Potty Training Advice Needed for 2 1/2 Year Old Son

I would highly recommend the naked method. We did it with my daughter who really disliked the 'running down the leg' feeling and she was completely trained in a single weekend. We had one accident each of #1 and #2 on the carpet and that's it. Good luck!

My son's 2 and we've started training as well. I use cool alert pull ups so it gets cold when he wets. We do that thru the day and I ask him all the time and usually get no. but every 90 minutes we go and just sit on the potty. Yes I sit with him too, but in addition I put a few of the musical books in there too so he has something to keep him occupied. It seems to be a great help. Then after dinner we either put on big boy pants or just let him run naked....he loves it. I try to keep him off the carpeted areas at that point just in case. When he's naked it seems to be a little better. Good luck to you.

My son was very stubborn. What really helped us was letting him run around outside and pee in the bushes. I know it sounds strange, but he was on the cusp of being trained. It was right after he turned 3 and summertime. So, when we were outside playing in the pool, he would identify that he had to go and just go on his own. Poop was a whole different experience. That happened a year later! He was afraid to go in the potty and would only go in his pull ups. He would literally take his underwear off and run upstairs and put a pull up on and go in the pull up. I let this go on for a while, then had the idea to cut a hole in the pull up and make him sit on the potty to go. A few times did the trick and he was finally completely potty trained!
Good luck!

We did a "naked weekend" with my son when he was about 2 1/2 - of course it was August, so it was a little bit easier. But that REALLY helped him learn when he could SEE what happened when he got that "feeling." It was a little bit messy, but you just keep asking and stay near him in case he starts to go - keep a big towel handy to catch the stream if you can (!) and hopefully you only get a few little messes. Another thing that really got my son into going on the potty was letting him stand at the toilet like daddy...

Good Luck!

use those gerber training underwear. They're underwear but think, so they absorb a lot more of the mess

When I started to potty train my son I was using pull-ups and having a heck of a time! I thought it was because he was almost potty trained at 18M and them because of some silly advice we stopped and had him go in diapers again. But I talked to a lady who had worked at a daycare for 30 years and specializes in potty training the kids. She said the best way to do it is to have them in there underwear and sweatpants. She said that after everything comes potty time. So you wake up-Potty time, eat breakfast-potty time, read a book- potty time...etc. She also said that to get the kids to want to go and sit on the potty you can buy or make a special treat that the kids get only when they are on the potty. We bought special fruity snacks and she was right with in a month he was potty trained. He did have a few accidents here and there, but he did great for the most part. Also what I learned is you never ask a little kid if they need to potty (the answer is almost always no). Instead I say "Hey lets to the potty" and then I just remind him of the treat he gets while on the potty or even the stick he gets after he goes. Good luck.

Good Luck on potty training your 2 1/2 year old son. Boys ar alot different then girls to train. I would continue to use "big boy" pants but I would place him on the toliet every hour or so. Yes he will scream because it is something he doesn't want to do This is where you have to be firm. You can also reward him for a good job. I also used Cheerios and told him to aim and move them. It was gross game but thank goodnes it all flushes and you accomplish the potty training and he gets to have a bit of fun. I wish I could remember exactly all the things that I did to strart the potty training. Remember they will still have accidents but they should be less and less as times goess by. Hope this help

My first thought is that he's not really fully ready yet. There are so many stages to being ready, not just the physical ones. There's also cognitive and emotional. Around the same age I did do the naked boy thing, but he just did not get it. He would start going before he realized he needed to go and that ended up upsetting us all. I actually stopped and tried every couple weeks again. A couple weeks before his 3rd birthday, the potty part just fell together. Where we then had problems was with the poop. We are still working on that at 3 1/2! He's getting close, but emotinally it has been a struggle especially with the constipation that started during training. My best suggestion is to be patient and not make it too much work for yourself. It's not at all fun for anyone if it is. Good luck!

Use the plastic covers!!! The child will still feel yucky and wet. It's when you use pull-ups that a child can't really tell the difference. Pull-ups are just like diapers.

