My son is 29 months old. He shows some signs of being ready to potty train. He will sometimes let me know when he has poop in his diaper and wants to be changed. He never tells me about pee.
A few weeks ago I was able to get him to use the potty to pee but only 2 times--after watching 2 dvd's on potty training (potty power and Bear in the big blue house potty dvd). I made somewhat of a big deal over it by clapping, telling him how proud mommy was, letting him call daddy at work to tell him and telling him he was becoming a big boy. I also got him regular underwear with his favorite cartoons on them.
He started putting toys in his potty--it is the one that plays music when he potties. So I figured he viewed it as too much of a toy. I bought him a regular potty chair. They both sit next to each other. I have not been able to get him to use either potty ever since that day. I can put underwear on him but he pees all over the house and not in the potty. M&M's or skittles are out of the question since he is a very picky eater and won't try new foods. I have bought small gifts and wrapped them up and told him he gets a present if he uses the potty---he wants the presents (which I haven't given him and have told him that he needs to put pee-pee or poop in the potty to get one) but won't even sit on either potty. Now he has started telling me he is a baby and not a big boy! He has even started making baby noises again--cooing and googoo...gaagaa...etc. Anyone else had this issue?
Additional: We live in apartments so can't let him run around naked.
At this point it was when I had my husband do some so and tell with my son. It seemed to work for us.
nah he's not ready. don't bribe him with presents - you going to keep doing that every time? you could try cheerios or marshmallows if you want to give him a reward for it. if he was ready he would have done it more than once. most kids show initial interest then when they realize there's work involved they back off for awhile. he'll come back around. let him see you and daddy (if you're both comfortable) using it and talk it up, but don't tell him he's a baby or put him down because he isn't using it. just keep talking about how great it will be when he's a big enough boy to use the potty. he'll come around. my son was closer to three (and i have read that this is closer to the average age). don't sweat it!
I had a very similar issue with my son, who is now almost three-and-a-half, and fully potty-trained. When he was around your son's age, he also referred to himself as "baby" and did not want to go near the potty. I let him keep his diapers as long as he wanted to, but also made sure to tell him about how his friends (who were older by a year or two) are big boys and girls and they don't need diapers anymore, and that it's okay he wears diapers as long as he wants to, but someday he will be a big boy, too.
On his third birthday, my son told me he no longer wanted to be called "baby" and that he was a "big boy." He also started showing interest in the potty, and we celebrated. First peepee, and then poopoo (which took a little longer, but he finally got it).
I wouldn't worry about your son's reaction at all. Every child trains at their own rate. Just enjoy your "baby" as long as possible, because when they stop wanting to be called baby, then they really stop. :) Do praise him and encourage him when he does start showing interest in the potty. Good luck!
he's not ready. too much pressure. he is telling you loud and clear. back off and give him some time. anyway, summer is a great time to train- less clothes ( or no clothes) to deal with/wash. good luck.
You've got a little boy who just isn't ready yet. You can go ahead with the struggle anyway, making life unnecessarily hard for you both.
Or you can back off on all the pressure, eagerness, bribes, and other signals that this is terribly important for you. Give him a few more months (or even longer for some boys) and just stay alert for signals from him that he's taking an interest. He'll end up trained just as fast, or faster, than if you try to push the river. So to speak.
He's not ready...wait a few months & re-evaluate.
I would just let it go for awhile. I had similar problems with my oldest when he was about that age (tried candy, trains, etc.), and it just wasn't worth the stress. Months went by, but then one night, about a month after he turned 3, he started to pee in the bathtub, so I put him on the potty where he finished his business, and that was it (at least for pee-pee). He hardly even had any accidents. I did end up having to make a couple of charts for going poo-poo in the potty, with rewards when he filled them up, but he at least would ask me for a pull-up or a diaper when he had to poop until he started using the potty so I didn't even have to deal with messy pants!
I've now potty-trained three kids, and I have to say that it's really easy when the kids are really ready, so just be patient!
