Questions About Potty Training

I have potty-trained many kids.{5 of my own} There is no age at which they're all ready. I won't even try at my house until they're 2 1/2. Many of the parents work with them at home, but I tell them that when they're ready, it only takes days. You'll have some bad days too when they wet a lot, but they're learning something new. Their bodies need to adjust. It's something you can't force to happen. Fighting is just stressful for everyone. Good luck!

Personally I think 27 months is a little young for potty training- but if he's into it, that's all the matters. I sat my son on a potty everyday before his nap at about 2 1/2 with no expectation, and he wanted to do it so there was no fighting- usually he would poo and we would pull the pull-up back on for the nap. At 3 we went all out and because he was so used to sitting on the potty he trained in one week and has not has a single accident since. But he wanted to do it-boys are usually harder to train and later trainers too. You don't want to freak him out because that can lead to constipation issues which is way worse than changing a diaper on a 3 year old. Hope this helps!

I'm an old school M. (62) and my son was over 3 when he finally got the idea. I had a daughter to train (yes 2 in diapers-cloth at that) so he decided to help train her and learned in to process. He was just too busy with other things until then. Just keep trying (I think the training is on the mother's part more than the child) and put him into pull ups as the opportunity presents itself. Relax very few men still have that problem LOL.

Doctors make me really mad and so does social pressure. When my kids were ready I knew even if it didnt go with the
worlds agenda. My son was ready at 3 to start trying..and by 4 he was all potty trained. My daughter was the same way ..just a little bit earlier. I run a daycare and thats how most of the children are. How come most kids feel the need to suck until they are 3? Everyone tells you to take him off the bottle and paci at 1..but they arent ready..not the majority of them..they are ready at 3...for me 3 is the age and forget what you are told..only you know..you're the childs mom and your instinct is right ; )

I was about to pull my hair out with my son and potty training. Whenever I thought he had to pee I put Cheerios in the toilet water and had him stand on a small stool and told him to pee on the cheerios. He found it fun and I cheered when he peed in the potty. Now pooping in the potty was a completely different story. It was a lot more difficult. For some reason boys are harder than girls. Praise him for going in the potty. Dont underestimate the power of bribery either! hahaha! Really I told my son that each time he went in the potty I would give him a treat. Something that is simple and you can have on hand at all times. I used ovaltine (he thought was chocolate milk) It was a treat for him and it was not unhealthy.
Also keep trying as well as trusting your instincts. Trusting your instincts that your son may not be ready is key. My son was definately not ready but I continued trying without being forceful. During the day or when we were at home I put "big boy" underwear on him and when he peed them he felt the wettness......he felt the mess.....I just told him that pee pee and poo poo goes in the potty and not in our pants! It is shew-wee! Be patient it will happen. Potty training is not bootcamp........haha so be patient but consistant.

I think you are doing the right thing, getting him comfortable with the potty. Your mommy instinct is probably right, but you are training him by getting him comfortable with the potty because that is one of the biggest things. My kids were asking to go to the potty before they were 2 so I knew they were ready. I used potty time elmo to help my kids. Dr. Phil says that if they can teach a doll to go to the potty then they are ready. I don't know if they sell potty time elmo any more, but he was really cute and came with undies and a sippy and a potty. He drinks from the sippy and then says oh i have to go potty and then you set him on the potty and if you make it in time he says good job and if you don't then he says oh well we'll get it next time. Nothing comes out of him, it just teaches them that drinking is usually what causes the potty. You could do the same thing with any doll.
good luck

Pick up the book "No Cry Potty Training solution". It has a quiz that you can take to determine if they are ready for potty training or not. It also has great ideas for actual potty training! I loved it and it helped our daughter immensely and made it fun and easy.

He is still quite young, but there is no harm in introducing the potty in a non-stressfull way. But in my experience most children are not ready ( especially boys) until closer to three. I potty trained my daughter over the summer, it was really a breeze because she had on less clothes & we were able to let her run around in just panties & a top.

I think your instincts are right on.

