Seeking Potty Training Advice

I would only use the pull ups at night and when you go out. I was a preschool teacher in a 2year old room and pull ups do not work. Kids know that they are just the same as a diper. I would use the training underwear when you are at home and i would try to stay home for at least a few days. Good luck

I agree with Toni. Make sure that your son is exhibiting readiness signs before trying anything, otherwise you could be in for a very frustrating experience, particularly with a boy. We let my son take the lead and I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Because I work full-time, I didn't have a lot of time to worry about potty training. And since I have another younger child also in diapers, it wasn't that much of an inconvenience for me to have them both in diapers. So when my son was around 2, we starting showing the potty training videos and reading him books about it, even bought a little potty that we kept in the bathroom, but did not press the issue on him going to the potty.

When we were on vacation about 6 weeks after he turned 3, he came up to me and said he wanted to use the potty (to this day I have no idea what prompted it). I put him on the pot, he went poop, and after having the entire family hoot and holler in celebration about it, we immediately went out and bought him pull-ups and really cool underwear with his favorite character (Thomas). He wore the pull-ups at night for about a month, and then we transitioned to regular underwear all the time. That was just about a year ago, and I think we've only had maybe 5-6 accidents total.

All kids are different, and you definitely know your own best, so go with your instincts. I do have to admit, it's nice not having to spend the money on diapers, but for a while right after he was trained, I missed the "convenience" of not always having to know where a bathroom is! :)

I have potty trained my 3 kids and I have always waited for the morning they woke up with a dry diaper. It shows they have the muscle control to hold it for longer periods. This happened just after my girls turned 2 and when my boy turned 3. I think you might be in for a long haul of accidents if you start too early. When they were ready it only took me a solid week to have them completely trained day and night. Don't waste money on pull ups, they just delay the process. Go cold turkey with underwear and don't look back.
Good luck!

Hi A.,
I waited until my son was 3 1/2 to potty train him. We put together a sticker chart to just get him acclamated with the potty process- not to actually go. He was still wearing diapers, but 4 times a day we would put him on the potty. He got 1 sticker for coming into the bathroom, one for taking off his diaper, one for sitting for one minute, one laying down so we could put his diaper back on and 1 for washing his hands. If he got all 5 stickers then he could have a cookie (we used animal crackers and swedish fish).
We did that for two months. Then we knew he could do it by himself- as long as there were no zippers or buttons on his pants. So we set a timer and when it went off we said it was potty break time. If he gave us a hard time, or if he refused to participate willingly then he didn't get the sticker and then at the end he didn't get the cookie. This only happened a few times. After that he knew that he wanted that cookie and that he had to do all 5 things by himself to get it. We did this for another month.
After that I got some M&M's and told him 3 for pee and 5 for poop. This worked for pee, but not for poop. So I went and got some dollar store toys and wrapped them up and told him he could pick out a toy every time he went poop on the potty. That worked awesome. We did that for about two weeks and then faded it out and praised tons instead.
I also just put him in his big boy pants whenever we're at home. We've had a few accidents, but I think that's all part of the process of them getting in tune with what's going on down there. The diapers we have today are so absorbent that I doubt they actually feel that they're going.
Anyway, when we go out we still wear a pull up just in case- but I tell him he can go on the potty if he wants to. And still a pull up for bedtime. He seems to do pee great, but poop is still an issue for him. His teacher said that developmentally he has to get used to pooping sitting down. Usually he's standing up. So I just try and stay off his case. He knows how everything works and what to do, he just has to want to do it. I hope that helps.
Blessings,
J.

I think for a boy you have to wait to 2 1/2 otherwise they are not ready. Start by just having him practice taking his pants on and off because that's have the battle so they can get them off in time. I never used pull ups so if they had an accident they know how bad it feels. I did potty training in a day program on all 3 kids and it worked. you devote that whole day to potty training. and get them to drink alot so they have to pee alot for practice. Good luck

I believe trying to train a 21 month old (especially a boy) would only have you potty trained, not him. I saw my cousins and countless friends take their kids back and forth to the potty numerous times during the day only to get frustrated by the whole effort. Both my boys were trained by 3-1/2 and it was painless. They wore Pull-Ups too and they did quite well with them. It all depends on the kid. I am glad you are ready for potty training but best wait until he is.

