need help potty training. he will NOT do it for anything. tried everything.

Erin - posted on 11/03/2008

don't fight him on it , HE WILL WIN!!. let him be, if he's not interested hes not ready.he will eventually decide he wants to use the potty. let him watch you use the toilet and leaving him without cloths helps

Tracy - posted on 11/01/2008

Take a weekend and put underwear on your little boy. Let him play run around whatever. If he pees he will not like the wet feeling and most of the time they won't do it again. Give it a try. Aa girl at moy work told me that's how she potty trained her boy! Good Luck

Brittney - posted on 11/01/2008

Go to the dollar store and wrap up little gifts and put tons of them in a big basket and set it right next to the potty. Tell him one gift for pee and two for poop. After a week of the prizes he will start to understand and then move to a sticker chart with a larger prize as the end result. Post it with a picture of the toy/prize where he can see and be reminded. Make the requirements for the number of stickers low at first. With the next prize, make him earn more stickers before he gets his prize. By this time, he will be trained!

This worked for me with all 3 of my kids! I waited until they showed interest and then started. It seriously only took a couple of days for day trainging and only a week or two and they were ALL sleeping with underwear, too. My doc did this with all 3 of his kids, successfully, too. His wife actually hung the prizes from the bathroom ceiling somehow. LOL. Good luck!

Stephanie - posted on 11/01/2008

A lot of my pediatric nurse friends and MD's say if you try potty training your child too young, especially boys, who usually do not develop the physical or mental control/understanding they need to be potty trained until approx 2.5 to 3.5, then your child isn't potty trained, the mommy is trained. Because they waste most of their day sitting and waiting for it to "naturally" happen and when the child does go they think he's toilet trained, but really it's just because of mom's good planning or coincidence. The mom is trained to know when the child is gonna go and that child may have no idea how that pee is coming out into the bowl, they may even be scared. Children are really smart and learn by example, they will usually figure it out themself and have an urge to do as mommy or daddy does without all the work that a lot of parents put in to this task, plus they start to not like feeling dirty or wet. I really don't see what the rush is for soooo many parents (unless the child is allergic to diapers, there's financial matters or a daycare requires it). I think there is too much peer and family pressure and "competitiveness" between moms saying, "oh, my child was peeing in the potty by 18months" and then other moms feel like something is wrong with their child or embarrassed that their's isn't going by "18months", that their child is inferior to the other kids. I know my own mom told me, "well you were potty trained by 2 years old, I don't understand why Miranda isn't, I think your just too lazy". So, then I asked her what she meant by "lazy" and she started explaining what my grandma would have to go through during the day when she watched me and what my mom would do at night to encourage me and I realized they did so much work for nothing b/c after my probing they did admit I didn't stop wetting the bed at night or having accidents during the day until about 3... that's when I wanted to do it! I believe that is how it is for the other parents of the kids that were "potty trained" at 18 months or even by 24months. They won't tell you (or won't admit to you) of all the effort and unnecessary time that was placed on this inherent, natural sometimes very easy process. There were probably many, many accidents of urine and feces to clean up on floors, extra loads of smelly laundry or middle of the night traumas where everyone is tired and baby has to be awakened, scared, changed, linens changed, maybe a quick bath and all in a big rush b/c tomorrow is a work day, all that in itself can scare a 2 yr old waking up at 3am to all that business or at the least make him majorly mad at you! When by my exerience, I had VERY few accidents or middle of the night traumas, minimal pull-ups, NO wasted time in the bathroom and NO waiting around for my naked kid to run around the back yard and urinate on a tree like a puppy, I know my daughter wouldn't have gone for that...LOL (although that does sound hillariously fun for a boy, like his own little water sprinkler....I'd never heard of that one). Sorry so long, I didn't feel like I said everything I wanted to say earlier :) You can tell I love educating my patients! And I definitely do not mean to offend anyone or criticize the way some other moms do or did things, there are many means to an end...usually, and every child is different and some may learn a little faster than others BUT I do feel sorry for the MANY moms AND babies that feel "pressured" in to forced toilet training just b/c their mom (or mother n law) told them they were potty trained by 1 years old. Or a mom in the mom's group says Johnny was using the potty by 2. However, when they do start showing interest or start knowing when they are peeing, start staying dry for extended periods of time (showing bladder control) or bring you the diaper b/c they know they are about to go #2, these are all good signs to watch out for and positive encouragement and positive reinforcement is always a good thing when the time is right. They do start hiding very early when they go #2 but it doesn't necessarily mean they are ready for toilet training....bowel training is a whole other ball game and will follow with boys shorty after they are well pee-pee trained. Hope this helps everyone. :)

