Hello everyone. My little boy will be 3 next week. I am in the process of trying to sign him up for some summer camps, but cannot get him in anywhere b/c he is not potty trained. Does anyone have a good method that has worked quickly? We have done the Potty Time CD, which he found entertaining, but it did not help. Should he be in pull-ups? He will go pee-pee in the big boy pottie, but only at bathtime. Any advice would be welcomed! Thanks!!
Thank you all so much for the advice! And yes, the answer is that a child CAN be potty trained in 3 days! I am so glad we skipped the pull=ups and went straight to "big boy" underwear, as most of you suggested. We used major bribes on day one; a matchbox car every time he went! (My child is not bribed easily; he does not care for candy, so it had to be worth his effort!) The next day we made a big poster that said "I used my big boy pottie!" Every time he went, he got to choose a sticker and put it on his poster. We then wrote the date below the sticker. He loved this, and was so excited to show his Daddy his stickers at the end of each day. After about 5 days, he forgot about the stickers, and has had only 3 accidents since May 30!!! Thanks so much for the great advice!!!
I have trained several children with and without disabilities, I trained my own daughter at 14 months. I'd be glad to help. You can call for help. Let me know if you would like, I can do phone consultation or I do in home training.
Please try to train him but do not rush him or be impatient with him because he isn't doing fast enough. It is one of those things that even after they 'get' they will take some time to be consistent and not have any accidents. Also, though he may become trained for going #1 in the potty, most kids will take more time to go #2 in the potty.
Spend the next few days beign consistent on taking him to the potty every 5/10/15 whatever interval works for you so that he keeps going in the potty and not in his pull-ups. Try getting the cool temperature pull-ups so that he can feel the wetness. Make a big deal that we went in the potty. Sing/dance... whatever makes him want to do it again. Bribes are allowed here, too. :-)
Good luck and lots of patience.
It took me a week to potty train my girl, I put her in panties and would take her to sit on the toilet every hour, the first day had three accidents so then I changed it to every 30 min. I would praise her and give her a sticker or an m&m everytime she would go. I did this for the next two days and by the third day she started getting it and I kept asking her if she had to go potty, then she started telling me when she had to go. This was in March now she goes to the toilet on her own and will call me to clean her. Kids are smart and catch on quickly. What took longer was the poop, she had two accidents she would tell me she had to go but I guess was scared to let go. Finally the second week she was doing both in the toilet like a pro. You just really have to work with them and keep taking them to the toilet. Good luck!
My co-worker told me about a book that she read called How to Potty Train In One Day (or something like that). She said she had to get her daughter trained fast. The book said to disconnect the phone for the whole day and NO TV or any other distractions. Give the child lots of salty snacks (crackers, pickles, olives) to make them thirsty and want water. Keep the potty near by and put him on it everytime he needs to go. She said it worked for her in a day but I could never find a whole day to devote to it. Sounds like a great idea if you're in a pinch though.
pull ups are just diapers the kids can pull up and down themselves. they feel just like diapers so the kids do not feel like anything has changed and will likely not go in the toilet. one thing that works(but is gross in the process) is letting them run around naked for awhile. The feeling of having nothing on to catch the pee makes them go to the toilet quicker. That is, IF he is ready. If he is not ready and you push him to be trained by Monday, it could take longer in the long run. good luck.
We potty trained our son last Labor Day weekend, he turned 3 that September 20. Anyway, we were camping at the lake and just let him run around in underwear and peepee outside...
Go naked, it works. Let him run around without a diaper or underwear for the weekend. He will pick it up fast. If you go anywhere just put underwear on and no pull ups or diaper. My son treated pullups like a diaper. He probably is being lazy and doesn't know what to do when he needs to go. Practice all weekend and I bet he will pick it up. Good Luck!
I highly recommend just going to underwear. It worked like a charm for our daughter when she was 2.5. We had tried teaching going potty, trats, etc, but she would only go occasionally becasue she still knew she could go in her diaper. We planned one weekend to just get it over with, built her up for it (no more diapers after tonight...tomorrow you will be a big girl!)
We put her in underwear in the morning. She had one accident, and we rushed her to the potty. She did not like the felling of going on herself. That was it. She used the potty all day and we made a huge deal of her successes, with skitttles, calls to grandma, etc. She has been potty trained ever since. She may be an exception, but I think she was just ready and needed that push to get out of diapers. I think pull ups would have just delayed the process. SHe does wear them at night, and sometimes I know whe wakes up dry in the morning, then just goes in ehr pull up ebcasue she know she can. But enver in her underwear.
If he is ready, he may surprise you and do it in a day or so. Can't hurt to try! Oh yeah, she also loved the movie Potty Power. she still does : )
He should be in at least pull-ups... some mom's choose to just put their kids in underwear. If the kid doesn't like being wet, then this could be a quick, but messy way of getting the point across. I think it really just is a training process... take him to the potty every hour (I know that isn't easy with 10 month olds around!) Then give him an M&M or Skittle when he goes.
Just try not to push too hard, and try to make it fun. It's a tough task, but if your son's ready... then it's not impossible.
-A.