I think you are doing great just introducing the potty. Boys can be a little bit of a challenge, but once they get the hang of it...much easier to pee in public. HA! Please try to hang on to your Mommy instincts. Grandparents are amazing, but they are just that Grandparents. My son was potty training a week before his third birthday. I tried to get him to go, but it was his timing. One night during our prayers, he said he had to poop and off he went with a book. I decided well that it must be time to potty train. Also children technically don't have very good "holding" control until around three. Keep asking him but don't push. Before you know it he'll be peeing on his own and soon after dating his first girlfriend. It all goes by so fast!

Hi K.! I am a mother of a 3 year old and a 1 year old. My instinct says the same as yours. Your son is not ready for potty training yet. I have a Master's degree in psychology and that does not make me an expert in anything, but I have done some reading on the potty training research. It says that the earliest to start training is 2.5 years (or 29 months). Just wait and listen to your own mommy instincts.

FYI: we trained my daughter to be completely potty trained by around 32 months and it was relatively easy. I think it was easy because we didn't try to force it. We waited until she was ready. Good luck!!

I agree with what the other moms have said. Go with your instinct. He is probably ready to check out what it all is but neccessarily ready to go all the time. I have 4 children and they all trained with in a weeks time but I waited till each one vocalized wanting to actually go. The oldest was over 3 and the others right at 2 but that generally happens with multiply children. They copy each other.

My son is 30 months old. He started doing the same thing around age 2. We bought a potty chair and he would use it occasionally if I sat him on it. Recently he began showing more interest in it. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that many of the children in his daycare class are starting to wear "big boy underwear." Three days ago he came home from daycare and said "Mom, I want to wear big boy underwear." So I put a pair on him and so far he is doing awesome. He has only had one accident each day and they were both BM's. I think he is still learning that he cant' do that in his underwear. He told me when he was ready but not all kids do. You and your son will know when the time is right. I wouldn't stress over it. I also think that going straight to underwear is a lot more effective than pull ups. It is nasty to have to wash them out but they seem to teach them to use the potty better. Good luck!

Well K., potty training is my specialty, and I would say that I'm a veteran after 6 kids. You know....I learned to appreciate the smallest improvements that the kids would make. Rewards are your best bet in everything. What you say to them is "Barney uses the potty, mommy and daddy use the potty, sissy uses the potty" get it? Yeah, just keep the positive rolling. Stickers are a good reward system. Keep the salty snacks handy, and lots of drinks to get the juices flowing, if you know what I mean. When you're out and about, keep asking him if he needs to go potty. Keep in mind that, if he perceives that you're having fun with it, he will too!!
God bless.

K.,
I also have a son who is now just mastering the whole potty thing. Boys are not as fast as Girls upon recognizing the way it feels down there with their muscular control. Although there are children who potty train early (between 18-29 months), but it is more common for, especially boys, to actually understand what's really going on at about 31-36 months.
I know that other parents will say that they trained there kids early and they may try to make you feel inadequate if you have not yet accomplished this milestone, but each child is different.
The Gentle Consistent Educational Approach works well. Give them a soft goal (timeline) to work towards such as to be ready for enrollment in a new school, class or summer camp, etc. One suggestion is using cheerios in the potty to give aiming lessons for a fun game. You can reward with a treat for a job well done. There are dozens of amazing books that tell kids how cool it is to use the potty like grown-ups.
One thing is for sure, you certainly don't want to create too much anxiety for the child around this issue, so as not to spawn other problems like bed-wetting and fears of being unable to control themselves.
It will happen and it will not be as tough as you may think. Just stick to your plan and be consistent with what seems to get results. Remember to hug your child alot during this process and reassure them that you have confidence in them and it is okay when they can't make it to the potty sometimes or have a little accident while they are still getting used to their muscular control. Patience is the Key!

Good Luck,
M.

Please do not rush your son. It sounds like you have good instincts and can read your son well. He is not ready. If you force it on him he may have psychological issues later. Every child is different there is no one size fits all. A lot of working moms are rushed to have their kids potty trained because of preschool rules. This only can hurt a child. You do what is right for your child and he will let you know when he is ready. I am a SAHM of 4 kids: 25,15,13,10. Boys start potty training later than girls. I have 3 boys. I undertand what you are going through.

