Attention Mothers of Boys!!!

[txgirl]

I have some potty training questions for all pro's who have trained boys. My girls (now 10 & 8) were a breeze and were in the process of being trained by the time they were the age my ds is now (2yrs4mths). By 2 1/2 my girls were in panties with little to no accidents. I don't plan on trying with my son until beginning of summer which would make him a solid 2 1/2. Is this too early or too late (opinions welcome). We will be making our trip to DW in August by car (12 hours) and I'm not convinced I should try this training business before we go. Will it be more trouble than it's worth trying to find him a potty in a flash or should I just wait until we return in September? That seems SO old to be potty training, but he has no interest right now. He would just as well like to go in the tub if he had is preference!

 

[califred]

In general boys don't train before 3, they just aren't ready. Really unless he's showing a very express interest in it. you'd be better off to wait and not stress you or him out.

I've found that by waiting until my son was ready we avoided all accidents too .

 

[ptslp]

My ds is 2 1/2 now and shows very little interest in potty training. I will definately be waiting until summer, and longer if necessary. I don't want to push him and I personally don't have a problem with diapers. His birthday is in September and while I would like to have him using the toilet by then, if he is not ready, we will wait. He is just now telling us (often, but not always) if he has a poopy diaper, so I am sure he is not ready. He will sit on the toilet before his bath, but wants nothing to do with it other times.

All kids are different. I would see if your ds is ready and take it from there. I definately wouldn't want to be in the middle of training when you go to WDW. From what I have heard, boys tend to train later and I have seen many kids not trained fully at 3.

Good luck with everything!

 

[erinch]

Pull-ups were a life-saver for us. My DS was on asthma meds which made him need to go suddenly and intensely. While he was learning, if he made it fine; if he went in the pullup no big deal. They're more expensive than diapers, but were well worth it, particularly on trips

 

[dreams4disney]

My last two DS's potty trained by 2 1/2. I did NOT push them at all. They started coming to me when they wet the diaper and wanted to be changed. each time I got out the potty chair and got underwear and with-in a few day's they both ended up trained. Not even any accidents at night. I have to add that with the last one it was right after a Disney trip and I told him we would go back if he would start using the potty and he started then.

Now my first two that was a whole other story. They where both over 3 and it was not near as easy.

 

[momsully]

I have two DS, 5 and 3. I trained them both at about 2 years and 4 months. They had to be trained by 2.5 for the preschool I wanted them to go to. They were in daycare so daycare was also a big participant in the training. Daycare started at about 2 having them try to go everytime the diaper was changed. Once we made the decision to really train we went cold turkey with the diapers except for pullups at night and nap. The first week with both of them was pretty tough. There was one time where I changed underwear four times in fifteen minutes. However, each day got better and by the end of the second week they had minimal accidents. After about a month they were also dry at night as well so we got rid of the pullups.

I trained DS 5 in the summer and DS 3 in the winter. If you have a choice I found summer much easier. Elastic waist shorts are easy for kids to get up and down as opposed to jeans. In addition you can spend more time outside so accidents aren't as messy.

My other advice is to not get frustrated with it. It can be challenging but I find life very easy now that we don't have diapers or accidents. We can just get in the car and go.

 

[kimwim8]

My DD6 trained very quickly, and peer pressure worked for her. When she saw her friends in panties, she wanted them too. She was 3.

My DS3.5 is another story. He's JUST NOW getting it. He wears underwear at home (for about 2 weeks) & is accident free (wears pullups for bedtime). Just started wearing underwear to daycare yesterday & did good with only one accident.

My advice to the OP would be to wait until after the trip in September to train him - unless he's adamant about trying.

 

[Queentoot]

My degree is in Early Childhood Development and I am the director of a preschool.
#1- Don't push potty learning until they are ready. Most children (esp.boys) are not ready until they are closer to 3 years of age.
#2 - Dont' try if you have any "changes" going on at home.

I don't require the 3 year old children at my school to be potty trained before they start school. I give them until after Thanksgiving and then we "talk" about how they are doing.

