any potty training advice? the good and the bad!

[mtemm]

my son is 2.5 now and shows great interest in the potty. He's peed on it a couple of times, but honestly we've just not had the time or energy to do much with it. Now that the twins are 4 months and things are settling down we've decided we really need to focus a bit on Daniel. DH is taking next week off and we are hoping to potty train him (Daniel, not dh! LOL!). Any tips? things that worked for you, or things that didn't? books you loved or books you hated?

I have no idea how to approach this at all. In fact, other than him driving its the part of parenting I am just completely intimidated by. No idea why. I just don't know what to do, literally.

TIA!

 

[orvilleair]

Been trying since early June, and it's taken us about a month. We finally have a good handle on it.
Daughter turned 3 in May, and she showed no interest until we put a chart on the refrigerator. We told her everytime she goes, she gets a sticker. When 20 stickers are on the chart, then she gets a toy. Lately, she has been wanting to go to Chucky Cheese, and that will be her next reward. Maybe next time it will be 30 stickers for a reward.

The first thing we had to do was get her to stay on the potty. It was hard. DW tried some things, and I put on puppet shows. I was crazy. DD got a kick out of that. Even though she didn't go, she got used to sitting on the potty. She had a "Dora seat" that would fit on top of the regular toilet seat.

"Once upon a potty" is a story about Prudence and Megan loved it. For boys, the only thing I've seen is a video of "Bear in the Big Blue House" about potty training. It's cute and my oldest daughter, now 6, found it to be a riot. I'm sure there are better books for boys.

Finally, we decided to use pullups at night or on trips and stuff. There is an arguement that pullups delay the potty training process, and that's probably true. Good Luck and Be patient.

 

[onecoolmama]

If he is interested in movies. Bear in the big blue house has one and the potty movie. DS loved these..and I let him watch way before he was ready.

I think the key is that you both have to be ready. My son was ready about two months before I was..so I waited. It is soo much smoother when you both are into it.

 

[momsully]

I have two boys 5 and 2.5. Both were completely trained at about 2 years and 3 months. In both cases we had been using the potty at night before bath and at diaper changes for several months. We read lots of potty books and my oldest loved the Bear in the Big Blue House potty movie.

When we decided to get serious and train we went right to underwear. We bought the thick cotton underpants at target and got rid of all the diapers. The first day was pretty rough as I think we went through 6 pair of underwear in about two hours. After that it got much better and within 4 or 5 days they were completely trained. I did buy pullups for nap and bedtime and used them the first couple of days but they both always woke up dry so we gave those away to friends.

I never got angry when they had an accident but I did make them both change their own clothing. I would help take the dirty ones off and then my son would get new underwear from his room and put it on.

It is a great feeling to be done with diapers. The preschool the boys attend has an age limit of 2.5 and potty trained and most of the parents there trained in a similar fashion. The advice that worked for us was that once you make the decision to go with underwear stick it out and try to make it work. A pullup is just like a diaper and switching back and forth can be confusing for little kids. We went everywhere with underwear and changes of clothes and although we had accidents it was not to bad.

Good luck!

 

[oogieboogie]

Having gone thru 2 boys, this is what I did with both of them:

1. No pull-ups ever.
2. We took them to pick their own big boy underwear.
3. The routine (no deviations):
- Wake up in the morning - potty
- Potty every hour on the hour
- No drinks except water after 6pm. No drinks 2 hours before bedtime
- Potty before bed, if you read to them, then potty again right before bed
- Middle of the night, wake them up and take them potty again. Don't turn on any lights.
4. As much as possible, I let the kids run naked around the house
5. When going out in public, again take them potty whether they want to or not.
6. Diapers only at bedtime and only if they're not dry thru the night yet
7. Don't get upset and yell if they make a mistake. Accidents will happen. Just clean up the mess and take them to sit on the potty
8. Let them see how Daddy does it.
9. Reward them when they go potty by themselves or when they do the number 2
10. Persistency is the key!

Good luck! You'll do fine. There are billions of people in the world and most of them have mastered using the toilet!

 

[poohtown]

i'll only add a game- I know it sounds weird but the little boys love it (I use to be a daycare teacher and had to train alot of kids - this only works for the boys)

take a square of tissue paper and float it in the toilet - let him "sink" it - enough said. Trust me they were begging to go to the bathroom all the time.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Start a routine and stay with it. And remember- all kids will do it when they are ready. I tried for a long time with my son and he would show interest and then regress. He didn't have good body awareness and couldn't tell when he got the sensation of having to go. Finally, one day, he decided to do it and never had an accident after that.

 

[cassie]

Being a mother of toddlers in the late sixties......we sure didn't have the "convience" of pull ups. No, my kids were not trained at 18 months. Around 2 1/2 I started with training pants.......no diapers, that was it. A few accidents..religiously reminding them to go potty, they trained within a couple weeks. In my time most Moms were at home so it was a lot easier. Nowadays, Moms are working, and kids are constantly being taken here, there, and everywhere.

My only advice is, once you feel he is ready, cut out the diapers for good. They are very secure wetting them...same goes for pull ups..no difference. The child has to feel uncomfortable with the wetness...something they don't feel with diapers or pullups. Patience Mother, a lot of patience. And never put the diapers on again

 

[grinningghost]

Most important of all. Don't stress over it. When he's really, really ready, he'll get the hang of it. I remember having a book with Little Grover from Sesame Street getting potty trained. That was a good one, but I don't remember the name of it.