Potty training can be very confusing and every will have an opinion. Hear is what work for my kids. I used the book "Toilet training in less than a day" by Nathan H. Azrin, Ph.D. The title is a little misleading your child will not be perfectly trained in a day. This method does help them understand the concept within a day or two.

The book explains everything out in detail, but you basically use a baby wet doll, you and your son together "teach" the doll how to wet on the potty. I have see this method work for both boys and girls. My first was potty trained at 20months and my second was potty trained at 24 months. We have one on the way and I will use it with them too. I hope this information is helpfull.

MY son is 26 months and we got him the Elmo potty and all thinking that this would entice him to potty train. The first week I would sit him on it when he looked like he might need to go. We were successful twice with "poopy action" but then, after the initial week, despite our praise and hugs, he stopped wanting to go sit on the potty all together. I have asked many of my friends, the pediatrician as well as the daycare teacher, and almost all of them tell me it is still pretty early to train and that it has to be his decision to go. The more you force the subject, the more resistant he may become. So I offer the potty around the time I think he may need to go or if I hear him make noises, but if he says no (100% answer currently) I just let it go. From what I hear, it's closer the 3 years that children become potty trainable. Hope this helps. Don't sweat it.

Trust your instincts. If you don't think he's ready, wait. Mothers are great, but you know your child best. I have a wonderful mother, but her advice and experience is not always best for my children. Good luck.

My daughter is 33 months, and she does not want to be potty trained. She will not poop in the potty at all. She does pee, but not enough to count!! we have tried books, charts etc. I also have a one year old, so she wants to be a baby too! Try letting him sit on the potty chair while he watches t.v, that works for alot of kids. My 13 year old pretty much trained himself.

If he is wanting to sit on the toilet, he is showing interest. He may not know exactly what to do yet so he may just sit for a while. There are books out there! I know Walmart has some and I just bought one called "Everyone Poops" but that is more for going poop on the potty. Have you bought a special toilet seat for him or little potty? That is another way to see how interested he is. Every child is different when potty training and it is really finding what will make him comfortable enough to go. Working in childcare I knew some children to only go if they had a book to read while in the bathroom! Potty training can be challenging and exciting. Good luck!

I noticed that going poopy on the potty was hard for my son to get, but I made a pee pee and poopy chart and put it on my fridge in his reach. And every time he went pee I gave him a star sticker to put on the pee pee chart and when he went poopy I gave him a Spongebob sticker to put on the poopy chart. He really like it because he could see how many times he went by looking at all the stickers he had. At first for poopy I gave him a sucker every time he went but I figured that the stickers were better for him. Good Luck!

With my last child - I would take her to the bathroom with me and make a big production of my urinating into the toilet. Listen to the music the water makes hitting water. etc. etc. She so wanted to make music like mama that I had to watch her like a hawk. I was afraid she would fall head first into the toilet and drown because she was so small, she would pull herself up and turn to sit on the toilet seat. If I had it to do over I would have done the same thing when she got a little older and bigger. She would have nothing to do with her potty chair. She had to be on the big toilet like mommy.
She was walking and was potty trained before she was a year old. She also had four older siblings and she learned almost everything from them. Children do learn faster from older children. She knew her alphabet and could count also before she was a year old. Again thanks to the loving attention she got from the older four.

My son just turned 3 in November. I literally just got my son potty last week. The first 3 or 4 days were long, because he didn't know how to make himself. Now he goes every time I take him. Don't get me wrong, he still has accidents. When he turned 2 yrs old, EVERYBODY !! was telling me it was time. I gave it a go, but I didn't feel he was ready yet. I tried every 2 or 3 months and if I felt he needed some more time, waited 2-3 month and gave it another go. Personally, I think it helps alot, once their communication and understanding of what you say to them gets better. Also, I know alot of people who say boy take longer than girls and 3yrs old is very typical. Potty training also has to do with the development of the kidneys. If they are still developing, you will still have accidents. It usually is fully developed by 5-6 years old. So in my opinion, go with your instincts and not what anyone, even your mom, says. Just ask your mom to respect and trust your parenting decisions. Your gut will tell you when it is best. Every child is different and will do thing when they are ready. Good Luck!!!!

