Potty Training Advice - Chicago,IL

Hi M., well from one M. to another...it's work!! My son was interested in the potty by 2 but didn't actually start using it regularly until about 3. To be honest, I was frustrated the entire time, because I thought he should be using the potty by 2. But what worked for me was letting him do it when HE was ready. I didn't make a big deal about the potty, I often continued to ask him if he needed to go, and I became the pull-up police. When he did go on the potty, we made a huge deal about it and he was so proud he kept it up. Now, if we could only get the night time training mastered we'll be doing great!! GOOD LUCK boys aren't easy

Isn't it amazing the amount of advice you can get about potty training?? I started training my son at 15 months (going before baths and bed). Then really started at 18 months. He was fully trained at 26 months. He is going to be 3 in April and is just now starting to go accident free/diaper free at night. Depends how daring we feel that night!! He wanted to go. Now he can stand up (he's a shorty!!) and loves that...

M.,
I think the best thing is to wait till your son shows signs. All of them are different. We started trying to potty train my son, who will be 4 in April, but with no real luck. He is special needs and his teacher came over one night to help us and all and it just got to be to much, becauase Erik started refusing to go at all and we did not want to make this stressful for him, because that can just delay the process. Is your son showing any signs?

S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com

I have 3 boys 7,5, 2.5. I took a mom and me class with my oldest when he was about 2.5 and i was by the far the youngest mom in there. Everyone was about 10 years older and on there 3-5 kid. They ALL told me to wait until he was 3. They said, with the first child you want to get it done as fast as possible, but it is very hard, you will have a lot of set backs, etc... but they all said by thier 3rd kid, they knew to wait until they are 3. They went on to say that it really is a big question weather or not they are ready before 3 and we know for sure that they are ready at 3. I took there advice, and I am not kidding with my first 2, we were done in about 3-5 days. All of my friends went through hell potty training, and it was very very easy for me. Society has such a stigma about potty training and i am not really sure why - it's your kid, you are changing him, not them. So, if you are not in a hurry, I would wait. I have had great success with both of my boys and I will be trying the 3rd out in a couple of months and I know that it will be great! Good luck!

B.

First off you need to listen to your son if he shows interest then by all means go for it. Even if it's between diaper changes or baths just introduce him to the toliet. They say about boys if you potty train them at 2 he will not get it until he is 3 and if you start at 3 he will get it at 3 and it's so true. I started introducing him at 18 months he showed some interest then lost it as fast as a blink in the eye. Reintroduced it again at 2.5 (in between 18 months and 2.5 I still out him on it when he wanted to do it DON"T FORCE THEM).
I got a bit frustrated but by the time he turned 3 sure enough he got it. He still wears pull ups at night, too sound of a sleeper and doesn't wake up in time but that's normal for boys to wet their beds so I am not worried at all. I have a 21 month old girl and she's almost potty trained so much easier than boys (thank Goodness). We did a lot of "happy potty dances" around the house when he did go and he loved seeing his mom and dad act like goofballs. So don't get frustrated if he doesn't do it now because he will see that, just go with the flow and when he's ready he will do it for you. Good luck

I work in childcare. I work with the toddlers. I also have three children. Therefore, I feel that I should offer you some advice.
My advice is that I think you should wait until HE is ready! There will be obvious signs such as: he begins to pull his diaper down or off, he says potty and points to it, he will sit for any period of time on the toilet. However, if he jumps off the toilet right away or wont do it, then he just isnt ready-yet. I have two boys and a girl. Some people say that girls are easier. I guess I would have to agree.
Whatever you do, make sure all the important people in his life do the same. It wont work if you try to potty train and the child care provider isnt doing it. (or visa versa)
If and when he is ready, make a game of it....put cherrios in the toilet and tell him to aim. Put blue food coloring in the toilet and when he pees show him the color change to green. Use a sticker or small treat chart.
All children are different. No matter how you look at it, its up to him. If hes not ready, then dont force him. It could backfire. Try again at a later date. Sometimes the stress of wanting him to go on the potty can get to you and him on the demands of potty training.
The potty training chair I used at home and I currently use in my toddler class is the one you put on top of your toilet. I tell the boys to sit and tuck. It works very well.
I hope this advice helps.

I would say if he seems interested start now! I wouldn't make it high pressure or expect him to be perfect, but the sooner you introduce him to the concept the better. My niece is 15 months and is already getting the hang of pooping in the potty. My son already sits on it, and he just turned 1. In a few months I will really start working at it. I feel that if you wait too long I have seen kids make it into a power struggle and refuse to go b/c you want them too! I plan to start early and just keep working at it and try and remember that boys are tougher and take longer!
Good Luck!!

