Help! I want to potty train my little boy.

Cindy - posted on 01/17/2010

I will share my experience as the input you have above is great, but to be honest my son did it when he was ready. He learned about 3 1/2 or so but at 100%. That was a year ago, he only had one overnight accident and it was because he had too much to drink to close to bed time (and we also found he was starting to become afraid of the dark). We also NEVER used pull ups, which I found is huge from people I spoke to.

Yes, you can get them trained earlier, but it will never be 100% until that individual child is ready. My son presented a fear early on (freaked out to be placed on a potty), but gradually took steps (like the suggestions above) when he was ready. I accepted that and it made it nice for all involved, at least that is how I see it.

Whatever you do it will be with the best of intentions for your child and that is what's most important and what will positively effect your child.

Megan - posted on 12/30/2009

With my son it was during the summer when we had the air on i just let him run nude or in regular underwears. the nude time is when i was washing his underwear from accidents. the it became less and less. boys arealot harder to train because once they start playing it is 1track mind. PLAY. I also encoraged him to go and when there was a oooppps i just cleaned him up and told him it was ok we will try again. Now with BM we did go out and buy him toys as rewards but only if he did it with no accidents for 5 days in a row then he got to pick out a toy. Just little 1 dollar toy for the dollar store. hope this helps good luck.

Georgia - posted on 12/29/2009

Cheerios and M&Ms didn't work for us. We read about a 3 day potty training on BabyCenter - it totally worked!
You have to be willing to stay home for 3 straight days, I split it up with my husband.
Nothing on him from the waist down for 3 days, only socks.
EVERY 30 minutes you happily say it's POTTY time it's POTTY time, even if he doesn't have to go
Tons of accidents on the floor day 1
Should see some results day 2
By day 3, my son had gone on the potty 5 times in a row!
No treats or rewards, just a HAPPY potty dance when he does it.
BUT***bowel movements will take longer.

Kimberly - posted on 12/21/2009

Does he go through the night dry? This is always a good indicator of readiness, not that it has to be so. If he will, try to have him go potty on the big potty,or on a training potty if the big potty is too scary. I've found it is helpful if he sees you and dad using the bathroom as well, little ones love to mimic and you want him to in this case, lol. I found with my oldest that switching to cloth training pants was helpful, as he really did not enjoy the feeling of being in wet clothes, not sure what I'll do when the youngest is old enough, as he wears cloth diapers.

DeeDee - posted on 12/21/2009

yep, what they said. Bribes and real underwear and timing. mostly the timing thing seems to help them realize 1) that it is ok to just sit on the potty and try and 2) they realize when they go potty how it feels. My son likes to stand up and pee and that was actually easier for me because when he sat forward it would usually end up on me or the floor. but don't be scared. you will have to clean up messes so just break out the disinfectant and bathroom cleaners. it also helps to set aside a few days where you don't go ANYWHERE. that way you don't have to worry while you are at the store. strange potties can be intimidating

Jennifer - posted on 12/16/2009

Stickers and Tootsie pops are big prizes to give for sitting on the potty. When he actually does go on the potty give him a hot wheel. Let him pick some out at the store then earn them($1 each). We had leftover hot wheels for Christmas because it went quickly for us. My daughter would sit on the potty while I painted her nails so that was a big deal for her to sit still and wait. They also knew Santa and Mom and Dad would give them a special present when they were potty trained. He got some Cars cars and at Christmas got a Big Wheel for big boys. She got a dish set and a big girl doll set. Bribes work in this house. Just make sure they understand how proud you are of them and one day he will feel big enough he won't want baby prizes when he's a big kid doing the big kid thing. Elmo Use The Potty is a great dvd and so is the Big Kid video that comes with Pull Ups sometimes. The potty cheer on the video made it fun to do when you go and make it a REALLY BIG deal when he does go or just sit. Underwear is the way to go to truely get them doing it quicker, only pull ups at night for a while. Just buy some carpet cleaner while getting the hot wheels. Good luck and have fun with it.

Kitty - posted on 12/16/2009

I am a grandmother but I will tell you a few ideas. When my son was needing to be potty trained, we lived in the country. I let him go outside and pee on a tree. That was fun and he soon learned not to go in his panties. Another idea is to let him sit on the toilet seat backwards facing the back of the stool. It takes away the fear of falling in and makes it easier for some. One mother still had not potty trained her son and he was 4 yrs old. He was still wearing diapers. I told her put him in little boy shorts and brag on him as to how they looked. If he did dirty them let him wash them out. He was potty trained in 2 days. I would not, however have a 2 yr. old wash out his underwear.

Tricia - posted on 12/16/2009

Get a cheap calendar. Get some sticky stars, the little red, green, gold, silver and blue tiny kind. Get a timer. What does he want - maybe the first time he goes to a movie theatre, something super special. DRINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first set the timer short, like 20 minutes. Take him every 20 minutes if he pees give him a star, and at first even if he doesn't give you a hard time TRYING give him a star. Then make the duration longer 45 minutes etc. I've heard of the shoot the cheerios thing too. Good luck.

April - posted on 12/15/2009

You're going to have to bite the bullet and put him in cotton underwear. You'll be cleaning up a lot of pee but it's the most effective way to potty train.

Nishad - posted on 12/15/2009

put him in cotton pants and he will learn how 2 tell u!

Ashley - posted on 12/15/2009

i found that this is the perfect time to get him off the nappies, i took my little girls nappy off of her in the house to start with and she only had one accident so far, she has been potty trained for 1 month now and she has just turned two on the 11th dec. She doesnt like it when she does the toilet in her nappy and now she wont do it even when the nappy is on unless she is sleeping, i hope that this helps

Karen - posted on 12/15/2009

Put Cheerios in the potty and let him shoot them.