We had our daughter pretty much 99% potty trained when she was a little over 2 and she went completely backwards and quit on us. We used stickers, treats, taking away toys, reading to her on the potty, everything! After struggling with her for a couple weeks we decided to just back off. Well, she finally decided she was ready for big girl underwear when she was slightly over 3..... It was soooo much easier not fighting her.

Once she decided it was time, I can count on 1 hand how many accidents she had. Back when we were forcing her to potty train she had an accident more frequently.... So, that's what finally worked for us.

J.,

I began potty training my little boy this last summer and I let him run around the house naked and it worked everytime. But then when fall came around and we had to be dressed and out the door by 8am, that all went out the window. But I really think that it was a good learning experience for him, he went everytime on the potty and learned the feelings. Then about a week before Christmas he told me he wanted to wear big boy underwear, so we put it on him and the first few days we had a few accidents, but by the next week, it was like it was old news. Pullups didn't work for us because he treated them just like diapers. We just use them for nap/bed time. I've never used the plastic covers. As far as laundry, maybe you could just buy some cheap underwear and have a lot on hand. We threw ours in a plastic bag until it was time to do laundry. I hope this helps some!! Pretty soon though, you'll be sad because you little boy has become a big boy! Good luck!

You are doing everything right! Hang in there with the "extra" laundry and keep up the great work with rewards. Try to continue establishing a routine of potty time right along with his daily routine. This way he begins to expect when it's potty time along with lunch time, snack time, etc. This helps diffuse the power struggle of sitting on the potty because it becomes just part of their daily routine. Think about how daycares do it. There is a daily schedule and those bathroom breaks are penciled right in as well. Now of course some children may need to go sooner or later, but it's a good way to help get their bodies on a routine. Forget about the plactic pants....they only lesson the work for us. Stick with the underwear during the day and use pull-ups at night. If he is telling you at times he needs to go...then he is ready. Just be patient. Practice makes perfect.

it doesn't sound like he is totally ready. i'm going through this with my 3yo who is almost done training! the pull ups didn;t work for us, we jsut went back to diapers that were loose enough for him to pull down and when he asked he'd wear regular underpants. not to say we didn't go back to diapers on occasion - like when i got sick of the wets, two or so a day seemed to be my limit and he didn't seem to care. i'd only put him on the potty every 2 hrs or so. we only use stickers for pooping on the potty and praise praise praise for the pee. it will come in time. good luck and just get used to the amount of laundry. a friend of mine did the no bottoms route with her son but it was summer time and he was almost 4yo. this was going to be my last resort. haha

We are in the same boat... my daughter is also 2 1/2 year old. She shows intrest and will sit on the potty but does not go in it yet. Done the rnu around naked, training pants, underware w/plastic and so on.

After some resreach I have come to the conclusion that my daughter does not know when she needs to go. We have tired the ever 30 mins sit on the potty for almost a month and we are getting no where. So I am taking a break, even thought we are talking about it and she shows signs of intrest she is not ready, she physically can not tell/feel when she needs to pee/poop until she is doing actaully doing it. We also were reaching a frustration point and instead of keep forcing it we are taking a break. If she wants to try sitting on the potty I let her but I am going to wait another month or two before starting up a routine again because I feel she is not 100% ready.

My daughter did not like the plastic over the underwear, she would take off her pants and the plastic and put the pants back on. It might work for some but it irriated my daughter.

We did try the run around the house naked but after a few days of cleaning up mess after mess I stopped doing it... but I have heard it worked for some. Someone said I should make my daughter clean up her mess but that seemed more like a punishment, like oh you made a mess on the floor clean it up. The response I got about that was it is just like having your child clean up their toys but having a child clean up their toys to me is different then them cleaning up their poop and pee.

Over all you have to do what you think will work best for your son. It kind of sounds like you guys need a break if he is starting to 'fight' it or cry it seems that it is frustrating him and that is not going to help.

Since we have not yet been able to potty train take all of this with a grain of salt, hope others have helpful tips or ideas for you.

