Potty Training Help - Oceanside, CA

I had a similar problem with my son that lasted for almost 2yrs! Took him off of diapers / pull up's and he would then poop in his underwear. I tried stickers, bribes, threats... each time I thought we were making progress and then it'd happen all over again. This may sound strange but I finally told him that the toilet was hungry and lives off of poop and pee pee. Odd as it may be, that did the trick. Some kids are actually afraid they'll fall in the toilet when they poop. My niece had that problem for almost a year. Hang in, eventually something will work.

Hi S.:
Wowwww...lol. I don't mean to make light of your situation,but geeze as many times as you've changed from pants to pull ups ,back to pants...to diapers,back to pants I'd be confused as hell! Get rid of the pull ups and the diapers,put him in underwear,and he will get the message that (you have made up your mind,that hes big enough to handle it.)Key here S.,is that he knows you have no faith in his accomplishing this. You keep resorting back to diapers or pull ups every time he has an relapse.He needs to know YOU BELIEVE he can do it.I wish you and your growing son the best.

In addition to the great responses here... um, just explain to him that his cousin and him are different.. you don't have to copy... that he is his own person.

when my girl was that age... she could understand when we explained things like this... ie: differences in people.

Plus, you are having a baby in 3 months. Maybe he is just regressing... regression in a child is a symptom of stress.

But be consistent.
I am sure he will go back to normalcy. But I think he is just still getting the hang of it... afterall, he had 5 days of doing it well... that isn't long. AND I'm sure he can feel the 'pressure' of everyone wanting him to just be done with it and be done with diapers already. And I'm sure he hears everyone 'discussing' it too, about him and his toilet skills. Any kid can feel the vibes and hear the parents talk.

when my girl was about that age and I had my second child... she went through a spurt where she had potty accidents too. But it passed. She was just adjusting to everything. Its a coping skill that for a child, this is what they do. They make mistakes, they have anxiety... and it gets manifested in their toileting.

All the best, he will be fine...
Susan

be consistant. i agree to just keep him in underwear. what i do with my 22 month old daughter is i take her potty every 30 mins and i limit her liquids. she stays in underwear most of the day then she wears a pull up when she sleeps and when we are out of the house. but when we leave the house we still take her potty about every 30-45 mins. just be firm and consistant and reward him for telling you when he has to go potty and for going in the potty when he says he needs to go. good luck

I tried putting Glitter in the toilet and the child would see the glitter go all over the water and it was fun for him try it I hope it helps you! We made it to a game to see how many shapes he could build by peing in the toilet....

good luck
D.;)

There is a book called do I have to give up me to be loved by my kids it talks about how kids will show you they are in control. When they have something they can't control like a parent working or a controlling parent they use not being potty trained as a resistant rebellion. It's a good book.
Good luck. M. R

Hi S.,
Personally, I believe consistency is key #1. Put him in underwear. I took my son to go pick out his big boy underwear to help make him feel we were taking a big step. I put him into pull-ups at nap time and "good nights" at bed time (I found them more absorbant than the night time pull-ups). I told him we were done with diapers and I was done changing him. We had accidents for the first couple of weeks in his underwear, but then nothing. I still make sure we have a change of underwear and a ziplock "just in case" although he's been trained for quite some time now. It's a commitment. Plan on at least a month of accidents. Always make sure to have a change of clothes on hand. My girlfriend never bothered with the change of clothes and had a tough time. personally, I'd be humiliated as a small child if I didn't have a change after I had an accident. Accidents happen. Just don't look back. Keep moving forward. And I definitely recommend investing in the plastic-covered mattress pads as was mentioned before. I don't like getting up in the middle of the night and changing out bedding any more than anyone else. My son is 3 1/2 and still uses the "good nights." I'll be happy when he continually goes without an accident in the night but, for now, I'm thrilled about the day time progress. Good luck to you! Take care, S.

Make him clean up the accidents! Don't go back to Diapers or pull-ups they don't work. If your son knows what he is suppost to do then start making him scrub the floor and pick up the pooh, or stand at the toilet to wash out the undies. A few times doing this and they realize this stinks and start doing better. Once they realize your not going to clean it up they have to they think twice before doing it. Also you stand and watch them clean it and make them work hard till your okay with it. Then if you want to clean it better you wait till they are not around to see you clean up after them. If they know you will clean it up again then they do a bad clean up job and this defeats the purpose. Good Luck!
J.

When I potty trained my first three, I would use Pull-Ups only at night. At first I tried just regular (only the Pull-Ups on) but they seemed to get the feeling of it being like a disposable diaper... couldn't feel the 'wetness'. So, I started putting the Pull-Up over their panties. That way, if they wet their pants at night, they'd feel it in the morning. They did not like that feeling! Also, if the Pull-Up was dry, I could use it again (the panties were against the skin and the Pull-Up weren't). Just a handy hint...

But, with my son, it is a totally different story. He's taking MUCH longer to potty train and still uses Pull-Ups at night. Finally, at 4 1/2 he's getting better at it. I'm just learning that there's a difference between boys and girls when it comes to potty training. I've checked with other moms and there are some boys who are still using Pull-Ups at 5.

I just want you to know you're not alone. I've been through the 'reversion' thing and both times it had to do with another baby on the way. Thankfully, once the baby came, the older child realized they didn't want to be the baby and chose to use the potty.

hi S. i had the same problem with my now 3 years old daughter she was almost potty trained by the time she turned 2 but then i got pregnant and she went backwards. its not that you are doing a bad job all your ideas are great, however he feels that you are going to be having a new baby and that makes them go back not to mention the nephew could have an effect on him anyways what i did with my daughter is a star chart i made a chart and for every week that she went potty both poop and pee we gave her a suprise, at 1st we gave her a peice of candy for everytime she peed in the potty ( she really didnt have trouble with #2) then once she started being consistent with pee we of course didnt want to keep giving her candy so we did the chart and it worked, and i would try to do the same with the nephew if your son see's him he will want to do it too. well i hope my advice helps you and good luck..