Potty Training Boys

[#1Disfan]

I am in the process of starting to potty train my 19 mo. old g/b twins. My son is doing really well with it except that when he has to "potty" he starts wherever he is in the bathroom. I then move him to the potty chair where he will finish. I am wanting him to sit down since his sister is watching him on what he is doing. How can I transition him from starting "wherever" into the potty chair? Do I keep doing what I am doing and hope he catches on?
We are using the small potty chairs...we aren't starting on the toilet yet.

Thanks for any help!!!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Good luck. I started around DS's 2nd birthday and so far, haven't had much success. My mom keeps telling me I need to just move him right into big boy underwear,but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.

TOV

 

[ScorpioJeni]

Put some cherrios in the potty chair and tell him that he should try to drown the cherrios. That worked pretty good for my DS.

 

[flipturngirl]

Put some cherrios in the potty chair and tell him that he should try to drown the cherrios. That worked pretty good for my DS.

but what if they ate it afterwords?

 

[momsully]

I trained both my boys around their second birthday. We skipped the potty chair and they just sat on the regular toilet. Neither DS really cared for the potty chair and I hated cleaning it. We started at about 18 months going potty when we changed diapers or had a bath. Right before they turned two we got rid of all the diapers (no pullups either except at night for the first couple of weeks) and went with big boy underwear. The first couple of days were rough but they figured it out pretty quickly and had very few accidents. We used the cheerio trick when we switched the boys from sitting to standing. They were around three when we decided they were big enough to stand.

 

[ScorpioJeni]

but what if they ate it afterwords?

I guess I never thought about that since I always emptied the potty chair right away so he could watch the cherrios be "fushed aways" (as he said it).

 

[It's A Happy Day]

I am in the process of starting to potty train my 19 mo. old g/b twins. My son is doing really well with it except that when he has to "potty" he starts wherever he is in the bathroom. I then move him to the potty chair where he will finish. I am wanting him to sit down since his sister is watching him on what he is doing. How can I transition him from starting "wherever" into the potty chair? Do I keep doing what I am doing and hope he catches on?
We are using the small potty chairs...we aren't starting on the toilet yet.

Thanks for any help!!!

I tried to have DS do it sitting down as well but after he kept creating a "fountain" every time because he just did not get it and I had to keep washing the whole floor, I had him stand up and pee. It worked much better that way and you can use several items to have them *aim* hit the *targets* like someone else said cheerios, fruit loops, etc. Stores even sell toilet targets you can buy for this purpose. My DD is 12 months younger than DS and yes she has seen him naked, and yes questions have been asked but we took that as a learning experience and they were taught the proper words for their body parts. It wasn't a big deal. Good luck with training them... several people suggest big boy underwear during the day/diapers or pullups at night only, scheduling a trip to the bathroom every 2 hours or some increment so that they get used to going, no fluids 2 hours b4 bedtime.

 

[Beth76]

I really believe that you can not teach your children to toilet train. They have to kind of figure it out on their own. You can guide them on what to do, but they need to make the choice to be ready. There aren't many 19-month-olds, especially boys, who are ready for that. So, it could just be too early. Not saying it's impossible, but if he's not getting it, you may just have to wait until he does.

 

[RadioNate]

I didn't even start until after my ds's 3rd birthday and it was one of the most painless parenting things I ever did.

Took no time at all and I didn't have to work on it. I didn't use a potty seat. I showed him how to go on the potty and basically said 'you are 3 and wear big boy underware and need to use the potty.' We used pull-ups at night for the first little bit but not very long. Maybe 1-2 packs.

In a nutshell, I agree with Beth76. They won't train until they are ready and if it becomes a big struggle, they aren't ready.

If you are totally wanting to train now, I'd get rid of the potty chair and just get one of those seats and a step for the regular toilet.

 

[honeymom]

19 months is young. I started training my dd at 2 (she seemed a little interested) but she didn't train until 3 weeks before she turned 3. My ds never seemed that interested so at age 3 1/2 I took away the diapers and used underwear. I trained him in under 2 weeks that way. But, I would never do that with 19 month olds.

