Potty Training a Boy?

Hi A.

My son (who is now 5) wasn't potty trained completely until he was 3. It was like a magic trick, I think two days after his third birthday he was like, "I don't want diapers anymore, I want to use the potty". We tried too early and I feel like it kind of set him back. He was scared to go after a while so he would hide (after we put big boy underpants on him) because he didnt want us to see that he made a mess. I think the cheerios in the toilet is a good idea because they like to aim at them. (A friend of mine said that worked so well for her son). Don't give up, it just takes time!

Don't push. He is not ready yet. Start having him in the bathroom with you. Maybee ask him to "read" you a story while you potty. After a week or so start asking him to flush while you wash your hands. Then ask him to help you put the poo fom his diaper where it goes in the potty. Try to go before you realy need to in case he makes it a competion "no, I'm going to sit on the potty. You read ME a story". It is common for boy to wait as long as 3 1/2 to train.

It depends on when his birthday is. Generally, a good time to start potty training girls is between 24-30 months old. Boys are better between 30-36 months. Starting too early, or pushing too hard will push that even further away. If your son is stubborn, then you need to get really creative about making him think it is his idea.

Look into the Peter Potty. It certainly makes it more fun. Also, look into pee targets, or cereal in the potty, ect. Pooping in the potty will come way after he has mastered peeing in the potty, so don't expect too much there.

I potty trained mine when he was 2 1/2. He had to because I was going back to school and the preschool/day care he was going to was for kids 2 1/2 and up and potty trained. Some kids say, "no" to most things. Just tell him, it's time to go potty, take him by the hand and walk him to the bathroom, take down his pants and put him on the potty. Tell him to make pee in the potty. Or have him stand and put a Cheerio in the toilet and tell him to hit it with his pee. If he gives you too much trouble, wait and try again in a month or so.
Blessings,
J.

Two is not too young. Fifty years ago all kids were potty trained by the time they were two. I found the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day", and it worked on my 27 month old.

I have a 3 1/2 years old boy and "started" potty training at 18 months. I bought a potty seat, a DVD (potty power: very good), books, and a potty seat adaptor all worked partially in getting him familiar with how to do things, but not to actually do it. After encouraging him to use the potty with incentive (candys,toys...) for 2 years, he finally did it when he moved to his current classroom where everybody is potty trained (3+). My lesson is teach & encourage, but if he refuses just wait until he tells you he wants to go potty to do like other big kids. Pull-ups don't really help, unless he already goes potty and you want to prevent a possible mess. Just be patient, seriously I thought it would never happen!

Making a game of it and having my son sink the cheerios worked for me, sometimes I would use fruit loops and he would get different points for the different colors which he could redeem for stickers then. My son really liked the different stickers but maybe your son has something else he really likes, the important thing is to make a game of it at first. Pooing in the pot came after he got pretty good at target practice, lol
B.

With my oldest son, we started a sticker chart, essentially using shaping to get him to use the potty. At first, let him have a sticker just for sitting on the potty. Once he gets good at this, make the reward for sitting and trying, then for producing "results." Don't change the behavior required for the sticker until he is doing it consistently (at least one week). When our son no longer saw stickers as rewarding, we then made it so after he got one sticker, he got a hot wheels car, then it was two stickers, three stickers, so on. We added the extra incentive that he got a hot wheels track when he filled the entire chart. It took about a month, but when he was done with the chart, then he was fully potty trained. I do want to note that he was nearly three, though, and little worked for him prior to about 2 and 3/4 age. Also, just a warning, it seems that pooping on the potty is more difficult for most kids and takes a lot longer. My son had mastered peeing on the potty for nearly two months before he would poop on it. He just waited until we put him in a pull up at the end of the night and go in that. I wish you luck! I think potty training was one of my biggest parenting frustrations, cuz you can't make them do it :)