Can anyone help me with potty training?

[dougsmom98]

I tried to train my son last summer because I am a teacher and was going to be home all summer. My son was 2.5 at the time. This experience was a nightmare. I tried everything. Finally after a month of pulling my hair out, I had to stop. I thought I was going to lose it. So I let it go. My son's birthday is the day after Christmas. About a month before he turned three, I let him know that when he turns three, there is a rule and he can't wear diapers any more and he would have to do pp and poopies in the potty. I would mention this every couple of days and remind him that mommy and daddy don't like to break rules and Douglas can't break the rules so it was important to go on the potty. So, on his birthday we started. The diapers went away and there was no going back. Within a week he was trained for both pp and poopy. It took the pressure off of us because it was not me telling him that I wanted him to go on the potty, he just knew that there were these mysterious rules that someone passed that made it so. If nothing else, please see that if you are at your wits end with this and it is not working don't be afraid to give it a break and try again later. I have 20 month old twin boys and won't even attemp until they are three or they show an interest.
Good luck.
Amy

 

[sillyminny]

HI ! Susy hit it right on with her comments.

I have 3 boys and it is true they train themselves. The summer is the best time for sure. I did the pool thing and let them pee in the potty in the yard. They loved it.

Indeed, they must wake up dry or go hours dry before they have the capability to train their muscles.

I know we all hate the stories we hear of babies trained at age one years ago but those same moms ended up with major problems you don't hear about! ... wet sheets, etc. (They also forget the stories or the exact age the child trained at.


My 3 yr old was in pull-ups at WDW first time and then next visit in undies. It was nice both times. No use forcing the issue.
Relax! You are a good parent regardless of the child in diapers or not!

Let us know how it goes!

 

[catwho]

I've only read part of the posts, but wanted to share my insight and experience. My son just turned 4 yo and he is mostly potty trained. My girls were much earlier than he was. He never showed any of the signs like being aware that he was peeing. When I would let him run naked for the day (Hey, it gets HOT down here) he would be sitting or standing and just start to pee! He didn't even notice. Only in the past few months did it click what was going on.

If you son isn't showing any signs of awareness, you may be trying to teach a pig to sing. If he does show readiness signs and can verbalize that he has to go then I say try and if it doesn't work out, pack the diapers. We've done both diapers and pull ups at WDW and haven't had any problems.

 

[snookhams]

I just had to reply to this thread because I have two sons one was a breeze and one was a complete pain - regarding potty training. My eldest son (now 10) was completly potty trained during the day at 18 months, now I'm not boasting,because several factors came into play that are important to mention, he had a bowel condition, caused by underdeveloped muscles that meant he suffered severe ( and I mean severe) constipation, and we think partly he found that sitting on the potty/toilet it was easier for him to go, and also the fact that I looked after his cousin who is 13 months older than him and she was potty training around this time, I was a great believer in not using pull ups because he would still feel like it was a nappy (altough we used terries most of the time). But my second son was a different kettle of fish altogether (thats an english expression!) he just did not want to know about using the potty or the toilet, but he was and still is laid back about everything, I had gone back to work by this time, and worried about the pressure on him and his day care providers so we decided just to leave it and be guided by him and then one hot summers day (yes we do have them occasionally in London) when he was wandering around in just a t-shirt he just went and sat on the potty and hey presto he started training himself. But my problems didnot end he is now 6 and will be 7 in Dec, but we just can't get him to stand to go, he spent most of his younger years around women, but after reading earlier threads I think that I might try to get him aiming for cherios! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Lars624]

Hi
My twins, now 13 (boy & girl) were trained before they were 3 but my younger DS had no interest in it at all and he wasn't shy about saying so! When he was almost 4 I finally had to say no more pull-ups or diapers! He was MAD. He said he was going to run away but put a pull up on before he left. I said it was nice having him around and I'd miss him as I opened the door on a rainy day He then said "Forget it I changed my mind". Anyway to make a long story shorter he NEVER had an accident. Obviously he knew what to do but just was too stubborn to do it.
I've always been told that a good indicator of readiness is when they wake up dry in the morning.
Most of all don't stress about it, they'll all get there sooner or later when they're ready. Too much pressure isn't good for you or them.