Potty Training for Toddler

My on wasn't real interested either. I bought some Buzz Lightyear stickers (his favorite character) and put them on the toilet. Now it's his "Buzz Potty" and he loves it. He's fully potty trained. We also gave him 1 sticker if he went pee and 2 if he did poo poo...the second is harder for him and being able to go is great. The reward system has worked with both my daughter and son.

First, never ask him if he has to go, 90% of the time the answer is going to be No, hee hee. Just put him on the potty. Secondly, just make sure the daycare knows this too and just puts him on the potty every hour to hour and a half. Put up a sticker chart and make a huge deal out of everytime he goes, with a reward at the end of the first few weeks. There are no tricks, it is really if the child is ready, can pull his own pants up and down, wakes up dry and really understands when he has to truly go. If you force it when he isn't ready you can cause it to be a longer process or regression. I did pullups at first during the day too and it worked wonders!! One of my son's rewards was going to pick out super hero underwear after his first week of staying dry! From there it was a breeze and in two weeks he was fully potty trained. Regardless of what anyone says you will find what works for your son. Boys are less likely to really care if they are wet or poopy in even their underwear. To me putting him in underwear prematurely will stress you out, cause a waste in having to throw it out after poopy accidents and can make the situation stressful. Wait a few weeks until he does well in pullups. Just continuing to put him on the potty, not giving him a choice just by saying "time to potty" in a very happy tone and putting him on it will help too. Constant reassurance he is a big boy now and no more diapers too. Good luck!

I'm going through the same thing with my 2 1/2 yr old son. Some of the advice I've gotten is take him to the potty religiously every 30min. Make it a routine and when he goes make a big deal out of it. Also, make sure daddy is involved... I've been told to have daddy take him to the potty when he goes so he can see him "going to the potty" or maybe big brother. There's only so much I can show him, lol.
Definitely making sure the daycare is involved.... they should be respectful of your request especially since it will make their job easier in the longrun (not having to change diapers)

Best wishes and Merry Christmas

C.~
http://www.HelpUStayHome.com
http://www.TotalWellnessInfo.com

I have learned that until pottytraining becomes an interest in your child, it's almost a lost cause to push it. My daughter was 3 before she was truly successful and interested in pottytraining. Once she became interested in not wearing pull-ups, it was easy. She was done in 3 days!

Hi S.!
I am in the same boat as you, totally! Funny, I'm not even sure how I began getting these mamasource emails, but I just happened to read your's and thought I was reading something about myself! I have a little boy that will be three in February, we are working on the potty training but they don't seem to work on it with him at daycare. I am going to try the underwear trick as well, I have heard great things about that. Plus, my son is excited to wear Cars underwear! Also, I am starting my own home based Arbonne business as well (myself and husband currently work full time) and plan on having it up and running fully so that I do not have to go back to work after a year (a year is my goal as well!) Anyway, nice chatting and good luck.
Ps. what is your new business?
J.
Scottsdale, Az

We bought our son just a very plain potty and then let him go to the store and pick out a bunch of his favorite stickers. Everytime he made it to the potty he got to choose one to put on his potty!!!! He loved the game and got to decorate his own potty!!!!! With time, he stopped needing or wanting the stickers and just went because we always told him we were proud of him when he made it so after he went he would look at us and say, "you are so proud of me!!!!!!!"

S.-Mom of 3 year old Milo and 7 month old Simon and wife to wonderful husband Tony

We're just introducing the Potty to the little guy who'll be 2 next week. Boys can be really nonchalant about potty training. My eldest didn't show signs or was really bothered until after 3. So I'm really surprised this little guy is so ready to try it.I'm at home so it's different for me. We've just incorporated it into his routine.He goes in the am when he wakes. When I change his clothes. After lunch or snack. After dinner or snack. Getting changed at night ( sometimes before bath sometimes after- often times both) We started last week. I'm not always consistent but brings it out and puts it away. We developed a sign for it. If he goes we do the happy dance. He pooped this morning- much to his surprise I think he expected something else. Bless...
When they are ready it happens really quickly. We're building up to potty time included just like teeth brushing- required. You daycare surely would have policies on PT. They must have a system.

