How to potty train when he won't talk?

Amanda - posted on 09/28/2010

My son is 2 years old and 4 months he can talk but not a lot and we bought a potty not too long ago and it has been tough to potty train him, cause he doesn't tell us he has to go to the bathroom until after he had already gone in his diaper.. hoping to get the hang of it soon.. and good luck to everyone.

Dede - posted on 09/14/2010

I am in the same boat...my son is also 2, and in speech therapy. I worry about potty training as well, as he shows no interest yet. We are going to try to introduce it slowly, and see how it goes. Our oldest son was 3 1/2 before he was fully potty trained (he was also speech/developmentally delayed) but when he decided it was time...he did great. He is 6 now, and never even wet the bed!!! I think patience and steady encouragement is the way to go. :-)

Shelly - posted on 09/10/2010

My daughter was born may 21/08 so shes just over 2 and a non talker as well. I have put her on the potty right after she sleeps. I try and get her to go on before she goes in the tub at night too. She does it most of the time. I have found lately she will go first thing in the morning then 30min later shes soaked again even after going a lot in the am has anyone else noticed that??? As for going #2 on the potty never catch her in time.. So for your child maybe try doing it after he sleeps at night after naptime and before bath time.

Shandre - posted on 09/09/2010

It's a difficult one - seeing that he does not really talk - it's one of the things showing that they are ready for potty training - being able to tell you and pull up their own pants - to name only two. Have it there for him to use when he wants to and talk to him about it - but dont push him - he'll soon let you know when he's ready. :-)

Rebekah - posted on 09/04/2010

My son indicates when he needs to go by grabbing himself (and he can say it, but he doesn't usually!). So just follow his lead. Also I recommend reading a lot of "how to" potty books such as "Even Firefighters Go to the Potty" and "Where's the Poop?". These are my son's favorites :)

Amber - posted on 08/29/2010

So glad I am not the only mother of a stubborn no talker lol. My son also has two older siblings and they do everything for him, he crawled late too, once we figured out it was cause his sisters would fetch him everything and made them stop, he started crawling then walking within another month!

Would love to see what tips you get so I can use them too :)

Lesley - posted on 08/04/2010

My son is limited verbally also, and the way I'm coping with it is this:
For the first couple of days I sat him on the potty every 15 minutes, this way you're more likely to catch him doing a wee in this small period of time. Whilst on the potty, use signs (something he can do very well) or encourage a word that you both will recognise for him/her needing to use the potty.
It's very time consuming, but it does the job.
Then after 3 days, or whenever you feel the child is ready, let them off the reigns and try and encourage them to go when they need to. Remind them often, using the sign or the codeword (or both), that they should perhaps try to use the potty or toilet. If they have an accident I usually pop him on the potty to make sure he doesn't need to do any more and clear up the mess. I tend to make the suggestion to try to be on the potty next time.
This method worked wonders for my daughter, who uses the toilet successfully now every time (I started her off a lot later, she's 41 months now and I started her at 36 months) and after 3 weeks with Peter he's nearly got the hang of it. The only problem is the lack of communication because unfortunately with signs I sometimes don't notice (as he is often very outspoken by his sister)
It's a very time consuming method, and I opted to not go out at all during the initial transfer to potty training because the out and about bit was very difficult for my daughter to comprehend at first.
I hope this helps though =)

Amy - posted on 07/28/2010

We are in the same situation as you. Although our son is the oldest and hasn't really been interested in talking most of the time. At his dr's apt today we were told that if we wait it might be another year before he's willing to try again, so potty training is starting today for us!

What our son's dr said was to get one of those potties that they sit on, then have them "go" when you go. That way they start to understand it a little better and just watch for how they let you know it's time to go. Ask them if they look like they might be going (We only can tell when our son is grunting), and ask if they want to use the potty then bring them to the bathroom and try to encourage them to use it.

I have no clue if that will work, but that's what we are just starting to try now.