 

[r3ngels]

We are going through it this week with my DD, Good Luck... and thanks guys I forgot about the books and videos that I used with my other 2 girls... yes Prudence is one--- Isn't that one a riot.

 

[mtemm]

thanks everyone so much!!!! I keep thinking I need to go to the library and buy a book for us but now I don't think I need to...not yet anyway. you all gave such good advice! thinking a trip to target to get underwear is a better way to go. we have a lot of books for him and the bear video...will bring that out today.

one question, do you train boys to pee standing up or sitting down?

 

[Lars624]

There is a 'Once Upon a Potty' book for boys......instea of Pridence it's a boy whose name starts with P....the name escapes me noe....my twins b/g had both of those books. My 2 oldest ones were easy to potty train.....my youngest was NOT! He was almost 4 when he finally trained.
My nephew turned 3 last February & shows NO interest at all in using the potty.......people are always giving SIL grief over him still being in diapers....I just tell her not to stress over it he won't go to college still in diapers Her doctor suggested that she go to the Dollar Store & buy $25.00 worth of toys....wrap them like gifts & every time he sites on the potty give him one.
Good Luck

 

[Lars624]

Originally posted by mtemm


one question, do you train boys to pee standing up or sitting down?

Standing up shooting at Cheerios is waaaay more fun!

 

[mommytutu]

The pedi told me just yeasterday that boys don't get good control of their sphincter (sp?) muscles until they are 3.5 and girls get them at about 2. My ds was pee trianed around 2-2.5, but I thought the kid would never poop in the potty, but he did right about 3y 4 m. And then that was that, he was ready to start pooping in the potty. My nephew just turned 4 and he's still not completely potty trained---but I think it has more to do with the trainer then the trainee. I know of no special way of making the process quick and painless. Let him pick out some big boy underwear and be real excited when he uses the potty. We had a sticker chart. And ds much preferred the padded seat that you place on the big potty then the little potty chairs. The little potties hrt his butt to sit on and since we used the big potty he just HAD to as well. Also, I think it is common for boys to wet the bed. My ds didn't, but most moms of boys that I know did. Be patient and consistant and ya'll do fine. You'll figure out a routine that works good for you. And GOOD LUCK!

On a side note when ds was all done with pull ups (I used them not for training purposes, but because he ALWAYS took a diaper off) I was actually a little sad because the last "baby" item was done with. I got over it pretty quickly though.

 

[mommytutu]

Originally posted by Lars624
Standing up shooting at Cheerios is waaaay more fun!

I trained sitting down to get him used to using the potty. Once he master going in the potty, then I worked on standing up. The cheerios thing I've known several parents to do that. My ds is 7 and we are still working on aim. If he pees on my toilet seat one more time.....ARRGGGGHHH! Flushable wipes are handy.

 

[DisKim]

My biggest piece of advice after training 2 kids is avoid pull-ups if you want them trained. They are such a waste. Both of my kids were not fully trained until I ditched those and got them real underwear. They each had a few accidents in the underwear but they didn't like it and learned to avoid accidents quickly. My other piece of advice is make sure he is ready. I know two people who tried to train their sons when they weren't ready and both boys ended up with bowel problems (refused to make a movement for over a week!).

 

[Beast fan]

DW and I tried everything..... you name it, it's listed in a previous post on this thread. In DW's and my opinion, males are just plain stubborn. Both of our DS's learned at the same age, 3 yrs/10 months. (No, they are not twins.)
DS3.75 finally learned this month, and we are THRILLED! He wears a pull-up, but only at night. Usually, it's dry the next day.

Good luck in your endeavors. You WILL need it.

Dave

 

[shortbun]

DS trained at 3.3 years. My ped said 3 was realistic and
most kids couldn't have consistant luck until then. She felt
pride played a big part in it too. We trained DS to pee sitting
down, much easier!!! and less messy too. He began standing
about a year and 1/2 later. We used the Cheerio thing then to
get him aiming. We took DS out, let him pick his potty, his underwear and a couple of books. He sat on the potty to read
at first and then to pee and a while after that to go #2. We used
a potty with a seat that fit on the grownup toilet so later we could
travel with just the seat -saves those scary big potty moments
when they refuse to sit on the big potty.
Above all-be patient and if it's just not working, tell him he'll
be ready soon and back off. No anger, no threats, no show of
frustration. He'll do it eventually, they all do.

 

[mountaineer]

You can use Pull-ups if you don't want as much of a mess. Just put them over the underwear. They still feel the wet sensation and know what's going on. That's what my ped recommends if you want to use them. I let my son (once he learned a little control) run around naked in the house. We also did squares of toilet paper. He pretended to be a fireman and sink them. I think he trained himself when he was ready, at just over 2 1/2.

 

[Beth76]

We worked off and on for several months with my son, starting at 2-1/2. I just didn't have the energy for it, so I kind of let him do it at his own pace. By the time he was 3yr and 3mos, he knew what he was supposed to do, he just needed to decide for himself to do it. What really worked for him was *real* big boy underwear (not the training pants) that had the flap for the *ahem* to come out. He thought it was really cool to use the flap instead of pulling the underwear down all the way.