Potty Training My 3 Year Old Son HELP PLEASE!

With potty training you just need to keep trying. It is normal to have lots of accidents at first. I had a whole class of two year olds to potty train and consistency is key. Take him in there on a regular schedule maybe even every 1/2 hr to hr at first until you can consistently get results. He will eventually learn and with real underwear on he will learn quicker because he will not want to be wet. Eventually he will be able to stay dry for longer periods of time. The more consistent you are the quicker he will learn.

The best advise that I got from my mom, when I was working with my daughter was to take her to the bathroom every 30 minutes and gradually increase the time. She said that it doesn't matter whether its a boy or a girl, it works the same. What I also did to help was set a timer that reminded us both that 30 minutes had passed and it was time to go to the bathroom. The other thing was that my daughter didn't tell us that she had to go by said potty, her key word is "wet". So keep that in mind, and if he does use a key word to let you know he needs to go, let others know that you maybe around what it is, so if they hear it they know what it means and let you know. Also be proactive when you are going to be out and about, go before you leave (common sense) and go again once you arrive if you can. I learned that it isn't always best to ask them if they have to go, it just works better to just take them and wait. It is a matter of lots of patience. Hope this helps.

You are already on the right track! You don't need your husband to get this done(although it would be nice to have him home period seeing his circumstance!). After about 14 or so kids (home daycare)I haven't ssen much difference between boys and girls and the speed they do it in, it's all readiness. Continue with putting him in his big boy undies. Do not ask him if he has to potty, just tell him it's time to go in to go and take him. Do this more frequently at first, then go longer and longer in-between taking him in. When he goes praise him and you could do small rewards like m&m's or stickers or something. When he doesn't go give him encouragement and tell him, maybe you'll go next time. As far as accidents....they are going to happen! Have lots of undies and it is important to teach him to clean it up(of course help with the poopy). He will learn much faster if HE has to be responsible for his going potty instead of you! Show him how to clean himself up and get fresh undies and he can do it!! Keep a positive attitude and give encouragment, but there is no need to go too overboard, everybody potties afterall! He will get it down in no time. And remember, night time training doesn't come right away with every child, he may need complete day training before he can figure out the night! Good Luck!

You don't want to hear this, but... Just drop it. We tried everything with our three year old boy, timing potty, treats, charts, prizes, threats, anger, excitement...you name it we tried it. He was over three and a half years old, and one day got out of the shower to go potty...we made a huge deal out of it, and all of the sudden he started to try. They just realize on their own when the time is right. It is frustrating as all get out, but you just need to just let it happen. I swore my kid would attend his college graduation in pull-ups...we have finally made it past that stage and at 4 1/2 just hoping he can one day manage to "wake up" dry :).

i trained my son at the age of three also. what i did i had the potty chair in the living room right where he played the most. that way he didn't have to run into the bathroom and then he jsut started to use the big potty and we made a big deal of throw the potty chair away!!!

This may or may not be an option that appeals to you, but we potty trained my son by allowing him to pee off the deck. He still prefers to pee outside (we recently moved into a neighborhood; when we trained him we lived rurally), but so do all the neighbor boys, so at least mine's not alone!

My son is now 4 but I went through this with my son when he was 3. He to had to go a lot. It took a while for him to be able to hold it. He would start playing and I would come up to him really excited and say "come with me and we are going potty and then you get a really fun treat and then you can play with your toys some more." The treat was better it he went in the potty. I took a couple days off of work and took him to the potty about every 5 min or so. This worked for me but in the end I think when the kids are ready they almost potty train them selves. Also I have been doing a at home preschool so you might want to try that if he is not potty trained. I found that preschool for a 3 year old was just running around and playing. I came out poor and he was not any smarter. Good luck!

Dear J.,

Please relax! The fact that he is interested is HUGE! You have almost 3 months before school starts again. It's summer and that will help. He can be outside and after a few accidents, I'm guessing he won't like the way THAT feels and he'll choose to use the potty. It's hard on all of you that Dad's away, but don't add to the little guys angst. Pressuring him will cause him to NOT want to comply.

Maybe the next time you talk/email/write your husband ask him to mention the little guys accomplishments and tell him he knows he's really trying and is proud of his using the potty.

Please thank your husband for all he is doing for all the families here. My dad was in the Navy, too. I'm so proud of him and thank him every Veteran's Day. You can be sure that your husband as well as you three here in the states are in our prayers! God Bless!

B.

Mom of 3 great kids and wife of one great husband! 14 yr old girl, 13 yr old boy and 3 yr old boy (who is also in the midst of potty training. I get better results when I don't make a big deal out of his NOT going. Just when he does go on the potty. Accidents are handled calmly and with dignity. "That's why it's a good idea to make sure that goes in the potty, okay? it's less messy.")

hi, give him alittle bit of water and go with him every 15 or 30 minutes. that way he can get use to everything with his body. also if you have a potty chair have him set on it and you set on the toliet that will help him. it talks time and patience. i am the mother of 3. two boys and 1 girl. i hope this helps. you could also try a star chart when he goes potty give a him a star.

He sounds normal to me. Potty training is sometimes 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

He's interested, and that's great! Don't squash his interest.

He is just learning how to control his body, and what it feels like to have to go potty. Hang in there. You are right on by taking him to the toilet every so often, and having him in underwear. Like someone else mentioned, don't ask him, just tell him it's time to go. Set a timer if it helps. Take him to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes if you have to. When he sits on the potty, even if he doesn't go, give him a treat: a jelly bean, a sticker, whatever.

