My son is 2 1/2 he has shown some interest in the potty and understands what it is for. He is in daycare two days per week and will go on the potty whenever they ask him too (he's only actually peed once) and I caught him in mid process to get him to go poopy on the potty at home. He can usually stay dry during certain times of the day so I figured this was yet another indication that potty training should begin. My problem is that whenever I ask him to go to the potty he refuses and if I try to coax him into going or walk him to the bathroom he throws a fit and says "NO POTTY!" What to do now? I don't want to force him to go, because that will just make the fit worse. I wanted to know what worked for other mom's out there? Maybe he's not completely ready yet? I have no idea and feel like an idiot!
Have you all done rewards for going on the potty (my SIL did this, I haven't because I feel like he'll expect some treat every time for something he kinda needs to do, it's eventually not going to be optional). If so what did you give, when, and how did it work? I have tried putting underwear on him with plastic pants so that he was more aware of being wet (it seems his diapers work too well in keeping him dry), but he didn't seem to care and didn't complain about being wet at all. As a matter of fact, when I explained that he was wet and we had to change him he threw a fit. I DO NOT like pull-ups I feel like they are just a different version of a diaper and when I worked at a daycare it seemed like it made it easier for the kids to just go in the "diaper" and refuse the potty. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
The rewards (Yes, I used them--M&Ms, hotwheels) won't work if he's not ready. I'd wait a month or two then try again & see if he is more interested.
Check out Lora Jensen's "3 day potty training". It's an e-book. worked like a charm for my 2.5 y/o daughter over a year ago. Never used diapers or pull ups again. I did buy her the toy of her choice when she went #2 the first time. I highly recommend it. If I've already posted this, sorry. Tried to post a response but it didn't seem to take. I think the book was $40 online.
We went through a rough patch my DS where he screamed and cried about going to the potty, so we just stopped it completely for a few weeks. We didn't talk about it or anything. We left the potty out in the open where he would see it all the time, but that's it. Then we tried again and he was just fine. He was totally trained, naps and nights too, within less than a month because HE was finally ready to do it.
Also, figure out what motivates your son. Mine could care less about a treat or stickers, so that didn't work. Instead we put a box of books and a container of matchbox cars near the potty, but out of reach, and we told him those were only for when he went to the potty. He would then sit on the potty and read a book until he peed or pooped, at which point we would get really happy, excited, etc., clean up and then put the books/cars away for the next time. After a while he was going right away and didn't need to read/play and we phased that out.
My daughter is 2-1/2 and after a few fits and starts she appears to now be potty trained. We did not want to go the reward route either but she did not seem to mind being wet and needed some other form of motivation.
In the end we offered her a M&M (her favorites) for using the potty and actually doing something on it. Worked like a charm. After a day she had it down and we started switching the reward so that it was a surprise - sometimes raisins, dates, yogurt drops, or an M&M. She never knew what she would get so she was willing to use the potty. After a few days of that we started telling her sometimes she would get a surprise treat, but not always. And she was fine with it cause now that she understood the potty she was very proud of her ability to use it. We are about a month into it now and she rarely asks for a treat after using potty, although once in a while we still reward her with some raisins or another healthy snack.
At home we have her in panties except at night time and nap time when she is in pull-ups. She goes to school two days a week and I have her in pull-ups for school. However I think we are going to switch to just undies soon cause she has never wet her pull-ups at school or while sleeping.
Good luck and just think of all the extra money in your pocket each month!
He seems like he might be ready. I used gummy bears and said ok it you go potty on the potty then you get 2 gummy bears. If they tried really hard most of the time I would give them one gummy bear just for trying. I think it worked really well.
Good Luck
My son didn 't care about ANY ewards until he actually 'got" the oncept. After he put the two together we were off and running. I loved the shopping for the little prizes but it got expensive UNTIL I figured out how much I was actually saving on wipes and diapers.
After about five weeks of prizes I was able to go to a sticker system and he's earned tickets for Disney On Ice tickets for Thursday night. Little did he know we were going no matter what! LOL.
Now we do stickers and the occasional "little prize." I'm pretty happy with his progress and so is HE!
Btw, I'm with you on the Pull-Ups. The BIGGEST scam in the world. Cute underware are by FAR a better option and a bigger incentive to make it to the bathroom on time.
