Potty Training - Chesapeake,VA

A., my oldest son who is now 10y.o. was that way. He cried everytime I tried to sit him on the potty. What I did was sit him on there and kneel down with him, talk to him once I got him to stop crying and hold him on the toilet (he felt like he would fall in). To help him even more, I'd allow him to take a plush animal or something he likes in there with him. He eventually got over the crying and stayed there by himself. He even learned to hold himself up there and not fear falling into the toilet. Now it took him longer to pee-pee in the potty, but he soon realized to let it all go. I would also suggest to not force the standing for a boy. He'll learn when he watches daddy go. I have two boys and they both learned that way.

Whoa, Your husband is stationed on a boat and you are gone a few days a week. You might want to work on that before you work on potty training. Children are very easily distressed by parent being gone. He may be having training issues as a reaction to having both of you coming and going.

I agree about dropping it for a few months and then starting over! That works with my son with so many things. Also, getting potty books at the library really helped my 2 year old. There's one called No More Diapers for Ducky where she wriggles out of her diaper and kicks it across the floor, and he thinks it is hysterical. There are some that talk about the seat being cold for a minute but then warming up, etc. Have you ask him what he's concerned about? If it's fear of falling, maybe you can start by taking the potty seat and setting it on the floor in the living room so he gets comfortable on the seat first. Then move it slowly towards the bathroom and one day onto the potty. My son loves music and I got him the Fischer Price potty that plays sounds. I told him it did, but he didn't care. Then one day I went on it, and he was so interested he wanted to sit on it and try too. My sister in law gave me a bunch of "junk" her son had outgrown...little dinosaurs, match box cars, etc that I wrapped up. The key for us was letting him hold the wrapped gift while he sat on the potty while I read a book. It was more tangible when he held it. He got to open it if he went or not, just for sitting on the potty. You said he's smart...I'm wondering if he's concerned about failing? If so maybe you can break it down into little steps so it's not this huge goal...bouncing him around in the air and then onto the potty seat and then back off immediately and out of the room, then do it again 8 hours later or the next day. Oh-let him sit on the potty with his diaper on. That helped my son a lot, just getting used to the chair for a week or two. Good luck!

I didn't have a battle like this, but with my son I got the Potty Power video from the library and that seemed to motivate him to want to use the potty. He would sing the songs like "no more diapers for me!" and the one about babies wear diapers and that's OK, but big kids use the potty.
Hope that helps!

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one with this EXACT SAME PROBLEM. My 3yo is not potty trained, but the only time I have gotten him to log any time on the potty without underwear on is when he has been distracted. We have tried getting a new movie, filling him with salty snacks and sugary drinks and telling him that he has to sit on the potty in order to watch the new movie. He accidentally went while sitting on the potty once, but mostly he would wait until he stood up and then go all over himself. We are now trying to get over the fear of actually going on the potty since we have tackled the fear of having his diaper off. Anyway, good luck, I know exactly how you are feeling right now. It feels as if they are never just going to be ready with the issues at hand...

He will when he's ready. Try not to force it since he's resisting so much. I hope to remember this when it's my daughter's time.

Oh,do i know about hard headded! Just a small suggestion, my son did the exact same thing. We've been potty training for about 1 1/2 months and at first he was very resistant to sitting on the potty. I finally realized that he loves some certain toys and likes to carry them around with him, so i let him pick one to take to the potty. If he likes to read books, sometimes ours would "read" on there. Also sometimes putting the potty in the room with the t.v. Helps, so they're not missing much. Hope this helps! Ours is now going on his own sometimes and is really getting the hang of it, it will all come in time, just dont make it a fight, if he's like mine, it will only make him more resistant!

I had a very resistant son too. What worked for us is going strictly to underwear, no pullups, ever. If he likes underwear, get MANY pairs, and just deal with the accidents, stay home for a few days. I'd also suggest a stool by the potty so he can stand up. Boys have a "natural" toy that they can use to squirt things in water, he might find that fun.

Please do not try to force him that will turn it into a battle of wills, and it's likely that he will win. I know how frustrating it is believe me, my son didn't start to potty train until he was almost 3 and a half. A lot of people are opposed to it but have you tried to bribe your son? If he really like big boy underwear tell him that he have go pick out which ever ones he wants from the store when he pees on the potty for a week. It will probably take a while but it wouldn't hurt to try. Also if you can find stickers or temporary tattoos that he loves like a favorite character or something like that you can bribe him with that. Maybe you can start by saying you can have 1 sticker if he sits on the potty and a tattoo if he actually goes pee. Then once he is ok sitting on the potty maybe give him 1 for pee and 2 for bowel movement. For my kiddo it hwlped to let him pick out which ones he wanted. If he refuses to try the potty though you might want to wait a couple more months and then give it another go. It might help if he goes with big brother when he goes potty and if big brother encourages him to try.

Hey - My daughter is only 3 months, so we haven't gone to potty training yet, but my mom said to get one of those potties that play a song when they "hit the target". Maybe that will get him interested.

There is a video we used when potty training my daughters. It's called "It's Potty Time" and it's full of songs and dance. I bought it as a last resort when my oldest was potty training and after she watched it several times she just started to use the potty more on her own.