Potty Training Advice - Brighton,CO

Try putting cheerios in the toilet and let him "shoot" them. They find it entertaining and it also helps with aim. It worked for all three of my boys!!

Good luck.

I just read bits and pieces of Potty Train Your Child in a Day by Terry Crane, I think. It was geared to kids older than ours, so I didn't spend much time in it, but she had some great ideas and good humor. It might be worth checking out. I just got it from the library. GL!

Have you shown your DS how to stand up to the potty and go? This was the key to training our now 6 1/2 yr old son. We struggled with him, until we showed him that he could stand up to pee and then it was all done. Of course you have to teach him that he has to sit to poo, but since he knew the difference and was really poo trained already, that was all it took. Hopefully this helps.
J.--SAHM of 6

Sorry to say boys just take longer. My boys were interested in it at 3 but weren't interested enough until 3 1/2. My advice is to wait until he is more ready. Less stress on you. They went pretty quickly when they were ready and I didn't have any relapses either.

Personally, I'd suggest you drop the issue for now. Have the potty available. However, until your son is ready he isn't going to progress. Pick up the idea again in a couple of months. We tried for several months after my son turned 2 1/2.. although not hard.. we read books, did stickers and general excitement. However, about a week after he turned three HE decided he only wanted to wear big boy underwear and while the first couple of weeks was a lot of accidents we were done. He still wears a pull up at night and as long as we get him up to pee he is usually dry but not always. He's 4 now.. it will all happen when they are both physically and psychologically ready.. not when we as parents are ready.

Good luck

Frankly, your son will do it when HE'S good and ready. Girls are easier. There are lots of potty training theories out there that you can try --- but boys have a mind of their own. Don't shame him or pressure him. He'll probably see his sister doing it and decide he doesn't want her to be better at it than him. Praise the sister for doing it. Don't address the brother not doing it. When he does do it --- praise him. Good luck.

Hi- I have 15 years experience as an early childhood educator and have helped potty train many children. I think that you can go ahead and put him in underwear and expect to do a lot of laundry! It is a lot less pleasant to pee in your underwear and have to change your whole outfit, than it is to pee in a super-absorbent diaper. Another strategy I used for children like your son who have the ability but do not feel like it, is to have them take a very active role in the clean-up process. Without shaming him, let him know that he has to take off his wet/soiled clothes and clean himself up (within reason--if it is a huge poop mess, you may need to help or do some quality control). More than likely, he will not like to do this, and you can explain that it is less messy when he goes in the toilet, and if he says it's yucky or "you do it," you tell him you don't like it either and that it is his job.

We just finally got our 3 year old trained. Although every child is very different, it seemed what worked for him was putting him in big boy underwear. Within 2-3 days he was trained. We take him to the potty every hour too to prevent accidents instead of asking if he needs to go. We just say to try each hour and have rewarded him when he has been successful. At the end of the first week of success, he got a new car at the store... :-) It's worth a try! Also, the standing up thing for him worked too!

Good luck to you!
S.

Hi H.,
I have been working with toddler's for over twenty years now and I can tell you a thing or two about this first hand, I have been right behind many little tykes when they succeeded, and the first one would be: Do not force them, let it be their decision. Forcing them just makes the process alot longer. You take them to the store to pick out their own new underwear and then it only takes a couple of times having an accident before they get the hang of it. But their is 7 signs they need to meet before you even start. When they have an accident do not scold or show disappointment, just say uh oh, it was just an accident, you can try again next time. When they do succeed and get it in the potty, internalize their success for them. I know that you want to jump up and down and hoop and holler but contain it, they have little control over alot of things in their life, this needs to be their accomplishment and idea, so to internalize it, when they do it, you say to them (calmy) wow! how does that make you feel? You put your Poop and Pee in the potty, that is yours isn't it? Another thing I do is I have them sit on the potty backwards so that they feel more secure sitting and they see the BM and urine leave their body which is another internal cue for them. The reason why it is called Potty Training is because the parent is trained to ask if they have to go incesently, and that is a drain on their little self esteem, I know that none of us would want to be asked over and over again or lead in there every hour or so, it's humiliating for them, think about it from their perspective, so if you are reminding him/her or taking them in all the time you are training yourself and humiliating them. We do not give these intelligent little people the credit they deserve, their biggest wish it to please you as a parent so why wouldn't they do it on their own when they are ready, instead of being made to. I do not know if you are familiar with Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, but he has a book called,"Toilet training the Brazelton way" and in his book he has the seven signs to watch for readiness in your child that I mentioned and his philosophy is the one I adopted and I can promise you that it has worked for my children and for countless children in my care for years.
Best of luck in whatever you decide.
These are the beautiful years. (Poop and all)
J. P.

put a cheerio in potty for shooting. have him watch his daddy