Potty Training 2 1/2 Year Old Boy - Standing up or Sitting Down?

I was told to start him sitting, because it will make it easier to train him to poop. If they start peeing standing up, a lot of boys don't get how or why they need to sit to poop. It's really easy for them to learn to pee standing up once they have it all down, but while you're starting, have him sit.

We taught our son sitting. He did fine with that when we went out too. We taught him to point it down so that he didn't pee everywhere, it worked most of the time with the occasional accidents. Eventually he decided he wanted to peepee standing up like daddy and now does that. At home we have a stool. When we are out and the toilets are too high, I usually have him stand on my feet and that gives him just enough height to be able to go. If the seat is really high (like a handicap toilet) I just make him sit. Just make sure he holds on and doesn't fall in - LOL. Luckily, we didn't have too many problems with him pooping in the potty - he'll do that wether we're home or out :) By the way, my son was a little over 2 1/2 when he was potty trained. He's not quite 3 1/2 yrs now. Good luck!

I agree that it's much easier to train boys sitting, because when they need to poop that helps them do that at the same time (and early on it is hard for them to tell sometimes whether they need to pee or poop)

A GREAT tip I got was, when we were out, to sit my son on the toilet seat backwards (facing the tank with legs spread). Then he can safely balance on the toilet without fear of falling in. Now that he's a little older (3.5) and can go by himself, he still often goes that way rather than putting on the potty seat.

Sometimes he'll go standing up but we had it happen once that the stool slid out from under him and he fell. This was scary for him - it seems to take a fair amount of balance and aim to get right, so I think better to wait until he is older.

We started my son with sitting down but once the novelty of the potty wore off, he wasn't interested. So then we switched to standing. That went much better. He thought it was fun to stand over the adult potty and pee in it like a big boy. We bought an inexpensive step stool for him to stand on. Aiming has never been a problem unless he is talking while peeing and turns to look at who he is talking to. We initially threw a piece of cereal (cheerios or fruit loops) into the toilet and told him to aim for it but he really didn't need anything to aim for other than the water in the toilet which makes a sound when the urine hits it which is enough motivation for him.

When we are out at a public restroom, if the toilet is high, I either have him stand on my feet which raises him up higher or I lift him up by his armpits. I'm grateful that some stores (like Ikea) keep a step stool in their family restroom.

You should keep in mind that although it would be great to have him potty trained before your next child is born, many children regress back to diapers when a new baby enters the home. For that reason, we waited until my second born was a few weeks old before we potty trained because I figured, why potty train twice. Good luck, congrats on the new baby and I hope potty training goes well. Every child is different and every child learns to use the potty so I'm sure he will learn according to his pace and his preferences.

My son is newly potty trained and he sits. I carry his potty seat with us when we're out an about (its the kind that goes on the big potty). Ours doesn't have the cup that sticks up, but he knows to push it down. I put it in a plastic bag and put it in a tote bag (I use one of the reusable shopping bags) along with a couple bags for soiled clothes, wipes, and 2 extra sets of clothes...just in case. I think having his seat with him helps make him comfortable at going in public, plus it protects him from germy public bathrooms (I always disinfect it as soon as we get home).

We just potty trained my son who is 2 1/2 and I am due in 10 weeks. I received some good advice on here. The best I received was to have him sit until he is fully potty trained and then teach him to stand after pooping is going really well. I use diego covers that stick to the toilet and they are great. I bought them on amazon and they work great! Also, I potty trained using the method found on this website... www.3daypottytraining.com and her method was simple and worked great! It costs $24 and to me was worth every penney. Plus she has a helpdesk so you can submit questions and she usually responds within 12 - 24 hours. Check it out, it helped us!

I think he should continue sitting down for the foreseeable future.
He's more stable and doesn't need to aim.

I have a son the same age and we're also working on potty training too. We have done sitting down so far, yet there was a time or two that he straddled his toddler-sized toilet which I thought was great that he did that on his own (of course no urine came out but it was worth a try). Last night with the cousins on Thanksgiving, the 1st grader went to go teach my son how to pee on the tree. My son said "mine not working" which I thought was adorable.

I like Jae's insight.

So whenever you DO teach him to aim, try giving him something to aim at (a tree) or do what my mom did and draw a boat on a piece of toilet paper, place in the toilet and tell your son to 'sink the boat!'