Potty Training a Boy - Philadelphia,PA

It does not work... according to calendar time.
It depends on the child... and if they are ready and if their body/organs/cues/impulse control is understood, by the child.

Boys can often be later, in pottying.

Next: for night-time/nap time dryness... this is not something that is BIOLOGICALLY attained until even 7 years old, and is normal, per Pediatricians.

Either. But be prepared for it to take much longer than the allotted days or week.

Yes, it is possible to potty train a child in a timeframe as you suggest.

But it is also very common for potty training to take a much longer stretch of time, and even multiple attempts before the goal is accomplished.

Best of luck to you.

Do it! But be prepared..have a method of attack in mind!! LOL

I do home childcare and had a lovely parent approach me a bit over a year ago, regarding her then 27 month old son, who had never ever gone potty before other than in a diaper, about a 3 day method she had discussed with co-workers. She is a very academic gal (works at the local university :-) and she got the materials, we discussed it (Dad was overseas deployed, so it was her and I)...and we decided to go for it. Really it was her and little boy and I was just to support the results of their 3-4 day weekend.

But she took a full day and time that previous week to prepare. She used the ideals set forth in the Lora Jenson 3 day method. Basically its like potty boot camp. You toss ALL diapers and pull ups. Have several bed sets/sheets ready..they wear undies and tshirt and socks..no pants...you stay at home and very physically close to your child the entire time. You do NOT make them sit at timed intervals. You have about 20-30 pairs of undies, some easy meals planned and already shopped for (casseroles, sandwiches and soup, frozen pizza and waffles...simple simple) and no place to go, cleaning projects or whatever to do.

And it works...the youngest of my crew was a 22 month old girl. The rest were boys ages 24 mos-28 mos and every single one was successful within the 3-4 days..at least with pee stuff. Sure some accidents happened..but not many. And they tell us ..every..single..time...no timed intervals of making them go sit.

Most regressed back to diapers for nighttime as parents just needed it, or kids did due to stress at night. for some the poo part took longer. But the daytime pee stuff...in the bag! No one ever went back to diapers or pull ups in their 8-10 hour days here with me.

Either time frame you decide on...be prepared and you both can be successful.

Good luck!

I assume he is showing signs of being ready?
You could try it, but I think it may take longer. Pee usually gets gotten sooner than poo.
Not that you expect it to be "over" in 4 days but make sure everyone else (grandmas, daycare, etc) is aware that it has begun!

Good luck!

The earlier the better! My boys were out of diapers by 20mos (oldest) and 15mos (youngest). Our daughter is 3.5 and we just got home from Ukraine with her... she was wearing diapers full time at the orphanage, and while I was an advocate for early potty training before, I for SURE am now! I don't know why anyone would want ot fight with a stubborn 3-4yr old about pottying. Ugh.

Anyway, I digress. She is now out of diapers after being home 3wks. Still wears cloth at night but thats fine.

My point is, start now. Don't expect perfection after 3 days, but go for it. Signs schmigns, you teach your child everything else, this is one of the things you need to teach. :) Have lots of undies and pants ready, be positive and go for it, don't turn back once you start.

DS potty trained when he was 26 months old. We just put him in underwear and took him to the bathroom frequently and let him come in the bathroom whenever we went. We got a Bjorn seat cover that sat on the regular toilet - who wants to clean a potty? :(. He pretty much knew what the toilet was for already. He had some accidents the first week (mostly the first few days), primarily if he waited too long and then needed to go RIGHT NOW. We did NOT use any rewards system - after all what do stickers and m&ms have to do with the bathroom? We did get the 'Everyone Poops' book by Tara Gomi to read in the bathroom.We left him in diapers at night for a few more months just because we didn't want to have to get up at night to take him out of his crib and to the bathroom. Turned out not to be a big issue at all. He almost never needed to go at night. Good luck - I suspect people will say 2-1/2 is too young for a boy and I think that is just wrong (after all 50% of the world's children are potty trained by 12 months - google the NY Times website for references if you are dubious).
D.

