Potty Training Help!! - Milton,FL

Hi D.,

My son was almost 3 when he decided to try the Big boy potty. Some of the tricks I learned are....
Cheerios in the toilet for aiming.
Sitting backwards on the toilet to help the fear of falling in.
Putting dish soap in the toilet to make "bubbles"

He seems very interested in being a big boy so just make the toilet a fun place to pee and see if that does the trick.

Hope He finds his way=)
A.

I havent started mine yet - 26 months and he is definatley not ready... BUT i heard you can put cheerios in the "big boy toilet" and have him aim at them like a game.... Good Luck!!!

I feel your pain! I also had this problem.I don't know if it will help, but this is what I did. I set a very small bowl of cheerios on the back of the potty and made it a game. Every time he went to the potty I would throw one or two in and tell him to aim and try to sink it! After a while he wanted to potty all the time! I hope this helps!

He might just want to pee standing up, the toilet could be out of his reach!! Walmart sells a small urinal for little boys, it's only around $30. My friends had to get 1. There little boy wanted to pee standing after watching daddy pee, and didn't want to sit down like mommy did.

I have little girls, and with mine was able to just buy them some pretty undies, which I suggested to my friend, underoos of course. But that helped to. You could reward him for using the urinal by shopping for some cool boy underpants!!!

What little boy doesn't like spiderman and all that jazz?!?!

I also would give them a treat after they went. They would get a small peice of candy, and we would clap and dance. Worked, you feel goofy dancing about a pee-pee though!!! But they get big fast, so enjoy the goofy moments!!

Good Luck!!

With both of my children we did the potty training at their own pace. With my daughter she sat on her toilet whenever I would go to the bathroom. We started this when she was 12 months old. At about 14 months I would take her diaper off and let her go, she never did. At 15 months (I was due with my second child any day) I sat her on the big toilet and she went. From there on I let her be naked when we were at home and just placed her on the toilet every hour and gave her the oppurtunity to try to pee. She was completely day potty trained at about 20 or 22 months old.

Now middle child, my son is current 2 years old. He one day walked into the bathroom pushed me out of the way and climbed up on the toilet and peed. He was 17 months old. I think having watched everyone use the toilet helped him realize this was something he wanted to do as well. He just turned 2 and we are working on the potty issue as well. He runs around the house naked or with underwear on, but I find that it works better naked. He does not have to sit on the toilet, nor does he have to stand next to it, instead he created the way he would go, which is crawling up on the toilet and squating to pee or poop.

My advice would be not to put pressure on the child. If you make this a control issue then it is going to become a power struggle. Instead make it a game. Every time he goes in the shower, say "no" firmly or "STOP" (I do this anytime I catch my son having an accident) you would be surprised at how they are startled and will usually stop. Then tell them that we go pee and poop on the toilet and place him on the toilet. Just keep doing that and things should go well.

But remember too that each child developes differently and is ready to beginning potty training at different ages. I truly believe that there is not a certain age that a child should be potty trained, but I do believe that the parents need to pay attention to the signs of a child being ready to train.

Good luck. And I hope this helped a little....most importantly, make it fun, reward for sitting on the toilet (or squating) and/or going to the bathroom, and do not pressure the child.

Hi D.!

I am a mom of 4, three of them boys, 12,3,& 2. In my experience, take what you can get, however, the best way for them to learn is to watch. Get dad involved. Little boys want to be big & strong and do things that dad does. So send him to the potty with dad so he can see how the "big guys" do it and that the toilet is nothing to be afraid of. If you haven't heard about the cheerio trick yet you should give it a try. Toss cheerios or Fruit Loops in the toilet and tell him to aim and shoot. They love it! Best of luck.

D. B
Crestview, FL

It took my son quite some time to get up the urge to come near a toilet. He was almost 4 and I think the average age is around 3. Although he thought it was "yucky" to go in a pool or the bathtub. I tried putting Cheerios and FruitLoops in the tiolet and made a game of it and tried to get him to hit them with his pee. Finally with enough confidence he learned to go himself. Just keep supporting him and don't ever "Force" them to use the bathroom. Let them go at their own pace and just be supportive. Good Luck!!!