He may or may not be ready. My daughter is 16 mth old & is already asking to sit on the potty. However, she is a huge copy cat. Anything we do, she can do. Or so she thinks. I know that she doesn't have a clue yet, but I'm certainly not going to discourage it. It is training, but I think that they are the ones training. They are learning & training their bodies. The more that he sits & does go, the more likely he will start to realize what's going on & what he's supposed to do. Like you yourself stated, don't force the issue. Also, I know that she's just trying to help, but try not to let your mom pressure you. My mom kept telling me that all 4 of her kids were potty trained by 1 year. When I told my doctor that, she told me that it just meant that my mom was trained to learn the babies signals. My son wasn't fully trained until almost 4 years. When we finally did it, it only took about 2 weeks. I like to believe that is because we waited until he was ready. It's all about control, theirs.

All three of my older boys were not ready to potty train until they were 3 years old. My oldest actually never went on the potty for the first time until a week before his 3rd birthday... and he was trained within a week. My twins were 3 before they'd have ANYTHING to do with the potty. One thing I noticed is that if you try to start potty training before they're ready, you have a lot of work cut out for you ahead. If you wait until they are ready and can vocalize in some way that they have to use the potty, it's usually done within a week or two.

My son (now four 1/2) was the same way - I decided I had had enough (because his sister was turning one and I had just discovered I was expecting again - WHOLE other story).
Anyway, I decided that even though he had never done anything at all on the toilet, that he was going to be trained, so I put him in underwear on a Monday morning for the first time - the first two days were awful - he never peed on the toilet and always peed in his underwear. Poopy wasn't really an issue, because his were harder and few. But I stuck to the underwear thing and even when we went to stores. (I made sure I had extra clothes) He never had an accident in a store though (thankfully!) Anyway, I stuck to it for a week and did not waiver and he was trained, w/ very few accidents and some poopy pants. They say stick to it for a week and it'll be done. He still has poopy issues to this day, he holds it and doesn't like it when he does end up going, but he's never had a lot of accidents. I did still put him in diapers at naptime and bedtime for awhile longer. Good luck! Everyone is different!

I am finishing up potty training my son (we're working on pooping). My best tool was a book called "Potty Training in a Day" by Teri Crane. My pediatrician recommended it, and it was a great guide. I was able to easily potty train my son in a couple of days. That is, by day 4 he was telling me he had to go and going to the bathroom on his own. The book gives you great insight about signs of readiness, things to work on before you actually train him, and the training itself. I've been telling all my friends about it! I hope potty training goes well for you and your son! :-)

He's still pretty young, especially since boys tend to potty train older than girls--typically more like 3 or 3.5. What we did with our son, which worked wonderful was to let him go without a diaper any time we were in our house. We started doing this when he was 21mo or so. Starting at 24mo, he never had an accident when he was naked. It's like being naked is a huge reminder to go. However, he was totally disinterested in going if he had a diaper on. So we kept him naked as much as possible at home, but didn't push going on the potty if he wanted to go in his diaper. Yes he did have accidents, but you just clean them up. After a year of not having accidets when he was naked, he started going on the potty even when he was clothed starting just before his 3yr birthday. So it took a full year before he had enough warning while clothed to go on the potty. So I'm all for letting your son be naked to try to get him to pay more attention. But he's still quite young, so I would just do it if he is interested. Otherwise hold off till closer to 3.

I agree with what others have said...When he is ready the "training" will go much smoother and quicker...
My daughter was completely trained in a week, and letting her run around the house without pants on is what worked. For my sons...which was much closer to their third birthdays, I let them let me know when they were ready....But He got his 'potty' when he was 24 mos....sat on it and did nothing...I let it go for a while and around 30 mos. (the time my daughter was trained) started stressing out about it a little....thinking I should be doing more to make this happen....luckily, I was distracted with the holidays and such and about a week before his third birthday, he just started getting up and running in the the bathroom everytime he had to go...i was astonished....now I tell everyone that he trained himself;-) Just don't fret about it...he will use the restroom when he is ready and then it will go smoothly.

