Potty Training - Salt Lake City, UT

First thing is that kids will go at there own pace. If you try to force it then you will end up having a kid with no diapers but either pooping or peeing in the bed at night and it will be harder to keep washing sheets than changing diapers. My son started to train at 2 years old and we used the colored toilet water trick. What we did is to reward him by putting a couple of drops of food coloring in the toilet after he peed or pooped, he enjoyed watching the water change colors and being able to flush himself.

I hope this helps. He never used the little potty, he went straight to the toilet.

I have had friends that went and bought little targets that are flushable at target and put a little stool near the potty then they were able to stand up and shoot the targets.

I have 3 children, 2 teens and the third in his 20's. All 3 were potty trained at 2 and on one of those seats that go right on top of your regular toilet seat. Why train on one and then have to introduce them to another. With all three, as they were approaching two, we would take them shopping for underwear. Now our daughter was easy! She wanted the frilly rumba panties! Once explained that she could only wear them after she went on the potty it was easy. She had her first goal! It was just the same with the boys. The youngest one was the funny one. For him, he would put his arms thru his sisters night gown and have it draped over his back like a cape and run thru the house saying he was batman. Once it was explained that he would have to be diaper boy because bat man didn't wear diapers, his goal was set! We bought some batman undies and within 2 weeks he was able to wear them with no fear of an accident. I may be a little old fashioned too. I never used any of those pull ups, just old fashioned training pants with the rubber panties to go over top. I would save 10 diapers from the last bag purchased. That gave us 10 nights with a diaper and days with the training pants. It worked all 3 times!

Potty trained by one...whose trained the child or the parent? Some children are not walking at one - you wait for the signs and take the child to the restroom. It may work for some but the reality is that the child is the only one that can do this. They need to be able to recognize and understand their body telling them they need to go and have the ability to control when they have to urinate or have a bowel movement (to "Hold it"). There is no link between a child's age, intelligence and ability to be potty trained. In fact, if you look at it this is the first thing a child has absolute control over - we pick what they eat, what they wear, when they go to bed etc. - they in turn choose when they are ready.

Some of the things that worked for us with my daughter (she was 3yrs 3mos as she was ready and able to stay dry day and night) We used M&M's so many for urinating and another amount for bowel movements - both at the same time bonus add those numbers together (when out and about just kept track actually she kept track very closely) One friend who wanted to use the same reward approach used tickets as her son's currency was hot wheels, the tickets were collected and traded for the litte cars. When we had an "accident" we just encouraged her try harder next time and made a huge deal on her successes. I have friends that have had great success with Dr. Phil's program too.

I have another to potty train - my son (just turned 2) and he seems to have a huge interest in going potty - he will ask to sit on the potty and goes when he is on there. Both of my children prefer to use the "big potty" with the seat insert perhaps yours may too (he may want to be able to pick it out) New undies that were picked out by my daughter and left in the package until she was done training was a big interest for her too.

I wish you luck and patience. It is very hard not to compare our children but as with every past, present and future doctor, president, rocket scientist, peace leader, mother etc. they, too, were potty trained when they were ready...so will yours. :o)

I had the same issue with my son. It took a very long time. We even bought different training potties and videos. We finally decided to give him a go on the regular toilet that we use. That's what he wanted all along. He was nearly 4!

I started trying to train my son when he was 22 months. He showed no interest, so my husband and I just kept trying after a few months went by, hoping that he'd matured a little. I was losing my mind, but finally at 3 yrs 8 months, when I suggested that we try again, my son was receptive and was trained overnight. For months I had been convinced that it was my fault, that I wasn't consistent enough, etc., but I didn't try anything different the last time - he was just ready. Take heart! It will happen eventually.

Try a reward system with star stickers or a penny, quarter or something everytime they go in the potty. It gives them some incentive to be interested. My mother helped by giving my son a quarter each time so that he could put it in his piggy bank and when he had enough money, then he could pick out something that he really wanted. We were potty trained by the age of 3. Don't stress! Every child is different and they all develop at different times.

Hi D.,

Oh I remember the days.....I have two 10 and a 15 yr old boys. I remember being told that boys a harder to train than girls because they are often just too busy to be bothered. I think boys can generally handle the mess or stink better as well. :o)

Since you are home with your son and there is no pressure to get him trained because of day care policies, I wouldn't stress about this. Just keep the potty available, talk about it now and then and eventually he will catch on. Remove the social pressure from your life and unless there is a "reason" to get him trained early, let him figure it out on his own. I promise you he will. Don't see too many kindergarteners in diapers, right? Once he gets it he still may have accidents now and again until 4 or so because again, boys are busy and sometimes just can't be bothered.

Enjoy your busy boy!

