HELP !! Potty Training Problems

Updated on April 14, 2008
H.T. asks from Tonopah, AZ
14 answers

Hello, I have been trying for such a long time to get my son potty trained but he just will not do it! I was able to get him to sit on the toilet for a while but that didnt last very long. I have an older boy and older girl and I never had problems training them to use the toilet. He will be 4 years old in June! My Doctor told me not to push him into it. Does anyone has any tricks or ideas. I want to get him out of the pull ups!! Please help a desperate mom. Thanks

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H.B.

answers from Phoenix on

I have an aunt that would put fruit loops in the toilet and tell him to aim for the cereal and if he hit one then he got a prize out of the prize box/bag. She also had her older son show the younger one what "aiming" was. Sometimes she would have them do it together-which I guess could be dangerous. ;)

My Sister-in-law would throw potty/poopey parties everytime her daughter would go to the bathroom,. Shw went all out, party hats, noisy party favors, and everyone that was and the house would join in.

I hope that some of that helped. I am going to be potty trining my 2 1/2 year old soon. Good Luck!

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L.A.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hello, My son was 5 before he decided to actually use the potty and when my daughter was little i had no problems she wanted to go . Now my younger son i can not get him to poppies on the potty and hes 6 (but he has special needs ) he does try) but no way jose he wont poppie. It takes time try giving him a book when he sits on the potty or try putting him in front of the tv cartoons(im sure that sounds weird but it worked with my older son ) Get him a potty book sometimes that helps . And you could try letting him pick out his own big boy underwear and the cherrois in the potty . Hope this has helped. L. a

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J.L.

answers from Albuquerque on

What I did with my son and I know several ladies who have done the same thing is just put him in shorts with no pull up or diaper and let him have accidents until he figures it out. This is a hassle for you for a few days, but well worth it. Just tell him that it is potty or poo-poo, and take him to the toilet and tell him that he needs to do that in the toilet. Don't get angry just keep telling him he needs to do it in the toilet. Tell him to tell you when he needs to potty. It will only take him a few days to get the hang of it. Hope this helps. Good luck!

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R.H.

answers from Flagstaff on

Try putting Cherrios in the toilet to let him aim at when he pees. also let him run around the house in his big boy underwear. Boys usually pee in the toilet before they will poop, it may take awhile for that to happen in the toilet.

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J.G.

answers from Phoenix on

I resorted to bribery! I know many people dont agree but my son liked cars so i would buy the hot wheels cars and hang them up in the bathroom! every time he went potty int he potty he could pick a car out! he did try to fool me sometimes by telling me he went! he would go into the bathroom and pull down his pants and pretend to go! but after a while he caught on! hope this helps!
J.

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B.M.

answers from Phoenix on

My suggestion is to ake the pull ups away. I think that they feel too much like a diaper so it sends the message its okay to use them as a diaper. My suggestion is to start by taking the pressure off. Take a break from it all and let him regroup a little bit. Then get him some big boy underpants with some of his favorite characters on them (we have Spiderman and Cars), and make a big deal out of being such a big boy. Tell him that these are underpants and you don't pee pee in your underpants. Then remind him frequently that he is wearing underpants, and ask if he needs to go potty. After having a few accidents, he'll probably decide he doesn't like the feeling of pee running down his legs and getting his pants wet, and will be more motivated to use the potty. My son was potty trained just after he turned 2 by using this method. Every kid is different, so I'm sure it won't work for everyone, but my guy was daytime potty trained (still wore diapers during naptime and at night) in 4 days, and on day 2 he could stop himself from peeing when he realized he was doing it and get into the bathroom. Good luck, and remember to not stress about it. He'll get there. =)

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S.A.

answers from Phoenix on

H. I have boys and you are correct they all learn at different paces. I used Cherrio's put them in the toilet and tell him it is a game he has to shoot for them. I know this is a little weird but this will also help with aiming as well as hand and eye cordination. :)
My yongest finally got it two months before his 4th birthday.
get a little stool so he is above the toilet.
Good luck!