 

[staley7580]

My son was 3 when he was potty trained as well. We bribed him with cookies. My dh told him if he didnt go on the potty he would eat all the cookies, and my ds (while sitting on the potty) said "Fre-Fre, dont eat the cookies!" and that was that. He made poo-poo on the potty and has every day since! He had no trouble going pee, but refused to poop on the toilet. We bought a small toilet seat that bolts on the toilet, it flips up when we use it, and he fliped it down when he had to go. It was only about $5. at the baby store and worked great, he was always afraid he would fall in the potty!

 

[redshoes]

I have two boys who are four and three years old. I can tell you that what works for one kid might or might not work for yours. My goal was to try to have them trained before they turned three. Both of them showed signs of being ready by that time, but any earlier and I don't think it would have been as successful for them or me.
My first son was pretty easy when it came to potty training, he was trained three months before he turned three. I stripped him naked one day and told him to not even think about peeing on my coach or carpet- no accidents and he used the toliet from that day forward. He is my clean kid, doesnt like to be dirty so for him it was a pretty natural thing to progress from diapers to the toliet. He is a very very deep sleeper, so it wasnt until this summer that he was able to stay dry throughout the entire night- he used pullups for night. He also regressed some this summer, but that was a power struggle and not a retraining issue.
My youngest turned three in December and I trained had him both day and night by November. I simply told him that he wasnt a baby anymore and that he needed to use the toliet. His potty training has been more difficult due to the fact that he has some developmental delays, he is little behind cordination wise so that has made it difficult. Also he has loved and relished playing the baby role in our family and is fighting tooth and nail to remain in that role.
I will say that I had people tell me how happy I would be to have my kids potty trained and how much easier my life would be after that- I say bull. For about six months after toliet training, it seems that all I speak about is bathroom habits, I spend a huge amount of time in the bathroom at home, and I know way too much about where every single bathroom is located in all our local stores (so much so that I find myself rating them for easy of use and cleaniness and doing my shopping at the higher rated ones). It's really easy to get frustrated with your little ones during this time period, just remain calm and do your best to praise them and watch for their natural cues. If it gets to the point that its not worth it (and you will know when you're at that point) stop and give it a try in a few weeks. Good Luck!

Edited to add- DH and I decided that the best route to go was by training them to use the regular toliet, the reason being is that the potty chairs are great until they have use the toliet somewhere other than home- then you could have a real disaster on your hands. With my boys, I started them sitting down for the pure reason that sometimes they arent sure about what they will be producing when they first are using the toliet, then we start encouraging them to stand up after they have more control over themselves and realize what their bodies are telling them.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Also..I would stay AWAY from the potty training books, unless you like to be tortured.

I tried reading several different ones and I just got frustrated and upset. DS did like the "Bear in the Big Blue House" potty training video from the library though. Even I laughed at the idea of the 'Toilet-teers'.

TOV

 

[Southern4sure]

I potty trained my oldest around 19 months...he caught on quickly. Around 3 yrs old he started bed wetting and I read this was very common if pottied trained to early.

My youngest - I didn't rush it...I let him tell me when he was ready which was last year....he is 11 yrs old now..... Just kidding....I waited until he was about 2 1/2 yrs old and he didnt have a problem with bed wetting.

 

[pospisil]

My DS was 3, too. A couple of months earlier, we had showed him how it all worked, but he wasn't interested, so we left it alone. The week after his thrid birthday, he came home saying he wanted Buzz Lightyear underwear like one of the other boys in daycare. I told him that you have to use the potty to be able to wear big boy underwear, and he said ok. One week later, after only one accident that whole week, we went and bought big boy underwear! Completely painless! Wait until he wants to do it, (and believe it or not, he will!) and you'll have no problems.

 

[MamaKto3]

Well, my $0.02 is that you can't train your kids-- they just train you! I also feel that potty training isn't complete until they can do all (or most) of the job themselves.