G. W.
http://homewithsoy.com
http://IWantAMiaBella.com

Kids are ready at different ages. don't worry if yours isn't ready at 2 - my daughter showed no interest until she was 3, and then it took some time to get her to poop in the potty - she would urinate in it with no problems.

The video we used was Bear in the Big Blue House - I forget what it's called but it was on Amazon and very cute. She also had a potty training book and we used stickers.

What motivated her the most was going shopping for "big girl" underwear - if being a bigger kid motivates your son, then I would try that. Find some underwear with his favorite character on them and use them as an incentive.

From what you write, though, it sounds to me like he's not quite ready yet. Don't worry - he'll regain interest when he's ready.

You can find signs of readiness on any diaper website (Pampers.com, Huggies.com) or my favorite, babycenter.com. If your son is showing signs of readiness, then I suggest the Dr. Phil "Potty Train your child in a day" http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/264
(Although it took about a week to be fully potty trained for urinating and longer for the other.) It worked for my son who had every sign of readiness except one - the willingness to try. He was just over 3-years-old when I finally tried this method and he finally potty trained.

I've read stories of children in other countries being potty trained significantly earlier than children in the US, but it seemed to me more like the parents were doing all the work instead of the kids. That's just my take on it. And I have friends that have 4 and 5 year olds that still aren't potty trained, so don't feel like your son is behind (or will be if not trained by 3) in any way. I don't know many boys that were potty trained before age 3.

Good luck!

My daughter showed her first interest in the potty around age 2, maybe once or twice. I am a single mom. Her father passed away when she was 2 1/2. I knew pushing her may work in the beginning but never in the end. I asked her to join me when I needed to use the bathroom and just sit on hers or talk about it. She eventually gained more interest about three months before she turned three, it took her about two weeks and she was potty trained. I really think not pushing is the key. I have heard that boys can be harder. I believe it also so important not to punish or seem disappointed if it is not going as fast as you want or accidents occur.
Good luck! It is an awesome hurdle to overcome!

Peace and love,

Amber

Hi D.,
I have three boys who are all potty trained, so I think I have some experience. My oldest son wasn't potty trained until he was 3 1/2. The other when he was 2 1/2 and my youngest 2 1/2 as well. Also, all of my kids were potty trained within about 2 weeks. I think that if you wait until they are ready it doesn't take much longer than that. At the recommendation of another friend, with each of them, I just started with underwear, and then within a few times of them getting completely wet, they started to realize what to do. You give them a lot to drink and then keep an eye on them, and run them to the bathroom when they start to go. Then, you get really excited when they figure out to go in their potty. I know I am oversimplifying this, but really once you realize they won't go to school in diapers, they will be fine.

Honestly, you need to wait until he is interested and ready otherwise you'll find the process frustrating and most likely a pointless exercise. I had a potty chair since my son was 18 months. Around 2 - 2 1/2 he began to use it more. We peaked his interest by reading books and doing stickers but ultimately he went back to diapers.. mostly because i refused to use pull-ups because they just leak and stay dry. One week after his 3rd birthday, he decided he only wanted to wear big boy underwear and during the day (non-nap time) he does just that. The first week or so were full of accidents but he had to figure it out. Now we rarely have accidents.

It really is NOT about you being ready, but about him being ready. Don't push it. He'll be interested.

Good Luck

A good sign of being eady to potty train is waking up dry in the morning. Also letting you know when he is wet. I have heard that boys take a little longer than girls. I think each child is differant though. My first son was super easy as was my first daughter both being ready at about 2 1/2. But my second daughter now 4 still sleeps with pull-ups but is fine all day. With her every time she would have an accident in the day I would take her to the potty. finnally when shewas three she was good to go for the day. Sometimes rewards will help, I got my son super man underwear and told him if he peed on super man it would make him mad. Hope this helps.

I think you are headed in the right direction already, (introducing the potty and showing the videos is a great start) but maybe he is just not ready yet. I have three boys and one girl the boys were all close to 3 yrs before we were able to potty train them.(much more difficult than my daughter was.)I would recommend taking him shopping for BIG boy pants and let him pick out something he likes such as Scooby Doo, CARS or whatever characters he would not want to potty on. Then put him in his BIG boy pants and try a day or two of constant reminding and training yourself to take him potty and give him lots to drink so that he gets the idea. If he is ready after a weekend he should start taking himself potty. If not wait a couple of months and try again. He is still little and it will happen, dont get discouraged yet! So what if your friends and neighbors kids train sooner every kid is different and yours might require a little more time. You know him better than anyone and you know he can do it it's just a matter of when.