Training is the key word, but they have to get what is going on first. My son is 2 1/2 and we waited until he was talking and understanding a bit more before we tried. He turned 2 in October and started the end of February. We started just by putting him on the potty every 15 minutes and literally set the timer for him. Within two days he was going to the potty and really excited. He has been in underpants now for two weeks, we just have haven't gotten the pooping thing down yet. Good Luck!

Especially as you have a boy, wait until he is closer to 3. At that point spend one day completely dedicated to potty training. We did the potty training in one day that was the original book from the late 1960's I think. There are tons of books that I believe all use the same method. Dr. Phil has one now. The weekend after my boy turned 3 we trained. We said, that it, your a big boy now so you need to use the potty. My husband kicked my infant and I out of the house at around 9am. By 2pm we were back and he was mostly there. They next day we went to a bday party (mistake) and had a few accidents. Day after drove 4 hours to my parents house (1 accident). Good to go after that. I have known people to potty train before 2. They were dealing with feeling pants and daily accidents for a year. Really, your child will be done potty training at the same time no matter when you start. Might as well wait and get it done in 1 day than struggle for months.

Hi K., I have a son who is 8 and also 2 girls, 10 and 11. They do vary in how they potty train. The best thing that worked for me was I get him to try it about every half an hour to an hour on the potty for about 10-15 minutes. I did this for about a week and if it didn't work, then I give him a break. Then I try later. He caught on about a month later. Some kids take longer, My 10 year old was almost 3 before she was willing. My oldest was just one. Just be patience. He'll do it when he's ready.

Hey K.,
My name is H.. My son did the same thing until the day he was allowed to potty outside. He looked at me like I was crazy and then he pottied on a bush he just laughed. The next time we were in the bathroom I told him I wanted him to do the same thing there, he did and I had no problems from that point on. K. I think sometimes it takes peeing on a bush to work out a problem.

It is time for underwear, or training pants. What does he wear? If he has gone on the potty,he knows what it is like. Now he needs to find out what will happen if he does not get to the potty in time. He will learn, don't back down.

Trust your "mommy instinct." My boys were both around 3 (one a bit older, one a bit younger). By letting them go a bit more at their own pace, I feel like we had fewer frustrations and fewer "accidents" with both boys, than if I had pushed it earlier.

My older boy was dry through the night from 18 months, was peeing in the potty for a long time, but would ask for a diaper to poop in. He loved parties with cake, balloons, & streamers, so we promised him (at more than 3 years old) a "big boy" party when he pooped in the potty for a week. It worked! The day after his party, he asked for a diaper because he needed to poop. After being told that he couldn't have a diaper because we had already had his "big boy" party, he continued to poop in the potty. He's 21 now, and hasn't asked for a diaper since then.
His little brother was much easier. ;-)
Good luck! And give him a bit of time. Remember, boys DO usually take longer to potty train.

My son did the same thing around the same age. I kept encouraging him to continue to sit on the potty. Around 32 months, he would finally got potty while sitting on the potty. He would not tell me he has to go potty until I finally started to put training pants (underwear) on him once he turned 3. I had the time to work with him, due to me being on maternity leave with my daughter. The first day we went through 8 changes of clothes. But, with each day there were less and less changes of clothing. It only took about a week and he was potty trained!! It helps so much with an infant! Hope this helps~

Potty training comes and goes with little ones. My 2 year old was completely potty trained and then reverted back to diapers after he had his tonsels out. I'm working on it again. I am now trying giving him special cups to cause him to drink more often. I take him to the potty every hour or so. I reward him with stickers for sitting on the potty, "going", and pulling up his own underwear and pants.

This week I talked to him and said I would reward him for using the potty for an entire day with ninja turtle underwear, 2 days for a ninja turtle movie, and a week for ninja turtle shirt. He liked that idea.

I use differnt sippy cups with bright colors, regular cups with straws connected to them, water bottles, etc. Anything that would entice him to drink I allow him to have. This makes him "need" to pee more often. That way when we go to the potty he feels the need to "go". It seems to be helping, and he's very proud of himself.

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