Potty Training 3 Year Old Boy - Saint Petersburg,FL

S.,

Go straight to the underwear! If he is already going in the potty he recognizes that he has to go. Buy him some with characters that he loves (i.e., Thomas, Power Ranges, Mickey Mouse, etc.) and make a big deal about him wearing the big boy underwear. Remind him that he can't peepee in them and tell him how they differ from a diaper - peepee will run down his leg, etc. If he does peepee in them, he will feel how yucky it is and will probably not do it again. You can also add that "Thomas (or who ever)" will be upset if you peepee on him (only use this tactic if necessary). As for night time, use pull-ups and explain that they are for big boys as well, but only for night time - just in case.

I had a daycare teacher tell me once, when my son was 2 1/2, no to be so selfish. At first I didn't know what she was saying. She said that parents keep their kids in diapers/pull-ups because it is convenient for us. We don't have to worry about accidents and changing clothes or making a mess out somewhere. But all this does is hender the child from learning what they should already know how to do at that age. From that day forward I put my son in underwear and he was trained within 2 weeks.

#2 is a different story - I am still working in this with my youngest - 2 1/2. I don't have any real good advise for you here except to be patient and know that it can be very tramatizing for them, but they will over come it! My oldest did very quickly, but youngest is a little more stubborn.

Good luck!
Sam

Hey there,
I was a pre-school teacher of a group of 2.5 yr old boys and girls and by the end of the year I had them all potty trained. My method is to use a timer (your oven one would due) and set it for every 15 min to start. Put him in underwear and to make it fun let him pick it out and maybe it can be of a favorite character or something. You then put the underwear on and put diaper over it. He will have the security of the diaper but still feel like a big boy with his underwear on. It is actually good that he feels the uncomfortable feeling of being wet, it should actually motivate him to get to the potty. When the timer goes off every 15 min. Make a trip to the potty even if he does not have to go. Give him lots to drink througout the day and slowly increase the interval of the timer. If you do this for a day or two (days you know you'll be home) then he will fall into a rhythem and learn the feeling of when he needs to go. Eventually you can take the diaper of and he will keep confident. I do not recomment the pull-ups, they just extend the process and are expensive. Lots of praise ofcourse and Going to bed with a diaper is ok for a while as it's hard for them to wake up to go. My son wore a diaper for bed long after he was potty trained during the day and after I saw that he was waking up dry for a week or so, then I thought is was ok. Hope this helps

I can tell you my experience. I was a 2-3 yr old teacher for 7 years in the potty training room. I cn say from experience and from conferences once you start potty training and you did not start with pull-ups do not go back. Pull-ups are for those that need the transition but if he is already going without them, I wouldn't start. As for the underwear, I think they could be a great thing. Make a date out of it, go to the store and let him pick out 3 different packs himself. Make it a big deal and he will feel excited about it. One good thing about the 3-packs is this, With my boy i nannied for we told him they come in 3-packs just incase you do have an accident in them, you have extra. That way he will know up front that it is ok if he does have an accident and hopefully will not feel bad. They do have thick cotton ones that hold it in pretty well if you are worried about being out and getting it everywhere. Accidents do and will happen, no biggy. Good Luck

I got so tired of spending money on diapers and training pants about a month ago. My daughter is almost 3 years old and her 2 year old cousin was already potty trained. One morning, we woke up and I put her in panties. She has been in panties ever since. Of course there are accidents, but she is nearly fully trained. As others have said, make a big deal out of the big boy pants, but let him know accidents happen and it's ok. You can also start a reward system for so he sees a benefit of not peeing/pooping in his pants. I did stickers with my daughter. Every time she peed, she got one sticker. When she pooped, 2 stickers. If she pooped somewhere other than our home, ie the store or a friends house, she got stickers and a prize. She's to the point now, after a month, that she no longer asks for the stickers or prizes and she only has accidents when she gets too distracted by tv or toys. I say just start him in underwear, if you wait too long he might think it's ok or normal to stay naked at home all day.

Good luck. And remember, accidents happen! :)

When my son was almost 3 and in daycare we started him in pull ups and got the poo in the potty down pat very quickly with rewards. When he figured that out he got the peeing in the potty pretty quickly too. It took him several months to stay dry for naps and all night. Once he did he only had about 3-4 accidents total after that. I never pushed him to be trained by a certain age just watched the clues he gave me. He never liked the little potty either. He learned on the toilet and it was always very positive and fun never negative. His dad helped too. They bonded over that and he still remembers some of it. Good luck it'll be OK.

Hi S.,

I would let him do the naked thing as long as you are all comfortable with it. My daughter did exactly the same for 4-5 months before we started with "big girl panties" inside & out of the house.

As far as when to transition, I'd try a step when the going-potty at home while naked is no longer a new, exciting thing. Then I'd talk about big boy undies and how nice they are to wear, it's good to keep them clean & dry etc. Then I'd try just an hour outing to see how he does. Try to go out when you know he's likely not going to need to potty - that will automatically build in success. Then come home and get excited about his dry undies. Then repeat, repeat, repeat with longer & longer stretches of time. HTH! :)

my opinion...the fact that your son runs around naked concerns me. at least put underwear on him so that he gets use to it. He will pee or poop in them once. they don't like the feeling.

I am a big fan of underwear! my 4 yr old still lives in boxer briefs( at home!) that look like shorts and very easy access when he has to pull them down..no zippers or snaps...my son wore underwear or nothing at home but we had i think 3 potty chairs all over so you can respond real quick..( did keep the baby gate off the carpet and a thick sheet on my favorite couch)..if you can spend lot's of time outside,but we do still have that little issue of peeing in the bushes,at least it's not in his pants...accidents happen,but with pull ups you don't realize it..no natural consequences..I feel it's totally in our attitude and to keep it casual affirming the positive and super easy going about a "clean-up"..