My 2.5 year old son was doing pretty good on his little potty we bought, but daycare's no longer allow them, so i went and bought the football potty seat that sits on the big potty and he is now terrified. I don't know what to do. I need i deas of how to get him to sit on this potty so he can see its not a scary thing... i tried letting him blow bubbles on the potty, stickers, books.. you name it.. its not working.. please help!
Why Sit? Have him stand on a small stoll and pee into the potty. A trick I used with my 2 boys was to have them sink cheerios. They loved it. This worked for them. The poop thing came just a little later but their fear was gone by then. Good Luck.
C., Mother of 5.
Are you sure he's ready? Sometimes when you introduce the potty early children tend to shy away from it. My advice is to give your son a small break. Then when your ready start reading the potty book for boys. You can still use the football chair but start off by just focusing on
urinating. Let him sit down holding his private (aiming down)once he's accomlplished a one time result, sit down and sing to him or reward him with a little something. Don't forget to encourage the potty every two hours, the human blader voids every two to three hours.
Good Luck
One of the best pieces of advice we ever received was that self-toileting was a developmental milestone just like any other, crawling, walking, and to lead/encourage as you would any other developmental skill but let your childs response guide the way from there. It sounds as if your son had been testing things out but for now is pulling back - maybe try another type of seat to be certain it is not the football seat - if you and his daycare are comfortable with him being in diapers - I would just let nature take the course on his development through this process. When they are "ready" they will want to use the potty and not look back.
I have a son who just finished potty training (hooray) and he will be 4 in September. So, 2.5 might be young for your son. However, perhaps you should continue to use the potty chair at home. It makes him "go potty" then it is a good thing. You shouldn't change his routine too much. At daycare, if they are not using a potty, they will help him use the toilet. Plus, he will get over his fear when he sees other children sitting on the toilet. Overall, I have to say that unless your son is pretty large, he may be intimidated by the size of the toilet. Give him some more time on the potty. Remember, the key is letting him learn to recognize the signs when he needs to go consistently. Does he have that one down yet? If not, don't disrupt that important lesson with trying to transition to a different seat.
I had to put my son on the toilet backwards so he could see the water and see himself go and that worked for us. The hard part was getting him to poop in the big toilet but thanks to lots of bribery he did it.
My son did the same thing. I actually put some food coloring like blue or something. He ended up like seeing the color that his pee made.
Hi C.,
Why doesn't your daycare allow potty chairs now? I would talk to them regarding this problem and see if they will allow the use of his potty chair. There isn't any law that I could find banning potty chairs in daycares. Sometimes toddlers are afraid of the big toilet because it is some much higher and has water in it. Good luck!
Sincerely,
L.
Try letting him stand. Just get a stool and keep it by the pot. My son only did this since 20 months (mind you sitting for a bowel movement) but heck, daddy stands to pee and well "that's cool". We threw goldfish in the pot and let him aim! Peeing is FUN!!!!!
GOOD LUCK!
Get a bunch of potty books and stack them next to the toilet. Also, make sure he can climb up easily to sit on the toilet. My son refuses to sit on the toilet, so we have a stool that is very secure that he lugs around to stand on when he poops. He never really sat to pee he always wanted to stand. I just threw some goldfish crackers in the toilet and told him to sink them! You've got some great advice from everyone. I hope you find what works for your little man!
I just potty trained my 3 year old son. I have been trying for the past 6 months. He just wasn't ready. We did the same thing-books, toys, stickers, etc.. The one I did not try, which another mother suggested was M&Ms.
What finally worked was just stripping him naked one hot weekend, and he made a few boo-boos on the floor, but by Sunday evening was peeing in the potty.
Hi, I just read this and a couple of things spring to mind:
1) Children often revert to diapers (nappies), just when we think: great! He is trained now! Be patient, eventually he will get it.
2) Try a different potty (I assume you mean Toilet) seat. my 2.9 years old hates anything which is too small. He doesnt like conventional potties or toilet seats, as he likes sitting wiiiiide astride the normal toilet seat. (btw, they recommend all children, regardless of sex, being trained peeing sitting down. For a 2+ year old, peeing like a grown up, with no nappies, is a big deal. Dont make it even bigger of a deal by asking him to aim! Whenever my son goes to the loo in restaurants etc, where the toilet seat may not be that clean, I help him to pee standing up and he is petrified he will make a mess. if sitting down, I have to remove his shoes, even socks (!!!) trousers and underpants, so that he can sit astride. Pain, I know, but it does the trick .
3) For a poo (and I assume this is your biggest problem here), try and make time for him when he goes at home. I sit next to him, we talk, it is a calm time, you may try reading books to him too. mine loves this time sooo much, he makes a poo last up to 45 minutes, purely because it is fun! (a different problem altogether!)
4) He may be scared of the splashback. Put some loo paper down the loo, before he goes. This will cushion the splash. (sorry so graphic; that´s motherhood for you!)
5) Although it never happened with my son, I read in a few of the toddler books, that some toddlers are terrified of their own "body Product" being flushed away. Show him the poo (even if it is from the potty, being tipped into the toilet bowl), explain where it is going and wave goodbye. Yes, quite literally: Bye bye poo!!! (in a cheerfull manner)
6) Talk to the daycare. They may hurry the children (my son never goes there, he saves it up for home). They may have flushed the toilet whilst the child was sitting on it. They may force him when he doesn¨t want to go.
Then again, it may be just a whim, that your 2.5 year old is perfectly entitled to.
Best of luck, hope you found some of it useful!.
L. x
