Hiya Mamas! I'm looking for the methods you used to potty train your sons. My boy is 22 months old and is excited about his potty, his big boy undies, loves to pee in the tub. He's ready to go... I'm just unclear a little about how to proceed. The only thing on the readiness checklist that he hasn't reached is caring about whether or not he's wet or poopy. But we are using Pampers- the Cadillac of diapers, so to speak, so he really doesn't feel the wetness or care about the goo. I think if I waited until he cares about being soiled, it would never happen. So, this week I put him in pull ups during the day to start to feel wetness, and I think tomorrow I'll be putting him in big boy undies. Any other ideas? I've read two books: Potty training boys the easy way. and Diaper free before three. I really like the philosophy of Diaper Free, but it is really for younger babies.
Just looking for what you guys did that really worked for you.
Thanks so much.
One thing more- I am pregnant with baby number 2 and due in January. So I am trying to get the majority of the training done before that, without seeming rushed. It's not that I want only one in diapers- no problem there. It is that when he is ready I'll have a newborn on my hands and I'm worried I won't be able to give him the individualized attention that he needs to potty train and he'll have to wait longer. I just don't want to short change him (hehe so to speak) .
Today is D-Day!
So here is how it went today. Right after waking up, we went to the potty. He refused to wear undies, so I let him run around naked. He came back into the bathroom 5 min later while I was brushing my teeth, walking on tip-toe (not a normal thing) and obviously freaked out about something. I asked him if he peed. He said, "Oh" as if he needed a word for the wierd thing that just happened. I have to admit, I had an urge to laugh. So, walking out to the living room, I found not only pee, but two tidy piles of poop. Poor kid. So he helped me flush it. He said, "See Ya" as it went down. This time I really did laugh. Then he sat on the potty again and this time we put on big boy undies. We sat before breakfast, after breakfast and a few more times. No more pee all morning. Totally dry in his undies for 3 hours! So I decided to take the plunge and go ALL THE WAY. I was planning on pull ups for nap, but he did so good all morning that I just put rubber-backed training undies over the ones he had on. (he needs a change of sheets anyway.) So we'll see what happens. Cheer for us!
Thanks for responding!
Put him in his big boy underpants and let him loose - on easy to wash flooring! I only have girls, but we put the potty in a easy to get to spot (the hallway between the bathroom and livingrom) and just let them run around in their panties. I also gave my girls 1 M&M for every pee and 2 M&Ms for every poop - they were potty trained within 3 weeks.
I agree - ditch the pull ups and go to underwear. Be prepared to stay home and in the house for a few days. Praise like crazy when he goes in the potty. Calmly tell him "uh-oh, potty goes in the potty" when he "misses". IF he can't recognize when he has to go, and has several accidents... I'd wait. 22 mos is young (esp for a boy) and they will only train when THEY are ready. Good luck and don't worry if you have to wait.
Hi Jacky from NJ, my son is five now however he's been potty trained & no bed wetting by 2 1/2. If your home during the day let him go free without anything on, by doing this you will see when he goes how long after he drinks something etc. Our children aren't the ones that are trained it's us, it's realizing when they go and getting them use to sitting on the potty prior to it so they will always be dry. It will take a couple of accidents on the floor before you get it maybe a week tops (so stock up on some pinesol)if your serious. Oh i also had a song & dance I use to do everytime he was successful try it (your sons name made pee-pee in the potty name made pee-pee in the potty name made pee-pee in the potty yes he did woo-woo woo yes he did woo woo woo) make it fun he will want to go just to get the crazy song :-) . When he goes to sleep use the pull ups, no drinking 2 hours before bedtime. You have to monitor that as well. Each morning he wakes up check his pull up as the weeks go on there will be less & less in them & eventually you will be able to put him to bed with nothing. Good Luck
Michele from
Bayridge ny
I trained my son around 24 months. He was interested and able, but he didn't care one little bit if he pooped or peed in his pants and that is a HUGE need in order to potty train fairly easily. I did get him potty trained, but it felt more like I was the one potty trained. I was always keeping an eye out for him, reminding him, and he couldn't pull his pants up/down, so I always had to help him. If I was taking care of my newborn baby and he needed to pee/poop, sometimes I simply could not stop what I was doing, and he would have an accident. After four months I realized I was the one who was really potty trained, not him! And, I also realized it was a lot more work than it needed to be, so, I quit.
At around age 3 I tried again. He never seemed to care when he pooped/peed. I noticed one day that if he was bare bummed, he was very conscious of his pottying. So, off came the underwear and he just ran around barebummed. I had him sit on towels and stuff like that. He only had one poopy accident, as he was running to the bathroom, and he never did it again. He was potty trained SO FAST once he went bare bummed. It was really just a matter of 2-3 days. He also was able to pull his pants up and down, which is a requirement for me now when I potty train my kids. The ease in potty training was amazing compared to when he was 2. Now I feel like it's a waste of my time and effort to try to potty train them when they are that young. If you have no other children (or a big spacing), it's much easier. But if you have your hands full, it's not worth the effort, in my opinion, since waiting makes it tremendously easier!
He was my 2nd baby. My first and my third were both interested around the age of two. But I have discovered that that is all it is. Simple interest. They don't really seem to want to potty train because they start resisting, want their diaper back, get upset, etc. So, when they get interested around age 2, I let them use the potty as much as they want. I'll even put them in underwear to see if they want to train, but once they start having accidents, they want their diaper back. So, we stop.
