Potty Training...

He needs to run around half naked, no underware, no pullups, no pants, NOTHING. That is the only thing that worked with my son (he was also just over 3) and he never had one accident because he didnt want to pee on himself! Try it, it may work...

My daughter was 3 in November, and pull ups were a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. When I switched to underwear, she caught on peeing on the potty within 2 days. Pooping was another issue, but she eventually caught on. She even has stayed dry at night except for about 2 or 3 nights. I would advise you to stay with the underwear, unless its too much to keep cleaning them out.

I just finished potty training twin girls who will be 3 in February and I used a very helpful DVD called Potty Power. I tried everything and when I put them back in diapers (not pull ups until after I saw some progress) I left the potty and a potty ring and stool in the bathroom and left it up to them. They started to take off their own diaper and sit on the potty on their own then they used the toilet. When they were consistant, I showed them the panties. After a while they were singing the jingles from the DVD and had more success on thier own then when I helped a lot. Once one got the hang of it, the other followed. Now we only use pull ups for night. They even call to me (or hold it in ) during nap time. Let them own it and be patient. There will be a few acceidents along the way, but they are worth it because it is all part of the process. Best of luck!

K., I am a grammie and went through this with my daughter.Now my granddaughter started potty training a year ago and was all excited about her "big girl" panties. She did the same thing and then they went back to the pull-ups. within about 4 months my grand daughter began going to the potty on her own and started using the big girl panties again.She is 4 yrs and 3 months now and only has an occasional accident when she is sick. I feel you can't force this part of growing, they have to "feel" the sensation inside before they can actually make the connection between that and getting to the potty.Don't worry, keep praising and it will happen.Happy Holidays E. F.

Hi K.,

I am in the SAME situation as you. My energetic son turned 3 in May and is not potty trained at all, not even a little bit. I put him in big boy undies for a week and he pee'd everywhere! He pee'd on the couch, he pee'd on the carpet, he pee'd on his bed. Once I even caught him pulling down his undies to pee on the carpet. So, I thought I'd teach him a lesson and let him run around naked. This was worse! He just began peeing EVERYWHERE not once going on the potty by himself. I was taking him to the bathroom every 1/2 hour and I made him sit until he pee'd or pooped. I would also take him when he started showing signs of having to poop. I am at wits end, I don't know what to do. In January, I think i am going to put him in underwear and if he wets or poops then I will have to deal with it, I will have to just hope that he catches on sooner rather than later.

I wish I had some advice for you... Just wanted you to know that your not alone.

Hi K.:

Have you tried the underware that is padded but is specifically used for potty training? This way, accidents don't leak out, they are caught in the underware and as soon as they feel wetness, they make the connection. I found pull ups didn't really work for us either. I have a 5 year old son and a 7 month year old daughter. You may want to try more frenquent trips to the bathroom, say every 20-30 mins and constant questioning? I found those things worked for us. I hope this info is somewhat helpful. Took us about a month but our son was trained at 3 yrs 1 mo for peeing. Bowel movements were whole different story! Hang in there! Good Luck.

D.

My daughter was very easily trained by letting her play around the house with nothing on the bottom. If memory serves me right, it took her less than a week for her to run to the bathroom to go. She could not stand teh feeling of it runnin gdown her leg. We do have hard wood floors, which made clean up easy. She did it by herself because there was no clothes to pull down. She was very proud of herself. As fro #2, we sat her on the pot when we knew she had to go and gave her smarties candy. One little piece at a time, not hte whole thing. It kept her sitting on the pot until she went. The she could have a few more as a reward.

My sister used frozen Jr mints as a reward and they are to this day still called bathroom cookies after 5 years by her son.

Good luck
M.

Keep up with the underwear. Pull ups are just diapers in disguise. If he is showing that he isn't liking the soiled undies you aren't far from him seeing success!
Good luck!!

I used the advice of my daycare teacher (who I figured was better at this than me - as she has been doing it for over 15 years). She said no pull-ups at all. Bog boy undies only. At daycare, she took him every 20-30 minutes in the beginning, but now stretches him to 45min- 1 hour between trips.
Don't do away with the big boy undies - they can feel the wetness with those. Try taking him to the toilet more often. Let him put stickers on a chart when he goes to on the toilet sucessfully.
My son, who is 2 years 9 months, has been doing it since mid-october. He's just now getting the hang of it. Don't get discouraged and whatever you do, don't give up.

Also, to make potty clean up easier and less puddly, try buying some rubber pants for over the top of the undies - It still wets the pants, but saves you from cleaning a puddle from the floor.

Hi K., I have done both. I regret going back to pull-ups for the second child at night. It takes forever. The no pull-ups route works better and faster. The more he is taken to the bathroom the more he will understand. Stickers work great and one lady told me to use cheerios so he can hit them. Good luck!

