J.F.
Please give up expecting your 28 month old to be potty trained. It sounds like it is an exercise in frustration for both of you! It has been my experience, after potty training 5 children, that most kids really aren't truly ready until around the age of 3. Now, many other moms will say that their little bundle of joy was potty trained at 18 months or 2 or whatever, and there may be that exception here and there, but I actually think they were just the lucky exceptions! My very verbal very intelligent oldest child was around two and a half when I figured she could potty train. She actually did fairly well, most of the time. But the stress of having to remember all of the time made her a wreck! She told me to throw her potty chair in the garbage one day! I just decided that the tears and the frustration, for both of us, was not worth it and put it away. She still went on the potty when she wanted to, but we just shelved the "training" for a while. I began to let her know that when she was 3, the garbage man takes your diapers away, so you have to where big girl underwear by then and so about two weeks before her birthday, I decided we better start again and she was ready. Two days later she was totally trained. Same with daughter number 2, minus the earlier attempt at training. Daughter # 3's response when I told her that the garbage man took her diapers away was to tell me to just go to the store and buy more! With two older kids, I waited until she was a little over 3, during the summer when I had time to dedicate and again, potty trained in 2 days. Son #1 also waited until he was 3 and a couple months until I could stay home for a few days and focus and he was trained in two days. Son # 2 was very similar to your son. Had no interest in anything having to do with the toilet. Didn't seem to care if he was wet or dry or poopie. However, he did not go in the potty when we put him on either. I didn't push it. After all, with 4 older kids, I was pretty busy and diapers are a little easier than dealing with the potty! Lazy I know, but since he was not interested I just let it go. However, when I finally did decided to force the issue when he was a little over 3, he just kept wetting his undies and really didn't seem to feel the "urge" in time to get to the potty. One day my cousin's little girl came over and went potty in the big potty. Suddenly, my son decided that he needed to do this too and low and behold, potty trained in two days! I'm tellin ya, 3-31/2 is the magic number. If there isn't a real reason for potty training, like day care won't let him in, (although if this was the case, I'd find a new daycare personally!), or some other reason that makes it absolutely necessary, why push it? He really just doesn't seem to be really ready. If m&ms or some other favorite treat doesn't do it, you are probably just a little early. His little brain just isn't there yet. He's still only 2. Don't force it. It will come naturally a little later. Now, I wouldn't wait til he's 4 or anything, but when he turns 3, he may be a little more mature and interested in the whole process. Until then, it will just be a control issue that could backfire with it taking longer than ever for him to become reliably potty trained. Many of my friends that have tried to force the issue before their children were ready ended up making it a very negative experience for the child, and it became a major control issue between mom and child and ends up just causing a lot of negative feelings and makes potty training take longer and be a miserable experience for everyone involved. Stop, take a breath and relax. He will figure it out. Wait a while for the formal training and meanwhile, let him go on the potty before bath time, or if he says he wants to here and there, making it very no pressure. I'm tellin ya, when he is three ish, it will be a snap! Good luck!