Good luck!

When we started potty training our daughter at 30 months, she was waking up from naps and overnight with a dry diaper - that's how we new she was ready. We got the training potty chair and underpants, no training pants or pull ups - under the guidance of her teachers at day care. We took her to the potty about half hour, she had accidents at home for a week, and only a couple at school. We talked going potty and that we do not pee on the floor, only on the potty. and she's been fine. My understanding is that the pull ups only confuse the kids, because they act like a diaper.

C. j

With both my girls, I just put 'em in panties never looked back. (pull-ups for naps and bed-time though) I did have to clean up a few accidents and my oldest was crying for her diaper at first but I stuck to my guns and it was really not bad at all. I too agree with just using the big potty b/c it does make it waaaay easier when you're in public. (we didn't with my first and had to carry around her cover for the first couple months-pain!) Of course, rewards can't hurt either. Good luck!
p.s. I think part of the key to our success was waiting until they were ready (closer to 3 for my oldest and 28 months for my youngest)

A.,

You need to find the method that works the best with your son. Sometimes, it's trial and error. I decided against the pull-ups except for nap/bed time. After about 2 weeks, it was only bedtime.

In truth, the most important advice I received from our daycare center, our pediatrician and the Mama's on this site -no matter what method you use it's up to the child. His/her success depends on whether or not s/he wants to do it.

My son showed the "signs" early on and we had a potty and underwear for him. We'd ask, he'd firmly say "NO!". Then, over 4th of July weekend (2 weeks after turning 3), he said he wanted to go potty. We haven't used a diaper since. He was ready.

So, good luck with it - not using diapers is just awesome! Lol.

T.

I also would like to know how to start this. I am working on training my third child and he is a boy! At times he goes when I do it on the hour, but if I miss one time - he wets the diapers. My hubby and I do not want to have him wear underwear exclusively because of the mess!

My son turned 2 in June and is completely potty trained both number one and two(besides night time.)We started when he was a little over a year. We just left the potty in the bathroom and let him sit on it whenever he felt like it. Then we would go pee pee with him and the bathroom and explain we were going pee pee. He just slowly got interested by himself. We never sat him down or forced him to do anything. You've gotta be very careful because one forced attempt could scare them off the potty and you'll be back to square one.

i agree with what most people said, no pullups (unless for night time or nap time), go straight to underwear and no turning back. stay home for the first couple of days and give him as many salty snacks and juice as he wants so he'll drink a lot and have to pee a lot. it just increases your ability to teach him and help him practice. one other thing i did was go to the dollar store and pick up a ton of little presents. i put them all in a box, unwrapped, and showed it to my daughter the morning we started. after every successful or sort of successful attempt on the potty, she got to pick a present out of the box. she loved it!!! the presents actually lasted for about a week and it really worked. she was trained in about 4 days, and that was it. i plan on doing the same thing with my younger daughter. good luck!!!

I used toilet training in less than a day by dr. anthan h. azrin. and within half a day she was peeing on the potty and by day 3 she was pooping in the potty. It has been about 2 weeks now and she has had 2 accidents. it is great. but you do need to take a whole day off work to complete it. hope that helps

When my daughter was ready to go like a big girl i made some potty charts and every time she went she got to put a sticker on the chart for that day. She loved to show everybody that came over how good she did today. I told her that if she could get 5 stickers every day for the week that we would do something special on sunday night like go for dinner or ice cream her choice, and to my surprise she held me to that and met her goal of 5 stickers every day. And after 2 weeks she didn't need the chart to motivate her anymore. I also got her her favorite charachter panties (blues clues) and told her, "you dont want to pee on blue right?" so every time she had to go she ran as quick as she could so she wouldnt have an accident. You know what will work best for your child. Try a few things and see what works. Good luck.

I started my daughter directly on the toilet - not a potty chair or seat. This way when we were at a public restroom, she would not be afraid, like so many other children are. We started at about 20 months and by 24 months, she was completely potty trained and only wore pull ups at night for about another month and then she said she did not want to wear them anymore. So listen to your child and use their words and actions and you will know what to do.