Sometimes kids feel singled out when mom is constantly bringing them to the bathroom. If it helps, you and your daughter "play along" and make it a family potty break. Kids usually want to do whatever their older siblings are doing. When it's potty break time, have your daughter go in the bathroom first, even if all she does is just close the door, count to 20, and flush.

Lastly, if he isn't trained by the time preschool starts, he's simply not ready for preschool. It won't be the end of the world!

I think ultimately you have to wait until he's ready. My son was 3 years 8 months before he was truly potty trained and once he did it, it was all him. I never had to ask him and he never had an accident. We found a preschool for him that didn't require potty training. This has nothing to do with intelligence. My son is at the far top end of his first grade class. It just takes some kids (especially boys) a bit longer to control those mechanics. Don't worry! He will be potty trained before you know it! Good luck!

My husband took my now four year old, at the time he was 2 and 1/2, over to a tree when we were at a baseball game as there were no bathrooms near by. He thought it was fun to pee on a tree. So for the rest of the game pretty much he kept drinking juice boxes and running back to his tree. It was funny at the time and it did seem like all our work was done for a while, but then we could not get him to go inside anymore. This was during the summer. That christmas, Thomas went pee on our christmas tree! Not fun to spray disinfectent on an artificial tree and have to throw the tree skirt in the wash and get out the rug scrubber:) He was however out of this stage very shortly after that and always runs to the toilet even if we are playing outside now. Now my daughter wants nothing to do with potty training. I almost wish she were a boy right now so we could just let her run around and pee outside. I think she is scared of both the big potty and the potty chair we have as she crys hysterically if we do not put her diaper on or if we even ask her if she wants to go on the potty. And she will be three in two weeks. Good luck! All kids go in their own time.

With potty training, patience is a virtue! Put goals like preschool out of your mind and focus on what you son needs to succeed. It may be you taking him to the bathroom every 10 mins. all day, everyday until he gets the idea and has a few successes to cement the concept in his mind. Learn to "read" your child, know his cues and respond to them. Plan to stay home and relatively unoccupied during this time because you can't do this and something else if you want him to be successful. And you can't rush it - it will come when it comes. Until then, remember this is a learning event, just like ABC's and tying shoes. The harder you push, the more frustrated he'll become, and the slower everything proceeds.

SAHM of seven

What we did for our oldest boy is put cheerios in the toilet and told him to shoot them. That worked for him, but for our second one, we put red food coloring in the water and told him that if he went potty it would change the color of the water. That worked for him. He was so excited to see the color change. Just some fun tips that might work for you. Books help also, it keeps them sitting longer. Good luck.

Sounds like he just doesn't have any idea when he's "gotta go." The cool-alert pull-ups really seemed to help my son figure it out.

lol. im hoping to train my son this summer on the NAKED plan. just let him run around outside, slathered in only sunscreen. ive heard many people who swear this works. have that little potty outside so that he has the chance to use it.

good luck with this, if you find what works, let us lal know cuz i havent done it yet with my son, but i would LOVE to hear ideas too! but im hoping the naked outside plan works.

Read to him: "Once Upon A Potty" - a potty training book for toddlers.
Also, "Everybody Poops" and "Everybody Farts".

These books will start to interest him in potty training and in his body functions. He will start wanting to go to the potty for the sake of being just like his storybook friends.

Don't feel bad J., my son was 3 1/2 before he decided he was done with pull-ups and diapers. It is one of those things that each child does when he is ready. When he is ready it will happen naturally.

By the way, THANK YOU to your family and husband for the huge sacrifice you are making to make our country a better place.
My father was in the Navy during the Korean Conflict and my father-in-law just recently passed, he was a Purple Heart recipient from the Vietnam Conflict (Army). God Bless you and your family.

Good luck with the potty training!!

hi J. when i first read your request i thought right away about his dad taking him in and showing him how to go like a big boy, but as i read further a realized he wasn't available. so i thought if there was another relative that he might look up to and trust that might help out even if it is another child like a cousin that can take him in. that would help alot. my son, when he was little( he's grown now with his own children) he didn't have his father around either so my dad and his uncles helped out and it was no time before he was going on his own with no problem. also you might want to get a small stool that he can stand on while he is going and if you want to continue to let him sit while goes then i suggest that you turn him around and let him face the toilet and pretend he is on a horse. sounds kind of weird but i have heard it works. Hope this helps and gives you some ideas that will and god bless your husband and i hope he comes home soon.

My son needed to be potty trained for pre-school too and we just barely made it. The school's policy is that he just has to be dry while he's there - they didn't care if he was back in diapers/pull-ups when he was at home. So that was our initial goal, staying dry for three hours. For the month of August, every day during the time that he would have been in school he had to take off his pull-up. He could wear underwear or go naked, his choice, but he had to pee on the potty if he had to go during that time. We called it "Jean Lyle Time" since the name of his school was Jean Lyle. He did really well with it, although we had some accidents. It probably took another six months after he started school before he was fully day-trained, but this got us into school.

Another thing we did was make a paper chain out of craft foam, one link for each day until school started. I wrote the dates on each link, and would put special events from the calendar on the inside. Every morning we would open up that day's link, see what was written inside, and remove it from the chain. It was a visual reminder of how the time until school started was getting shorter.

My son had visited his school and also done a 3-day summer camp with them, so he was familiar with what going to school meant and was excited to be there - that helped with his motivation. If your son hasn't spent time at school maybe one of the teachers would allow him to come explore and see what cool toys are there so he's excited about going.

Just be patient, even though it's hard - he will learn. The more you push, though, the harder it can be.