Try Cheerios or like to aim at. Also, I paid a nickel (pennies would work). They like change in their jar. I used baby food jars as I remember as a young child a bit of frustration saving up in a too big of jar--it never filled up. We still have them around for the younger ones. Also, I heard of good results with stickers on a chart to brag to daddy when he comes home (or grandparents--people that he would be proud to show how mature he is & sees on a more of regular basis). Hope this helps. I am a wife of same husband since 1984 (met in 1982--after about baby #3 we realized an older couple matchmaked us as they had only us over for Christmas dinner LOL). Now we have 7--2 girls & 5 boys + a surprise in heaven, 20 yrs to 5.

Smiles,
N. H

P.S. For those who would like to try diaperless infant toilet training method (used by missionaries where diapers not available), I learned of from book Trickle Treat by Laurie Boucke pub. Colin White & Laurie Boucke P.O. Box 551 Montrolse, CA 91021-0551 U.S.A. I heard of it from www.nogreaterjoy.org (non profit org.) who has wonderful resources that I have found very helpful over the years. Now our 20 yr old girl likes their materials--she is studying to be a behavior analyst. Both ways require paying attention, some loving work and smarts.

27 months is definitely old enough to potty train.

As far a advice goes, here's mine...
I have always believed, and still do, that a child will potty train only as fast as his parents train him. The amount of time it takes depends (partly)on the realationship between the child and his/her parents. Think about it, if a child is used to "ruling the roost" and calling all the shots,(where he sleeps, what he wears, what he eats...) why would he all of a sudden subnit to Mom and Dad's "suggestion" that he use the toilet instead of his pants? If a parent has this kind of realationship where the child runs them, then it will be hard. If we leave the choice up to him, he will not be trained any time soon because why would he want to give himself more work? When it's time to clean up his toys, if we give him a choice, he won't do it, and potty-training is no different. If you think he is verbally ready to understand what you are telling him (and at 27 months, he probably is), and physically capable (again, 27 months is plenty old enough for this), then there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to train really quickly (two weeks max!). If you want some more personal advice on specific tings to do, you can send me a message and I would be glsd to share my experiences (5 of my own kids and many daycare kids) with you. ~C.~

My Great-grandson is now in the process of being potty trained and his mother has him stand at the toilet and check out the fruit loops in different colors and he's told to aim for them and thats how he got trained, and he just turned 3.

I struggled with potty training my now 4 year old boy as well. We always thought we were gaining ground when around 2 he acted as if he wanted to start going on the potty. He was not successfully potty trained until right before his 4th birthday. I have heard boys are harder. I think ours really did just do it when he was ready. However, I heard from a couple of friends of mine - one just put her boy in underwear and after a couple of days of cleaning it up everywhere, he learned. Another brought the little potty into the living room (where they played most of the time), and even though he played with it like a toy at first, he eventually started using it the right way. I'm not sure about either of those methods, but it will happen eventually! Good luck!

I purchased an online book called "three day potty training" or something of that nature and it worked! I have a boy who is 30 months but he learned at 27 mo. Follow it exactly and by day 2 he'll be peeing in the potty like a champ! Good Luck!

I would suggest you let your husband teach him.

have no advice for you because I am in the same boat with you only I have twins who is now three months and I am having problem training them. They still pee and poop in their diapers.
a little about me :
I am 34 yrs. old and married for four yrs. They are such beautiful identical little girls and so wonderful.

D.,

Be patient. This is the area that many parents wish they had been more patient in. Don't rush potty training. Sometimes, when it is rushed, the child will regress and take several steps backwards. Don't pressure him and when he is ready, he will start showing signs. If you talk to your pediatrician, he will tell you that this should not be a concern until between 3-4 years old. All children will potty train at different ages. I have 4 kids. They all basically trained themselves, because I didn't push the issue. My 1st son (now 20) took one week and did it almost help free. He was 2 years old. My 1st daughter (now 8) was 3 years and 4 months. She just wasn't ready early on. My 2nd daughter (now 4) was just under 3 years old. My 2nd son (just recently adopted) is 10 months old, so we haven't come to that issue yet. However, having studied counseling and worked with children in a shelter and through other experiences, I firmly believe that there are some things that just should not be rushed. He will let you know when he is ready. Just focus on loving him and his development in other areas. It will happen sooner than you think. A lot of parents rush it because they either worry about what others think or they are tired of buying diapers, but all at the child's expense. Give him time. Also, allow him to be around other children who go to the potty in the toilet and he will soon want to do like they do.
May God Bless You!

Hi D. This may sound funny but I potty trained my son by putting a leaf in his potty chair and we made a game out of it and when he hit the target he was rewarded. Sounds funny but it worked