How do I potty train a child who wants nothing to do with the potty?

Sara - posted on 06/27/2011

We have had two successful trips to the potty. I praised him very much and have him 4 pennies because both times he went both. Now to just figure out the travel plans with him potty training and not liking the big potty.

April - posted on 06/27/2011

My son is absolutely terrified of the potty and he is 3. He was potty trained for a whole weekend back in October and then all of sudden he was over it. I am trying to get him back on track but I am trying not to force him and just know that he won't always be in diapers. It also helps that the PreK for our school district doesn't require them to be potty trained to attend. My daughter wasn't when she started but was with the 1st month of school from seeing everyone else doing it. I am hoping that if my son isn't trained by then that this will also be his motivation.

I think you are doing all the right things and now it's just up to him to catch on. Good Luck!!

Sacha - posted on 06/27/2011

take his potty with you if you can! Getting him to feel comfy sitting on it is a big step! Soon he will start going to the potty, just remember to praise him the whole time.

Sara - posted on 06/26/2011

OK, so I tihnk we are making progress. I can now get him to sit on his little potty but still not the big one. I can get him to sit for long periods of time as long as I am there with him and he has a distraction. He still has not actually gone in the potty yet but at least he is sitting. My next concern...we are leaving on vacation in 3 weeks then we come back and I leave for another week. He will not sit on the big toilet even with a seat. so how do I potty train when we are on vacation? Is all of this a step in the right direction?

Amy - posted on 06/22/2011

I know the boat you are in, I want my daughter to start prek this sept too and she turns 3 this july. I had tried to potty train her several mths ago and she freaked out and then didnt want anything to do w/potty or even bath (she loved her baths before then). We took a break for a while until she was ok with taking baths again. @ a little over a week ago I had a week off and decided to take that time to dive in and potty train from that Sat through the following Mon, giving 10 full days to do nothing but. She screamed and cryed the first day (which I wont lie, was very hard) I told her no more diapers she is a big girl now. I totally bribed her with pretzels, m&ms to get her to sit on the potty (use what ever will work, I had tried toys, food, and found pretzels and stickers worked) I will admit it was really hard for the first 6 1/2 days, first day only sat on potty eating pretzels all day, drinking juice/water and watching elmo potty video & another potty video, did go potty in potty, but like I said she just sat most of the day. Second day did a little more crying not wanting to sit on potty, but did pretty much the same thing. Third day, said no potty but didnt cry or have much of a fuss and sat on the potty most of the time, when she was off I put her in training undies w/plastic liner since we have carpet everywhere. For the next several days we kept having accidents in undies and only went in potty if sat on it for a long time. By Friday morning I was really ready to throw in the towel and thinking she just wasnt ready yet, but then at dinner that night we were sitting at the table and she said she needed to go potty so we sat down and within 15 mins she went peepy. From then on she didnt care about pretzels and just wanted to put stickers on her potty lid (its one that is a step stool/potty) she didnt want to put on a sticker chart, whatever works right :0). We have done pretty good at naps w/out accidents, but are far from staying dry during the night (which is ok, we tackled the hardest part, so we still use diapers at night ONLY) Since she did really good over the weekend w/out me asking her to go potty as often and her telling us when she had to go we bought big girl undies that she picked out and was all excited to do. We still have an accident now and then when playing with friends, but all in time its only been @ 4 days since she started recognizing the signs.

Just try and remember your not alone and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Stay persistent, give lots and lots of hugs and praise and don’t give in. :0) Hope this helps, keep us posted on how its going.

Kayla - posted on 06/21/2011

If you really don't think he understands that you expect him to pee and poo in the potty when hes sitting on it then you need to have him go with daddy to the potty and have them stand next to each other so he can tell him this is what the potty is for..Look I peed in the potty now I don't have to get nasty on me and get my diaper changed...Things like that so he can see how much easier it is to use the potty instead of his pants and definitly only use the pullups at night then when their gone don't buy more...Yes their will be alot of accidents but he will learn that its easier to just use the potty than to have to go take off the ooie clothes and take a bath and get all cleaned up then get dressed again to go play. Also with our son who is also 3 we always make him get in the bath and get sprayed off if he pees or poos and we don't let him play with any bath toys during potty cleanups. He just turned 3 in May and he is almost completely trained with only 1 to 2 accidents a week.

Sacha - posted on 06/21/2011

take away the pull-ups and give him undies right away! He will learn that he doesn't like the mess or having to take the time to clean up the mess that he makes in them and eventually go to the potty. Try not to bribe him at all! The more you tell him that he will get something out of going on the potty then he will always expect it and won't go when someone else takes him. Make him feel like he is doing something that is sooo good and special. Try not to make him feel like he is being forced though.

we have our 2 year old in the last 4 weeks 100% trained. Minor accidents happen, but we are working on it. We didn't bribe, but in the beginning we put the potty in his play area... so then while he was playing he would always see it and know that he could go when he had too. Don't get upset when they make a mess... try to tell them that it's ok and that next time they should try to get to the potty. We started naked training for 3 days, then straight to underwear, after a week in undies and going without accidents we moved on to having pants on too. Then we started going out of the house for a walk around town, or playing in the garden and making sure to push him a bit to hold himself when he said he had to pee.

whatever you do, try not to make him feel like it's a chore or forced on him, i am sure he will be much more willing to go if he thinks he is doing it on his own. Pick up some new books and put them in the bathroom, then he can only read them when he is on the potty and think he is choosing to sit there...

not too sure if that helps at all... i know every child is different, but you just have to stick to it and i am sure you will get it all to work out before the fall comes....