He doesn't want to be a big boy yet. He wants to be a baby. So don't use that term when he uses the potty. Don't push. don't talk about it a lot. don't talk about being a big boy. Just praise him when he uses the potty. He is at the age where he wants to be your baby and babies don't use the potty they use diapers. Don't make it a big deal. When my son peed in his pants I just changed him and said, next time peepee in the potty. I started training at 18 months. at 2 he regressed and started to poo in his pull-up so I bribed with popsicles and that worked. Every child is different. I think he wants to control the situation. Tell him that he is still your baby boy even if he peepees in the potty like daddy. Have you bought anything to put in the potty that he can pee on? He probably can use a special stool to stand on to pee in the big potty. We just used toilet paper and my son had to pee on the toilet paper. It was fun for him. good luck.
Here's a link to some potty training ideas along with the info below by Crystal Stevenson, MA, LPC-I a child and family therapist:
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2009/12/13/...
Training your toddler to use the potty may seem like it goes on forever, and that’s because it is a long process. There will be a stage that your little one does great, followed by a time where he won’t sit on the toilet even with your best bribe. Remember that coercing a toddler to do something they don’t want to do (including potty training) results in a power-struggle, and this is one struggle I do not recommend entering. Research shows that a coercive approach over a laize-fairre approach does not speed up the process of potty training. A child with the most defiant attitude towards toilet training can literally change his mind in a day. Be sure not to make potty training an issue of your child being told they are a “good” or “bad girl.” These words can cause a regression in using the potty from feeling like they disappointed mom or dad, which causes a loss of self-esteem. Use phrases such as, “You did it!” or “Way to go!” These don’t pass judgment on their character. Try using techniques at home that increase their awareness of when they go to the bathroom, like having on cotton training pants or just going bare bottom in uncarpeted areas of your house. Being in a comfortable environment, where you’re not stressed if they mess the floor (or grass outside), will take the pressure off both of you. Any pressure or tension they feel around pottying can reverse any progress they’ve made, and even cause constipation and Urinary Tract Infections from holding it to avoid the issue. Remember that just by being at The Goddard School they are seeing their friends go daily, which can be very helpful as it encourages them to want to do what their friends are doing!
Let it go for a few more months. 29 months is young for a boy. Try again in the middle of summer.
My daughter is 29 months, too, and is doing almost the same thing. She's gone pee and poo in the potty several times - usually right before or as I whisk her out of the bath. :-) But when I switched to training pants, started putting her on the potty every two hours, even bribed with stickers, she freaked out! I swear I was nonchalant about the whole thing, but I guess it was obvious that this was no longer just something fun we do. So, I've backed off and am watching for clues that she's more receptive to the whole thing. I pop in the Elmo potty DVD more frequently and just talk about it throughout the day without asking her to do anything. If I can tell she's going, I'll try to get her to the potty (we've made it maybe once or twice). Judging from the other posts, I guess I'm on the right track. Just thought I'd share that you're not alone. Good luck!
Hi Brenda,
I am not sure, but it sounds like he is not exactly sure what you want him to *do.* If he only went in the potty a couple of times, and you made a huge deal out of it... Is it possible he thinks, "mission accomplished" and doesn't get where to go from here???
May I suggest you teach him what you *want* first - for him to understand that his body is making pee and poo (since the weather is warming up soon: having him go "commando" in the back yard, and when he pees / poops spontaneously say, "Oh, you're peeing." or "Oh, you're pooping.")
(No excitement / celebration / or treats. Just "these are the facts about your body, kid.")
Add in the "put it in the potty" part *AFTER* you see him starting to control his stream (on/off/on/off) and telling you when he finds poop on the ground.
I did this with both boys, and it helped very much, so they *knew* what goes where when it comes to the potty.
Good luck.
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I second the people who say not to push it. My son first expressed interest in the toilet around age two, and now at 3 1/4 he is 100% potty trained, even at night. But I never, ever pushed him on it. When he was interested I would pursue it, and when he lost interest I dropped it. It sort of went in waves where he would be interested and then back off. It wasn't until this past August that he succesfully went in the potty, but even then it wasn't 100%. Like I said, though, I just never pushed it. Bribes ALWAYS backfired for me. I just followed his lead without any idea of a timeline, or without seeing his loss of interest as a step backward. As a result, we had a stress-free process in which he pretty much figured it all out on his own.
As for the baby talk, they say that as kids make developments in one direction, they will often regress in other ways. So I don't think it's anything to worry about.
