I run a tight ship when it comes to food I serve my kids, but I found the following trick to work with both my children when it came to potty training: M&Ms. You get one if you pee and two if you poop. I kept the bright colored goodies in a tightly sealed candy jar in the linen closet of the bathroom. "If you want a candy, you have to go potty!" It was a little slow going at first, but it caught on. When they were fully potty trained, I just weaned them off the M&Ms.
Try it - it might work!
Your son is not being lazy about this, he's simply trying to tell you that he's not ready yet. Potty training can turn into pressure very quickly for kids, so I'd recommend backing off a bit for a week or so and letting him take the lead. I know you're ready for him to be out of diapers, but it has to be on his terms. I also recommend reading What Not To Do While Potty Training (or something like that title) on babycenter.org. Very helpful info.
Good luck!
K
Hey, my son was 3 and 9months when he finally decided mom i am ready. i had tried before but there wasnt a routine or a want to do it. this last time when i started i decided to put him backward on the toilet (facing the back with no toddler seat) Well he thought that was so cool and he wanted to keep doing. I got to the point where i would say you have to go pee agian? It worked though, he was pee trained within 3 days and poop we had a little more trouble with he freaked out and was scared but we made him sit there one night after a week of him holding it in and made him go, well when he did he cried and i screamed and daddy screamed and he soon forgot how hard it was and how scared he was, now he was poop trained in a week. He went to bed with diapers for two weeks from day one, they were all dry in the morning, so i took them away, he has yet to make an accident at night, we have had a few during the day early on but he is well trained now, even when we go out he tells us. Good luck, and remember boys are the hardest and they do it when they are ready!
C.
My son turned 3 at the beginning of March and we got him semi-trained just before then. Don't underestimate the power of bribery. In the beginning we started small like giving him a Hershey Kiss everytime he went potty (2 for poop). My guy loves cars so I bought a 10 pack of matchbox cars and for each day he stayed dry in his big boy underwear he got to pick one of the matchbox cars. We still have him in a diaper or pull up at night and we still have occassional accidents but I am loving not having to buy those size 5 diapers every week! The only other advice I can pass on is to Praise, Praise, Praise when he does get it right (even doing the poopy or peepee dance).
Good Luck & yes it will come when he is ready.
lol you'll think Im crazy I used oreos after a poop in the potty and butter cookies after peeing.
But the major thing that helped me potty train is once day we ran out of pullups and that was it --it was a week of poop on floor pee next the toilet and other gross stuff and a lot of washing dirty underwear as long as your putting a diaper/ pullup its saying its okay to poop in your pants.
