My son will be 3 in October. I never really tried whole heartedly to potty train him but he would sit here and there just to get him used to the idea. He only recently started telling me he pooped after he would do it and ask for a new diaper so I thought he may be ready. This weekend I put him in underwear and took him to the toilet every half hour to an hour and he held everything in all day and only wet himself in his underwear. The second day the same thing, this time I had to leave the house for his mom and tot class so I put a pull up on him and he peed in it and pooped in it at the grocery store after. When he was pooping he was turning red and grunting and saying his belly hurt (I'm assuming because he held it in the whole day before). Also at first he was fine with sitting or standing next to the toilet and was having fun with it but by the middle of the first day he was becoming very irritated and saying "stop it" and at time was hitting me and saying he was finished and wanted to get off. Is he just not ready? I don't want to push him and make it a horrible experience.
I decided to leave it alone for now. I work 3 days a week and don't want to leave it on my mother (who watches him 2 of those days). I do plan on getting a few books and/or dvds from the library about the potty this week and I'll continue talking it up for now and try again in a few weeks. I know he'll get it.
I waited until both my kids were 3 and about a week (after the b-day parties). They each trained easily. Even then pooping took a little longer for my son. They never had the 'hold it in' problem that is very common. I would say no rush. When he is ready it won't be so hard. I also suggest waiting until you do not have plans to go anywhere so you don't have to put him back in pull-ups. Good luck! Boys are a little more resistant sometimes.
Hi D.,
Everything you say points to your son being ready to learn. I've heard so many horror stories, but potty-training my son took exactly one day, was fun for him (if a little busy for me) and without trauma or any tears...
The secret to make it happen? A book called "Toilet-Training in Less Than a Day" by Nathan Azrin and Richard Foxx (http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Training-Less-Than-Day/dp/06.... See if your library network has it, I just borrowed it, and boy was I happy I did it. The title is truthful, it does take less than a day. And the book was written in the 70's! I don't get why it's not recommended by all pediatricians.
Several of my friends also used this method, and were very very happy with it. My son was actually an outlier, since he still refused to go potty to poop for 3 weeks after that, but from that day on he would ask for a diaper, do what he needed to do, and ask me to take it off. After 3 weeks, on his own, he just went in the potty and that was the end of diapers during the day (night dryness takes a little longer, but I didn't care about that.)
Have fun with it!
K.
He's not ready yet...... try again when he is three years and three months old. Good luck, Hunny-Bunny! xo
My son is only two and we havent really tried potty training yet either. Kind of sounds like your son though. Would tell me when he pooped, has sat on the potty, has even told me he had to poop and wanted to sit on the potty but then he just didn't seem to interested otherwise. I let it go. If it was me and my son was getting frustrated and saying stop it, and hitting, I'd back off a bit. Personally I have NO IDEA if what I'm doing is right or wrong and the whole potty training task is daunting but it will be done one day right so follow your instincts and work with him. Good luck! Would love to hear more in the future from you about what you did/didn't do and how its all going b/c I'm sure I'll need the same advice soon enough! : )
When I tried to potty train my first son I found the harder I tried the more we went backwards. He was just not ready and the more I forced the issue the harder the time he gave me. I finally realized he was just not ready. Boys tend to start later than girls. I than just stopped and left him alone a couple of months later and he was about 3 1/2 he came to me and said mommy I want to wear underwear and this was at nite. I obliged and gave him underwear and maybe he had 1 accident. When they are ready it will be smooth sailing. Don't drive yourself crazy and let him be for now.
Hi D.,
If he's really not ready, try again in a month. Also, you might want to try cloth diapers or cloth training pants with the waterproof outer layer. It lets them know what happens when they pee - they get VERY wet, and they start to learn what it feels like just before that happens, and the wetness gives them some motivation to want to use the toilet. In disposables, the moisture is sucked away from their skin so quickly, that they are not uncomfortable and it's inconvenient to interrupt their play for toilet time.
Good luck!
The key to my son's potty training was taking him to the store and letting him pick out some big boy underpants. He wanted to wear them and only ever had one mistake. We never used pull-ups...went straight from diapers to underpants. He was ready...your son may not be ready yet...Does he liek Elmo? There's a video called Elmo's Potty Time that my son liked watching and did watch for a while before making the transition to underwear...we had a cute book about using the potty too...maybe it was so easy because we addressed it long before the time came?
Good luck!
let him try peeing standing up... I put cheerios in the toilet.. just a few.. maybe like 6.. and asked him if he could hit them with the pee.. they love to do this.. next time try fruit loops.. this may help.. it's like playing a game.. as for putting him on.. just put him on every 1 hour or a little longer.. and see how it goes.
HI D.,
My son was 3.3 years before he peed on the toilet. I stressed for 5 months over training and one day he went in with his dad and was magic... He will be 4 late November and won't poop on the toilet yet. He brings me a pull up and we put it on and when he is finished we put on underwear. My point is he will get there and no use making him suffer with a soar belly because they will hold it for aday or 2 and get very uncomfortable. He will let u know when he is ready. Hang in there and good luck.
