O Boy ! :)

My son is 4 and when he learned to pee in the potty I actually started him standing up. I never started him out sitting. I would most definitely get him standing. It is soooo much easier when you have to use a public restroom that he won't have to sit on a dirty seat! You could have him watch "Daddy" standing to pee, and also put things in the toilet for him to aim at, i.e. pieces of colored tissue paper or Cheerios/Fruit Loops to make a game of it. At his size, he probably will just have to stand in front of the toilet and pee without having to hold it and "aim". Once he gets to learning to poop, he will probably discover by himself that if he starts to pee at the same time he'll need to push his weenie down some so it doesn't go all over. My son kind of picked that one up on his own!

As far as the booster, have you tried it with him yet? I would think he would rather sit in a "real chair" like the big people. I didn't use a high chair after about 2 years old just because my son was getting too big to fit!

With the crib, I think you're on the right track. When he's 3, just get rid of the crib. Tell him you had to give it to a "baby" who didn't have a place to sleep because those are for "babies". You might also want to get some sheets of his favorite character (if you haven't already) that will get him excited about sleeping in his bed at night. I think they even make glow-in-the-dark sheets if that would excite him.

Boys are quite a challenge....good luck!

We were debating taking my son out of his crib, and just decided to take the side off of the crib. Does your son's crib have that option? It's a perfect transition!

As for the high chair, keep him in it until one of you is ready-- there is no age on that one. Once you put him in a booster it's easier for him to leave the table before you want him to. My alomst-theree-year-old rarely sits with us at dinner anymore because he can get down out of his booster

The potty thing-- my son switches back and forth between standing and sitting. My husband taught him that he can stand to pee outside against a tree and he LOVED that so sometimes he'll stand at the toilet, too. It's really convenient because at Public toilets I don't have to worry about him sitting on a dirty, nasty seat-- I just hold him up and aim him and he pees! As for holding it down at home when he sits, my son just spreads his legs a bit and leans forward when he sits so no one has to even touch it.

BTW, love your title!

Stick a cherrio in the toilet when he needs to use it. Tell him to try and get the cherrio himself by "aiming". This usually works and you will have to do it for quite a while, but it will get him out of the habit of you doing all the "aiming" for him. LOL!

Sometimes you can take the tray off the high chair and just scoot it up to the table. Maybe that will work.

Don't push the crib thing too hard. That is great he wants to sleep in it and not with you. Try to keep that until you think he is just to big. Then when you do decide, tell him that you need to give the crib to the babies and that he gets a big boy bed! That worked for us... though my daughter didn't like "the babies" for a while... LOL!!! That was the funny part. Now she can't get enough of them.

Good luck!

Hey, what's the rush? the high chair, the bed are safe for him and once he's off those it becomes a little harder to keep him sitting while eating or in bed when he's awake.
About holding his weenie, ask him to do it himself because you are busy at the moment (make believe you're folding a towel, washing your hands, putting on makeup, whatever) Praise him afterwards, he'll catch on quickly.

I've had this discussion with other moms and it really surprises me that it is an issue at all. My son is almost 3 (next month) and is totally potty trained. He sits on the toilet; he does not stand. Why complicate this? In time, when he's older, I'm sure he will figure out what to do, but my son sits on the toilet to do all of his potty stuff and it's fine with me.

As for the highchair, is he too large for the highchair? Has he outgrown it by weight? If not, then let him sit in his highchair. I use the highchair for my almost 3 year old for time outs and for those times when I need to keep him in one place.

As for the crib, you really need to take the crib down. You say you don't mind that he climbs out of (or into his crib). I said that about my second daughter until she broke her collar bone from a fall. My son's crib was removed the day I saw him hike his leg over the rail. With him being the third child, I wasn't willing to take any chances so the crib is gone but the crib mattress remains on the floor where he sleeps soundly. We can't afford a twin mattress at the moment so this works for us.

Well, every male in this house (including Dad) sits! Less mess and easy for them, instead of going back and forth! I would say, teach him to hold himself down...:)

As for the crib...some kids like to stay in it till they are 5 years old! as long as he isn't climbing out and may hurt himself--let him be comfy! Same with the high chair...as long as he is happy--why not???

