Suggestions on How to Get 2 1/2 Yr Old to Recognize When He Pees

Don't forget to try the "Chereeos in the toilet" technique. My 2 year old is very interested in trying to hit the chereeos targets. We keep a box near the toilet. He's not at all interested in "pooping on the potty" yet.

Have you tried just putting him in underwear? I did that with my son who is 27 months and it worked like a charm. I raelly didn't expect it to work I just kind of did it to see what would happen. I don't really think he was realizing the need to use the bathroom so I thought he might feel it better in the underwear if there is an accident. He had two accidents the first day and since then he has only had few. That was about three weeks ago and the only time he wears a pull up is at night and he wakes up with it dry about 95% of the time. Good luck!

2 1/2 isn't too young for some children, but not all children. Each child is different and will progress at their own rate. I learned this from my own children. One was trained at 3 1/2, the other at 22 months. Just don't get obsessed with it!
Good luck!

My friends little boy was struggling with the same thing. He really wanted to be ready but couldn't figure out what the feeling felt like.

My friend, Sarah, bought lots and lots of yummy juices and juice boxes. They spent the next few days at home and she let her son run around in his "birthday suit". She took him to the potty every 30 minutes. She had the potty stocked with snacks and fun books to read. All he had to do was sit there for a couple minutes the first few times to earn a treat. Then as he got better at letting himself release and relax on the toilet.... he got a treat only when he pee peed. It worked like a charm for them

Neither of my boys potty trained before 3 1/2. They wouldn't try earlier. I wonder if I would have tried her method though....if it would have happened much sooner.

Best of luck!

I don't think 2 and a half is young. Lots of kids are ready to be potty trained at that age. I would ask is he developmentally ready. Does he wake from naps and mornings dry? That tells you that his body capable of enough control to be trained. If he is, then put him in big boy underwear. He doesn't feel the effect of the what happens when he is peeing while in a pullup. This a great time of the year because you can be outside more and he won't puddle on the floor. Remember not to get frustrated. Some kids are easier than others, but very few have this trouble after 4.

HI T.,

First off, I know you said that 2 1/2 is not too young (and a I don't believe it is either), but maybe it is for your son. Like you said, your two boys are opposites. Every child is their own and you can't force them into something they may not be ready for doing.

If this is something you want to push, I would start by taking away the diaper and pull ups. He doesn't know when he's peeing because he can't feel it. Yes, you will have a lot of messes to clean up. However, he will start to be more aware of the feeling of peeing and when his full bladder.

Good luck!

Hi T.! I have read some of the other responses and have the same advice. My daughter just turned 2 on August 1st and is potty trained (going on 12 days & nights). She was probably 18 months or so when she was potty trained going "poopy". For that, I knew when she had to go (pushing)...so I would quickly take off her diaper and sit her on the toilet. She didn't object, so I went with it. I did a lot of praise and gave her a little treat. I guess because I would always try to get her on the toilet, she learned that is where you are supposed to go poopy. Now, as far as going "peepee", I was having the same kind of issues with want my daughter to recognize it before she went in her pull-up. I had tried the "going without anything on" thing, but it only made my daughter never wanting to wear anything on her bottom when she had to-- she loved being "free", I guess! HAHA! What worked for us, was to put her in panties. I kind of watched when she would drink liquids and put her on the toilet 30-45 mintutes after that. If she didn't drink anything, I would wait 1 to 1 1/2 hours and put her on the toilet. It was a learning process for me too. I kind of got the jist of how long she was able to "hold it" before she went. Oh, and I would make it a big deal too. I got super excited when it was time to go potty. I tried to make myself go too afterwards. I would tell my daughter it was time to go potty and then after she went I told her it was mommy's turn. She seemed to like that a lot. For some reason, after like 3 days of being consistent (and accidents) it stuck. She started to tell me she had to go and was waking up dry in the morning. Oh, that's another thing. I was putting pull-ups on her at night-- even after she was waking up dry. My friend suggested that I don't do that. To toss the diapers and pull-ups because they might revert back to going in them (an act of becoming lazy, possibly). Sorry it's such a long post. I know what your going through. Consistency is the best! Any ?'s, feel free to ask. Good luck! :) Oh, I am not sure of your child's cup situation-- sippy or?? But I got rid of the sippy cup at the same time as I started the training. My daughter was drinking a lot at one time. I switched over to the regular cup, so she wasn't drink a bunch at one time, but in smaller quantities more frequently throughout the day. It seemed to help regulate things better with her bladder. Hard to explain, but it worked for me. Plus for night-time, she wasn't downing a bunch of milk or water before bed. That helped with waking up dry in the morning. Now that I look back, I know my daugher was kind of using her sippy cup as a "bottle"-- kind of. Or so it seemed.

