My son will be 3 March 30... and still isn't potty trained. We have been working with him but he absolutely refuses. He says he wants to be a baby like his sister. His sister is almost 3 months old. He has used the potty before but now he will not even go near it. I've tried the Cheerios in the toilet for him to aim at but that isn't working. I told him that Elmo doesn't like it when he potties in his underwear. When he does go potty in the toilet we congratulate him and say good job and all that stuff.. but now he won't do it, he will stand in the living room 5 seconds after I ask him if he has to go and then he will pee on the floor. I take him to the bathroom about every 30 minutes and ask him numerous times if he has to go. Still nothing. I am going crazy and going out of my mind.
Well we gave it all a rest for a bit. Let him do his own thing.. Well one day, his dad took him to the potty and we had a BIG celebration. Well from that day on, he has went pee in the toilet. He doesn't have accidents at night and he barely has accidents during the day. I am so proud of him. Thanks for the wonderful advice.
I had the same issue with my son after his brother was born, and we did the reward system and everytime he would pee or poop in the toilet he would get a piece of candy. Then when he got tired of the candy we did a reward calendar and for say he went 1 week with out peeing (to start out with) he would go and get to pick out a toy that costs like $10. And so on, and so forth. I hope this helped you some.
Bobbie,
I agree with Wendy. Just let it go. If he starts to show interest, give him lots of atta-boys ! If he has an accident, just be ok with it. Less stress for you and him.
If he's in cloth underpants may I suggest plastic pants over his underwear, if you aren't already using them? K-mart still sells them. They might help catch some of the wetness and prevent it from getting all over. They also create a little more of an uncomfortable feeling to the wearer when wet. Not too bad, mind you, just enough to let them know they have just wet themselves. Sometimes that's all it takes to expedite the process.
Also, he could be feeling that it might be to his advantage to be a baby like his sister. Greener grass and all that!
There are three things you cannot *make* a child do: eat, sleep and go to the potty. Don't turn it into a power struggle, just let him do his thing and praise him when it is correct. Regressions are super common, especially with little siblings. Also, he is only 3. Loads of kids are still learning well into age four. Potty training can take quite a while to master. Just an example, my daughter began wearing panties two months before her second birthday. It took 12 months for her to finally poop in the toilet and she has gone through 2 regressions since she mastered #2 and she will be four in two months. We're all in the same boat with you - have patience!
the library has a video called potty dance i think thats the name it asks them to bring their potty chair in front of the tv and they sing along and go potty with it my son is 13 now but i had the same problem you never know until you try good luck
I had the same problem when I brought home my youngest. I had Tiger on G-man's 3rd birthday. My son was completely trained until my mother watched him and left him in pull ups the two days I was in the hospital then oh boy. It's really an attention getter at this point.
The best thing to do is to stay as emotionless as possible. Just clean him up, set him on the potty for a few minutes and go on. No negative comments or mad faces--Poker Face Mom. After all he like negative attetion as well as positive attheniotn. Is it possible to let him go bottomless right now? Do it. Or just put him in pants and leave him even if he's wet.
Now since you're retraining him, set a timer for every 15 minutes instead of waiting every 30 and don't ask, just take him. Infact, stop asking questions all together because constant questions create a feeling of insecurity in a child. It's going to require extra effort but you'll get faster results.
For me I "wore" my youngest unless I was going to potty. That made it easier to just take the middle boy to the potty. I didn't have to worry about upsetting the baby.
Hi Bobbie,
I would say that first since he has a new sister in the house give it a rest for awhile. You are in a power struggle right now for one you can ask him but he holds the power on wether he is gonna go or not. So for awhile don't say anything about it put him in a diaper or pullup which ever he is in currently. The new baby is getting alot of attention right now and he's getting attention for the potty thing, even though you may be playing with him, reading a book whatever the case. He still feels like the main focus on him is the potty thing. I just recently got my daughter potty trained and she has a 4 month old little sister. I didn't say anything about the potty until 3 weeks ago. She would go occasionaly but not on a consistent basis. So I waited for the newness of the new sister wore off. Wait like 2 weeks then on a monday morning tell him no more pullups or diapers which ever. And the only times he wears them is at bedtime (if needed). I've had a number of kids that I have watched over the years and there are all different kinds of things that effect kids and potty training new siblings are one of them. I know its frustrating but let it be for awhile and it will all come together. W. home child care provider and mom of 4
my x in laws helped me with mine. my oldest had to be retrained after a mnth in the hospital so i was having trouble getting him to go in the toilet or tell me. my father in law suggested a coffee can. they like to hear the noise he said. wala my nephews mine and even my nieces were trained like that. it may help its worth the try. also you might have his dad take him in there also.
We had problems with my daughter (now 3) to go period. She had a stomach virus when she was potty training & I guess it scared her. Anyways, how we got her to go in the potty... we had a potty parade. It sounds kind of cheesy, but it worked (and we were willing to try everything). We told her if she went in the potty we would have a big potty parade. After she went in the potty, we broke out the wooden spoons & pots & pans & marched around the living room & kitchen. She had the greatest time. The hardest part was actually stopping the potty parade after she was trained! Good luck!
My daughter did the same thing after lil' brother was born. Just give it some time. Does his undies have Elmo on them? We told our daughter Elmo and Dora don't like it when she pee-pees on them! It seemed to help some! Good Luck!
I took mine until he was over age 3 to potty train completely. We asked the doctor about it and he said it would happen and just be patient. I don't have any magic words of wisdom because we were in the same boat. We did stop using his pull ups during the day and that helped quite a bit. Only an occasional accident. Good Luck and be patient!
I took my son to U.S. Toy and we picked out stickers and 4 toys. When we got home we made a potty chart to put on the refirgerator. Every time he went potty or poop in the toilet he got a sticker, if he had an accident we had to take 2 down. For the first toy he had to earn 5 stickers then for the second toy he had to earn 10 stickers and so on. After the second toy he was accident free. Hope this helps!
