Potty Training - Westfield, IN

i just went through this with my son. he's almost three (in august). as soon as he turned 2 my family thought it was time for him to be potty trained. but he had other ideas and it wasn't as easy as just wanting him to do it. we tried but i never really pushed it on him, i'd just ask if he had to go potty and if he wanted to go on the "big potty". sometimes he would but mostly it was a no. but then i had a new baby and diapers got too expensive so i tried harder. i still didn't force it i just started telling him that his friends were big and went on the big potty. and that big boys don't potty in thier diapers. i bought some diego underwear and at first he didn't want to wear them but i just kept trying and telling them how cool they were, etc. then it was just like a lightbulb went off and one day he just decided he wanted to do it. he let me put the underwear on and i told him if he went potty in the big potty and NOT his underwear he would get baseball candy. he had a couple accidents and asked for the candy and i told him he had to go in the potty NOT his pants. and the next thing i knew he was headed towards the bathroom. it worked very well and after a couple days he even stopped asking for the treats. he only had 6 accidents. that's only been 2 months ago but he's doing GREAT! sometimes he goes just a little in his underwear b/c he waits too long but he always goes in the potty.
i truly believe it's all in THEIR time not ours. he's my oldest but i've heard boys are harder than girls to train. and many people i've talked to said thier boys were like mine and just decided one day on their own it was time. he literally went from not caring at all one day to running to the bathroom every time the next day. let him pick out his underwear and make a big deal out of it. my son showed everyone his cool big boy underwear. and he picks out which ones he wants to wear everyday. then get something he really likes and doesn't get on a regular basis and show it to him and keep it in his sight but out of reach and tell him that he has to go in the potty and he can have it. (this is what i did with the baseball candy) he could see it so he was reminded what he had to do to get it. once he went he would run to the candy and wait for his reward, it worked wonders!!!!
good luck!!!!

Hi A.. I am going through something similar with my almost 3 year old son. He went for a while and then got scared when another little boy flushed the potty while he was on it at day care. Unfortunately I don't have any advice as I'm looking for some myself but I just wanted to say good luck. I'll be reading your responses too. I wouldn't pay much attention to other people that say he should be potty trained because I feel like every child is different and he'll get it when he's ready. I have to tell myself that everyday, can you tell? E. B.

My son is 3 1/2, and he just got fully potty trained about 2 months ago! It was a process, but i found that if i did'nt force him, he went. I think it's more of a control issue with some kids. I used to sit him on the potty, make him sit for awhile, ask him constantly if he had to go during the day, etc. etc. to no avail. I was also using the pull-ups at the time. Eventually, i realized that the pull-ups were too much like diapers, and gave him no motivation to want to go in the potty. Even the ones that claim to have a 'cool' alert when your child wets in them, or the ones that keep the wetness next to his skin, they did'nt work. It did'nt phase him. Eventually, i bought 'Big Boy' underwear for him to wear and be just like Daddy. I also laid off on asking him 8 million times a day, and dropped it down to only a few.;) I would look for body 'clues' that he may have to go potty, and then ask. He also liked his new underwear so much, he was afraid of going in them, and volunteered to sit on the potty all by himself! Of course, we had to make a BIG deal of it when he did go...clap, applaud, the whole bit. He made a point to say 'bye-bye' to his poop or pee, and then flushed it by himself.

So, the key with my three year old was having a little bit of control and independence in the matter. Doing it on his own terms, with minimal prompting from mom. The 'Big Boy' underwear helped too! Letting him pick out which underwear he wants helps too. He still has minimal accidents, but only when he waits too long to go because he's wrapped up in playing. Accidents are few and far between. I know each child is different, but maybe this approach will work with your son as well! I love my children, but i DREAD when it comes time to potty train them!!! Good luck!

my daughter did the samething, she was doing great and then took a break from the potty. i ended up just putting undies on her and that worked great. we set potty timers at first like every 45 mins then every hour ect, you know how often your son goes im sure... we also did potty treats a tootsieroll or other small candy for going pee and a toy or book for going poop. (go to the dollar store they have cheap toys and cute buckets to keep "prizes") after about a month of thast we graduated to a potty chart and stickers and at the end of the week she got to go pick a toy from toys r us.... did that for about a month and now shes fully potty trained even at night!.... i know your worried about him moving to an older classroom but this could be a good thing bc when he sees the other kids going potty he will want to also! good luck i hope this helped!

