any tricks to potty training?

Darcy - posted on 03/01/2010

My son is 2 1/2 and he is not potty trained yet. He will sit on the potty but nothing else. My pediatrician said it takes a while and not to push him. He'll do it when he's ready. We read books and talk about it but nothing yet. See if he is even interested in sitting on the potty. I've read books and that seems like that is the beginning stages for potty training. Good luck!!

Courtney - posted on 03/01/2010

18 mos may be too young yet..my son is 28 months and i just started potty training him a month ago...he would tell me after he pooped when he wore diapers and would hide when he pooped...we bought him a potty chair when he was 15 months just to have it there...whenever we tried putting him on it he got right up..so we bought him a new one feb 2, 2010 that sings when he pottys and he can pretend to flush it and it has his own toilet paper holder...the first time we put him on it he went potty :)...and he has continued to do so ever since...i only put a diaper on him at nap time and bed time..and he has accidents but im very impressed on how well hes done from the start..the next day i stopped putting a diaper on him and hes gone in the potty ever since..plus he loves going on the big potty and he loves when i empty his potty in the real potty cuz he loves to flush the toilet and watch it go down it amuses him...it took my son a few days though to poop in the potty...and when i tried putting a pull up on him he did good for a few hrs but then pottyed in it, which im thinking he thought it was a diaper so i just put underwear and sweat pants on him so he can pull them down easily on his own...good luck

Maria - posted on 02/27/2010

Potty training tips:

*Read him books about potty training for boys, as well as "Everyone Poops."

*Get him "Elmo's Potty Time," to watch and inspire, and watch it with him. You'll learn things, too.

*Let him watch other kids pee and poop, who are in the process of potty-training.

*Let him watch YOU use the potty (seriously, it works wonders, and they're fascinated by it and want to be like you)

*For our daughter, we had her go back to diapers when she peed or pooped in her pants.
*When pull-ups were new and exciting to her, we let her use pull-ups ("like a big kid") when she used the potty appropriately.
*We would put her back in diapers for the rest of the day if she peed or pooped in her pull-ups. It's a very mild "punishment," but it was encouraging to her, because she wants to grow up.

*Eventually switch him to cloth underpants or cloth training underpants during the days at home, and make no exceptions to switching back to pull-ups or diapers, unless you need to go somewhere in public.

*When he can stay dry for at least two hours, then you can venture out with him in cloth underpants.

*Show him how you wear cloth underpants, and talk to him about how he'll get to wear cute, soft and comfy underpants (maybe "just like daddy") someday when he's potty trained.

*Be very patient. It doesn't usually happen all at once, and takes a very long time to guide them to being potty-trained. Expect amazing things to happen around the age of three years old. But don't give up in the meantime. Continue to discuss and encourage the subject with him.

*Be REALLY enthusiastic whenever he uses the potty. Oh, boy, do they love this. Let them show you their pee or poop in the potty.

*When they use the potty, tell them how proud they must be of themselves for using the potty like a big kid, and reinforce the idea that they feel great when they use the potty, instead of their pants. You can skip telling them how proud YOU are of them. The point is to make it an intrinsic point of pride for your child to foster within themselves.

Good luck! Keep it up. It's a slow learning and developmental process, and remember that they sometimes regress. But don't worry. It'll happen someday.

Lindsay - posted on 02/27/2010

18 months is pretty early to potty train a boy. girls are much easier to potty train and my daughter wasnt fully potty trained until she turned 3. a reward system seems to be helpful. she gets 1 m&m for pee pee and 2 M&Ms for going number 2. Ive heard that boys do better if you start them in the summer time outside...lol...if i were you i would wait until hes ready. you will know when he starts to be aware of having to use the bathroom... like telling you that he has to pee BEFORE he actually does it in his diaper. i think 18 months is way to early to potty train.

Angie - posted on 02/26/2010

Boys can be tough to train, really tough! I would guess that he isnt ready. My husbands dad said that naked time out side worked the best for the boys (if you can) but it make take a while. For boys it takes longer for thier brains to register that they have to go pee. Which is why they will often wet the bed at night until even 8 years old. So be patient and maybe try training pants with plastic covers so he knows that he is wet. GOOD LUCK!!

