pull ups and potty training

Anna - posted on 02/28/2009

My 2 1/2 year old daughter has no problem going poop in the toilet but its the peeing thats the challenge. we constantly keep asking if she has to pee and its always no but then 5 min later shes peed in her pull up we try to explain she has to go on the potty to be a big girl and wear big girl underwear.... She does it at daycare but when shes home she wont go pee.. I guess im glad the poop thing is done so no more messy diapers : )

Ann - posted on 02/27/2009

My daughter will be 2 in March.  She will tell us when she needs to poop.  She has problems with poop, and I think she knows it is easier to poop there.  She is always peeing in her Pull Up.  My oldest used Pull Ups and she didn't get potty trained until I used underwear.  I'm thinking if I put underwear on my youngest she will tell me when she pees, because she doesn't like to be wet or dirty. 

Juanita - posted on 02/27/2009

actually, when we spoke to my pediatrician about taking a step back when we were frustrated, he said kids don't get confused about being put back into diapers. at 2, they won't think they are a "baby again". this really only happens if they are older.
so if you're completely fed up and your frustration only makes your child more resistant, then i wouldn't count out diapers, even if i didn't do so myself.

Sarah - posted on 02/27/2009

My son is almost 2 1/2. He was potty trained for 3 weeks back in Nov but then gave up! We did half diapers and half pull ups, just depending on what we had at the time. I am a SAHM so mid - Jan I decided I was done, put him in underwear and didnt go anywhere the rest of the week and he has been PT ever since :) I still put a pull up on at night but 98% of the time its dry when he wakes up. I def would NOT go back to diapers! You just have to make it fun. GOOD LUCK!

Richelle - posted on 02/26/2009

With both of my kids I have decided to trust that they know when they are ready. My son was almost 3 when he finally was potty trained....he is 5 now and has only had 2 accidents since he decided it was time for him to be going potty. Remember, this is a whole new thing for them. Suddenly something that they have been doing their entire lives is now not ok. This takes time for them to accept and understand.

Anita - posted on 02/25/2009

Please don't go back to diapers this will only confuse him or make him feel like a baby again. Be patient. Believe me I know it's hard I have a 3 yr. old that's having trouble with potty training. But I work during the day and his father works late nights. The schedule thing sucks. I've been off for a week on med leave, and by goodness he's getting better at it.
Do you have a training potty that is just his? sometimes this works. If you don't, take him to the store and have him pick one out for himself. Let him put stickers on it or color on it to make it more his.

Juanita - posted on 02/25/2009

how long has this been going on? in the first few months, there was very little actual peeing in the potty. it takes a while for a kid to realize they really have to go. half the time, we wondered if our son would say "yes" just to please us. we liked reading books about potty while sitting, to give our son an idea of what is supposed to happen.

also, when are you sitting him on the potty? you should aim for "high probability" times, like right when he wakes up, about 30-45 minutes after having a meal or drinking lots of fluids, etc. when you catch one by chance and praise him for that accidental success, it will start to click with him what is supposed to happen.

when we first started, i left a diaper off completely. but i was willing to clean up the mess so i could monitor when he would go. we use training pants, which offer a little more absorbency than underwear, but the kiddo can still tell he is wet. he actually pulls at his crotch because it'll get uncomfortable.

if YOU are frustrated and wanting to stop, by all means stop. it's worse for your son if you're irritated with the process.

