I Need Potty Training Advice for My 2 Year Old Son Before He Starts Preschool

There is a book called How to Potty Train in a Day by Azrin and Foxx, its pretty helpful. Good Luck.

We had been working with our son (2 1/2 yrs old) on potty training for a while. He would go in his small potty a few times during the day. Then I got a potty seat that attached to the big potty and he loves it. He wants to go on the big potty just like mom and dad! He even poops there sometimes. We have only had it for 3 weeks now. His small potty converted into a step stool and he hasn't wanted to go on the small one since. Onestepahead.com makes a foldable potty seat for on traveling which works well for at church or out and about. He still prefers to sit with the occassional standing to pee. But the way I see it, using the big potty is a step ahead. We too are waiting for warmer weather to train with cloth training underwear (Kmart and JCPenney have good ones). I hope our progress will help you. Sometimes a change up brings new interest.

Both of my boys have potty trained in a week but not until they were ready and both did it right before age 3, as in weeks before age 3. It seems to me with both of them, they waited til they were older but potty trained much faster than my daughter.

1st I wouldn't use pull-ups, maybe at nap and overnight. But NOT during the day!

2nd No matter how hard you try he won't do it until HE'S ready!

3rd Pick a week, stay home, pay close attention to him, and solely work on getting the basics down. Wet is not fun or good. Pee should go in the potty. That sort of thing.

4th Don't get angry or upset if he has an accident, just be calm. Tell him we all have accidents and have him help clean it up. When he does good and tells you even if he doesn't make it get all excited. If he tries to go and can't still tell him he tried good maybe it will happen next time!

5th Have low standards... He's not going to be completely ready over night. He will not poop and pee in the potty all at once, it will come in stages. You will get frustrated with him, and him with you!

I won't be surprised if you get a lot of different ideas as potty training can be sccomplished by a variety of methods. I've gone through it 3 times (2 boys, 1 girl). My pediatrician and pediatrician brother both recommended watching for readiness signs: tells you when diaper is wet or poopy, takes self off to have bowel movements, stays dry for longer periods (this was not so obvious), and takes an interest in being with mommy or daddy when they have to go. You may not have the luxury of waiting for a lot of these signs because of preschool, but you can still train.

I recommend a small training potty, but if you select an insert, be sure the seam is not an outward, glued seam (some folks say they cut or scratch their children).

You will be training him to go while sitting (he's too small to stand and inexperienced to "aim"). Start by making over the fact he's getting to be a big boy who will be going to school with other big boys and girls. Let him know that big boys use the potty, and make over his special potty. Soend a little time telling him what you will be doing, and make it seem like the special privilege it is, so he will be excited over it.

Try to establish some regular times to try going "potty": when he first gets up (even though he'll be wet), 2o minutes after eating, at times when you know bowel movements usually occur, etc. Have plenty of books or cars or dinosaurs or whatever interests him near the potty seat to help occupy him while you wait. Some folks like to have treats (m&m's or crackers) and give them for trying (at first) and then later only if he goes potty.

My brother recommended loading up on the liquids to increase our chances of getting lucky (going during one of our tries), but not after dinner as you want him to learn to hold it at night.

There are lots of opinions on "underwear": pull-ups, training pants, etc. You'll have to gauge this by your son. My daughter did fine with regular pull-ups, my sons needed to feel the wetness to motivate them.

When you do decide, set yourself up mentally for making potty training your priority and letting everything else go for a couple of weeks. This can be really hard unless you really make a decision to put your life on hold for a bit. Your best chance at success will come from focusing on the signs your child gives you that he needs to go, should be ready to go, and should try to go. If you are distracted with cleaning, running errands, traveling, etc., you'll miss the opportunities to train him, because potty time is never convenient. Each opportunity you catch, gets you one step closer to a potty-trained child. You need to be pretty much focused soley on him during this time (which he will surely love having your undivided attention). This goes for you and your husband because you will have to tag team in order for this to be an option.

A good two-week effort should get him on track during the day. Night time and nap time takes longer, so use pull-ups or diapers during them until he has several dry spells during sleep times. I recommend putting waterproof or hospital pads under him when you do use underwear for the sleeping times for the first few months.

Regardless of how long it takes him to catch on, stay in tune to when he goes or should go the bathroom. Praise him for his efforts and accomplishments. Make him feel that this step is a "big boy" step, and you and dad are proud of their big boy. We even went so far as to have rewards (stickers, cars, etc) for when he did go potty. Later they were given for him doing it without our prompting.

Lastly, do not be surprised if you have him "trained" only for him to have "accidents" 3 months down the road. It's perfectly normal, and it will be important to let him know that. Most kids do not want to stop play time to deal with going the bathroom or have very deep sleep nights where their minds don't register the need to go. just keep extra clothes on hand during this first year of using the toilet (and clean sheets in the closet). Be sure to keep some extra pants at the preschool - just in case.

Well, enough food for thought. Good luck!

Well first and for most you have a little boy, and it is a known fact that boys are harder to potty train then girls. So understand that it is going to be a slow process and there is a possiblity that he might not be fully trained by September. Try the reward system and having him use the potty a half hour after every meal. Also since you are at home, during the day have him wear underwear (NOT PULL-UPS) that way he can begain to get comfortable with the fact that he will no longer have the security of dipers. Use dipers at nap, bedtime, and when outside of the house. This will allow for a softer transition into underwear. Note: there will be a lot of "accidents", but do not repermand him for them, just talk to him and try and get him to understand what happen and what to do to prevent it. Last, another good way to help boys is to let them go into the bathroom with there father. "Daddy's a boy and your a boy, so thats what big boys do." Get him comfortable with the fact that he is growing up and he is a big boy now and that it's okay.

Hope this helps.

P.

Consistency is the key. What worked for my 2 boys would be the regular underwear(you can get the cartoon characters if you like) as soon as he wakes up in the morning take him straight to the bathroom and sit him on the potty. After each meal/drink have him to sit on potty for about 10-15min. This really is to get him into practice. At night is the most difficult. Prior to bed have him potty and you must wake him up throughout the night and have him sit there so he won't wet the bed. Under no circumstances should you do the pullups or pampers at night when he sleeps or if you get frustrated. If you can manage this routine he will be potty trained in 2 wks. I had to potty train my son also when he was about to start headstart and I had no time to waste. I was actually down to 2-3 wks before the program was about to start.