My son who is going to be three in march doesnt want to potty train

Sal - posted on 03/10/2011

like krissy said go for the consquesnces of not using the tolilet....my little one (3 tomorrow) said she didnt want to toliet train either but when i said she couldn't go swimming if she was still a baby in nappies, now all day dry no accident for months now, night nappies still...but she did train really quickly when i got her to do it (from nappies to no accidents not even taking spare pants shopping0 in about 2 weeks, my other daughter tranied at 12 months but had accidents for a long time...

Teresa - posted on 02/17/2011

A lot of boys don't potty train before 3, so I wouldn't start to press him yet. I'd make sure he knows where to go and what to do and then just drop it for a couple of months. It may also help if he spends a bit of time around some little friends that are in the process of potty training. My son's cousin (11 months older than him) was potty training and that was my son's motivation. He trained himself! I'm also a big believer in child-led potty training though.

Letitia - posted on 02/14/2011

I don't know if it's entirely 'PC' - But I've just toilet trained (in the last 6 weeks) my son who is 3 in March, and I just started referring to his nappies as "baby nappies". And, oh you must be a baby still because only baby's really wear nappies. And referred to his cousins that he idolises and would say, well they don't wear nappies - oh yeah, cos they're big kids.
This was never mean or anything, just in conversation. Then got hand-me-down undies from his older boy cousin (who he idolises), but you could even get your son to pick some 'cool' undies. I'm sure my boy was just lazy - but in saying that I did already know he didn't have anything against the toilet as he's been doing #2's and the odd #1 on there since about 2.5yrs.
I had just never pushed it, and when I 1st really tried my son was saying, no I just want nappies. I think it is a lazyness thing to be honest. On the up-side, my boy has taken less than 6 weeks to train. He's had NO #2's accidents; can count on 1 hand the #1 accidents (and with these I wasn't mean but was definitely firm); and he is completely dry every morning (and still has 150ml of milk before bed!), so we will ditch the night napppie soon. Also, we found the sticker chart really worked as a great incentive to go on the toilet. And take one off the chart if there's an accident.
Hope that helps.
1 last thing......don't worry about it! 3 is still not a rediculous age to be in nappies, and if you just keep thinking, well, he won't be going to school in a nappie, you'll feel more relaxed.
Good luck :-)

Samantha - posted on 02/13/2011

My daughter was the same i thort she'd never get there, but a few days of wetting her pants she just got the hang of it, its frustrating cleaning up the mess and changing there clothes 10 times a day but worth it coz they dnt like to have wet pants and just learn i guess hope this helps :)

Krissy - posted on 02/11/2011

eh... at almost three, I would be leaning toward some "natural consequences"



Like "no, we can't go to X because you are still wearing nappies." "No, you are still wearing nappies, so you do still need to nap." "No, you're not big enough for that yet, you still wear nappies."



Not mean, but I would do it pretty constant... make it so that being in nappies isn't worth it to him (not make him feel bad).



The next step, if he doesn't find motivation for another year, is to (first rule out with doctor that it's not physiological)... just take away nappies and refuse to let him wear them. Let him soil his pants, use rubber ones and invest stock in little cans of foaming floor cleaner... But make sure he helps wash out his underwear by hand every time. Not mean, just matter of fact... if we choose to pee or pooh in our pants, we are responsible for cleaning it up. This may not work at a daycare... as your provider probably couldn't do that... it's really a 1 on 1 process.



Oh, and another one... if he wants a treat or special toy, tell him that you cannot buy it because you have to buy him a package of nappies... LOL!



I would let the "still in nappies" thing be for everything "big kid" like going to preschool, getting big boy toys vs. baby toys, etc..

Hayley - posted on 02/11/2011

My daughter took early, but she decided... perhaps he's just not ready yet. Our friend has a son who didn't want to train until he was over 3 years old. He may just need a little more time.

If you haven't tried it yet though, a trick that sometimes work is just putting them in big kid underwear and letting them run around the house ... you might clean up a few accidents but some parents swear by it. Best of luck.

Krista - posted on 02/08/2011

my littler one took longer to potty train than the first one did too. it seemed like his self identity as the baby of the family was wrapped up in the nappies and he didn't want to let go. we left him bare bottomed for a couple weeks and watched carefully for signs that he needed to go and then herded him into the bathroom with lots of positive encouragement. he went in the garden for a while. given the fact he's going on three and quite capable of cleaning up after himself he was made to clean up a few of his piles and eventually caught on that the toilet is a much tidy-er place to poop. we also took away some of the little daily treats and told him that riding up the driveway with daddy when he gets home from work is for boys who use the toilet. it seems like it takes forever when you're in the midst of it but when he decided to go for it he hasn't had many accidents.