Kelly - posted on 02/25/2010

If you're very determined to get him going, try putting him in regular big-boy underwear. He'll learn quick how it feels to be wet. Rewarding with stickers worked great with my son. You may have to wait until he's more ready to go on his own for that first time. Once he gets over that hill, it gets much better.

Stacie - posted on 02/25/2010

Take the pull-ups (and diapers) away while you are at home! I'm serious :) I found with my son that after I took everything away he was potty trained in 2 wks! I let him run around the house naked from the waist down and after a couple accidents on the floor he was running to the potty. I tried rewards but he preferred to go in his diapers/pull-ups. Once they were gone, he had no choice but to go in the potty. Of course you have to praise like crazy when he does go in the potty. Go ahead and buy the big boy underwear and make it seem really special, then when he does have an accident, don't get mad at him, just explain that we want to try to not get whoever his favorite character is wet or dirty.

Paula - posted on 02/25/2010

Hi ya
i used a potty chart and stickers, it worked a treat!!! im doing the same now for the big girl toilet and its working again!! Worth a try x

Christine - posted on 02/25/2010

I agree with Gloria, my daughter was fully potty trained at 22 months! We would sit on the potty every hr 1/2 to 2 hrs then when she pee peed we'd give her a small reward and praise in the beginning it was 2 skittles for pee pee, then when she pooped we gave her something we would NEVER give her like a small Hershey kiss (chocolate) and she caught on really fast. She is now 27 months and goes to the restroom, pulls down her big girl panties and gets up on the toilet all by herself. When she is done she yells for myself or her father to "help her" wipe :) Lots of encouragement works!

Whitney - posted on 02/25/2010

He is not ready then, my daughter was doing the same thing, I would sit her on the potty for like 10-15 minutes at a time and we would read and sing and play and then as soon as I took her off, she would go right in her pull-up!! So frustrating, I know!! lol That was almost a year ago and now she is fully potty trained at 2! You have to let them come around on their own time, while still pushing the idea a teeny bit!! :)

Melony - posted on 02/25/2010

My little girl just turned 2, and she (out of her own) started showing interest in the potty about a month ago, so I let her go for a week or two when she wanted to, and praysed her like crazy everytime she went in the potty, She is not fully trained yet, but we do have a routine set now, she wakes and she goes potty quick, then just before we head off to school she goes again, at school they are busy training her with panty's,and when we get home after school we go to the potty quick and she wee's again, then again before bathtime and when she tells me inbetween and then again just before bed, she goes everytime cause she just LOOOOVES the wonderfull prayses, I also let her help me to through the wee wee in the big loo and flush it. SO hopefully we will be full potty trained in about a month or two, but no preasure :-) Good luck hun!

Taryn - posted on 02/24/2010

I have a 2 1/2 yr old and he was trained in two weeks, days and nights. I was just more concerned about days. He did the nights on his own. I believe kids give warning signs of when they are ready not to wear diapers any more. When they are waking up and have a dry diaper is a big one. It is true that pull ups are just like diapers, it's just the convenience for pulling them up and down. I liked them for nights 'cause I don't want to be changing sheets at 3 in the morning and for traveling to stores. I also found that because at this age boys are not that tall yet, standing at the toilet didn't work. So we got him a potty and always had it in a central location in the house so that he could get to it in time and sit on it. Eventually we moved it upstairs to our bathroom and now he just uses the toilet. Also we believe every kid has a bribe you just have to find what they love the most. Now how we trained him was up to debate with a lot of our family members but I'm telling you it worked with our very stubborn boy. My son loves cars so every time he went on the potty he got a dinky car but he got wise to this and figured that he still had all his other cars to play with so he would purposely walk pass the potty and have an accident. So we decided to take all his cars away if he had an accident but he got them all back plus a new one if he went on the potty. It only took 3 times. I weaned him off the getting new cars very quickly (it can get expensive). Basically if he asked for a car he got it but if he didn't he didn't get one. Hope this helps.