Get some generic fruit loops. Have your hubby take your son into the bathroom with him , grab a handful of fruit loops and toss them into the toilet. Then while your hubby pees he can shoot the fruit loops and it's a new fun game. My son loved peeing in the toilet with his fruit loops and he never missed so I didnt have pee on the floor. You can keep a baggy of fruit loops in your purse for on the go and they have never clogged a toilet.
Hope this helps!
Just potty trained my son last week--took about 3 days. He is 2y 10m. I took the "bare buns" approach and only let him wear a shirt and socks. I would take him to the potty regularly. When he did something he got marshmallows and a sticker. We took a picture of him on the potty and printed it on 8.5x11 paper and taped it to the bathroom door. He puts a sticker on it every time he goes to the bathroom. He had a couple of accidents, but it was easier for both of us to notice since he wasn't wearing pants. We played on the hard wood floor, so it was easy to clean up. This week he tells me when he has to go and is now wearing pant. He still wears a diaper at night and when we leave the house. We'll conquer the public bathrooms soon! Good Luck!
then at home drop it, let him do it at child care for a while longer and come back to it in awhile.
We are at a similar point. I agree with you 100% about pull ups...the only good use I see for them is once we get down the road further and we're working on actually managing the whole process, they will be helpful when he learns to go potty by himself when he wakes up from nap or in the morning, but when we haven't trusted him to be in underwear yet. Right now he's still wearing diapers when he sleeps because until he fully gets the potty part I'm not even messing with him managing the clothing. We practice with the dressing skills when we're actually dressing, not when he's about to pee in his pants.
So anyway about the NO POTTY part, we've had that problem too. What finally helped me is that I started noticing that there were times when he did that, but there were times when he would happily go to the potty. Is that the case with your son? So I thought, maybe I'm not giving him enough credit for knowing when he really does not have to go. So when he says no, I just say "ok, but tell mommy when you have to go." then of course I ask him again like 15 min later. Eventually he says ok and I've found that we have more successes this way (like fewer times when we go and nothing happens). We have had a few accidents of course but for the most part once I stopped nagging him as much and stopped trying to force him to go try, he's actually done better. He also started telling us when he does have to go even if we haven't asked him, and I wonder if its because I gave him a chance to decide on his own rather than go according to my timer. Not sure if this will help you, but thought I'd share. Btw, Ii'm also with you on the reward thing...we do not do it for pee at all we just make a big deal about how happy we are and he gets excited too. We did it with poop the first couple times because he was so hesitant to do it, but after that we just said you don't need a treat anymore because you're so good at it and he pretty much forgot. Good luck!!!!
Pull ups make it easy for independence, they go up and down like underwear, very easy for a little guy to do. They also keep the floor clean so you don't spend your day following a trail of pee and pooh with a mop or Spot Bot.
We used small jelly beans. One for pee and two for pooh. The other options are mini M&M's. Any kind of a very special treat. Yes, they give them incentive to go, but they eventually get potty trained and don't expect it anymore.
Just make it fun. He will enjoy the attention he gets for the activity. If he enjoys it he will repeat it and try to do it more. Otherwise put it off for a couple more months until Summer.
We bought this system that had a stool and a kids' seat on the actual adult toilet -- mostly because we were in an apartment when my kids were potty training and we didn't have room. The system was to give the kids a sticker and they could put the stickers on the kids' seat lid every time they used the potty. It worked very well. It was just enough incentive for them to use the potty and it wasn't a chocolate. Also, after my kids started potty training, I used to simply put them in clothes in the house and let them have accidents. I didn't punish them or make a huge deal when they had accidents, I would just clean them up and tell them to that they had to feel when they had to go so they wouldn't have an accident. If we went out, though and they were going to be in the car seat or in a place where we might not get to the bathroom fast enough, I would put them in pullups and, of course, carry an extra set of clothes and a plastic bag for wet clothes in a diaper bag. So, again -- accidents -- not a big deal, but they started to learn to avoid them. Also, we left them in diapers to sleep for quite a bit longer than after they were potty trained during the day. Idea is to not pressure him so much and make it a big great deal when he does it right. For me, that was finding the medium where I wasn't freaking out about cleaning up after them -- so changing bed sheets and cleaning mattress every night in the middle of the night -- big deal. A change of clothes and throwing some wet clothes in the wash -- not so much.
http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/264
Try Dr. Phil's method!
