My DS4 is now officially potty-trained... after a complete year of trying to potty train him. Here is the only advice I can offer...
Since you have to get him potty trained for school you may find that bribery works for you. With mine I tried everything I could think of. During this past Spring Break I got a kitchen timer and timed it for every 15 minutes. I made him go to the potty and try to pee every 15 minutes until he did. I also overloaded him on liquids at this time... then, after he would pee, I would start over about an hour later. Two days later he was going on his own without a timer and we've had only a couple of accidents since.
#2 was an entirely different story and this is where bribery entered in. First, I broke out the small potty but that did not work. Then I tried bribing him with quarters, candy, Thomas toys, everything I could think of. Nothing was working. Finally one day we were walking through the toy dept at WM and he spotted a "kitty" (the little pets in the girls aisle) and since cats were his newest obsession... I told him we would come back and get one if he went on the potty. He was still holding it and fighting me over it until I came home from a show one Saturday afternoon and he was crying b/c daddy had spanked him b/c he wouldn't sit on the potty. So... I sent daddy and brother to the store and within 20 minutes he went. We went the next day and got his kitty. I told him that he had to go 2 more times and he would get another toy. Then it was three times, then five times, then 7 times and now we are officially potty trained. The toys were all inexpensive, under $5.
Trust me when I say that there are many of us who know too well the frustration you are feeling but he will eventually get there and "this too will pass".
good luck!
Since you have to get him potty trained for school you may find that bribery works for you. With mine I tried everything I could think of. During this past Spring Break I got a kitchen timer and timed it for every 15 minutes. I made him go to the potty and try to pee every 15 minutes until he did. I also overloaded him on liquids at this time... then, after he would pee, I would start over about an hour later. Two days later he was going on his own without a timer and we've had only a couple of accidents since.
#2 was an entirely different story and this is where bribery entered in. First, I broke out the small potty but that did not work. Then I tried bribing him with quarters, candy, Thomas toys, everything I could think of. Nothing was working. Finally one day we were walking through the toy dept at WM and he spotted a "kitty" (the little pets in the girls aisle) and since cats were his newest obsession... I told him we would come back and get one if he went on the potty. He was still holding it and fighting me over it until I came home from a show one Saturday afternoon and he was crying b/c daddy had spanked him b/c he wouldn't sit on the potty. So... I sent daddy and brother to the store and within 20 minutes he went. We went the next day and got his kitty. I told him that he had to go 2 more times and he would get another toy. Then it was three times, then five times, then 7 times and now we are officially potty trained. The toys were all inexpensive, under $5.
Trust me when I say that there are many of us who know too well the frustration you are feeling but he will eventually get there and "this too will pass".
good luck!
). At four years old, a child can tell when to go to the bathroom and if you've been trying to potty train they know where to go to the bathroom. That being said, it is really more of a control issue between the parent and the child than anything else. First, we threw away all the pull ups, and bought more underpants for dd so she could go through 4-5 pairs for a couple of days (since that's about how much she poops/pees). Then we sat down and told her that it is her responsibility to make pee and poop on the potty, and if she decided to go in her underpants instead than she would need to clean it up herself. After that one time, we never mentioned going potty. Dh and I were the "clean pants police," enforcing that every accident was cleaned up promptly- that was it. Accidents were treated as no big deal (oh, that's too bad- better get cleaned up). For about three days, dd wet herself all over the house. She hated having to touch all her peed clothes to take them off, and eventually she decided that it would be easier to just go on the toilet. Plus, without dh and I pressuring her with reminders, she didn't get upset like she did before. We praised her for doing a good job using the potty, and no other reward was needed. I was amazed that after all the time we spent trying to potty train her, this technique took less than a week.