You should find out what the daycare's policy is on your child wearing underwaer during the day. We had our son at one daycare who would just let them wear pull-up's and it wasn't helping him get potty trained. My husband and I then decided to transfer our son to another daycare, because he wasn't getting potty trained and other reason's and he was a few months away from being 3 years old. The daycare we moved him to only allowed underwear and they took the kids to the potty every 1/2 hour. It took my son about a month and half to get fully potty trained. We only use pull-ups at night time but during the day he just wears underwear and now tells us when you needs to use the potty.

My daughter was the same way to begin with. What i found that got her back interested in it was to put up a chart and give her gold stars for going, and pink stars for trying. I also never asked her if she had to go, i just told her to go try to potty about every hour or two. Hope it works out for you!!!

my son is three and use to do the same thing with going back and forth from the potty to wetting. I just have to make sure I remember to ask him if he needs to go and if he tells me no and it's been awhile since he last went I offer him a sticker if he will go in and try which usually works.

I have 3 kids, my first is 8 and she potty trained herself in less then a weekend, my second is a boy who is 3 1/2, he finally started using the potty about a week ago! I never rushed, we talked about it and then last week he woke up and didn't want to pee in his diaper, so I reminded him that he can use the toliet, and the light finally went off!! He has been using it since then and a diaper at night ( he has asthma and the meds he is on make him sleep like a log) it will be awhile before he is dry at night. My third is also a boy, just over 2, and since brother went in the potty now he wants to also, so if all goes well I will be daytime dry before the new year!!
I believe that potty training is a childs choice, and when they decide to go it is just going to happen, but if you push it it takes FOREVER!~! So far two of my kids have trained themselves in less then a weekend, and the third one is trying to follow in their steps, as soon as he fugures out how to get his pants off lol. Good luck, and I believe that for the beginning it is best ot use pull ups, as a working single parent I really don't have time for all the extra laundry.

My daughter was a late trainer also. What finally worked for me was putting her on the potty religously - start every 30 min, work up to 45, then 1 hour. I know it's a pain in the butt - especially if you aren't at home - but consistency is the key. The daycare my daughter went to also did this with the entire class. I also had a potty chart that she loved putting stickers on when she went.
I promise - there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

Consistency is key. If they are not being consistent they are hindering him not helping him. Also with my oldest I made her a reward chart with just construction paper and stickers. At first it was everytime she went potty and did not have an accident she got to put a sticker up after so many stickers she got to get a new toy or a reward. Then when she got pretty consistent I changed it to every couple of days then every week.

as funny as this may sound, when i was potty training my son, i would put cereal in the toilet and tell him to try and dunk them in the water. sometimes i would use cherrios and other times i would use froot loops. i had my son trained with in a week. so try it and see, and if it doesn't work, at least he can have fun with it.
good luck
A.

Something I did that helped in my kids' potty training was that I got a kitchen timer (the kind you wind up and it rings at the end of the time). I set it to go off every 15 minutes and then I took them to the bathroom whenever the timer rang. They got used to getting up and running to the bathroom whenever the timer rang. Then I'd reset it for another 15 minutes and so on. It was a good reminder to me to take them every time the timer would ring. We did this over the weekends and they were able to learn to go on the potty. My husband and I work full time as well, so we did this on Saturdays and Sundays. It didn't take long for them to catch on.

I also got them potty training books that they could look at while they were on the potty so they'd have enough time to go. I hope that helps.

Hi S.,
My trick with my son (we had very similar circumstances)was to buy a small gumball machine from walmart and when he was successful he got to put a penny in and and get a gummybear. Worked in 48 hours!
Jill