In Newport News, Va

The idea is to be persistant and not give up. If he understands commands like, get your shoes, go get your cup, etc then he can start with either going in big boy underwear and then you take him every half hour to the potty and its a good idea to have something for him to do like read a book or listen to a song for about 5 min. If he doesn't go try again in about 10-15 min. This is especially important after a meal. For nighttime, you can use pullup to save the sheets but as soon as he gets up it's straight to the potty.

AS far as the friends things, I have been here in Hampton for just over 2 yrs and don't have friends either. My husband is in the Navy and we don't have money to go out a lot so I usually get to play hermit. Email me if you would like. ____@____.com S. Grove mother of 12 yr old boy and 21mo old girl

Hi, I am N., I just moved here and I live in Newport News and I have a 3 year old son who's about to turn 4. It was easier to potty train him because he wanted to do what his big brother was doing.

Also he has to show signs that he is curious, or willing to try because if he doesn't there is no point.

Also my oldest was harder to train because he liked the comfort of the pamper or pull up . But as soon as he started going to the restroom with his dad, he forgot that pamper. What it took me months to try and do his dad did in a few days.

Send me a message sometime.

I have not potty trained a boy yet my son is almost three and he is just not ready. Signs that he is ready would be staying dry longer throughout the day, not wanting to be wet.

I start by encouraging them to tell me when they are wet, He watches his daddy, We talk about it read about it. I find that if you do these things it starts to get them curious about it and then they will start asking to go. Once they start telling you they have to go its pretty easy from there. Also learn your child's bathroom signs...some kids stand in the corner, they might pause while playing, when you see these signs ask them if they want to go and they will usually say yes. If not encourage them to try and be excited about it. Small Prizes worked with my daughter too. Small chocolates or stickers.

Hi T.,

I don't have much advice for you about potty-training but noticed in your post you were looking to make friends in the area. I'd highly recommend checking out the Peninsula Mommies at www.peninsulamommies.com They have a great online forum as well as activities everyday to attend. Membership is free! They've been a great resource for me having moved here just a few months ago! Good luck!

I told my son that we were going to stop using diapers! I gave him plenty of advance notice since I was going to start when I was off for 2 weeks! So once his mommy was on vacation he knew he had to use the potty and I knew I would probably have to clean up messes! We let him choose his potty and he also loved just standing in front of the toilet or even to go outside! It is spring now and the weather is perfect for that! We also told him that once he was using the potty all the time we would have a "potty party" for him! When he was clean for 4 weeks we threw him his party! He was 3 years old then and still talks about his party today (he is 5 now)!! It took a good solid week of consistancy and praising him each time he went! Also, we never scolded him or made him feel bad when he had an accident, but told him that next time would work! We also let him choose what type of underwear he wanted and that also motivated him!! Its not as bad as it may seem! They all end up being trained!!!