Potty Training Two Year Old Son

It would actually be better to skip the pull-ups altogether (except for bedtime) and go straight to underwear. The pull-ups absorb like a diaper, so it's difficult for them to associate peeing and getting wet.

If he was already telling you and going in the potty, why didn't you go straight to underwear instead of pull-ups.

I have never like pull-ups and have seen in friends' kids that it tends to extend/delay potty training. I only used them with my son because he never started pulling the tabs on his diaper (thankfully, I guess). He would say he needed to go, and we would take him. But, he wouldn't pull the diaper tabs to release the diaper. Once we got him some pull-up, he could pull them up and down. Granted, he was easily trained. We kept him in pull-ups at night for a couple of months after he was day trained. After a couple of weeks of dry night pull-ups we switched him to underwear and never had a problem. He has wet the bed a few times in his 6 years. It seems to be when he is heavily asleep that it has happened.

Good luck, potty training can be one of the most stressful times of growing up.

IMO, Pull Ups are just diapers. Perhaps take him to the store to pick out his own undies. My son had trouble pulling the undies up and down, though, so we went to cloth training pants (Potty Scotty brand). They were much easier for him to pull up and down and had an absorbent pad in the middle to keep puddles from ending up on the floor - yet he still felt wet if he started to go. Pull Ups don't really allow them to feel wet (despite what the commercials say!). Avoid the plastic pants (like Gerber), though - these are made of vinyl, which isn't good for kids to wear anyway, and don't allow the skin to breathe.

In the time when my son was really potty learning, though, the best thing we ever did (besides the cloth training pants) was let him run around naked at home. This allowed him to just go to the potty without the hinderance of undies nor the security of a diaper. NEVER did he have an accident on the floor! Naked time was probably the biggest help in potty learning for us.

Be aware, though, that your son may experience setbacks, especially when the new baby comes. As long as you're prepared for that, you won't get so frustrated!

I'm not at the potty training stage in my house so I'm not loaded with useful advice. But I do have something to add that maybe another mother might elaborate on. I've heard that it was a bad thing to go back to diapers once you already switched them to pull-ups. Something about self-esteem. Like I said, another mother may have more info on this since you need the info and watching and learning for the future.

Good luck! I know it will work out eventually!
Jen
http://www.mommysjoy.com

Hi E.,

Regressing after pull-ups seems to be common. It happened with all three of my boys. My youngest boy(just turned 2)especially had that problem. What I do is put him in real big boy undies during the day and just wear the pull ups at night. Yes there may be more accidents at first, but the kids get a better understanding of when they have to go.
Good luck, God bless you.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hi E.,
I have 8 boys- and some were ready before others- but I found that it was extremely difficult to potty train my boys in the winter time- it did not seem to bother them if they were "wet"- praise him when he tells you- make it fun to go potty......let him wear the "big boy" pants like daddy during the day and the pull ups at nitetime nd he will catch on really quick.
seemed towork with my boys and most of my grand sons.
Good luck
blessings

Two yr old boys are not capable of holding their bladder very long. The doctor said that a little boys bladder is not developed to go long periods until 3 yrs of age. That is why the majority of boys are potty trained till 3-4 yrs of age

Undies at home and regular diapers, when you are going out, fasten them a little looser so you can get them up and down like pull-ups and see what he does. If he starts telling you again, the you don't even have to worry about the pull-ups! They are way too expensive and really aren't nessicary.

Absolutely no experience with little boys, but it sounds like he figured out that "BIG boys" don't wear a DIAPER. Maybe he sees tv and thinks that he is big now that he has a pull up,... but doesn't connect that the point is not to pee in the pull up. Maybe he just thought peeing in the DIAPER was the baby thing.

I have two boys and a girl. I have found the best way is to get them into regular underwear and wait for the accidents(cuz they are sure to come)it will take at least 6 months to potty train.Peeing is easy but the poop will be a little harder. My daughter wore pull ups only a night because she wet the bed and wouldn't wake up until she was 4. I took them away when she sat there one morning and i asked her what she was doing and she responded she was peeing in her night night panties!! That said, I started to potty train my kids when they were around 2 years old. It just takes patience.

E.: Forget the pull ups! Put your son in undies. After an accident or two, he will start letting you know again. He sounds completely ready for this step. Pull ups are essentially just diapers revamped. Good Luck.

With my son pull ups didn't work at all. I bought the gerber training pants from Target. The outer part is plastic and the inner is thicker cotton. The pee puddles so he can feel it. It will hold some pee but if its a river it will leak out. It will hold the poop as well but a nasty job to clean. Once he got the hang of it we switch to the thicker cotton pants then went into regular underwear. Every child is different because my daughter didn't do well with the training pants we had to switch her to pullups to keep my sanity.

yes! ditch the pullups...it's just a diaper...they're smart enough to figure it out.

If my 2yo has a pull-up on, then she has figured out there is nothing bad that will happen if she goes in them... (as in no wet clothes, that is). So, there is no incentive to go potty instead.

I was so frustrated in trying to get her to go to the toilet and tell me when she needed to go (when wearing a pull-up), that I just gave her the 25 pairs of princess panties that I had been saving for her, saying"Mama bought these for you and has been waiting for you to want to wear them and use the big potty". That was the turning point. From that moment on, she has only wanted to wear her panties. And we have had accidents... But if I put her in a pull-up (like before her nap), she will go in it (especially #2).

For her, its not a mental acknowledgement issue of knowing when to go. Its that she has figured out the convenience of a pull-up, of not having to stop playing in order to use the potty, etc.

I would get him some cloth underwear...he is TOO comfortable in the Pull-Ups because they absorb. If he is in cloth, he will not like the feeling when he is wet and will think twice! He is definitely old enough if he is over two..maybe take him w/you to buy "big boy" underwear and let him pick out the ones he likes..

Good luck!

I had both of my children potty trained before they were two and I did not use pull-ups to do it. Once they knew to go to the potty, I started with underware. Yes, I had to clean some poopy underware at times, but it was better than changing a diaper. In the first full months of potty training I would put diapers on the to sleep in. Once they were fulling potty trained I would use pull-ups at night only, just incase.

It's time for big boy underware.....Whoo Hoo..... Let him help you pick them out.

He is really young, but if he is telling you I guess he is ready. He might regress later(like when the baby comes) I would get him out of pull-ups & get him in underwear. Let him have his accidents-because he will (so normal) & see how it goes. You will need to remind him(& take him) to the restroom if it's been more than an hour. Good luck

When he started telling you when he needed to go and went most of the day dry, I think he was ready for regular underwear.

The pullups allow for a lot of absorbency and so he is probably willing to go inside of them. You could go back to the diapers and let him know if he can stay dry most of the day, he can start wearing big boy underwear.

Remember "back in the day" there were no pullups.. Some kids just do not really need them. Hang in there, he will figure it out very fast again.