My Almost 3 Yr Old Doesn't Want to Potty Train!

With my daughter, I was able to use both her 3rd birthday and the upcoming activities as incentives. She was signed up for a day camp with her older brother and his friend, and she knew she had to use the potty to go. I had told her that in order to be a part of it she had to be three, which got her extra excited for her birthday, and potty-trained, so she connected the two in her head. She was quickly trained right after her birthday, after months of spotty success. I know girls are easier than boys, so it might be a little harder with your son, but be honest with him and let him know he's in control of being able to participate in the fun, older stuff.

Incentives really worked for us! My son loves music and we told him that when he went poo and pee in the potty all the time he could get a big drum set. It took about a month, and I would make him go every 1-2 hrs. so he would get used to it, but he now asks to go and is pretty much potty-trained. I think it helped that it was up to him when he was ready to do it and he knew what he would get as a reward.

My son turned 4 a month ago and wasn't showing any signs of wanting to be potty trained so we decided we had to push him a little. This is what worked for us.

I bought a couple of little toys that I knew he wanted and I told him he could have one when he went in the potty. Also, he loves to play on the Playhouse Disney website, so he could only play on the computer when he used the potty.

I also put cherrios in the toilet for him to pee on and he liked that.

We just put him in underware and took him to the potty every half hour or so. If he was resistant to going I would give him the choice of standing up or sitting on the little potty. He seemed to respond a little better when he felt in control. It took about three weeks but we are pretty much accident free now.

Every kid is different, the key is to find what motivates your son. I had a very hard time finding my son's motivation.

Let him be naked or just his underwear (summer coming up) and keep the potty in a very up front place (living room, kitchen). I have twins and my son actually was better about potty training then my daughter. Born in May and also enrolled them in school in the fall (so I understand your time constraint). I do confess, on September 1, they were just not ready to be completely pull up free (but I knew they were so close). At orientation, my husband and I scoped out the other children and noticed that almost all of them had underwear on. (this made us a little nervous) I sent them to school in pull-ups for the first month and then by October, they were ready. The teacher did not say anything to me (she has been teaching for over 20 years). And I did let her know the first day that they were both in underwear that they might need some assistance in the potty. They were accident free at school all year and did fine. We also used Mike and Ikes candy as a treat for going or sitting on the potty. I don't know why that particular candy worked - maybe because it was in a big box and we kept it out of sight. At Christmas, Santa brought them Mike and Ikes in their stockings. My daughter turned to my husband and handed him the box, "I don't need these anymore, I poop on the potty all the time." We thought that was sooo funny. Good luck.