None of these things will damage him, and as long as it doesn't bother you, and he is happy...leave it as is...:)

Your question made me smile. I have 3 boys. Just do what is comfortable for him. Have daddy, or a sibling show him how to pee standing and help him if he's interested, but he may not be. My oldest son sat for awhile, then just decided he wanted to stand like daddy one day. My second son always wanted to stand like his brother. My third son (who is 3) wants to sit pretty much every time. No big deal. Just show him how to aim it, whether he is sitting or standing. Eventually he will always do it on his own. My 3 year old finally, maybe a month ago, stopped expecting me to be around while he goes. I only know he went because he still asks me to help him wipe or asks for help when he gets his undies backwards. Sometimes I still hold it for him when we go into a public restroom just because I want to make sure he aims. (or daddy does if he takes him) And if he wants to stand and a toilet is too tall, he stands on my feet. Of course, if he wants to stand a lot of the time, you can get a step stool.
As for the booster question, we switched to one at 2 with our oldest kids. Our youngest always had a booster because we didn't have room for a highchair anymore.
As for the crib, if he's still comfy, I'd say don't worry about it until 3. Then just switch for good. We made a big thing of it too. We bought them a new pillow, sheet set and blanket that they picked out.

we never taught my son to sit and pee....he always stood. They sell targets that float in the bowl to teach "aim" Why don't you make it a game for him? His dad can show him how big boys do it.

Also, if he can climb out of the crib it is dangerous for him to be in it. He might decide to do this one night and hurt himself! Just get rid of the crib and he will have to sleep in his bed.

I kept my son sitting down for a looong time- who cares if he's sitting? this is just my opinion of course...he finally started standing up when he was maybe 4yrs old - he was in preschool I guess & after seeing others he copied them...
as for the high chair- keep him in for as long as he fits and he wants to.
I personally don't see the rush that so many people find for these things! same with the crib. who cares?
let him stay in the crib if he likes it :)

Hi D.,
My son is 3.5 will be 4 in August, and I always have had him sit down. When my husband takes him, he stands him up. He does fine either way. The only problem we're having with him, is he refuses to go to the bathroom by himself. He's had many accidents because he's waiting on us to take him, when he continually try to encourage him to go on his own. Possibly, the crib gives him a sense of security at night. There's no problem with that, as long as he's not trying to climb out of it. The high chair shouldn't be a problem either. My 3 year old will every now and then sit in his brother's high chair, because his 2 year old brother wants to sit in the booster seat, so they switch and they're happy. I don't make too big of a deal out of it, because I know they'll out grow it. You could buy a booster and have it ready for when he's ready to sit in it. And offer it at mealtimes, but not push it if he's attached to his high chair.
It takes patience when they want you to do everything. I'll admit, I don't always have it, because my 3 year old is super attached to me and want me to do everything for him even feed him sometimes, while his little brother wants to do everything by himself, so they're all different.
Take care, and enjoy that precious gift from God!
V.

My family was always totally against boys sitting to pee and so we all had our boys learn standing. I say whatever works. However, it was a game we play to start and keep them standing. we made little wads of tissues and threw it in the bowl and told them to sink it. They did fine. Sometimes, you begin with them holding for them. they catch on they do fine. give it a shot, you got nothing to loose.

Hey D., my LO is on the potty training too, he turned 2 in february and he asked me not to put on the diapers any more because he wanted to be like daddy. We bought him a little stool from ikea and he stands on it and do his business. The way we started is my husband took the LO with him to the bathroom when he needed to pee and explained how boys go to the bathroom, then my son wanted to do it so my husband showed him. About holding his weenis... they sell in toys r us something that helps with the aim, they are like small colorful little floaters that you put on the potty when they pee so the can focus on hitting it when they pee, kind of a game that way it would be his game and he may not want to let you hold it...

I don't think there is a particular age for the high chair, my friend's girl is 3 and she still uses it, my son always want to do wha we do so we bought him a kaboost, is a devise that goes under the regular chair and makes it go higher so he reaches the table and seats like an adult. We make him sit with us and do dinner time which means that we have to eat early but it gives us time to teach him table manners.

About the bed, I did it cold turkey, I have a nice convertible futon and one day un-assemble the crib while my son was with me and then decorated the big futon like his bed he sleeps in there no problem. He never asked about the crib. Since you already have the cool car bed, I would say just tell him that cribs are for babies and he is a little boy and needs to have a bed like mom and dad... I think is more traumatizing to take the crib down for us than for them... I know I cried like a baby.. :)

Ok, I hope I helped a little, let me know how it goes!!!

good luck