I am trying to potty train my 28 month old son, he is capable of using the potty for days at a time, and then he just starts having accidents all over the house for no aparent reason. We have tried treats and surprises, books, and rewards and nothing seems to be working, and then recently he has started sticking his hand in his pants when he poops and playing with it, and nothing I seem to do or say seems to help. Does anyone have any advice about this situation?
We stopped buying diapers so they weren't even in the house for him to fall back on, and put him in underwear and went through the dailey washing of them all, it took about a week and he got it, and now he can use the potty all by himself
He is barely two. Don't stress. Why don't you try not pushing him for a while and see how he does. If there is less anxiety around using the bathroom then maybe he won't feel pressure. And kids are going to have accidents. They also are going to stick thier hands down their pants and play with it. And he will probably, at least once, fingerpaint your wall with it. It's all part of being a kid.
Put all potty items away, all rewards related to going potty & dont speak another word of it. It's all a power struggle right now & he's winning & he'll continue to win as you continue to go crazy. He'll click into it for real when he's ready. He's still plenty young, specially for a boy.
L.- mother to 4, 3 of them potty trained
I struggled myself trying to potty train my son, who "figured it out" within 3 months after I just backed down. He's yet to have an accident. The best piece of advice I got for potty training is start the summer closest to their 3rd birthday. You have plenty of time!
I agree with Lisa. It's turning into a power struggle for him. Remove all potty training related items from sight and don't mention it. I'm guessing he's already in underwear, so move him to pull-ups or diapers. I know it's taking a step backwards, but it actually works. Explain why he's having to wear pullups or whatever, but without shaming him.
When you have to change him, do everything in the bathroom, standing up, and don't make a big deal about it: just treat it as par for the course. Do a running commentary: Now, we are taking this off, and see, poop goes in the toilet...etc,etc.
Sorry for the extensive post ;)
Check out this website: www.pottiestickers.com/
C.