Mom to Mom
Paint your bathroom walls yellow. Throw cheerios in the bowl for them to "sink" when urinating standing up. Buy stock in Clorox wipes.

Have fun!
Kim

 

[Ask"WhyNot?"]

I am the mom of 4 boys. I made the mistake of waiting to train my first because I had sooooo many people tell me it was too early--don't start until he is at least 3. Boys are just ready later. PHOOY!!!!!

My pedi. finally told me, rarely do boys show the signs typical of readiness. And some aren't ready, but most are. He also said 25 years ago almost all children were trained by 18-24 months. Kids haven't changed. Diapers have. The diapers these days are just too good. He told me to put him in cotton training pants or let him run around naked from the waist down when we were at home, outside so messes wouldn't be a problem/as much as a hassle.

That advice was invaulable. Within 2 days, we were done with poopy diapers (he just needed to be showed how) and within 3 weeks he was trained. I did not push. I didn't really trust the dr., thinking he was old-school, but I wanted to give it a try because he was an excellent Dr. I was simply trying it to say I did when he asked next, but he was right.

It was right advice (I started at 18 months each) for the rest of my boys too. One took way longer, the other two didn't. Each kid is different. Will it work for you? Maybe yes, maybe no. But my mantra to life is "It might not help, but it can't hurt". So, I say try it now. If it's not working, set it aside and try again in a month or two. You can even get the feel wet pull ups now.

Sometimes training on vacation is easier because kids are interested in checking out all the bathrooms. Just bring a smaller toilet seat (see babies r us) or the stick on disposable for when he needs to poop. Otherwise, take heart that all you need to do is hold him up to the seat (much cleanier than girls who need to sit)!! And definetly use pullups at night!!

 

[HenDuck]

My DS did not get potty trained until 3 1/2 y.o.

We were going to DL and had just started seeing signs that he was ready to train. But we didn't push the issue until we returned home from the trip. He was potty trained within one week of returning from DL.

Honestly, it's much easier to deal with diapers in the parks than having to run to the bathroom (especially when you have to get out of line to do it! )

I'd say wait until after the trip and don't stress out. He really will train himself when he's ready. The main thing is not to pressure him.

Have a great trip!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Both of my boys were nearly 4 by the time they were truly potty trained. With my first, I started trying to train him in earnest by 2.5 even though I knew he wasn't showing any signs of being ready. I just gave-in to all the grandmotherly comments about the situation. With my second, he was potty trained on his own terms when he was readly. This was much less stressful for all parties involved. They were both potty trained in time for pre-K. On the other hand, my dd potty trained herself by age 2. She'll be nearly 2.5 by the time of our May trip. I still plan on taking a package of pull-ups in case of regression (not at all unusual with the change of routine at this age).

 

[cthetulips]

Another vote for the "wait until the boy is ready" camp. Our poor first born child was pushed just before age 3 (Mommy and Daddy had everyone giving us advice that if he's not trained NOW he will be ruined for life etc)...and training took forever, lots of tears. Now we laugh and we have since apologized to him for being the first born guinea pig child! Thank goodness he doesn't remember.

Enter second child, near age 3. Decided not to follow advice and go with our insticnt. We left the potty in the play room for awhile. Showed her what it was all about one day, pretended to use it to show how it worked, and never said another word. She used it as a toy for awhile and would play-pretend to use it. Still, no pressure from us. Some time passes (I'm sorry, I can't remember how long-maybe a couple weeks?) and once when we weren't in the play room with her, she announced that she had gone potty and was proud to show us the results. She was golden from that day on. We didn't do a thing. She taught herself.

Lesson learned at least for us: Wait until they are ready! Children SO want to do things for themselves. Let them own it!

 

[4greatboys]

Ds 1 and 2 were potty trained at 3 yrs and ds #3 was a little over 3 and lastly our youngest is not yet 3 and I hope to he is ready soon.

 

[DMAMom]

My boys trained pretty late. My oldest was 3 years 8 months - and I finally really had to push him because I was due with my baby in a few weeks and did NOT want three kids in diapers.