D.,
I have only one son and when he was 18mos old he practically potty trained himself. He just stopped wetting his diaper and started using the toilet. He never liked the little potty chair I used for his sisters. But he definitly showed us when he was ready. He couldn't stand to pee at first so we had him sit backwards on the toilet and held "him" down until he learned how to control that and when his aim got better he could face the front then when he was about 2-2 1/2 we taught him how to stand and pee by putting a few cheerios in the water and had him aim for them. You do need to be careful though I know that some boys will never show an intrest in potty training. Boys like to be messy and peeing in the diaper is easier than running to the potty. I would say by 2 1/2 you should really start to encourage him to use the potty. Put him in the thick training underwear NOT pullups but underwear you can find them by the cloth diapers in the store. You'll need about 6-9 pairs and if you don't want puddles get some of the plastic pants to go over them. The plastic pants can be rinsed in the sink and hung to dry so you don't need as many of those. Use diapers and/or pullups for naps and overnight but get him into underwear right away when he wakes up. Make a chart for him and have him put a sticker on it every time he goes. Give him a special toy he can only have while going potty or a book to ready while sitting there. Sing songs with him on the potty like "patty-cake" "this little piggy" or whatever songs you know. Also get him on the potty as soon as he wakes up in the morning and from his naps. I'm sure you can do this and so can he. You'll be fine and he'll do great!

D.,

ok ok i know the rush and excitement of wanting to throw away daipers never to be seen again. after all i have 4 kids i potty trained lol. and i can say it is one of the hardest tasks if you start too soon. i know the experts give all sorts of signs in how to tell if your child is ready. but i know the only thing that worked for me is waiting until 3. i started each one of my kids around 18-20 months showed them a potty and had it there. if the used it wonderful big excitement but not presser it was just there.. then sometime after the 3 party i when and had a "DAY OUT" we went all day breakfast and then shopping for "mom's or Daddy some new underwear" at then i say "oh your so big lets get you some unders like moommy/daddy uses" when you get home explain to your 3 year old how mommy and daddy don't wear diaper and you are now a big boy and we are not wearing unders any more....now the hard part "Naked time" or just unders spend one weekend at home go no where.. every 10 15 minutes ask him if he need to potty and have him sit every hour or so for 5 minute on the potty.. he should be mosty trainedat the end of the weekend. if not just KEEP him in unders no more diaper after the time and be alway proud of him if he opps then say next time you'll make it have him change himself and clean up the mess "yes you have to help" but make him do it when your done hug him.. just don't give into presser each kid get potty training at there own rate some lucky moms have trained THEM selves to take there one yearold potty and some mothers are hoppe there kid is trained buy kindergarden.. so takeheart and so slow good luck J.

Well, it seems like he knows what he is supposed to be doing and choosing not to. We just started putting underwear on our little girl. She and her boy cousin are two months apart. They are both 3. My little girl just turned 3 a week ago.

Anyway, we just started putting underwear on them and if they messed up they didn't like the feel of it running down their legs. It took them both a couple of weeks but now they are pros. Just remember even pros have off days and so we carry a spare set of clothes and wipes in a walmart bag just in case. We had to do it this way because they treated pull-ups like diapers and the more they went in diapers the more cofortable they got in a wet or messy diaper. It has been my experiance that if a child thinks that feeling is normal they won't try to alter thier behavior.

Hope it helps, Good luck!
T.

The most important thing to remember while potty traning is PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. Sometimes it can take longer than you think but don't give up on your child. We introduced the potty to our son when he was 2 and it took him over a year to become fully potty trained. What we did that really helped nip it in the bud is put him in undies only(except overnight). Also, you can tell your son is ready when he is waking up dry from his naps. You also should train yourself to take him to the potty anytime you go and take him everytime you get to some place new. We took our son potty every 1/2 hour to hour at first. Good luck.

I would agree with the post said before "who is really being trained, parent or child". I really don't think you can potty train a child untill they can pull their pants up and down themselves. I started my son at 2, and it was a mistake for starting him to early. He was way resistant and refused untill he was 3. He was fully potty trained by 3, thats a typical age for boys. Don't get me wrong every child is different, but its just an average age. Children spend their life being rushed through phases, just enjoy it while he is still young! What really helped my son learn what it felt like at a young age to urinate was to put him in a oversized shirt and spend lots of time outside. Surely he would go, then realize thats what it felt like (thats why we only did it outside). Another thing I tried was just using fruitloops and tell him to see if he can "hit the target". Good luck!

My mom told me once boys are harder to train mostly because they don't have the same muscle control girls do, which is true. Have dad take him when he goes to show him how to go like big boys, he will learn how by using his potty chair then when he gets taller he can use the big one or use a step stool to go. Some one said put cherrios in the potty and let him pee on them, i'm not sure about that one. Don't let it be stressful for him tho. Just take him when you go and let him sit on the potty next to you. He'll get the idea and start wanting to try himself. He's only 2 he might not really be ready. Good Luck and don't stress over it.