Kim - posted on 10/31/2008

my elisdit did all by him self he was compleatly dry by the time he was 2 he is now 5 my other son started and was doin well untill i gave birth to his sister nealy 1 year ago but is now bk on track but to get him there i had to leave his bottems off so he could just take him self he is now 3 years and is gettin there but in the day only no were near at nite the way i see it they will do when they r ready and can not be forced to do so

Melissa - posted on 10/31/2008

Not sure on the age of your child.. but i know with youngest it took a bit of time to potty train him... i found the more you push them to do it the more harder it is going to be (he stressed where he wouldn't even go pee at all)... i would just keep asking from time to time if he has to go pee but if not, give it time... he will on his own when he is ready to.. You stress about it he will stress... now when he does go, be excited about it and and he will be happy he is a big boy... vgl

Stephanie - posted on 10/31/2008

I have never understood the rushing of the potty training. It gets less costly because they start holding there bladder more often and by the time they are 2 or 3 with they way diapers are made today, you might not have to change but 4 or 5. My child never gets sore bottom and stays very hydrated with milk and water and one cup of 1/2juice/water . Let 'em stay in the diapers and don't push it and they'll get it was what I wordedly tried to say earlier. The only ones that will not get it are the ones that might have bladder control issues or the night wetters or the ones that get traumatized from pushing, but even those are out of diapers by college! LOL

Stephanie - posted on 10/31/2008

ok, I'm only a mom of 1 potty trained kid and a son who is 2.5 and not interested at all but I am a Labor and Delivery nurse and have worked with some great people who know a lot about this subject so take my advice for what it's worth. Miranda is a girl. At 3 she was sleeping through the night 12 hours and when she would wake up I would notice her diaper was dry. We switched to pull-ups at night and as soon as she would wake up she would make a run for the potty. I never pushed the issue. I never forced it or encouraged it, until I noticed she was not peeing in her diaper. The pullups soon started to rub her during the night and irritate her skin b/c they would stay dry, so I switched her to panties with a large bed pad underneath her at night. She had a few slip ups but soon she was off and going...then came the hard part...finding potties at places in a rush! I have always been told by my professional friends "don't worry none of them start Kindergarten in diapers". Now pressure from my older family is another thing, they feel everyone should be trained by 2 years old. Boys take longer than girls. Most of my friends with boys didn't start potty training till 3 and poo-poo was usually a big fiasco that took a lot longer for boys. If you have to hurry and potty train him b/c daycare or something then, I'd say just let dad model for him, try the cherrios in the potty and let him aim, put a jar of m&m's in the bathroom and encourage him and if he pee's give him a few. But if it is no rush. Wait until he shows you signs that he wants to do it. That way it is not a big stress to you or him. Plus, it's easier to take trips to the mall, out of town or anywhere when they're in diapers. So enjoy the little bit of time left. It goes crazy after that for a little while until they can start holding it and let you know plenty time in advance when they need to go. Hope this helped.

Kelley - posted on 10/31/2008

Sorry diaper manufacturers! Put big boy underwear on! Try doing it with rubber pants over the underwear. This serves double purpose...protect your furniture and make him uncomfortable. Let him choose some cool characters on his undies!

Tami - posted on 10/31/2008

Love all the ideas you've gotten so far. I've trained my four kids and never once used pull ups. Training typically lasted about a week - even night time training was accomplished quickly. I've seen tons of folks use the pull ups and I always wondered if that contributed to the extended training time. Just a thought. I know they are convenient. I did my share of sheets and clothes during training time!! Loved the results though. Raising kids is messy but so fun!

Krista - posted on 10/31/2008

The Fruit Loops works. I trained three boys this way.

Monica - posted on 10/30/2008

Hi, when I read the "peeing outside" I laughed, it's exactly how we got our very hard-to-train 3 year old son to learn about the potty. We started with throwing away the "pull-ups", they are definitely a waste for fully training ( I also have twin girls). It was such a novelty for our son to pee on a tree a few times within the week, then we tried it inside and he got it.

Rachel - posted on 10/30/2008

The peeing outside thing worked for my youngest. Just remember, boys are a lot more stubborn when it comes to potty training than girls are. I don't know why, but for some reason girls seem to get the hang of it quicker.