Marie - posted on 02/24/2010

My son was totally potty trained at 27 months. It took us 1 month. Stop diapers & use underwear. When the potty is used, make a HUGE deal out of it, I mean hoot & holler about it, lots of praise. Bribe them w/ their favorite treat after they potty. For travel, until I was confident my son wouldn't mess up his underwear in the car, we used pull ups for travel only. I would put the pull up on before our trip & would tell him, look, diego is on your big boy underwear, we don't want to pee pee on diego. Worked like a charm w/ my son. We never even used a full bag of pull ups. Good luck!!

Gen - posted on 02/23/2010

My son was easy put cherrio's in the toilet and have him aim for them. Don't worry it wont hurt the septic. It makes it fun for them. Now my daughter she was hard to potty train just work with them and you can also try to give them rewards.

Mel - posted on 02/23/2010

i dont agree with "the baby has to b ready"...if u keep on n on n keep tryin em they do it...my daughter ent even 2 yet n shes FULLY potty trained...n i jus kept tryin her..n wen i used to go for a wee i used to tell her to listen to my wee...n show her it down the toilet...n she jus took everythin in n learnt...n let them flush the chain after youv been..so they think goin to the toilet is fun etc...always praise them even if they do have an accident.n if they do have an accident jus remind them where wee n poo goes....x

Mel - posted on 02/23/2010

my daughter is 22months now shes been usen the toilet since she was around 19months she is really good at it...i always left her without a nappy on at home yeh she had a couple of accidents but every 10 minutes or so i always used to sit her on the potty or toilet for a while sometimes she did nothin but sometimes she did eventually wee or even poo...she didnt ever poo on the potty for the 1st couple of weeks but after a while she jus started to poo on it.it takes ALOT of patients..i used to sit her on the potty in the mornins for her mornin wee with her bottle of tea n a buscuit n she'd jus eventually wee after a while sometimes she wudnt even kno she had wee'd..shes now sooo good she never has accidents except for sometimes at night she always wears pull ups just incase...goodluck..x

Kayla - posted on 02/23/2010

look for the movie "once upon a potty for him". they also have a little girl version. it worked great for us. my little girl watched it all the time and it worked.

Dawn - posted on 02/23/2010

I followed the book How to Potty Train Your child In Just One Day, which didn't exactly work in a day, but the initial potty party that is laid out worked wonderfully. Also used a sticker chart with rewards for filling it and m&ms for poops. Let him go with no pants on and a potty in several rooms (since bathroom is all the way upstairs) for about a week. Pull ups are definitely a waste except at night! I agree with another posting that it really is up to the parents so patience is key and of course there will be accidents and that's ok!! My son seemed ready at 2 1/2, but all kids are different. good luck.

Jessi - posted on 02/23/2010

i think that's awful early to try to potty train. From talking to my other mom friends, all of them potty trained around age 3. When they're ready, it'll be easy as pie! For my daughter, i bought a couple books and also used reward charts. The two books we bought and that we loved were "The potty book (for girls)" and Everyoone poops. They have the potty book for boys too. And with Everyone Poops, it helped her understand that she needs to poop in the toilet. For reward charts, we first did a potty chart, every time she peed in the potty, she would get a sticker and as soon as she reached her goal she would get a prize (candy, toys, etc). Then we did a poop chart. She was doing ok, but not perfect. In the end it took the teacher in the next class in daycare to talk to her and said if she didn't stop having accidents, she wouldn't move to the next class. She really liked that teacher and from then on, she was dry (with the exception of an accident here and there).

Mindy - posted on 02/23/2010

my son was completely potty trained at 2. pull ups confused him and he doesn't like the feel of wet undies. I don't give him nothing to drink after 7 at night. he goes potty right before bed, i use a plastic mattress cover at night. when i first started, i rewarded him, we did the "i went potty dance" and he got a piece of candy. it is not hard just like one of the ladies said.... start a routine. if he can't pee standing up yet, let him sit. he will pee upright when he is ready. but get the basics down first then all else will fall in place. trust me, its a challenge. good luck with your adventure.