With #3, she just turned 3 a week or two ago. A few days before she turned 3, I told her "You are almost 3! That means you can go poopy and pee in the toilet like your brother and sister! That's so exciting!" I made it sound SUPER exciting. She had no negative association with the potty, and she was super excited too. When she turned three, off came the diapers, and on came the underwear. She felt like such a big girl. She went 3-4 days with no accidents. Then she pooped and peed in her underwear and didn't tell me. So, we went bare bummed. I told her that if she accidentally poops and pees, then she can't wear her underwear. We don't want to get them yucky. It wasn't said as punishment. It was said more matter of factly like "that is not what underwear are for, so we'll need to keep them off until you are able to go in the potty everytime". So, she went bare bummed the rest of the day. She did get her underwear back the next day and it's been several days and no accidents. She easily poops in the toilet. It's been a BREEZE. It is SO EASY when they are a little older. I'm not the one potty trained (like is the case with many really young potty trainers - it's the parent who is really potty trained...hehe), she is the one potty trained. It takes nothing from me other than praise and encouragement, and wiping when she goes #2. For me that's important because I am 31 weeks pregnant and have a 13 month old to chase after.
Anyway, that's probably more info than you wanted. But hopefully something in there will help. If you want to go ahead and try, I say try the bare bummed method:-) It was the ONLY thing that got my son to care when he pooped/peed. And if your child can't pull his pants up or down, I would seriously reconsider training right now. Once you have another baby to take care of, it can get quite challenging to get to him before he makes an accident waiting for you. (my girls could pull their pants up and down at that age, but not my son!)
Good luck!
I'd suggest that you go straight to either underpants or the thicker training underpants. Pull-ups often get misunderstood for diapers. My daughter just used them as such. For night use they were ok. She was going to go at night till she was ready. They were nice for the fact that first thing in the morning i could take her to the potty and pull them down like underpants. If he doesn't like being wet, then the use of underpants should be good.
For us the potty training process was painful for me. We tried off and on since she turned 2. It wasn't until she was 3 yr 3 months did she care.Once she was ready, she immediately took right to it. She only had one accident once she was ready. Pooping on the other hand take longer. Don't get frustrated if if doesn't work out. When he's ready it'll be easy. Good luck
Pullups don't really let them feel wet, they're an expensive disposable diaper. What you need are multilayer cloth training pants with a waterproof outer layer or plastic pants over them. Take him to the toilet every hour or so and see if anything happens. However, it's possible that he won't yet know what he needs to do or have the control. If within a couple of weeks, he isn't waiting to pee and poop til you get him to the toilet, then just keep him in cloth diapers for now and try again in a few months. Training should not take months, if it does, then he is not ready. Remember that just because you are having a baby and might prefer not to have two in diapers, does not make him ready to train.
Forget the pull ups! Just more expensive, less effective diapers. If you are prepared for messes you can try bare bottom around the house. It makes the little one very aware of what is going on and they begin to connect the sensation with what is coming next. But if it makes him very upset when this happens, it's not a method you'd want to use.
You may have put your son in pull-ups to "start to feel wetness" but you should know that Huggies says right on their site regarding Pull-ups that "Customized protection is added where girls and boys need it most, for maximum absorbency when “oopsies” occur." So, he won't feel the wetness, which is why I won't use them. A child HAS to feel wet or yucky for there to be any incentive to use the potty, otherwise they'll just go in their pull-up, an expensive diaper. Ditch the pull-ups and use training pants with rubber/plastic pants over them or let him go bare-bottomed.
I agree that with some kids waiting until they care if they're wet or poopy could take years, but if he wants to be changed when he's either he cares. Just don't be upset if he's not really ready, interest and readiness are two entirely different things. Readiness is being able to ascertain what his body is doing and how to react to the feelings. I thought my guy was ready, but he lost interest after about 5 days, we dropped it for a few weeks, went back and he was doing fine, then he started refusing to sit at all. He held his poop in for the last 5 days, so today was Life cereal and milk for breakfast, peanut butter with some maple syrup mixed in for a bit of sweetness on whole wheat bread, and vanilla yogurt for lunch. Then before nap some 100% juice and half a Fiber One bar. I KNEW he'd have to go so encouraged him to sit, he didn't want to. But I could tell he was struggling not to go, so I told him his potty was hungry, (oh, the things we say!) which he thought was funny and sat. He was still trying to hold it it, grimacing and struggling, but i just kept encouraging him and thankfully he went, I think because he was so busy listening to me he forgot to hold it. I made a huge deal praising him, and he didn't even want the Dum Dum pop that's been waiting for him in plain sight. I asked, he shook his head "no" but looked at it, so he knew he could have had it.
I need to focus more on him and his training, but It's been a rough road these last 2 months because my dad, who lives with us, is dying from kidney failure, and we will find out sometime in the next week if he now has leukemia. Life is never simple, right? All this could be why my little guy is being defiant, he knows something is going on, but isn't sure what, and he's too young for us to explain it to him so that he'll understand, and refusing to use the potty could be his way of staying in control. Potty training really has to be their idea.
I really hope all goes as you've planned. But know it is very common for potty trained children (no matter how happy and well-adjusted they seem) to regress when a new sibling arrives, so realistically all your work now may be undone in a few months. If PT doesn't go easily now there would be nothing wrong in waiting until after the new baby arrives and potty training a few months later once everything is more settled.
Hang in there, and congrats on your growing family ; )