I have a 2 3/4 yr. old son and he too has NO interest in the potty. about 6 months ago he wanted to sit on it all the time and I thought great but then all of a sudden he wants nothing to do with it. I asked my ped about it and he said don't potty train him...he'll tell you when he's ready. If you push him it'll be alot of frustration not only for him but for you as well. So I've been taking that advice. I still ask him if he wants to got potty and he still says no so I just say ok and go on with it. I wish he would become interested in it but I can't make him. So I'm following my ped's advice and just letting him take his time.

Good luck.....you're not alone

The best advice I ever got on this whole potty training thing was from my pediatrician. She said, there is no "training" in potty training. This is about control. She also told me that in all her years she has yet to see a healthly child leave for college still wearing diapers.
In our house, my 3.5 year old guy did it all on his own. We just gave him a motivator. I asked him what did mommy have to do to get him to wear underwear instead of diapers. Was there something he wanted? He told me he really wanted a basketball. I told him if he wore underwear and peed and pooped in the potty instead of diapers for two weeks, then we would buy him one. He agreed to the terms and it only took him two days to master it without accidents.
My girlfriend at preschool was worrying herself over the potty issue. Her little guy was very resistant to the idea. So finally she told him that mommy was going to stop asking him and bothering him about the potty anymore. If he wanted to wear diapers that was fine, just let her know when he wanted to try the potty again. Sure enough, by the end of the week he was in underwear and using the potty full time.
Best of luck to you. I hope you find what works for you and your little guy. And any time well meaning people offer "advice" that I don't agree with, I always blame my pediatrician. :)-J.

I don't have much advice except to make a really big deal about him using the potty and NEVER make him feel bad for not using it.
As for your parents, tell them children potty train on average between the ages of 2-4 and until he hits his 5th birthday, you won't worry and neither should they!
Good Luck!

We are trying to "retrain" our 5-year old daughter because she does NOT want to go potty. She didn't have many accidents, but she would hold it so long that she would develop infections. She would do the "potty dance" and still say she didn't have to go. Our doctor recommended having her sit on the potty every 2-3 hours. She resists this, but since I bought a dry erase board that she can color on while she's on the potty, she has been much more willing. Even if all she does is try, she still gets a sticker afterwards for trying. Maybe giving him something to do such as draw, read a book, etc. will help him want to sit on it. Good luck!

Hello, A.! I have a 3 yr. 3 month old son who is also NOT potty trained. Every child adjusts at his own maturity, and that's one thing we as parents have to realize. It's frustrating to expect our children to mature in certain areas, when they're not ready. And it's even harder when you have ppl on the outside of this situation looking in and are pushing with their well-meant advice.
We've been working off and on with our son the past year, but just recently in the past 2 weeks, he has started wanting to potty when he is in the tub. I think he connects pottying with his bath because he has seen himself potty in the tub, and is finally understanding that, that is when he needs to be using his potty!
We've also got a dvd he likes to watch (that is great--shows children his age sitting on the potty and wanting to wear big kid underwear!) and it's called 'Potty Power'. You can enter this online and find it at alot of sites that sell baby to toddler items (espec. potty training stores)! The best to you and son!!

My son did that. As soon as I let up, he was trained. I would bet 99 percent it is a control issue. Try and use thinking words instead of fighting words. Ex. Johnny if you decide you want to go on the big potty I am going to let you do that by yourself because you are so big now. Versus, Why don't you go sit on the potty before we go to bed because you just had a drink. Don't listen to the parents. Not their business. Just ignore it. It is more difficult to train a child these days because we are more on the go, and working etc.