Seeking Advice on Toilet Training My 3 Yr Old Son

I know this sounds mean, however, it was the only that worked for me when my son was 3 1/2 and still using the potty. First let me say we tried rewarding him with his favorite Thomas toys and that worked for a while then that wore off!! I actually had to give him about a 6 week advanced warning that if he was not using the potty he would NOT be going on his fieldtrip with this pre-school classmates. Needless to say he awoke that morning and refused to use the potty so he did not go on the trip. I stayed home from work that morning and took him to pre-school AFTER they all got back.

He was upset,as you can imagine, but has never worn diapers since then. My doctor told me there are very few things can control: eating, sleeping and potty training. They will hold on to that control for as long as they can!

Hope this helps and doesn't sound too mean.

If he will only pee in the potty when naked, I have to guess that he knows he is not "protected" then, which compells him to go into the potty. I might try to transition him from the protection of a diaper (or pull up or even underwear since it still feels like he's covered) while still giving him that "naked" feeling. Maybe when you are at the house, just have him walk around in baggy shorts or sweatpants without anything underneath. This will get him used to having to pull down clothing in order to go to the bathroom while at the same time giving him more of that sense of exposure that being naked gives.

Good luck!

hey there S.!

i was just s desperate when my son was about to turn 3!!!
a few months before his b-day i came home from work, told myself "that's it" took his pants off and let him run around in his "big boy" underwear... it took him a few times to realize that being wet wasn't fun before he would beg to go potty... after that, i made sure i asked every 15 minutes "Devin, do you need to go potty?" he would get tired of me constantly asking him that he would respond "mommy, stop! i will tell you when i want to potty!!" he's had a few minor accidents, but so far he is doing wonderful.

Another thing that helps, is praise their effort, not only for completing the potty job, but for trying to go... they will see how much their effort is valued

My friend tried the "Cheerio" trick... throw a few cheerios in the toilet and have your son try to sink them!!! it's fun, and keeps them going...

I am a mother of 2 boys 6 & 2. I used a this book with great success for both. Don't be fooled by the title, it will take more like 3 or 4 days and must be followed to the letter. It will require you to give your child total uninterrupted attention for about 4 or 5 hours. This means no spouse or siblings present. no phone or door calls etc.

"Toilet training in less than a day" by Nathan H. Azrin & Richard M. Foxx

Good luck!

S.,

I had my second daughter do exactly the same thing. When I sat back to figure out what to do it occured to me that we weren't providing her the same monkey see monkey do routine we provided our first daughter. Does your little man see your husband AND you go to the bathroom? I now have a son and my husband will also SIT when he goes for him at first as little boys don't need to know how to shoot and aim at this point, just that they need to feel comfortable using the potty or toilet. The lack of aim can be a source of dissapointment for little boys learning to use the potty. If you don't already, both of you should make a huge deal out of using the toilet. Once he's got the hang of it and gets just a little bigger then daddy can start showing him how to be a BIG boy.

Once we realized what we were forgetting, it wasn't long at all before she began using the potty, dressed to shoes or not.

Best of luck!!

Blessings,
Rolinda

My son, who is now 5, was the same way. I tried everything from putting regular underwear on him to those "trainers", nothing worked. Finally I bought him boxer underwear... and started putting him in his bed with no pull-up on. After wetting his bed a couple of times and being told that if he didn't start going potty ALL the time he'd have to go back a crib and diapers, "miraculously" he had no further troubles. Everyone told me "don't push him, it'll take longer if you try to force it...", but at almost 4 I had had enough.

Good luck!!

Have you tried offering a special treat or singing a favorite song for him if he keeps his clothes on? Just a thought.

Have you tried a reward system? I bought a chart at Staples and did the sticker thing, they love seeing the chart filled with stickers and at the end we added them up and gave him a quarter for each sticker that he could buy a toy with. You can give more or less for and do it weekly? Good luck.

Does he wear pants with snaps? Even if he's wearing elastic pants, there may be too many steps involved in pulling pants down and peeing in the potty.

Both my kids were 4 when potty trained. So was my nephew. It's natural for boys to take a bit longer.

S.,
My son is just 3 and fairly newly potty trained. We are experiencing almost the same thing as you. He will use the potty only if his shoes, shorts and underwear are all off (he can have his shirt on).

I started a reward system for putting on his clothes afterward all by himself with a sticker chart. It seems to be helping. If he at least dresses himself afterward, then I don't really care if he insists on taking everything off-- for now. It will really be cumbersome in the winter. Hopefully he will figure that out as well and start just pulling his pants down to his ankles!

Good luck and I will check on your responses to see if anyone else has some good ideas.

J.