Potty Training Ideas for Almost 3 Year Old

HI! I'm new here but this I can sympathize with. When my son was 3, I bought the PottyScotty doll along with the Potty training in one day program. It was fairly inexpensive and worked! We had a "big day" that revolved totally around learning to use the potty. He had a party and received a new toy. It was a big deal and he LOVED it. After that day, each time he had an accident, we "practiced" going back and forth to the potty 9 times. It sounds like a lot but it really taught him how to go-muscle memory I guess. Needless to say, we were COMPLETELY accident free within 1 week. He is 4 now and is a pro! Nighttime has always been dry too. I was amazed at the success of the program.
http://www.pottyscotty.com/

Good luck!

Try putting some fruit loops or cheerios in the toilet to let him aim at them. Try simple little $1.00 toys each time. With my daughter we tried a piggy bank that has music when you put money into it then we gave her a penny for pee and 2 pennies for poop. On the cereal stuff we got the generic kind so it was easily useable without much of the cost!

I had the same issue with my now 3 year old. What we did after all else failed was a technique i found in a book i was reading but i dont remember what it was called. What we did was put her in panties and set a timer for 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes when the timer would go off we would rush to the potty and have her go and if she didnt that was ok at least she got practice, you do that for a whole day except during bedtime. ON the second day you set the timer for 20 minutes and repeat. The third day you set it for 30 minutes and do the same thing. The fourth day you set the timer to an hour and do the same thing. On day 5 and 6 you ask them if they need to go but if they say no dont make them go try. On day 7 they should be letting you know if they have to go on thier own. If they have a bad day after the week long process you just set the timer for an hour again and take them. My daughter was letting me know when she had to go by day 4. We went through a lot of panties and did quiet a bit of laundry and had to steam clean the carpets afterwards but it was completely worth it. Nothing else worked like you were saying and i was amazed that in just one week she went from not going at all on her own to being completely independent, even in public places!!! We had to carry around a change of clothes anytime we went anywhere but we tried to stay home for that week. I hope this method helps, it was certainly a life saver for us.

I just joined the web site and read your story. My son is also 3 in July and is not potty trained yet. He doesnt even seem bothered if he poops and i dont change him right away. He has pooped before on the potty and he does pee 1-2 times a day at daycare. He just doesnt seem interested at home and just likes Mommy to change his pull ups. I know you posted this in May but have you had any progress? If not, don't worry, i know plenty of moms with the same problem and some who have told me their son was not potty trained until 3 1/2. Good Luck !!!

Potty training can be so frustrating! I hate to tell you this, but...........he'll do it when he's ready! You probably hear that about everything. I've always heard that it usually takes boys longer to potty train. My oldest daughter was my 'test' child. I thought she should potty train when I thought she was ready. Well, she showed me. I did everything that I could think of to get her to go and when she was ready (10 days before her 3rd bday) and only when, she got rid of the diapers and never used another one. I thought, my goodness, all that work and she did it herself.........bc at that point I had given up!!! Hang in there and always encourage him to use the potty. When he goes in his diaper, suggest that the next time he use the potty. It will click for him when he's ready. Good luck and God bless :)

Dear Cindy,
my son is almost four , and for the longest time we tried everything under the moon to get him potty trained.
Until one day a neighbor handed me a Kid's music DVD . It's a fully animated version of Alona Frankel's best selling toilet training book. You can watch it together with your little one, sing along , learn, and most of all it's so easy for the kiddos to relate to . It features a little boy with his parents , the story line walks the child from Babyhood to toddlerhood in a fun and exciting way.
It explains the body parts and functions, urges that indicate going Number one or two. It worked wonders on my little one.
I Hope this helps
It's called "Once Upon a Potty" for Him " .

I use training underpants for my DD3. My DD6 didn't need them, so I had them sitting around for this little one, and she needs them. They are thicker in the middle (almost as thick as a cloth diaper) and have wider leg bands. I found them at Target in the baby accessories section. They come in a pack of 3. I agree, regular undies are too thin and pullups are too diaper-y, so they don't get the message. At least w/ the training undies, they retain a bit of the #1 and #2 much better than regular undies. I have been using them off and on since December. My little one is 3 yrs, 3 mos. Good luck!

