Potty training a boy

[mucklom]

My son is 2 1/2 and is showing interest in potty training. Problem is, it's always after he already went potty. This is our first go at potty trining and i want to make it as easy as possible for him. Any tips from the pros out there?

[angel22]

Even AFTER he's gone potty put him on the potty and remind him that "pee goes in the potty." Eventually he'll manage to get on the potty BEFORE he pees. Any time he has an accident remind him where the pee is supposed to go. He'll get it, try to stay patient and consistant and DON'T GIVE UP. =)

[megan1201]

I am working on potty training our 27 month old son right now -- its a lot of work, and takes a lot of patience. Right now he goes #2 on the potty every time, havent had a poopy diaper in over a week, but we are still working on staying dry... at first DS would tell me "I'm peeing" and we would try to rush to the potty but it would be too late... but I try to put him on the potty everytime, and be sure to ask him often if he has to go use the potty. Also, be sure to use positive reinforcement, don't punish him or scold him if he goes in his diaper, but praise like crazy when he goes on the potty. He'll get the hang of it eventually! Good luck!!

[sharon]

We did the sorta boot camp approach. We set aside a long weekend where we weren't leaving the house and I put him in underwear on Friday afternoon when we got home. I set a timer and took him every half hour and by the end of the weekend he had the hang of it. On Sunday I stopped with the timer and just had him go when he felt he needed to.

He peed in his pants one time. I calmly and kindly gave him clean clothes and when he said I should change him I just calmly said "Sweetie, that's your job now. Put the dirty clothes in the hamper when you are done." And walked away. It sounds harsh, but I didn't do it in a harsh way. That was his only accident with us (he used to have them at preschool sometimes, b/c he didn't want to stop playing and go).

[angel22]

Sharon, how old was Ian when you potty trained him?

[jessijo]

I'm working on potty training my 2 yr old daughter too. She knows what to do, but sometimes she's just lazy and would rather just use her diaper.

[Champ]

I also used the timer and it worked plus it was the way that they did it at a daycare I use to work at. My son was 2 by the time he was trained.

[supermommy]

Sharon- we are looking to try that method.

Here is my thing- Ds does NOT want to use the potty...do I force it or just wait? He is 3, I feel like he should be potty trained by now. We tried to put him in underwear and he screamed bloody murder. He will sit on the toilet but refuses to go. Help! lol

[mucklom]

Thanks for all the great guidance. I like the weekend approach. That way me, ds and my dh can focus all our time on the adventures in potty training

[mwatkins11]

We may have to try the weekend potty training whe DD gets a little older. I think I should start introducing a training potty now, even if it is just to sit on. Will that help at all?

[apryllraye87]

Don't force it. Trust me, that will only make it worse!

Positive reinforcement worked for us. We had a "chip cup" (it was a clear jar) and everytime DS went pee on the potty he got to put one chip (they were kind of like poker chips) into the jar, and two when he would go poop. If he went in his underwear we would take one/two chips out. Once the jar was full we did something really fun like going out for ice cream, going swimming, etc. It was nice for him to have the visual to remind him. After a while he started trying to go even when he didn't have to just so he could put a chip in the cup

Good luck!

[sharon]

Oct 11, 2011 8:06:04 GMT -6 angel22 said:

Sharon, how old was Ian when you potty trained him?

He was 3. Not quite 3 and a half. We were going to wait until he was 3 1/2 and then realized that would mean flying to NY within a month of making the transition. And he's a kid who does not like transitions, so we wanted to give him more time to adjust than that.

[sharon]

Oct 11, 2011 12:47:11 GMT -6 supermommy said:

Sharon- we are looking to try that method.

Here is my thing- Ds does NOT want to use the potty...do I force it or just wait? He is 3, I feel like he should be potty trained by now. We tried to put him in underwear and he screamed bloody murder. He will sit on the toilet but refuses to go. Help! lol

Ian was completely not on board! That was why we waited. In the end, we did take the reigns because he just was not going to decide on his own. He doesn't. He does not make big changes in his life voluntarily and that was clear long before he was 3.

We took the approach that worked for us with giving up the pacifier, which was another big change we had made and it had gone well, though he was not on board. What we did was set a date a couple of weeks out and let him know that it was going to happen. Not ask, not negotiate, but let him know. That gave us time to talk about it with him and him time to process it, but we never made it optional.
We also involved him in planning how he wanted to celebrate one the change was made. With a pacifier, he wanted to give them to a family member who was having a baby, so he got to pack them up all fancy and go see her. With the underwear, he wanted to eat at the Malt Shop with his best friend and his family to celebrate. We also got him a toy he'd been wanting as a gift. But didn't tell him about it in advance (so, yes, it was a bribe, but we tried to avoid it being TOO much of a bribe). We were prepared to confiscate the toy if he backslid, but that never happened.

We used a similar approach when he weaned about 6 months later and it worked well for that too. He's a pretty black and white kind of kid, so I think in his mind once you mark a transition, it's real. With pacifier, underwear, and weaning he did not try to revert even though all were very involuntary transitions.

[Mandan914]

Megan, we are doing the same thing.. DS will go #2 on the potty anytime we put him on it and probably pee too. we just go on it after meals and he has told us he has to go 3 times before hand.. and he gets gummy bears after he goes .. and is praised.. he loves it..

We just havent made the decision to go full force with it because I am scared we will be in the bathroom ever 30 mins forever.. He doesnt care if he is in a wet diaper and we cloth at home so he definitely can feel the wetness..

Idk if he is old enough (23 months) to do the weekend undies approach..

any suggestions?

[JazzyMaxie]

I can't believe that no one brought up the Cheerios! You put a couple of Cheerios in the toilet, and let the little boy use them as targets!

Langston potty trained when he was 2 1/2. Earllier that morning, my Dad was asking me when he was going to be potty trained. I reminded him that he was three states away, and didn't need to change any diapers....so why should he be concerned. I told him that Langston would go when he was good a ready. Less than an hour later, the conversation came up between me and Langston. Then I said, "Hey, Langston. Do you want to go to Chuck E. Cheese?!?" He said, "Yes!" I said, "OK, start peeing in the potty." And he did. I put him in diapers at night for the first week....but I also stopped giving him liquids two hours before bed. If he had them close to bed time...I would take him to the bathroom at 11pm, so that he could go potty!