My DD was 2 when DT (also b/g) were born. She was (probably) ready to train when they were born, but with regression being so common, I didn't want to push my luck! Right after her 3rd BD she was done, and by 3 1/2, dry at night as well. I can count accidents on one hand, mostly through operator error (mine).
My twins (3) are teetering on the edge of wearing undies full time, but I don't think pull ups are much different than diapers, so I just avoid them. DD3 is very close, Mommy just needs to focus more. DS is getting there, but still needs a little more time.
IMHO, it's also a LOT different when there are 2 obstinate toddlers, as well. Either they cheer each other on, or they distract each other... makes for many damp floors!

Good luck! esp coming from someone who has been changing diapers consecutively for 5 years and 2 months (and counting down the days!!)

Elin

 

[katerkat]

Russ is 22 months and we haven't started yet. He's just now starting to inform me after he poops or pees. (How sweet!) I figure we'll be waiting until after his second birthday to do any serious training. My friends almost all have boys and only one, who's third birthday is June, is potty trained.

 

[staley7580]

I think that my DD is ready to potty train. I worry that she cant talk yet, but everytime she makes in her diaper she points to it imeaditly and wants it off. She will be 2 in april, I guess I should start now huh?

 

[cybrkitn]

I didn't even start until after my ds's 3rd birthday and it was one of the most painless parenting things I ever did.

Took no time at all and I didn't have to work on it. I didn't use a potty seat. I showed him how to go on the potty and basically said 'you are 3 and wear big boy underware and need to use the potty.' We used pull-ups at night for the first little bit but not very long. Maybe 1-2 packs.

In a nutshell, I agree with Beth76. They won't train until they are ready and if it becomes a big struggle, they aren't ready.

If you are totally wanting to train now, I'd get rid of the potty chair and just get one of those seats and a step for the regular toilet.

Don't get rid of it, just put it to the side. DS4 still uses his in emergencies only. That is when our one and only bathroom is in use and he really needs to go.

Every child is different when it comes to potty training. We started our son when he was almost 3. At 2 1/2 he showed a little interest but that was it. He didn't fully start until about 4 months later. With daycare's help he was pretty much potty trained within the year.

However, night time was a different story (uggghhhh). We were using pull-ups on him until last month (at the age of 4 1/2)! In December, he surprised up by getting up in the middle of the night to go and has been doing that ever since. About 2 weeks ago, I told him that I was very proud of him having no accidents at night and that he no longer needed the pull-ups. He was very happy and proud of it. And so am I. A package of pull-ups cost me $11.49 every two weeks, so I was spending about $23 every month.

He does have the occassional accident at night, but it's not as bad as it was when he was potty training. The main thing with DS is that his body is finally able to wake him up in the middle of the night to let him know to go potty. Now, if we can just get him to remember to turn off the bathroom light when he's done

 

[staley7580]

Don't get rid of it, just put it to the side. DS4 still uses his in emergencies only. That is when our one and only bathroom is in use and he really needs to go.

Every child is different when it comes to potty training. We started our son when he was almost 3. At 2 1/2 he showed a little interest but that was it. He didn't fully start until about 4 months later. With daycare's help he was pretty much potty trained within the year.

However, night time was a different story (uggghhhh). We were using pull-ups on him until last month (at the age of 4 1/2)! In December, he surprised up by getting up in the middle of the night to go and has been doing that ever since. About 2 weeks ago, I told him that I was very proud of him having no accidents at night and that he no longer needed the pull-ups. He was very happy and proud of it. And so am I. A package of pull-ups cost me $11.49 every two weeks, so I was spending about $23 every month.

He does have the occassional accident at night, but it's not as bad as it was when he was potty training. The main thing with DS is that his body is finally able to wake him up in the middle of the night to let him know to go potty. Now, if we can just get him to remember to turn off the bathroom light when he's done

My son still has accidents at night too. Hes a very heavy sleeper, and talks in his sleep. We figure that he may actually think that hes getting up and going, but hes really still sleeping. Oh, well.