2 1/2 is NOt too young. My 2nd child was potty trained before she was 2 and it was not from me pushing her either. It was by her initiative. I would say just to keep encouraging him and have him watch daddy and his big brother on the potty. Maybe that will help. My litle one now tells me when she goes but I can't get her to go on the potty yet. Just hang in there it will come.

T.,

What may have been an age appropriate time to potty train your first child does not necessarily mean that it will be the same for your second child. If you allow him to give you the signal that he is ready, you will find in almost all instances, immediate success.

C.

its still summer right? get a potty chair, go outdoors, and strip him naked! :D this will be a sure-fire way for him to realize about peeing :P
if not good enough to go outside, then i guess its the 0-70 experiment, the 0 is for clothing, and the 70 is for the carpet cleaners bill. :D

theres a book on this, i dont remember what it is called. but its funny and a fun idea. my son loves it and hes 21 months.

good luck!

First off: stop putting him in a Pull Up or diaper. Throw them out and be done with them! LoL Put the little guy in underwear and he'll learn pretty quick when he's wet or poopy. It may take a few clean up times on your part, but it'll be worth it in the end =)

I agree with you - he's not too young! My 2-year-old loves his big-boy underwear and never wets in them. If he's wearing a diaper (we use cloth and disposables) he goes. Toss the pull-ups and get him in underwear for at least a few hours a day. I remind my son that he doesn't want to pee in them and get them dirty. I didn't think it would work, but it did. Also, when he wet his underwear he would be sad that he couldn't wear them until we washed them. I think that was incentive to keep them dry. We only had 3 pair at first, so I actually didn't have another pair waiting for him if he had an accident.

All kids are different. My first son was potty trained (on accident) before he turned 2. My second son was nearly 4 and we had to force it, big time. And we've had all ages in between with the other children.
I am working on potty training my 7th child at 22 months. He KNOWS when he needs to pee and poop. He frequently takes his diaper off to pee and poop. The other day he pulled his diaper down enough to expose himself and peed on the floor. My husband witnessed it! Turd! LOL He's going to potty training boot camp as soon as I have a full day at home.

My suggestion would be to devote a whole day to this issue. Let him run naked all day, outside is good if you can, lool. Follow him around with a potty chair. (as in take it from room to room if you move rooms, but try to stay in one area for your sanity)
You can fill him up with salty chips and crackers all day and pump him with juice and water to make him need to pee often. Then as you see him start to pee, you can point it out and try to get him on the potty. I would maybe not make a deal out of peeing on the floor, just point out that he IS peeing and that he should try to do it in the potty chair. That should get him to associate that feeling with the pee.

As much of a pain as it could be, consider just putting him right into underwear. You'd be surprised at how quickly he'll realize that he doesn't have a diaper on when he needs to go (even BEFORE he pees) and of course, he'll have accidents, but will immediately know when he's wet.

There are also brands of disposable training pants (pull ups and others) that say they have "cool" technology to make the child feel when it's wet. Not sure if it totally works or not, but my son did seem to realize when they were wet.

Mine is 2 and just at the end of the potty training stage. You're early for a boy, but don't let that discourage you. If you and he are ready, just do it, and BE CONSISTENT, and it will pay off.

Hi T.,
I don't think your son is too young to potty train, especially if you don't make it stressful.

If you have a long weekend coming up (like Labor Day), work with your husband and focus on it for the weekend. Put him in underwear, set your timer for 30 minutes and put him on the potty every time it goes off. He'll eventually go and make it a big deal, high fives, a treat, etc. As he gets better, you can keep him on a schedule, just start making the timer a longer time frame.

Another suggestion: Diapers and pullups are very absorbant - that is what they are for. Try to deal with underwear and the messes you'll have, but if you can't, then put some underwear on under the pull up so he can feel better.

Good luck!
K.

All 3 of my kids were potty trained just after they were 2 yrs old. I would say just try using regular underwear during "waking" hours and pull-ups ONLY at nap time or bed time. After making a BIG deal out of getting real underwear it only took my daughter one time of peeing in the underwear to realize she didn't like it and she never did it again. The other two it took more like 3 or 4 times but they learned quickly as well. It's kind of a pain initially because you never know when they'll have to go but it was worth it in the long run.

