Help with the Potty

Hi N.,
My son was completely potty trained by age 3 and it was a breeze. My daughter on the other hand was not so easy. The only thing that worked for us with her was to put her potty in the living room where she could sit on it as long as she wanted and watch TV. She would sometimes sit on it for 20 minutes or so but would go potty every time. After about a week or so of continually going on her Big Girl potty I would move it closer to the bathroom until finally it was in the bathroom. Now she can take a break from whatever she is doing to go potty. Sometimes they are just too "busy" to want to stop and go in the bathroom to go potty so if you leave it out for them where they can be "busy" while going potty it helps. Good luck.
D. M

Hi N.
I have a 5 year old son now but when he was that age, it was rough he never wanted to use it either. One day I just bought those platic training pants at walmart or target and I put those on. Very frustrating becuse he was afraid of the potty but I kind of knew when he pee and pooped so I would hurry up and put him on the potty. I also made a big deal out of the potty I would sing, dance, clap etc. but it eventually worked.I feel bribery(sp)was the way to go :)
Thanks
M. R.

Boys are definately harder to potty train than girls ... my pediatrician told me not to push them ... after all, they are not going to go away to college in diapers. She also said to buy a potty seat to sit on the regular toilet. She seems to think that buying a separate potty for them to learn on only adds another step to the whole process. Then you need to go ahead and train them to go on the big potty! Fruit loops in the potty helped with peeing - aim! I would sit and read books and sing songs, then praise with a special treat after poops. Make a chart and everytime he uses the potty, but a star on the chart. At the end of the week if he has 5 stars (or whatever number you think), he gets to pick out a special $5 treat at the store. It will happen in time. Don't stress out.

Have you tried the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day?". It's supposed to be very effective. I have it but haven't tried it yet. My 2 1/2 year old has been too defiant lately, so I'm waiting. Good luck.

Wait till the weather gets warm and let him run around in the backyard naked. They think it is so fun watching the wee wee come out.. he'll be trained in no time!

Do you live somewhere that he could go outside. I know a family who did this and he LOVED to pee outside on a tree(man thing)!
Since dadddy is home with him during the day, they could do this "event" together. Have daddy go with him to the potty as well and they could play target practice with cheerios! Men are men no matter how old they are!

I haven't been successful yet (mine is 3), but he's moved past m&m's and now wants a peppermint patty every time. Sometimes he'll push himself to go just to get one. My 19 month old is closer to being potty trained than my 3 year old. It's not easy! And all my friends/relatives have kids who potty trained easy and young. It's just not fair!

Hi N.,

It can be frustrating but your son needs to stay on a consistant schedule so he relates. I have twins who are much older now but I had them potty trained by your sons age, and it was not an easy task. What I did was take them to the potty every morning at the SAME time, then in the afternoon at the same time, and right before bed at the SAME time. Also I at the time bought them stickers that they loved and each time they went in the potty had a huge poster board in their room they could choose a sticker and put it on for them. They got the hang really quick, please email me if you need any further suggestions, I hope this helps

My oldest was 3 1/2 when she finally trained successfully, but only because her infant sister came home and we reinforced the concept that diapers were for BABIES and she was a big girl and now needed to wear big girl underwear.

My second daughter was 2 when I watched an episode of Dr. Phil that gave tips about potty training in a day. I certainly didn't want to wait it out until SHE was ready like he sister, so I tried it out, and it worked!! Basically, he advised to take the potty out of the bathroom and put it in the family room or other room they spend a lot of time in for easy access. He said to explain that you were taking off their diaper, and that meant that they could go potty whenever they felt they needed to. My daughter chose to sit on the potty to watch her favorite a.m. show -- Sesame Street. While sitting there, she tinkled a small amount in the potty without realizing it until she heard the sound it made! She jumped up to tell me about it and I praised her up and down. (Dr. Phil's advice too.) He also said to make a big deal out of it with other family members on the first day it happened by throwing a "potty party." We did just that. My husband brought home balloons and a couple of very small "gifts" from the dollar store. I told her that we would have a special pizza dinner (her favorite) and sundaes for dessert. Her older sister told her over and over what a big girl she was to go on the potty, and my little one just beamed with all of the attention!

The next day she went to the store with me to purchase her "big girl" Sesame Street underwear, and she couldn't wait to put them on. We kept the potty in the family room during the day and continued to reinforce her by encouraging her try to go after meals and before bed. We put a pull up on at night, but for whatever reason, she didn't wet them.

Another idea that helped was to let her get some special smelling handsoap (especially if she can pick it out) that was just for her to use to wash her hands after using the potty. Every time we saw someone we knew, we let her tell them about her accomplishment. If your son doesn't have his own stool to reach the sink, getting one and painting his name on it will inspire him too. (It's also handy for making him tall enough to "hit the bowl" when he goes too...)

Best of luck -- hope this helps!

My son is over 4 years old. I've been frustrated with his lack of interest in the "potty". My advice is to not push toilet training. It can cause regression in your child. When they are ready, it will probably come very quickly. As long as you talk about it, read potty books, or watch potty DVD's, your child understands the process and when emotionally ready will start the process. Some boys aren't ready until 4 1/2 or 5. I think I have one of those. Hope this helps a little!