For what it's worth, I used only underwear to potty train my son before his 2nd birthday & he was able to get it in a week. He HATED the feeling of wetting his "undies." Don't get me wrong, we're using pull-ups at bed time, but at least now our days are diaper free! Good luck!

K.,
Your little one will get it, it just takes time. IMO Pullups are a huge waste of money, and only prolong the problem by making kids too comfortable sitting in their own waste. You could try absorbant undies with waterproof liners to help keep down the laundry and puddles, and they are easily washed (you can email me offlist if you want more info). It may help to keep a constant close watch of him to watch for signs that he needs to go, and don't get angry when he soils. There are 3 things in a child's life that only they can control- eating, sleeping, and pottying. It's not worth fighting it, but it is worth gentle persistence. HTH!

sometimes, they just aren't ready.. try letting him go naked for a bit, sometimes peeing down their leg is gross to them.. try rewards too, sticker charts etc... but if they aren't ready, they aren't ready - period. my son was almost 4 when he decided on his own, he was ready - one acccident and he was done. Overnight trained too.. they have to make the decision that they want to do it and no amount of coaxing or pleading will change anything. good luck.

Just hang in there. My son was three and a half before he really "got it". Just be consistent. I started taking my son every 20 minutes. Accidents happen. One day, something magic just clicks. My daughter, who will turn two in February, got it at the same time as my son.......she was only 16 months. Although, she watched her brother screaming, "hold it". So, she started doing it, too. He will get it.

good luck

K., I am in the SAME situation with potty training as you with my three year old son. Yesterday he had three accidents and I decided I am going to put pull ups or even diapers on again so he doesn't feel any pressure. He knows when he has to go but something in him is not making it to the potty. I know he will learn to go potty:), as did my six year old daughter, but in my case I have a feeling it is about relaxing with the process and letting it happen along with teaching him and asking him often if he has to go potty. Although I have thought about getting rid of all diapers and pull-ups altogether and see what happens. The big question for me is am I ready for the clean up?

My son just turned two and he's been running around naked for 6 months now. At first he had accidents, but now he goes right in the potty. I just showed him where it was (local to where ever he was) and we sat on it when I thought he may need to go. No pressure or rewards. He's been potty trained for a while now. If you don't want to go the naked naked route, invest in some cloth training pants (he'll still feel wet, but without the big mess, and you're not throwing them in a landfill). Considering the price of "disposable" pull ups, you won't be paying any more for them, and you can look for some made or sold by a work at home mom and help support her family by purchasing from her.

Hi K.:

I went through this with my Daughter when she was 3. I kept her in "big girl" undies and by the end of the week (day 5 or 6) she got the hang of it. Of course I had a lot of laundry before that. Good luck!

Keep up the big boy underwear. If you change back and forth, he will get confused. I went through the same thing with my son and my doctor's advice was to be consistent, stay close to home and give it at least two weeks. It does get messy at times, but keep the faith. I did it while I was on vacation so that I would be close to home.

Hi K.!

This is definately a tough time! My son turned 3 this past July and just wasn't interested. I tried the sticker board thing and no success. My son LOVES peanut butter cups. So one day when he asked me for one, I told him only if he went potty could he have one. "No, I want a peanut butter cup". So I said, "And I want you to go potty". So he got a bit upset, but from that day he started trying to go potty. I tried putting cherrios in the potty for him to aim at. It didn't work. I think that he just didn't "get it", meaning that he didn't know how to make himself pee. You could see him trying to push out his belly. This went on for about a week because he really wanted that peanut butter cup bad. Finally, the day came when he finally did it and boy was he excited! For the next couple of weeks every time he peed, I had to give him a minature peanut butter cup. It got to the point that he would go just a couple of drops and expect one. So he had to "pee the big one" in order to get a small peanut butter cup. Of course, he wanted a big peanut butter cup. I told him he could have a big one when he pooped. This got him to poop on the potty that day! So we went on like this for a couple of weeks. I was getting concerned about him eating so much candy but it was working and I wasn't having to clean up any messes. I just started to let him know that he wasn't going to get a peanut butter cup every time that he went to the bathroom that he would get a sticker for his board instead and when it was filled up we would go to Chucky Cheese. I did continue to give him a big peanut butter cup for poops as I found out quickly when I didn't he would poop in his pants. Now he goes to the bathroom on his own with no peanut butter cups. I have tried this at first with pull ups and found it to be no use. I highly suggest big boy panties. It definitely has its messy days but they do not like the feeling so it trains them much quicker. I have tried big boy panties at night and have to say that I got sick of washing his bedding on a daily basis. I have reverted to pull ups at night for now because it is too much on me! I suggest dressing your son in sweatpants as they are easier to pull up and down, whether you are helping him or he is doing it himself. Potty training takes alot of patience and alot of consistency, but you will get through it! Good Luck! ;0}