Hi, M.. I'm a mom of 2 boys, currently ages 12 and 8. Both were VERY different when it came to potty training and I have to agree with what someone else said on here, read all the advice, but in the end, decide what works best for you and your son. :-) First off, I feel that a child needs to at least show an interest in the potty, whether it be the, "big," potty or a, "little," potty. In my now 12 yr. old's case, at 18 months old he loved going into any bathroom with his dad and would mimic him after he (his dad) was done...although with a diaper on. When he started doing this I decided to go out and buy a potty chair. Well, needless to say he hated the thing with a passion and wanted to use the, "big," potty like, "daddy." At first we weren't willing to give in to that because he was just so short and he didn't want to sit on the potty. (remember, he wanted to be just like daddy LOL) So, since we wouldn't let him do the, "daddy," way, he took it upon himself and would be like, "daddy," with the potty chair! Let's just say that got a bit messy. I gave in, and let told him he could use a step stool with the big potty...he didn't like that but insisted he wanted to use the toilet so we again gave in and just let him try it. He would stand on his tiptoes and barely make it in, but he did it! So, that was our scenario for a bit. Now, don't get me wrong, he had his share of accidents, usually because he was too busy playing, and would forget as one other mom mentioned, but by the age of 2 he was #1 trained and by the age of 2 1/2 he was #2 trained. The latter took a bit longer as he didn't want to sit on the potty! Others may say that at 18 months he obviously wasn't ready if it took him a year to be 100% trained, but I beg to differ because instead of pressure, we let him do it on his own, and it wasn't stressful. However, our 2nd son was a completely diff. story. I won't go into as much detail, but although he was so easygoing (complete opposite of older brother who is VERY stubborn..go figure) he wasn't potty trained until he was 4! We started at the age of 2 when he expressed interest, and he did fine for a short time..but then lost interest LOL. He seemed to always have something better to do with this time than sit on the potty. So, what works for one boy/girl may not work for another. Just depends on their personality. My best advice would be to give it a shot, see how it goes for a bit and if you meet up with too much resistance, or it's stressing everyone out, including your son, back off for a bit, and then just try again. The less frustration and stress involved all around, the better. You're the best judge, so go with your instincts! Good luck, let us know how it turns out for you!

T. (Sorry so long!)

Hello.
I have 2 boys (ages 7 & 4) and waited until they were each 3 years old. There was no way they would have been ready much before then - boys typically train later than girls. Having waited, the training went very quickly. We went right from diapers to underpants full time with only a few accidents at the beginning.
Good Luck!

Go to your local library and get the book, "Toilet Training in Less Than A Day" by Nathan Azrin. It talks all about readiness and a positive way to potty train. It won't happen in less than a day, but it's a great plan - worked on both my kids (boy and girl). Good luck!

hi! i tried potty training at 2.5 with my first, and after a week he just was not getting it. so i told him when he turned 3 he would have to give all of his diapers to his little brother because 3 yrs olds just don't wear them. when he turned 3 he was ready, and literally he had no accidents day/night after a week.
my younger child is 2.5 now and again i've tried but he is not getting it either. so i'm going to try the same with him.
don't listen to what everyone says you should train. each child is different. i've know a girl who was potty trained at 1.5 yrs. but i've also know children who have been as old as 4.5yrs. everyone is different. good luck!

The best thing have done is all aspects of child rearing is to not listen to "everyone else" (not that advice ins't good and important) but don't start potty training because some one said the baby hit some magic age --listen to your child. He will show you if he is ready or not. I currently have a 18 month old boy and at about 17 month or so he started telling me he had to go. He doesn't tell me all the time but we are at about 50% of the time. If your son is showing signs of readiness I say go for it.

I'd highly recommend starting to introduce him to the potty asap. We are actively training our 13 month old with great success. The book 'Diaper Free before 3' is a wonderful resource. We use the bjorn potty and the boon potty bench and I think both are great. If you use disposable diapers you can start by making sure you're changing him as soon as possible after every void, letting him run around naked a bit and taking him to the bathroom with you. You can work up to sitting him on the potty a couple times a day (with no expectations) first thing in the morning and after meals are a good time to start. Be sure not to discipline/admonish for accidents and there is also no need for reward systems. Showing you are pleased with his attempts is enough and reinforces the fact that using the potty is just a normal part of everyone's daily routines.

Hope this helps!
A.

My son is now 7 years old. When I was potty training him, I had a lot of people tell me to put cheerios in the toilet and have him try and "hit" the targets. What I found worked for me was my son wanted to "peepee" like daddy, standing up like the big boys.

