Potty Training - Beloit, WI

He may be physically ready but not emotionally ready.

Also to know if your son is physically ready he should be waking up dry at naptime and most mornings.

Lay off for awhile and act like you don't care. Then after noone's talked about it for a few weeks have a older child, neighbor, cousin ,or adult act like they are the coolest thing in the world and that your son is just not as cool like it's a big kid thing to do...

I told my daughter she wasn't gonna get to go to preschool and couldn't do this or that because she wore diapers it hurt her feelings to point and was a little harsh but worked great. She was also at a home daycare I worked at and it turned very competative between her and two other boys the same age and would literally fight over who got to go potty first. They were the "cool" kids at daycare.

Also pull-ups are the worst invention on Earth. They make it so incredibly comfortable to use the bathroom in them that kids don't care. Try diapers to underpants leave out the pull-ups.

Have you tried letting him wear underpants and be uncomfortable for awhile? My daughter hated being wet and cold and I'd pretend I didn't notice for a few minutes I never ran and changed her real quick. Then I held her responsible for her accidents she had to do it herself or help out big time with cleaning up and changing her clothing.

Our son was 3 before he potty trained, and seemed ready for about a year before he finally trained full-time. I think he just wasn't emotionally ready.

Anyway - we tried a lot of the things you're trying and they actually backfired for us. We finally figured out that the exaggerated excitement & focus on potty was putting a lot of pressure on him. When we backed off, rewarded him each time he went (and gave gentle reminders) he got it figured out & was full-on trained (day & night) in less than a week.

We went the pull-ups route (although I know a lot of parents hate them), but they gave him the security he needed to get his confidence up. He was terrified & ashamed of accidents, so pull-ups gave him some confidence. He definitely thought there was a difference between pull-ups and diapers, and he made incredible efforts to keep pull-ups dry. In fact, he rarely wet them (we only used them a couple of days, but it worked). Once he'd kept pull-ups dry all day for a couple of days, we transitioned to big boy underwear (well, the more padded "practice" kind). He did great! Honestly, within a week, he had it down day & night.

Good luck!
J.
Mom to Chase (3)

Hi T.!

My girlfriend who has a little boy was going through the same issues with her son you seem to be. Her Ped. told her that boys are a little harder to train vs girls and it would come in time. Eventually it did. I know not what you really wanted to hear.! I can tell you with my daughter we went to the store and she picked out her own first undies. We called them "fancy pants". She would wear them and be very proud and her first accident she was so devistated with herself that she ruined her "fancy pants" that soon afterwards she was trying very hard to run to the potty when she had to go. We still had accidents at times, but it helped! Then all of a sudden one day she told me to throw the pull ups away she was a big girl now. From then on, we've been diaper free. She was almost 21/2 once she decided that she wanted to wear panties all the time and would try not to have accidents anymore. She is now 4. I do have a girl friend whom is also a Nanny and was a Day Care teacher for years. I can ask her for some helpful advice on how they help the kids if you would like? Just let me know.

It sounds as if your son just isn't ready. My little guy Was staying dry at night since he was a year and a half, by two and a half he would occasionaly ask to go on the toilet but like your son after doing so didnt want to anymore so we sort of dropped it during this time we bought a step stool and a padded toddler seat that fits on the big toilet and a pack of underpants. he once again attempted to go on the toilet but again was hesitant so again we let it go. this past febuary a month after his third birthday he decided he wanted to wear his underpants I explained if he did that he had to go in the toilet like a big boy. He finally did and has not gone back to pull ups. since he decided to be a big boy we have had 4 accidents (all because he was crying). So basically my advice let it go for now. boys seem to train closer to 3-4 anyway.

A bit about me= I'm married, 34 a SAHM to 5 great kids 18-15-12-8 &3, I am also a photographer
and writer.mostly short stories and poetry but at the I'm working on my first book Love- Myth?

Hi T. -
We had a simmilar situation with our now 3 year old son. He seemed to be ready, and he'd have days of showing interest (or maybe just hours of showing interest) and then he'd relapse and just stop trying at all. We got very frustrated, and tried everything we could to get him to use the potty, to no avail.
The week after my son turned 3, it all changed. All of a sudden he just decided to stay dry, and now he has not had an accident in over a month (he turned 3 at the end of March). I know all kids are different, however I was amazed at how he just knew it was time for him - I'm wondering how many kids are like this..they just know (i'm sure it's quite a few). As we were "potty training" I know he was feeling that it was an inconvenience to stop and use the potty - he would have rather just keep playing.
I guess my advice to you is to encourage using the potty, but realize that he might not be ready to let go of his diapers yet. He'll come around when he really is ready!
Good Luck,
C.

My advice for you is do not push him. If he is not interested in it, put him back in diapers until he is. I do childcare and my experience is #1 boys take longer than girls, and #2 when they are ready it happens very quickly! He may exhibit xharacteristics of being ready but clearly he is not, because interest is a key factor. If he learns to hate it, it will just extend the time it takes to potty train. I would just sort of forget about it for awhile and if he asks to go on the potty, of course let him. Ask often if he WANTS to go on the potty. But do not make him. I promise it will not happen any sooner than it would have.