Potty Training - Fort Worth, TX

LOL Start by waiting another year (at least). I have been told boys just can;t do it before they are 3 to 4. My stepson learned at nearly 4. We tried and tried before but with no help from mom it was worthless. But many many people told me over and over again I couldn;t treat a boy ike the 4 girls I potty trained by age 2.

You can't put an age on readiness. Don't wait if you feel like it is time. No one wants to change a three year olds diaper. Yuk!

wait until he is at least 3

You shouldn't!! Two years old tends to be too early of a start for boys. Wait until he is ready, he will let you know! Don't rush it!

I have two boys. The oldest is 6 and the youngest is almost 3. We are still working on this too. I recommend you start with getting a potty video, Elmo has a good one, or a book. Have your husband show him how its done. He has probably already seen you on the potty, but he needs to see how it works with the same equipment he has. I tried to teach our oldest to pee sitting down, but I think it is in their DNA to stand up. (But you do need to teach him to tuck it down when he sits to poop, or the first time he is successful he will pee all over.) TIP: Put Clorox wipes in the bathrooms now.

Just expose him to the idea for now, and slowly do more as he starts to show interest. I have noticed my youngest gets gassy before he poops. I'm trying to have him sit down at the first sign but he is having a hard time "letting go".

I'm also careful not to call him a "big boy". He knows big boys "pee-pee and poo-poo on the potty", and he has to earn that title. But he is offended if you call him a baby, yours is too I would think. So we call him a little-boy, he calls himself a tiny-boy for some reason.

I gave my oldest "prizes" at first but them he wanted one every time he went. I'm trying to avoid that this time. We also did the cereal trick but I don't like the idea of food in the bathroom. Kids that age don't understand they can eat the cereal at one time and not the other.

You just have to find what works for you and your son. But remember that he will get there. Don't let other parents make you feel bad when they talk about how their kids were fully trained by the age of two. This is not the norm, especially for boys. Most kids learn full control when they are three. Good Luck!

You can find free potty training charts on the internet, just google it. Once you have that, make it a game. Regular stickers for #1 and star sparkle stickers for #2 or when he stays dry all day.

You can use the blue toilet tablets so he can make the water green. You can also use a few cheerioes to have him hit the boats..better yet make the water green while hitting the cereal!!

Don't rush him though..it does take time. The pull ups these days have the symbols that disappear when wet so it is easier for them to see what happens.

I usually took my kids 10 mins after they ate or drink anything then I decided with my daughter who would not stay on the potty to get a potty chair. She would watch TV while on the chair and eventually we started the process of training.

Good luck!!

take your cue from him. Signs include hiding when going potty, squatting, telling you, interest in what's in the diaper, etc...You'll know! when you change his diaper let him know it's "shui" and tell him where to go potty...Show him too. Have your husband take him when he goes, or even you could do it, since I assume boys potty train sitting :) GOD Bless

My 4 yr old son was not potty trained until he was a little over 3 yrs old. I took the advice of others and let him set the pace. He really did not show interest in potty training until 3. Do not use the Pull-ups. They are too much like diapers and the cost is not worth it. When my son was ready to potty train, we went straight to diapers. Cheerios work to help little boys aim correctly - i.e. in the potty not all over the seat!! I was told that since my son was the first and only child that it takes them longer to potty train. Good luck!

Honestly, I wouldn't start it just yet. Let him take the lead and let you know when he's ready. It will be SO much easier on the both of you!

Take him when you go...let him have his own potty and a toy or book he can only have when he's ON the potty.

I'd put him directly in underwear. Pull ups don't allow him to feel wet so if you're going to use them...put him in a diaper...they're cheaper.

Take him every 30 minutes...like clockwork. Whether he goes or not. If he has an accident, immediately put him on the potty. Start again with the every 30 minutes.

As a former day care teacher of the 2's and 3's class, I spent the majority of my time taking kids to the bathroom.

If he's not ready yet, he'll let you know. And in that case wait a couple of months, still taking him to the potty with you...so he'll catch on.

This may be a long drawn out process, but stick to it. Please know that your child will NOT GO TO KINDERGARTEN needing to be potty trained. I PROMISE!!!

Smiles to you. Good luck.

I have two boys, ages 13 & 10. I tried all the tricks and tips that other moms had told me about, sinking the cheerios, color tablets, etc., but none of them seemed to work. Then a friend of mine, who also has a son, told me to take him to the potty about every 10 to 15 minutes. Try putting him in regular underwear and start with going to the potty to urinate. The other will come into play naturally. This seemed to work for both of my sons. Good luck.

One day my neighbor came over, pulled down his diaper and held him over the toliet and asked him to pee. After that we put up a chart and were very careful to put a sticker on it every time he went in the potty. A stool in front of the toliet helped him stand taller, and we kept it there all the time - no moving it out of the way. And keep a bag of cheerios nearby, they are great for helping with aim. After 2 stickers he got a piece of candy, after several successes we moved up the stakes, it takes 5 stickers to earn a prize (something really small from the Dollar Store). After a few successes there I let him pick out some big boy underwear and went right to them. Just keep a few changes of clothes in the old diaper bag. If he has an accident in public do not be mad or embarassed - each and every person alive has been in the same place your son is. When we got to the hard stuff, #2, he recieved 2 stickers. Once he mastered pee'ing, he only got stickers for doing #2 in the potty (and by now he only received one sticker for doing #2). We had him work up to 100 stickers and he got a huge airport as a gift. Once he had obviously mastered the potty thing we took the chart down.

We did not include nighttime in this, he wore pull-ups at night for a few more months. Oh, and absolutely no punshiment or being mad at mistakes!! Best of luck!