Angelyna - posted on 02/22/2010

he might not be ready. my son is potty trained completly. you just have to keep on him. (we sometimes forget because we dont go as often as they do.) he might just be playing a game with you.. remember kids are smarter than we think. ps wake him up befor You go to bed and make him go pee. run some water, anything and dont give him anything to drink 1 hr before bed. hope it helps

Erin - posted on 02/22/2010

no pull up; when he pee's on the floor... pick him up and take him to the potty. If anything land's in the potty "celebrate" with stickers and a gummy (or chocolate). Then clean up the mess but don't even mention it to him. So far....has worked with my 24 mo old son (how to make the most of an accident).

Liz - posted on 02/22/2010

Make it into a game put cherios in the potty and tell him to hit them when he pees worked for my brother he was a year and was peeing in the potty cause he hit cherios

Lisa - posted on 02/22/2010

it seems like hes not ready yet, i started training my daughter when she was about 2 with no luck, nothing would tempt her , we tried everything, then just before her 3rd birthday she started doing it, she even was dry at night, she seemed to do it all at once, they wont do it untill they are truley ready to.

Michelle - posted on 02/21/2010

With my son, we turned it into a game. We just left him without a nappy or underpants, that he would run around naked in the house and whenever we could see that he wanted to go, we would tell him that we need to go to the toilet and tell to hurry up and run with him holding his hand, and when he sat and did something we would praise him, like clapping hands and telling him his good, and now if he goes he calls you when his done, so that you can come praise him. Hope this helped, good luck.

Kate - posted on 02/21/2010

My son is 19 months old and I have been asking the same question. When we ask him he tells us what he has done and has always been right. We are getting ready to start the potty training soon and I was told 2 things. 1 use training underpants, not pull ups because he can feel if he is wet and won't like it and 2 to use fruit loops in the potty, to make it a game to him and something to aim at. I personally think the dad plays a huge role when it comes to boys, to show him how to go potty as a little boy needs to see it to copy. Hope this helps and good luck.

Kelli - posted on 02/21/2010

3 years old in a diaper is ridiculous!!

Kelli - posted on 02/21/2010

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with a kid not being ready. With all things, the parent has to teach the child. I am the mother of a 2 year old boy. He will be 3 in September. I started getting him familiarized with the potty a few months before he turned 2. I put him on a schedule. When he woke up, about 15 minutes after meals, and before bedtime, he sat on the potty until he went. This worked. When he would try to vear off of the schedule, I incorporated stickers. When he pottied, I let him put a star sticker on my bathroom wall. He enjoyed it, but he still wasn't completely potty trained. Sooo...I went drastic. I took him out of pull ups altogether and went straight underwear. I wish I would have thought of this from the beginning. Pull ups are nothing but stretchy diapers and a waste of time if you are really trying to potty train. The feel is still the same. With regular underwear, he knew immediately when he was wet and hated the feeling of it. It took approximately a good week and a half for him to be COMPLETELY potty trained with his big boy underwear. Also, I pushed fluids to get him in the habit of having to go. Now, its a wonderful thing. He goes to the potty by himself and tells me if he pooped so that I can wipe for him.

Ebony - posted on 02/21/2010

thanks everyone for your advice. i'm only trying to get it done because he's constantly taking off his pull-ups and i don't want any surprises

Zaklina - posted on 02/21/2010

It is the boy, if you have problems sitting him on potty you can take him in the toalet, let him pee standing on little chair or sitting and as reward he can put the water on. The father can help a lot.

Crystal - posted on 02/21/2010

Alot of patience!

Amanda - posted on 02/20/2010

Trish is right.... the child has to be ready to want to potty train... my daughter (who turned 3 Feb. 11) has been learning and has been ready for a year just having a hard time getting that last step in. but i don't push her.

Trish - posted on 02/20/2010

Have you considered maybe he is not ready yet? You may be, but he may not be.. My daughter has just FINALLY gotten most of the training done and she is nearly 3! I know it can happen at any stage up to the age of 5... so in reality he may be ready but just a lil scared of it.

Gloria - posted on 02/20/2010

well, my son isn't FULLY potty trained yet. He is 100% pee pee trained, but only poops on the potty about 1 out of 10 times. What worked for us, up until this point is a reward system - stickers, candy, cars, and anything else that he likes. We also sang a "pee pee on the potty" song. Anything to make him feel good about having a successful time on the potty. Also, constantly give encouragement. Sit him on the potty every 30 minutes or so. Good luck!