I am a mother of 3 boys. I found that none of them were very successful at potty training until around 3 1/2. My youngest son took the longest of all. I feel like I tried every trick in the book with all of them. For each one, something totally unique to them worked. One did well with a strict schedule. Every 2 hours, sit on the pot. One did well with peer support. Until he actually started preschool where the whole class had a potty break together as part of the school day, he just didn't get it. Barely four weeks into preschool, the teacher says, "by the way, you can stop bringing pullups and put him in underwear - he doesn't have accidents here." And how about this story from a parents magazine ... a little guy is wiping his own bottom at preschool, but still asks for help at home for over a year before the parents and teacher finally connect on that important milestone! For the youngest of my boys, I had to find a motivator. He really likes M&Ms which he rarely gets, so I had the bright idea of offering a few "beans" (that's what he calls them) when he successfully went pee. This was a good plan, but it didn't work. Taking away the computer did. If he went potty with no accidents all day - he got computer time. If he had even one accident that day - no computer. It worked so quickly with pee pee, we modified it slightly and got results for poo poo, as well. Bottom Line (excuse me - couldn't resist) your boys are perfectly normal and so are you. Give me labor and delivery over potty training any day. Most importantly, You ARE a GOOD Mommy! Potty training IS a rough deal.
M. S