We started potty training my 2 year 3 month old son - about a month and a half ago. We started it before bed time - and he quickly caught on to going poop in a potty. Then he started going pee not long after. Within the past week - we've started leaving him in briefs (except when in a car and at nap / bedtime).
He understands when he goes pee / poop - but will not always communicate that he needs to go. Like yesterday, he was in briefs and peed on our carpet, then came screaming for joy to me that he peed. We've heard that normally kids will be aggravated if they stay in a pee / poop brief, but my little guy is not bothered at all.
I know he's ready to train, because he understands the pee / poop, but doesn't always communicate it. We try to keep him consistent - and are asking him if he needs to use the potty. We've given him rewards for going potty without us asking him, but that's started to turn on us - since when he sometimes forces himself to go, becomes frustrated for not being able to go and even wanting a reward after going in his briefs, then successfully going again in the potty.
Any recommendations with getting my little guy completely potty trained? Thanks in advance!
He will continue to have accidents you just have to tell him, okay but next time use the potty. And get really excited when he uses the potty. Take away the rewards but reward him with praise and excitment and a song and a dance. My son was potty trained at 18 months. Then in the summer he regressed because we were traveling so much. It takes time, but you are well on your way.
Here's one of several sites that gives some great "readiness" checklists. I wonder whether your little guy is truly ready for success yet: http://www.parentingscience.com/toilet-training-readiness...
Kids who are started earlier generally "train" for however long it would have taken them to be physically, emotionally, and cognitively ready for success. A child who reaches that stage at 29 months, for instance, will finally succeed at 29 months, whether he was started a week or a year earlier.
It's great that he's doing well and that you're keeping it positive. Can't beat that! But not all younger children will be able to achieve positive results at an early age, and setting up an expectation that they should can actually set the process back and leave kids with a sense of failure or resistance. And not all parents will have the attention or availability to use the "set the timer and direct the child" approach, or the "be attuned to your child's signals" approach. Families who allow the child to lead will still end up with fully trained children just as soon as the child is mature enough. For many kids, that will happen somewhere between 2.5 and 4.5, with boys tending toward the later age.
Parents who are truly dedicated to getting their kids to a potty every time can and do get children who are trained much younger (with ongoing parental attention). Those children are sometimes, but not always, emotionally committed to ongoing success. The obligation just looks too large or onerous or pointless for many kids, so backsliding after a period of apparent success is common. Can those kids be cajoled or maneuvered or punished or bribed into ongoing performance? Sometimes, but that doesn't seem to be the same thing as successfully achieving that developmental milestone, which can become totally voluntary only when the child is both physically and emotionally prepared for it.
He will continue to have accidents for at least 6 months, if not longer. 2 year olds get easily distracted. They like to think they can hold it, and then, it just hits them!
So, my point, just because you have to remind him, that doesn't mean he isn't completely potty trained, it just means he is young. It doesn't mean he isn't ready!!!!!!!
Also, by starting sooner, he should night train sooner. I started with my daughter at 18 months (she kept painting with her poop at nap time!). By 22 months, she was in underwear at night time, etc. She is now 31 months, and we still have the occasional accident. Is she fully trained? Well, she takes herself to the toilet about 99% of the time, hasn't had a night accident since she was 22 months old, so I say yes. But she still has the occasional (once a month maybe) accident. She is 2. There is important playing to do!
Each child is different most of my kids were 3 except my number 2 child who woke up one day and said I am going to be a baby any more the baby is in your tummy and I am going to pee on the potty she was 22months old had about three accidents that first week. However she was dry at night for about 8 months before that.
With the rest when they were ready they were ready they could tell they had to go were dry during the night and naps and if you do no have that then you are the one who is trained.
J.
J.~
We went through something similar with out little girl around the same age. What we discovered is that she understood the concept of going on the potty, but didn't really have the maturity to always understand her body's signals. After months of frustration, we took a break over a weekend and then tried again. She still only tells us about half the time that she needs to go, but I take her every hour to 90 minutes during the day to help keep her dry. She gets one reward (fruit snack or M&M) for sitting on the potty then another if she goes. There is a 3rd reward is she tells us that she needs to go. It's not a perfect solution, but she is telling us more all the time and the stress level is lower for all of us.
You didn't mention if you put him on the potty at regular intervals or are going by his answer when you ask him whether or not he needs to go. We put our son on the potty every 2hrs and he got a Thomas sticker for staying dry. I honestly don't remember how long it took before he started saying he had to go, but at least he could hold it. At least your son is already pooping on the potty!! It took a while for our guy to poop on the potty. Since our kids get so many gifts at Christmas and birthdays, we often put a couple away for a rainy day when they're particularly restless then break out the new toy. We told our son that the first time he tells us he needs to poop on the potty, then actually does it, he'll get a new toy. Sure enough, when it happened, his first words were, "Where's my new toy?" My son is very motivated by rewards, though.
We also made it clear that accidents were not okay and that it if he needed to go, that's when he needed to tell us. Depending on the frequency of accidents, you might want to consider putting him in pull-ups until he's more consistent. Good luck!