It is worth a shot. Keep it positive. You can always try again later if you recognize this as being a bad idea. I started training my son during a four day break around Labor day. He was not accident free by the end of 4 days but had the concept down for sure. We dedicated those 4 days to it though...kept him in undies all day and did not go anywhere. His baby sitter and preschool teachers were advised that he was in undies only the last 4 days when I had to return to work and they kept at it with him as well. Accidents declined as the days/weeks went on. In October, we were accident free. (I totally expect a random accident now and then in the future). My mother said..."wow that did not take long at all"..that made me realize she was right..but at the time (September), I felt like we were at this for a year :-)

Check these potty-training readiness checklists, http://www.parentingscience.com/toilet-training-readiness..., and be sure you really want to try a 4-day blitz. If it appears that your son is ready, it will be reasonable to try. You could have success.

A more usual outcome, if parents start training before the child is ready, is that they will be training for however many months/years it takes for him to actually have the capacity and willingness. So a child who's ready at, say, 32 months will be able to train at 32 months, whether he's been "training" for one week or the whole previous year.

I say give it a shot. As long as you think he is ready and you try to make it fun...what could it hurt?

If it doesn't work out this time you will have Christmas holiday to try again!

Although some moms might swear that they trained their kids in 4 days or a week it probably took quite a bit longer for most kids. Experts will often say that girls tend to grasp it quicker than boys (1 month vs 3 months), dont set a time frame, you might feel frustrated when it doesn't happen which will have an affect on your toddler. Rather identify a time when the house will be calm and you have enough time to focus on the potty training, Thanksgiving might be a busy time with loads going on.

I have learnt to make decisions based on my daughters' temprament and what would work best for them as appose to what, how and when I want to do it or have it done, not easy but it alwasy works out best especially when it comes to stuff like potty training, letting go of the paci etc.

Best of luck, potty training is not for the faint hearted!!! lol!

Is HE ready? My son is extremely bright...and when I wanted to potty train him and we went to buy underwear together he told me "I don't need underwear...I wear diapers!" He was not ready and nothing I could have done would have changed his mind at that point. You have to know your child. My second child was ready much earlier than the first. You can't force it if he's not ready.

If he's ready for it, then I say why not give it a whirl? I wouldn't put all the money in the bank on the idea that he'll be 100% potty trained over Thanksgiving weekend, but you never know! Stranger things have happened, plus you won't know if you don't try. You might as well use this as your first go round at it and see how he does and what ideas you are comfortable with. If it works, great. If not, you know what didn't work and you can try again in December. My son wasn't ready until about a month or two before his 3rd birthday. We tried and tried for months and months when he was 2 1/2(ish), especially since helpful family members kept acting like we had a 10 year old in diapers, but he simply wasn't interested. Finally, one day, I asked if he wanted to give it a whirl and he smiled and said yes! We went with the clothing-free potting training approach and while messy, it worked like a charm.

how many signs is he showing of bieng ready. if he is not ready neither will work. I am training my 2 1/2 yr old. it is going allright but probably could be farther if I spent more time with it but I just got a new job and am working to many hours to do it right. can he say poop and pee? is he taking his own dirty diaper off. will he sit on a potty chair? is he mature enough these are all things to be considered. good luck and make sure hes ready or both of you will get fustrated I spent a month getting him to sit on the potty chair with pants on and doing it willingly.and went from there.

If you've been practicing (ie, he's seen the potty, sat on it a few times, and he gets the general concept) and he's ready, 4 days is long enough. If he's not ready and/or has no idea what you're expecting, no amount of time will be enough.

If he is showing signs of readiness, then 4 days should be a great start, but don't wait - try it now! You gotta catch them while they are ready and willing. If however, he is showing resistance to potty training (or not interest at all), I would recommend waiting until he IS showing interest. It goes so much smoother when they are ready and it is thier decision.

It does not matter when you start. The bottom line is that is takes more 4 days or a week. It is a process. He may pee first on the potty before he poops. My son peed on the potty for two weeks before he pooped on the potty. Once he pooped on the potty he never went in his diapers again. I rewarded him with something he really wanted. Do not be disappointed if he is not ready. Get him a training potty. Go and pick him something he likes together at the store. Remember, to be paitient because they can have accidents. Do not use pull ups as kids can mistake them for diapers. I would also buy him some big boy underware if you have not done so already. Good luck to you and your son.