My second son was 3 years 5 months. But he was 3 years 10 months before he got the pooping down.

It is definitely different for each kid - and for the parents too. I know that for myself I just wasn't the type of person who could put my kid on the potty every 30 minute to train them which is I think they were a bit older - more where they could understand what was going on.

I think you have to figure out if your son is ready. Give it a try at the beginning of the summer and if it doesn't work out - just put the potty training aside and come back to it in a few weeks.

Good luck - potty training is by far the hardest part of parenting in my book - well that and being puked on!!!!!

 

[crazymomof4]

I don't think you can make distinctions between genders. It varies from child to child.

Case in point: My neighbor's son didn't want to wear his diapers anymore at 2 and 1/4....virtually trained himself. My niece who is a week older didn't train until much later.

Having had 3 boys before my DD, I bristle at the many stereotypes people have about boys. Pediatricians are some of the biggest perpetuators of these stereotypes.

My first 2 boys trained easily not long after turning 2. THEY wanted to and it wasn't a problem. My third son wasn't at all interested and I didn't push it. He trained a month or so after 3.

My daughter was the toughest of all of them! She wanted to wear the "pretty panties" but didn't want to use the potty. I felt like I had a puppy.....puddles all over the house! I wanted to pull my hair out! I kept saying "So much for girls being easier!"


It's true that kids will not potty train unless they want to. So you can encourage this my finding ways to help them WANT TO. These are 2 things I've used:

~Boys like to hit the cheerios floating in the potty! This time-honored tradition really works for some.

~If you don't have a problem with your kids and a little sugar-- give them an M&M (just one-they get to pick the color) after each time they pee, two if they make a BM. [I'll never forget the time my DS heard me tinkling and he said, "You're gonna get an M&M mom".]

BTW- A little trick for moms of boys: Keep an cleaned out peanut butter jar in the glove box of your car. Insta-potty! Screw lid on tight and toss when you get home. Replace with another PB jar.
Can't do this with DD

 

[txgirl]

Man you guys are good! I try to explain to my friends how awesome this board is, but they just don't get it (they also are not going to Disney anytime soon either )

I appreciate everyone's advice, especially you veteran super-momma's of multiple boys. Sorry to stereotype, but to all the mom's of 3 or more boys
I'm not worthy.....I'm not worthy

I am definitely going to wait until I at least see some interest and we get some warmer weather. I have no aversion to diapers either so unless I was way off the mark (age-wise) I had hoped the consensus would be "wait till he's ready" which is what I've heard.

Blessings!

 

[crazymomof4]

I appreciate everyone's advice, especially you veteran super-momma's of multiple boys. Sorry to stereotype, but to all the mom's of 3 or more boys
I'm not worthy.....I'm not worthy

LOL -funny you should say that! Just 2 days ago in the mall I saw a mom with 3 girls and I said to myself, "Better her than me!" One girl is all I can handle! I'm totally blown away by her emotional little self. My boys were (and still are) a breeze!

 

[txgirl]

You are so right about the emotions for girls! My son gets over things much easier than my girls. The big difference I see with my ds and my dh who is one of 3 boys is the activity level
Thanks for all your advice

 

[Mom to Jordan]

Not all boys are tough or late to train. My DS trained with in a week the week after his second birthday. HOWEVER many boys are quite late to train. I too am a director of a preschool and one of the few in our area that does not require 3's to be trained to attend. Many little boys and some girls just do not have it together yet. I do however thing you can wait too long. Look for the signs that he might be ready and give it a shot about May. If by June you see that it's not happening, wait till after the trip and try then. BTW - Not using pull ups was what worked for us. We bought Barney underwear and told DS that Barney would be sad if he pee peed on him. It worked and DS was so easy.

Good luck!!!

Jordan's mom

 

[Queentoot]

I have seen several children who had some emotional problems because they were too young when mom potty trained them. All children are different, just wait until he is ready. I promise he won't go to college in a diaper.