Hi M.-
I agree with everyone. Wait until he shows signs that he is ready. I started my son around 18 months, and he apparently wasn't ready...it just made it really frustrating for both my husband and I-as well as my son. We gave it a break for about 6 months, and tried again. This time around he was ready. We put a reward sticker chart in the bathroom. Everytime he went pee or poop, he got a sticker to put on it. For every 5 stickers, he got a dollar; for every 10 stickers, he got McDonalds for lunch. Once he realized the rewards he became very interested. My son didn't like the potty seats, because its not what mommy and daddy use. We went to Walmart, and bought a children's potty cover. It is a smaller pad that goes on the toilet. It has handles, and a potty splash guard for boys. It took some time, but once he got in a routine, it was great. I even started putting him in big boy underwear right when we began the process, because it made him feel more like a big boy-which helped encourage him to go. I tried pull-ups at first, but they seemed to confuse him-are they a diaper, or are they underwear?
I hope this helps!!
J.

My doctor told me the "average" age kids are potty trained is 3 years old. I would not even attempt to try right now if he has no interest. My daughter will be 2 next month. She sees her big sister going on the toilet all of the time and she says she has to go potty. She will sit on the toilet and even wipe herself but nothing comes out. She still does not grasp the concept. If I were you, I would just wait. I know some people say it is easier once they are potty trained, but in my experience it makes life a little more difficult, especially in the beginning because they only have so much control over their bladders and their little minds are so busy they don't remeber to go to the bathroom until the last minute and then it is a mad dash. It usually happens when you are in line at grocery store or just about to put the first bite of dinner into your mouth. So if you personally are not too concerned about it, I would wait at least until he is 2 or even 2 1/2. You can get a book or DVD to start planting some seeds. But do not get too worried about what "other people" say. Just try to listen to your son. He will let you know when he is ready.

Completely agree with Beth (below). I have 2 boys and I just waited for my older son to show an interest. He was briefly interested around age 2.5 and we had some successes, both # 1 and # 2. But then he completely lost interest after the novelty wore off. I did not push the issue and decided he'd let me know when he was ready. I kept the potty chair around and I bought lots of enticing underwear. Finally, a week after he turned 3, he said to me, "Mom, I need to make a poop on the potty". He sat down and did it within one minute. I grabbed the nearest pair of underwear and never put a diaper on him during the day again. He had one day of pee-pee accidents and never has had another, and never had a #2 accident ever. He still wears a pull-up at night because (as another mom mentioned) he is a deep sleeper. But my experience is that making the potty available and then waiting until your son asks for it is the best and easiest way. (I also agree with the mom who said that in many ways diapers are easier--- they are! It is no fun having a younger, crawling sibling rolling all over the public bathroom floor while you try to coax something out of your potty-training toddler. Also no fun finding potties when you are at the park. Sigh.)

My son was ready to be potty trained right at his second birthday. He would constantly tell me that he needed his diaper changed right after he had soiled it. So one morning I just put him in his big boy undies, and we went from there. I just bought one of the cheaper potty chairs from Wal-Mart. While I was at home, during the day, I never did use pull-ups or diapers, even when he would take a nap. I did put him into a diaper at bedtime, and within 2 weeks he was going potty (#1...#2 took a little longer) on the big potty with almost no accidents! Good luck

My son was 2 1/2 when HE was serious about potty training. I was ready a lot earlier than he was though. My son LOVES Caillou, the cartoon, and I found Caillou underwear and bought them for him. He wanted them on right away. I put them on him and told him to go potty when he needed to go. Of course he didn't, but he was very upset when he wet his new underwear (that was all he was wearing). He wanted new underwear on right away and sat on the potty every 5 minutes to make sure he didn't wet them again. He'd forget occasionally, but that just reinforced what he needed to do to stay dry. We went through about 2 weeks of still having accidents (few) and he was potty trained. It gave him a reason to learn, not because I wanted him to. It's messy, but it worked.

A.

The potty I HIGHLY recommend for boys is the little Bjorn potty. It's $9.99 at Babies R Us (not sure where else it is). It's GREAT for boys especially because it doesn't have that detachable guard that my kids would pull off and play with if I tried to use it. It's one piece molded plastic. It comes high enough, so everything makes it in, and yet it's comfortable, unlike those flap guards. It's also easy to clean because it's one piece molded plastic...not all the grooves of the other pottys. My first son is now over 2.5, but he showed interest a month after he turned 2. I didn't try before then, as he still seemed so young to me, particularly for training a boy. He potty trained real easily. The best thing for us was juice on the potty. He didn't have juice otherwise. It was his treat as he sat on the potty. It kept him wanting to stay there and gave him ammunition to go. Then when he did go, we made a huge deal of it, and since he loves trucks, we gave him a monster truck fruit snack. Just one (not a whole pack) and it was a big treat for him. He loved his "truck candy". That's what worked well for us. We have another boy now 15 months, so we'll see how it goes with him. :) My first son LOVED to copy adults and has always paid attention and wanted to do what adults do. My second son is not that way at all. He likes to do what HE wants to do and doesn't mimic near as much, so it seems like it may not be as easy for him, but we'll see. Seems like personality has something to do with readiness too. It's best to encourage, but not push them with potty training, I believe. Best wishes to you with whatever you decide to do!