Potty Training a Stubborn Child

I too am struggling with my 3 year old son. He for the most part uses the toilet for pee, but he says poop and pooping is discusting. I'm told he'll just catch on one day and poof he'll be potty trained. Good luck.

I also love Lora Jenson's 3 Day Potty Training! It's totally worth checking out!

I just used the 3 day potty training technique by Lora Jensen that I bought on the internet for $24.95. You downloadd a PDF file which walks you through her entire technique. I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't worked for us, but my son was trained by the second day. I will not kid you, the first day was awful but by the second morning it had "clicked" with him, which is her philosophy. In the past I'd always quit and say "He's not ready." but really it was ME who wasn't ready. If you make it through all the accidents and keep going, your child will get it. I highly recommend her program, but you have to follow all the steps specifically. Maybe someone could take your younger child for a couple of days so you can do the program. It worked for us!! It's been a week and my son is completely trained now. VERY few accidents. Good luck to you, it's not easy!!!

I am sure that some people will disagree with my method, but my son was over 4 and he was not interested in going on the potty unless he was forced to. I gave him over a months warning and told him that he should pratice staying dry because when preschool was done for the summer there would be timeouts for wet pants. I started with 5 minutes per accident and added 5 minutes each day. He also had to carry a waterproof pad around the house with him and sit or stand on it and when we went somewhere he carried his own backpack with his supplies for "accidents." After about a week of my constantly reminding him to get on his pad and time outs were getting to be an hour long, he finally decided to go on the potty on his own. Once he started putting in effort I didn't punish him for being a little late to the potty but if he soaked the floor or I found him sitting in wet pants, we kept on with the timeouts.

It takes a lot of effort to have a battle of wills with a stubborn child, but you have to go with what you think is best for your child. Best Wishes!

you can not win this battle.

If your daughter does not want to use the potty she wont.

I would go back to diapers until she is ready. If she is ready it is super easy and she will be trained in a day.

In a perfect world kids will train when they are ready, all by themselves practically, with little effort. I must live on an inperfect Mars! All 3 of my kids took awhile to train, but I can tell you this, battling it is pointless. If this has been going on for weeks, forget about it, and pick it up in a few months. Forget the rewards for now, just tell her that if she can't do it right, we will wait for her whehn she can. And when something really good comes up that she wants, seize the opportunity and make that her reward. I think that she can do, but won't. Kid's this age change their mind frequently. At some point, you will have to make sure that the issue is done, forced if necessary, which usually happens when they go to school at 4 years old. Patience x 10 on your part. I guarantee you she won't go to high school in diapers!

I agree with the others...my daughter was the exact same way! She finally pottry trained when she decided to do it. She just came up to me one day while we were on a play date and asked if she could watch one of the other children go potty, (she had seen one of the other kids go into the bathroom and I knew the people we were with very well, as I grew up with them and our kids were all around the same age) so we all made one HUGE trip to the potty afterwards my daughter said...ok, I can use the potty now and we've never used another diaper after that. Now we are in the same situation with my son and everyone keeps asking me when we are going to potty train him. Well let's just say I learned the lesson with my daughter and although we've tried on and off for the past year I am not seriously pushing it. He'll do it when he's ready. All that said, I know how frustrating it can be to keep buying and changing diapers...especially if your child is like mine and keeps telling me to change him because he can't stand to be wet or "stinky" LOL! I know it's hard but hang in there it will be over before you know it :)

I don't agree with give it up for a while..she is old enough to learn the lesson "if I stick to my guns Mommy will give up". I do agree with not making a big deal out of it...if something come up that she wants then only "big girls" that use the potty can do that....other than that let her clean herself up...my friend did this with her stubborn son and it took a cou[le of weeks but he got tired of having to change himself and he stopped having "accidents"......stick to your guns just don't stress out about it(I knnow easier said than done)....when I trained my daughter she had gotten a computer for Xmas (she was 3.5) and once she really liked playing on the computer I wouldn't let her use it till she went on the potty that day and slowly one success would turn into complete success (she was so stubborn she would stay dry for HOURS while I was watching but once I turned my back she would go in her pants)...my son was a little easier he had a friend that he wanted to be like so everytime we would try to put him on the potty and he didn't want to(even though it was obvious he needed to) we would say don't you want to be a "big boy" like ____ and after a couple weeks it worked....I know setting him up to follow peer pressure isn't a good thing but...hang in there it will happen

Hi B.,
Hi agree with Lisa, if she isn't ready you can't force it. I would just wait a few weeks and then try again. That's what I did with my son and then when we tried he was ready and pretty much was potty trained in a day. Once they get it they just get it. Good luck.
Chris

My son was the same way. He would pee in his pants but go to the potty when naked. I do believe that she is ready to learn to go to the potty because If she was not she would not attempt to go to the potty at all.

When she is in clothes is she in pull-ups? I had to completely stop using pull-ups. because my son believed that pullups were to pee in. When I started putting underwear on him he eventually got the message. I believe that he got tired of the wet clothes. As far as the pooping goes I don't have any advice. My son would poop in the potty before he did anything else.