3 Yr Old Boy Who Has Difficulty Telling When He Has to Potty

I have a 3 year girl who we are still potty training too. She is still peeing in her pants a lot. But, we have gotten her to go on the potty successfully once every day this week. We are doing more or less the Dr. Phil method, bribery! Every times she goes on the potty she gets to watch her favorite DVD. And, I’ve finally realized that is having trouble verbalizing the feeling that she needs to go. She either tells me that I need to wipe her or that she has already peed when she really just needs to sit on the potty and go. I was missing her queues. I have don’t know if this will help but some of us are in the same boat, lol.

Kids never have to go to the potty when you ask them. They are far too busy playing and having fun to stop for a potty break. Instead of asking just take him every hour or so for a potty break.

http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/264
Please check out Dr Phils method, It works. I did it with 2 boys and wow. my 1st one got it in 1 day.

hi he just may not be ready to be potty trained, that's why they have pull ups for kids a lot older than yours. don't push him, when he's ready he will take the diapers off himself and start going potty by himself.
being potty trained is a convenience for us as parents, but we need to remember that the child needs to be both physically AND emotionally ready to do it. but mostly physically, that means that the little muscle that helps control voluntary urination has to be properly developed or mature, once that happens, then the child needs to emotionally be ready to control it.

Hi A.,
Telling when they have to go is usually the last step in the toileting process. Rather than waiting til he wets himself, just dontinue taking him every hour and a half or so. Don't ask him whether he needs or wants to go, some of them don't absolutely recognize the need til it's urgent (or too late) and none of them want to interrupt their play for using the toilet. Make it a part of your routine, and one day he'll surprise you by letting you know that he needs to use the bathroom or by just taking himself there. Good luck!

He may not be able to tell you yet. I have twin boys. I waited until a week after their third b-day to potty train them (because I wanted to wait when they had off between camp and school). One of my twins potty trained within minutes of being in underwear. He's never had an accident (knock on wood) even at night, which is unusual. The other one just didn't want to potty train. It was like torture for him. I think he had no idea of when he was about to go, so he couldn't get the timing right. In any event, despite my friends and family saying "he's not trained yet?" over and over, I decided to wait a bit longer to train him. In fact, I was thinking I'd do it over this 3-day weekend coming up. Lo and behold, 2 nights ago, he told me he wanted underwear. Yesterday, he went to school in his underwear and went to the potty there 3 times!! So even though we hear "oh, they should be trained by 3," some kids just need more time. My twins were a perect example. One got it right way, one didn't... Don't worry...

Dear A.,
First, I would start by just taking him to the potty often and not ask him. Most kids will say they don't have to go because they are to busy playing and just do not want to take the time out to go. If you take him and he deliberately wets himself afterwords then I would let him start changing his own clothes. A few times of having to do it himself may get him to realize it isn't much fun changing 10 times a day. I would not engage him in any conversation just hand him his clothes and tell him he has to change himself. When he does go on the potty praise him like crazy but when he wets himself say nothing. I am not suggesting this as punishment just to show him that if he is not going to put an effort in to use the potty then he has to participate in cleaning up his mess. It is worth a try it may also tell you if it is deliberate, or if he has not yet mastered the signals of feeling when he has to go potty. Good luck!!

Kids dont always feel their bladder being full until its too late. They have to figure out what the full feeling is and then learn to control it. It isnt something we can demonstrate and its harder for some than others. You need to tell him go to the bathroom at regular intervals, every hour or so. Get a timer. When you tell him to go dont let him say he doesnt have to. Tell him he has to sit for 5 minutes anyway. He will eventually learn the signals.

My son just turned 3 at the end of December, and he is now in underware. He is not fully potty trained. I recently posted a question here because I was getting so frustrated. I would ask him if he had to go, and it was allways no, when I knew he had to go. So I took the advice I got here, and it has been very helpful. The women on this site suggested that I no longer ask him, and just take him instead. It works, because I take him every 1.5 to 2 hrs, and he pees. If I ask him, he'll fight me and it becomes a struggle. I believe the skill or development for them to tell you ahead of time that they need to go will come after much practice. Good luck to you.