Well, let me just mention that you can never compare kids, while you first son potty trained early for any sex child your second might not be the same, and that it just fine too! My oldest could have cared less and probably would have went to kindergarten in diapers if the other kids hadn't made fun of him. He only just decided it was worth it after he had been in preschool at 4 1/2, while my younger son was potty trained, on his own, by 2 1/2! so kids are just who they were meant to be. They all have different priorities, what bothers on will not bother the other at all! so my advice is, no worries, he will do it when he is ready! not worth the headache unless he is in kindergarten and still wetting his pants.

Try some cloth diapers. I read somewhere that back in 1950 95% of kids were in cloth diapers and the average age of potty training was 18 months and that today 95% of kids are in disposable diapers and the average age of potty training was 28 months.

We just switched to cloth diapers for our 9 month old and LOVE them! I bought from a local mom in Minneapolis who hand makes them. They are about $10 less than other brands. www.twigandvine.com

Good luck!

The first thing I want to say is that for some children it's not too young - for others it is. It's highly individual and really not fare to compare whether to siblings or other children - so just because your oldest was trained by x doesn't mean your subsequent children will be ready to be.
I would also just go with nothing - no diapers, pull-ups, etc - it worked well with all 3 of my boys - all pt'd within 2 days with no accidents.

I have 3 boys ages 6,4, and 2. The thing that works the best for us is to go without anything on at all. A nurse in the NICU told me that was how she trained her little boy and it has helped us. I have also found that if they have underware on with no other pants on they seemed to remember better. I figure that they can see the undies and don't forget that they are not wearing a pull-up. I also ask/offer the potty frequently. I think it is most important not to push it too much. Some people end up training themselves to get the kid to the potty and not the other way around. Good luck.

Unfortunately, diapers and pullups are too good and they suck that urine right up before they can feel it. I used Fuzzi Bunz diapers with my daughter. They are a unique cloth diaper/pull up. She wore them the whole time, but I think they would work now for him. They feel the urine immediately and can correlate what happened. You won't be left with a mess because the diaper will absorb into the lining. Trust me, my dd was potty trained in one day! And...you're right 2 is not too young!

My son is going to be 3 soon and we just starting potty training a couple of months ago. I don't think my son was completely ready (he sounded a lot like your son), but we had no choice because of pre-school. I think the first thing you need to do is...stop comparing the two kids. I think it is adding extra frustration on your part because he isn't learning as quickly as your first.

Our daycare doesn't allow pull-ups, so we went full force on the potty-training. We just kept him on a potty schedule (every 2 1/2 hours worked good for him in the beginning). We had good days and bad days, but once he understood the concept, it went fairly easy. Just hang in there.

He doesn't feel the wetness in a pull-up or a disposable diaper. They are made so well these days. Put him in big boy underpants and don't look back! Good luck.

Hi T.
I would say if you are going to teach him to know when he needs to pee. you need to get him out of his pull up and diapers because he can not feel the feeling of being wet immedeatly after he pees which in my opion is how they learn. Good Luck T.

One of my son's head start teachers said "In theroy this is great, but what child has read that book". Each child is different. When my oldest was ready he was almost four. It wasn't for the lack of trying on our part but he just couldn't get the idea. That was, until I started sitting for the mother of his best friend (child was a year older). When ever this child went to the bathroom, my son was right there seeing how things worked. With in a week, my son was trained.
My second son was a little harder. He'd go pee in the potty, but not poop. I started sending him to Head Start in regular big boy undies because he would stay dry during the day. He would then poop after he would fall asleep at night in his "Good Nights". This went on for a while until one day he came running into the living room demanding that I put a pull up on him. Knowing his pattern I told him that if he had to go poop, he had to do it in the big boy potty. He finally go the connection. Now my third child was the hardest. No matter what we did, he just wasn't going to do nothing that required him listening to us. Even his bigger brothers, who tried, gave up. What it took was a special Christmas gift from Grandma(child was almost 5). His own package of action figure underwear. The day after Christmas, he wanted to wear a pair so badly, that we told him that he couldn't poop or pee on "Batman". In less than 24 hours, we got rid of the rest of the diapers and pull ups in the house. So you see, not all kids will get the potty thing at an early age. The key is just to keep trying and try not to let it wear you down, too much.