Joan - posted on 02/25/2009

My (now) 4yo son was very very resistant to potty training. My older son was late to train, but he trained extremely quickly, so I found dealing with the younger one extremely frustrating.
In my opinion using pull ups prolongs the training process because the child can void in them and not get wet, and you are faced with cleaning up the mess (not them). Once the child actually knows to use the toilet and if you are able to have them home during the day, what worked well for me was to have my son go without a diaper, no pullup...nothing. Once he was really good at getting himself to the toilet consistently, then I made a really big deal and let him choose big boy underwear to put on. He was delighted. Then he had to learn to go to the toilet and pull down the underwear to do his thing. We had some setbacks, but eventually we got to the point where I added in the pants and with some practice, he got that too.
All that said, he started school (mornings only) before he was fully trained, and I had no choice but to put him in pull ups for school. As soon as he got home every day, the pull up came off, and I got him to the toilet first thing. Quite often his pull up was dry when he first got home, but he would pee before we got to the toilet. Eventually he got better, and now I'm pleased to say he wears underwear to school and it has been a good long time since he had an accident.
I never found any of the potty things for littler kids to help - just more of a mess to clean up. We found it worked very well just used a stool and both boys sat on the regular toilet. We tried using a smaller seat that fit over the regular seat and that helped for the older boy. The younger one took so long to train that he didn't need a special seat by the time he was actually using the toilet LOL.
I definitely agree that praise helps. Rewards made no difference at all to my son. He really needed to be in a situation where he had no choice but to use the toilet before he would.

Jennifer - posted on 02/25/2009

We purchased the interactive potty from Fisher price.  It has a handle to flush and a roll of toilet paper that sings.  It even has sensors inside the potty itself that go off if your child goes pee pee or poopy.  The only thing is now, is getting him to use it instead of playing with it.  Maybe instead of me buying the urinal I will get him a step for him to stand on and see if he goes in the toilet like his Daddy.  Thanks for the advise I will let you know how it turns out.

Jina - posted on 02/25/2009

M y firend got her son the uranal potty and he has trainned in a few day and he is 2 1/2. She said it was great. Maybe it is the whole sitting thing. The uranal stand up against the wall the learn to pee standing up. You can get it at babies r us. Let me know

Jennifer - posted on 02/24/2009

Thank you so much for all of your advise.  It is much better than the advise I have been getting from family.  Most of the time they just tell me to put him on the potty for 15 minutes at a time and this is very hard with his little brother at toe.  But I like the idea of the reward system for going potty and I think I will try it.  Thank you so much.

Jennae - posted on 02/24/2009

My son turned 2 in December. We have switched him over to pull ups. I too will turn on water sometimes. It stimulates him to go a lot of times.  Also we have a potty chart in the bathroom and he gets to put a sticker on it when he goes.  I first got him to go by putting him on the potty and telling him to push (i would push and grunt and then he would mimic me). Once pee came out i cheered and danced and he thought that was so cool. It wasn't long before he wanted to sit on the potty and grunt. Everytime pee came out (no matter the amount) i cheered and danced and gave him a sticker. Even if all he does is sit, it's still a step in the right direction. I'm a firm believer that once you make a step forward(pull ups) you can't go back or it just confuses the child and takes that much longer. Everytime he sits on the potty just give him a high five and tell him "Good job buddy. We'll try again later". Keep it very positive and you will see positive results. I definately do not believe in disciplinging toddlers for peeing in their diapers/pullups/underpants. It's a learning process that startes between 18 and 24 months and won't be fully grasped until around age 4. I hope this helped. Keep up the good work.

Liz - posted on 02/24/2009

I started with my son sitting on the potty while I filled his bath. I think the running water helped. He would almost alway pee right when I put him in the tub so I started putting him on the potty before bathtime and he would go. We started the real training when he turned 2yr. He really likes stickers and he gets a sticker on the chart each time he goes and lots of praise. He is not 2 1/2yrs, he is wearing pull ups, he has days where he will be dry all day and some days he only goes on the potty a few times. He poops on the potty too. He hasn't had any poop accidents for a couple months. I am happy with his progress and we just keep working on it. Good luck.

Tracy - posted on 02/24/2009

My son is 3 1/2 and still in pull-ups. He doesn't seem to get the sensation of needing to go so its a waste of time for us to push too much at the moment. If you son isn't giving you any real indication of being ready ie jiggling up and down before a wee, I would leave it a bit longer. Boys always seem to be slower!