I was in your position not too long ago! I have two boys ages 3 and 15 months. I started training my oldest when he turned two. People thought I was crazy because I had a new baby at home too!

I started by putting a potty on the tile in the dining room. Our family room and kitchen are connected and that is where we were most of the day. I just had him sit on the potty every time I changed his diaper. Once he understood that is where I wanted him potty I started regulating the time of when I wanted him to potty. I put him in big boy underwear and had him potty literally every 30 to 45 minutes. I even had a timer that I set and when it sounded off he knew he would sit on the potty. He didn't always go but he knew to try. Eventually he could tell me when he had to pee. Now the number 2's took a long time and he really just started understanding not to push until he went to the bathroom.

I used a sticker chart and had him put stickers up when he went potty. I tried not to put a pull up on him unless he was napping or bed time. Basically, do not go anywhere for a while!

Hope this helps!

I got my son to watch bear in the big blue house potty training video he loved it and it worked.

Well I have 3 boys and with my first I tried to start potty training at 18 mos. didn't work. tried again at 2 didn't work. tried again 2 1/2 didn't work. tried again at 3 and voila!
with my second boy I waited until about 2 years and 11 months and he potty trained in about 2 weeks. not even bedtime wetting.
third son came along and started potty training at 3 yrs and 1 mos. and he got it in 1 week.
I have heard from other mothers of boys that 3 is the magic number. especially if you don't want to fight and you want them to understand and "get it"
I would recommend waiting until closer to 3. I know it is a pain but if you do it will be so much smoother. we hardly had any accidents. those were usually because they didn't get their pants down fast enough. and had virtually no night time wetting. If he is showing signs of being ready then great start now. but if not then i say wait until 3. i also always told mine to pee on the tree out in the backyard. especially if they were playing in the backyard. you will also need for him to watch your husband a couple of times. i never used a potty chair either. i just turned them around backwards on the big one so they wouldn't fall in. and that was about it. you can also put cheerios in the toilet for target practice, i heard this works but never tried it. i never gave incentives like stickers or anything. just lots of praise. we only used pullups for the 1 or 2 weeks during the initial training and then went to underwear like big boys. but what ever works for you. just make sure to remain positive. i don't think we have ever seen a normal child going into high school not potty trained!! LOL!
good luck,
L.

We potty trained our son (who is now 9) at 22 months and our twin girls at 20 months (So don't let anyone convince you to wait if you are ready). None of my kids showed "signs" of being ready. I was ready and I knew they could do it. Both times I just explained we were going to use the potty now and we took away the diapers (and no pull-ups) and put them in training pants or underwear and that was it. I did not ask every few minutes. I checked about every half hour and asked them the 1st day only. There were many many many accidents the 1st 3 days. I wanted them to be trained to tell me, not me trained to ask all the time. By the end of the week they were pretty much done with just occasional accidents. I did use plastic pants over the underwear sometimes just to spare my furniture/floors. I could see the pee sloshing around, but it didn't come out. I would remove it in the tub. Also, when I rinsed them off with soap and water in the tub I used chilly water, not warm because I didn't want them to look forward to it. Good luck!

I got my son a potty chair when he was 18 months old, and we started reading potty books. I wanted him to get the idea of pottying in his head, and i wanted him to get used to the potty chair and not be scared of it. I wasn't planning on pushing it, but helping hime understand what it was for and such. Then some of my older friends told me about the "magic number 3" and that boys never potty train till they're that old, so don't even try... I took her advice and regret it. My son was sitting on the potty at 2 and would go potty on his own occasionally at 2, but I never pushed it because of the advice I'd been given. He was ready at 2 and got bored by 3, so when I tried at 3 to potty train him, he didn't want to do it anymore. It was no longer fun or interesting. He'd moved on... If I had taken him and encouraged him more and asked him if he needed to go potty more often and taken him to go potty more often, he'd have been potty trained pretty easily I think, and he wouldn't have fought it so hard. I guess what I'm saying is, go ahead and get a potty chair, read books, and when he shows an interest and seems to understand what is going on, then go for it. Don't worry about how old he is or if boys can be potty trained before 3 or not. Just do what you feel is best for your child, and you will know when he's ready. He'll give you signs, and when you think he's ready for it, then hit the ground running (but keep it fun and remember that there's no good time to potty train.)

My best advice is wait until he is neare to 2 and a half or 3.Buys do better waiting a bit longer than girls.
That is my experience as well with my son and daughter. My little girl was much easier than my boy.Boys don't want to be rushed at all!! When you do get it done you will need to stay near the potty for about 3 to 5 days and constantly supervise and ask him to go,or set him on the potty,to get it done right!
Best of luck to you!!!!

--M.

Well, I would definitely give him the option. We left "dirty" diapers behind right after my little one's 2nd birthday. It was his idea. I think he really just hated having a dirty diaper. Wet diapers, on the other had, just didn't seem to bother him. He wasn't fully potty-trained until 3, but not having to clean up poop for a year was certainly nice. Yours will have to take the lead. Rushing him or trying to discipline over the subject is really a losing battle, but introducing the idea and giving the option can't hurt anything.

Get the book potty training in less than a day--it works and it is fun! A.

One rule of thumb is to be sure your son is sleeping through the night and does not wet a diaper all night long. I speak from experience since I have four kids, starting before they're ready is just messing with nature, not to mention the frustration we find ourselves into. Some kids need to be three years old (my two boys) before they can understand the concept, others will be ready by 1 1/2 yrs. old (my girls).
If you think your child is ready introduce him to the potty chair or toilet and role play with a doll. Make sure you give your son a lot of apple juice and wait patiently...that first experience could be very rewarding for both of you, make it fun and never do it in a hurry, and be ready for accidents at the beginning.....

You're a good mom!