I'm having the same problem. My son will be 3 in July also. Right know we are just putting him on the potty every hour. I have found that if he is on a portable potty in the living room it seems to help him go more. But I'm still trying to find a way to get him to tell us he needs to go.

There is a potty training solution for you!! don't despair!! My friend and I found this ebook online when we needed to potty train our little girls. We used it when they were 2 (about a year ago) and it really does work. You will have him potty trained in 3 days. We did it and it worked, so we told 3 other people at work about it and out of the 5 of us , it only didnt work for 1, so i think 4 out of 5 isnt too bad an odds. Well here is the website, its well worth it to check out:
3DayPottyTraining.com
Good Luck!

Hi M.,

This is what I did with my son- I basically went out and bought a few different books on using the potty. I also bought a video of "Bear in the Big Blue House" that addresses going to the potty- and just kept talking to him about how he was going to be big and use the potty like mommy and daddy and all the big kids. You have to "psych" them up about it. Once it hits him that he wants to act like a grownup- and you read the books, and watch the video.. he'll probably be asking to use it. Just be patient.. nudge him along.. and let him tell you when he's ready (but at the same time, take an active role in keeping it in the forefront of his thoughts).

Good luck!
Adla

i had the very same problem with my son. he just turned four and still wasn't potty trained, he does have mild autism,so it was a little bit harder .all i can say is just stick with it.i tried several times but i would get frustrated and quit . my son started going soon after i bought that potty book for boys.we are using the stickers on the progress chart ( he didn't care for them at first either)and i just make a big deal when he goes.now, he will go without telling me and even wipes after about only four weeks of potty training.he never told me he had to go, i would just notice signs that he had to go and also, i kept telling him to go every 30 mins. to an hour.it is alot of work having him in underwear -he is going to have ALOT of accidents but the pull ups don't work! once he understands what he has to do, it will just click. be patient.

it may be anoying at first but this worked for me every time you have to go to the restroom take him in with you, and any time that you can think of just ask him if he needs to go, eventually he should get the hand of it.
dont worry, hang in there!

I definitely agree w/the other moms. We have a 3 and 5 yo, and I agree that they will let you know when they are ready. Our 5 yo wasn't fully potty trained until almost 4, and I certainly felt the pressure of getting him trained but decided to let him control that. Currently, I'm trying to get our newly 3 yo potty trained, but it has been a little difficult. He knows how to go in the potty, but I think he's just too busy playing that he doesn't make an initiative. Pull-Ups ARE a waste of money because he just uses them as a diaper. We've used regular underwear, and he has soaked those w/o it bothering him. So, my advice, is let him guide you when he is ready, and yes, boys take longer to potty train. Have a great day!

You can try what hubby and I tried for our littlest one. We told her that on her birthday it was over...no more Pullups, no more peeing in her underwear. (She still gets Pullups at night, but none for nap time)

We just told her no more. You could try that. Yeah, it's going to stink having to change underwear for the first few days, but eventually he'll get sick of being wet and start going in the potty. (Just an FYI I'm not saying don't remind him to go potty, etc.)

I think this stage just comes with time. At least he knows what you expect him to do when he is on the potty. You might try setting a timer for every 30 min and make a game out of going potty when the timer beeps. With my son, I would make a huge show of jumping up and exclaiming "I need to potty, quick lets go" then we would both take a turn going, I also encouraged him to tell me when he needed to go so we could both take a turn then too. Just stay positive, it's so much easier when it's fun for everyone!

Hi,
I'm having the exact same issue! My son will be 3 in August and he understands the concept, but is not quite that interested. I'm so sick of changing poopy diapers (I'm pregnant with our second right now and nausea is an issue!)
Anyhow, if I come up with any solutions, I'll share. Would you mind doing the same for me?? Thanks!

When my son was about 2 I started the potty training process, it was not easy, he knew he had to pee and poop in the potty but like your son he didn't care. Someone told me to leave him naked when we were at home with no company over and it worked, he had nothing to potty in so he finally got it. He would complain and tell me he needed his diaper but I would just put him on his potty chair and he would go in there. Also I would award him for his sucess. I let him pick out a special treat and each time he went potty he got his treat. Good luck to you.