Rachel - posted on 10/30/2008

I had huge issues getting my oldest to potty train and I tried all of the suggestions that have been posted. I wound up finding an activity that he really wanted to do (sports) and told him that soccer teams wont let kids that don't use the potty, play like the big kids. I told him that when he showed he was a big boy and used the potty all the time, that he could go into soccer. It worked durring the day but still had problems with him making it all night without an accident until he was almost 6. That eventually worked out and we just kept a plastic cover under his sheets.

Monda - posted on 10/30/2008

My son was 3 by the time I figured it out. His favorite thing in the world was gum. I put a bubble gum machine in the bathroom. There was only one way to earn a penny for the machine. Took about 3 seconds. Figure out was his favorite thing is.

Tami - posted on 10/30/2008

Let him pee outside!!! Mine loved it. Even when it is cold, he would head out the door before bed and I knew he was going to pee. I let him pee on trees, weeds, bushes...I told him it was good for them...so he fertilized away.

Mary - posted on 10/30/2008

We used the toilet bowl clings that hang from the side of the bowl and when my stepson would aim at it he would make blue water. He is 6 now and still looks for the cling. It worked like a charm !! Good luck.

Amy - posted on 10/30/2008

A friend of mine put a tub sticker in the bottom of the toilet. Her son's watered the flowers every day. I honestly could not believe it worked until I saw her youngest son (18 months old) run into the bathroom to water the flowers.

Amanda - posted on 10/30/2008

What worked for us was having a paper on the wall next to the toilet where my child got to put a sticker if she went potty. That way it was there as a reminder. Also with my other child we used dimes. She got a dime every time she went potty and then we went to the dollar store with her potty money and she got to pick out whatever she wanted. Both ways worked well for me. Hope it helps

Carry - posted on 10/30/2008

Cheerios in the toilet works. Aim for the circle. My oldest, I was lucky, I just let him wet his pants once and reminded him he should have went pee pee in the potty. He went ever since almost 8 years going YESSSSS!!!! LOL

Tammy - posted on 10/30/2008

my son is 3 1/2 and has been potty trained for a year now, he was pretty stubborn at first, but he loves cars ( hotwheels) so i went and bought a bunch of cheap cars and put them in a box and called it his treasure box, everytime he went pee or poo on the potty he got to chose a treasure from the treasure box, he loved the idea and was trained within a week

Ashleigh - posted on 10/29/2008

Sounds kind of strange but i've heard of people putting fruit loops or cherios in the toilet and letting them try to aim at them... Not sure how well it works but a suggestion. I've also heard of the naked routine... That's the only way my nephew will go... Maybe try that when you have a day alone with him... Good Luck

Linda - posted on 10/29/2008

Yes! Mostly outside in the summer, it took a few weeks but well worth it. Just be persistent with it. If they have an accident its no biggie! Keep them with you at all times it makes it easier with accidents so you can see their poop/pee signals Try it!!!!!!!!!

Kayleigh - posted on 10/29/2008

try rewarding him with his faverite treat after words...or put fruit loops in the toilet and tell him its a game...he has to try and see how many he holes he can pee in

Karen - posted on 10/29/2008

I found that my son loved to help me scrapbook...more than the treats. So instead of rewarding him with sugar-filled candy, I bought some cheap-o dollar store stamps that said "Good Job" and stuff like that. When he used the potty he got rewarded with "his" stamps...seemed to work.

Ronda - posted on 10/29/2008

Linda, so you seriously left the kids naked all day? Did it take just one day? What "logistics" did you use --kitchen, outside, tub? How did you then transition to the toilet? I have 3 little ones...first one did it herself (now 3 yrs), second one doesn't want to do it at all (2 years will be 3 yrs in Feb) because number 3 came along (3 months old) & apparently, number 2 wants to be a baby too!



My husband has proposed this idea (God love him)...however, I would likely be the one to suffer the "negative" impact if any (I stay home!). Like clothing removal while in the process of going (first one did that a bunch!). Anyway, thanks for any help you can offer.

Linda - posted on 10/29/2008

How old is He? I just left my kids naked all day and they finally got it!

Sharon - posted on 10/29/2008

the way i trained mine was to give them their meals as they sat on the potty and then i would progress from there. that way they get used to sitting on it and having their meals at that time took their mind off sitting on the potty,after he gets used to it , sit him on the potty after every drink and before naps and bedtime..hope this helps.