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T.D.

answers from Phoenix on

Unfortunately, you can't MAKE someone use the potty before they are ready. I don't know how old he is, but my older children didn't really get interested in using the potty until they were at least 2 1/2, but I didn't push it since frankly it is easier to change diapers :-D.

That being said, here are some tricks that worked for us.

First, my kids love the Elmo Potty Time video. I played that over and over again and that got them excited to want to go.

Second, I let them watch us use the potty. And if your older kids wouldn't mind, let him watch them...kids want to be like the big kids!

Third, we got a "potty watch" from Potty Time inc. This is basically a timer they put on their wrist that YOU set to go off in 30, 60, or 90 min. intervals. My kids loved that it lit up and played music when it was time to go and this really moved the process along for them...until I got this, I had a hard time getting them to stop playing with their toys to go. They also loved showing everyone their potty watch. And it helped me not forget to take them and made going peepee a regular thing.

For going poopie, one thing that helped my son was getting him a special book to read while he tries to go poopie. I put him on for 10-15 minutes every day after lunch and dinner with the special book that he only gets to read while he is trying to go poopie. The combination of having something to distract him and doing it at the same time everyday helped to get him to go regularly.

Finally, I let them choose their own "big kid" underwear and have them wear it all day except for bedtime. If they have an accident, I make them wear the generic underwear (the ones that they didn't pick out). They are so proud of the underwear they picked out that they hate having accidents.

And I'm sure you are doing this, but EVERY TIME he goes potty...PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!!! (a sticker or special treat doesn't hurt either! :-D)

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A.J.

answers from Phoenix on

It is kind of a silly solution, impractical as it may be for every day use for most moms it worked for me. I let my little boy go around without a diaper on or underwear on. It seemed like he could feel the sensation more and of course if there was an accident he knew it... there wasn't any unsurity because of pull- ups or underwear. It didn't take him long at all to understand. We used all the other basics like reminding him every 30 minutes and praising him when he succeeds and when he has an accident you know it too and can take him right then to sit on the potty to make sure he's all finished. Now the hardest part is getting him to wear underwear, but he's a pro at the potty.

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D.A.

answers from Phoenix on

The best advise is exactly what your dr said. Relax and stop pushing him. When he is ready he will train himself in less time than if you struggle to force him.

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M.B.

answers from Tucson on

I know it is hard and frustrating to try to get a little one to do something you think is important and he doesn't think it is as important. The reality is, when he is ready, he will take to the training. My own son had no desire to use the toliet and wear big boy pants until one day he decided that it was enough and he wanted the big boy pants. After that, it took one afternoon to get him trained. He never had any problems wetting the bed or anything else after that. I also had a friend at that time whose son was fighting the potty training. One day he realized that the Ninga Turtles did not wear diapers and he was out of diapers in a day. Again he never had any problems after that.

Hang in there and he will be out of diapers soon enough.

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C.L.

answers from Phoenix on

How old is he, although you've had both a boy and a girl before, some boys take longer. I am the oldest of 8 children (the youngest is now 12). Even though my step-mother never really had a problem with any of the other 3 boys, the youngest did NOT want to use the toilet for the longest time. He was 4 years old before he FINALLY potty trained. You can try putting small things in the toilet for him to "aim" at and stuff like that (I think there are even some things in the store now that are for this). Beyond that, all I can suggest is to be patient.

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P.L.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hi H. i just read your post. About a weak ago i saw this new potty just for boys. I do not have a boy but my friend does and she to was having problems potty training. I told her about the "peter potty flushing toddler urinal". Her son wants to go potty all the time now. You can go to the wal-mart website and look at it. It is a little high priced. Hope this helps.

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C.D.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi H.,

I'm just starting to potty train my son (he's 2). He will use the potty at grandma's house, or my sister's house, but not so much at home unless other kids are around using the potty. I'm "going with the flow" just so that he gets used to actually going on the potty.

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