Need Advice on Toilet Training.

L., it sounds like right now isnt the right time. Kids do go through this sometimes. I would make sure of a couple of things, have you always stayed with underpants or pullups? The reason i ask is, sometimes people will change from pullups to underpants and notice changes in habits. I like the pullups that have that feel wet liner. I wouldnt put too much stress on him, it will come around again. Just keep trying a bit on a daily basis or offer some wonderful reward that he likes (M&M's are good!, so is computer time with appropriate aged games). It's always harder to train boys, dont know why, just what everyone says. My boys were trained at about 3. So, no fear, it will happen. Take your time, he will be big soon!

Just don't give in now...that will give him mixed messages. In my opinion you have to go all out and have not diapers with the exception of a pull up at night. It will be a rough week or two. In addition--- give him an incentive to go on the potty. We used a sticker chart. I let them pick out the sticker to put on the chart each time they went. Then for the first poop on the potty it was a bigger treat (a small toy they wanted). Celebrate their successes and give little attention to the accidents.

Ah yes potty training...one of the many joys of parenting.
We trained our son when he was 2 years and 3 months old. We did it non-stop for a week, tag teamed it...my husband is more patient than me. We had some major accidents, and you will continue to have some minor ones after they are trained. Our son just turned 3 and peed his pants yesterday for no apparent reason...and lied saying he didn't have to pee when he was on the potty. I tell people to LEAVE him there at least 5-10 minutes, sing, tell stories to distract them and he will go.

Our son likes to hold it to the last possible second. So I monitor how much liquid he's intaking...and make sure he goes every 2 hours even if he doesn't tell me, which they won't always tell you.

In the beginning with training him, I started in the bathroom, but then he was stubborn not wanting to go...after 30 minutes in the bathroom I would get frustrated. It was a battle of the wills...so I moved his portable potty to the kitchen tile floor in front of the TV...and made him sit there til he went.

Then it seemed to stick and he got the message of going in the potty. After that we had to watch him like crazy. If he starts doing the dance we scoop him up and run him to the bathroom, no questions or negotiating. And we make him sit there until he goes...remember he's stubborn.

As for night time we cut off the liquids 2-3 hours before bed. Make him pee before going to sleep. And then after he's been sleeping about 3 hours one of us takes him to the bathroom in the middle of the night, we don't say anything or wake him up, just sit him on the toilet. If we take him in the middle of the night, then he wakes up dry.

I refused to buy pull-ups/diapers so once we trained him, there were no more diapers. I heard stories of people training and then putting diapers on...it confuses them. Or my friend put the diaper/pull up on at night to avoid wet sheets...her son held the poop all day until that pull-up/diaper went on and then released it.

Good luck. It gets better with time, I promise. Be sure to always keep a spare set of clothes with you for unplanned accidents.

Dear L.,

I would suggest you go and buy the thick underwear and some plastic covers to go over them. I had about ten underwear and about 3 liners. Make sure that if you are going some where that you take a couple of changes of clothes. I think it is easier on the child if you stick with either underwear or diapers. I know that some people really like pull ups, but I think the kids think they are diapers. As for at night time you can buy plastic covers to protect your matress. For both of my kids and when I potty trained my daycare kids, I would have them go about every 15 mins I wouldn't make them sit for too long. I also had a bowl full of tatoos, m&m's and toys, and even pennies. If they went in the potty, I would give them a small treat. If they told me that they had to go and then went I would give them either a bigger toy or two items. If you praise them for going that helps. If he has an accident just take him and set him on the potty while you are getting new clothes. To make it easier on me, I kept a couple of changes of clothes in the bathroom, under the sink. When I went out the first two weeks were the worst. I made sure that I had about 4 changes of clothes, a plastic bag, and a towel with me. the plastic bag for the wet clothes and the towel incase it leaked onto the car seat. This worked for a friend of mine, I had her husband show her son that daddy wore big boy underwear and that daddy goes potty. When daddy had to go he took the little boy just to show him, after that he kept saying I want to wear big boys like daddy. They will still have accidents, but just remember that if you start and stop the potty training it will confuse him even more. Some kids get it really quickly and others don't. good luck.
B.