I did let my son run around naked from the waist down for a day. He did have two accidents, but it wasn't too bad. The next day, I put him in underwear and he did really well. Minus a few accidents here and there, he has pretty much been potty trained since then. He was about 27 months at that time. I don't know if it was the fact of really feeling the wetness that helped or what, but it worked for us and I am going to try it again for my younger son when he is ready.

My boys agree to go potty just as often with plastic pants as without, and it really cuts down on the mess.

I haven't read the other responses, but because you asked about the 'running around naked' method of potty training, I will tell you that it worked for my son. We did it because we know lots of people who it's also worked for. We didn't go anywhere for 3 days (the weekend after Thanksgiving). He was naked from the waist down except for naps & sleeping overnight, when we put on PJs and a pull-up. I was told by a friend (who was told by a friend, etc.) that you'll know after the first day if he's ready. It was the same thing for us. I don't think we made it to the potty once the first day without first having an accident. He pleaded to wear a diaper again. But, the next day, the first thing he did when he woke up is ask to go potty! We definitely still had accidents, but he really got it by then. We also loaded him up on juice (which he rarely gets to drink otherwise), which helped because it sped up the learning curve. We also just reminded him to tell us when he had to go, but we let him control telling us--we rarely made him go. (Other than before going to bed or later on, when leaving the house.) There was definitely a little transition to going to underwear. He was 100% trained naked, but then we had a few accidents after underwear. But, the foundation was there, so it wasn't too much trouble. I can't say how positive the whole experience was for us. He loved the attention we gave him and we were so excited that there weren't any big battles. Oh, and if he's tall enough (my son was a tall almost-3-yr-old when we trained him), I endorse standing up to pee. Put a Cheerio or something in the toilet for him to aim at. He'll love it.

Good luck and stick with it!
E.

I can tell you that I did not have any of my finer motherhood moments during the potty training years (man, am I glad it's over) so I can really empathize with your frustration. What kind of underwear are you using? I used the thicker "training pants" and I did use the rubber pants over top - I refused to do all that laundry, plus you end up having to spend more money just to have enough underwear around. My suggestion is to stop asking him if he has to go ... you need to just tell him it's time to go potty. I think every half hour is a little much - when he gets up in the morning; about an hour or two after that; before lunch - then he gets in the habit of washing his hands before he eats; before & after nap (if he still does); etc. Just think about the times that you usually have to go and in a couple of weeks you'll identify a pattern. Good luck!

My daughter is 2 1/2 as well, and we were in the same boat up until recently. She showed interest, wanted to sit on the potty sometimes and not others, so on and so forth. However, it just didn't seem to be clicking. I was getting very frustrated. My mom kept telling me "it'll happen when she's ready". I should've just listened to her wise advice earlier. I decided to just let her go when she wanted and not force the issue. About a month ago she all of a sudden just got it on her own. Started telling me before she had to go, graduated to underwear all day long and about a week later was sleeping through the night in underwear as well. (Which was a major accomplishment because up until this point she was flooding her diapers at night - had to have the extra absorbent night time diapers). She's now completely trained - w/ no pushing on my part. They say boys typically take a little longer than girls....so if I were you....I would give it some time. Good luck. (And you're right...pull ups don't work, but the plastic pants are different - he'll still feel the wetness, if he'll keep them on - my daughter didn't like the plastic feel). Happy training! :-)

I could not deal with cleaning up the constant messes with letting him loose in the house underwear (without pants so a little less laundry). It seemed like we'd be doing really well and as soon as I had to answer the phone or leave the room I'd come back to a mess. My son refused the vinyl covers after one or two tries (I can't imagine they're comfortable) and I thought it was a mess to get them off. Anyway, we finally struck on 2 pairs of gerber training pants, which seemed to absorb most of the urine, so only a few dribbles here and there. The other tip I have is to set a timer for 30-45 minutes or whatever so he knows when the timer beeps it's potty time. Less arguing than asking if he has to go.

The plastic pants over regular underwear are NOT going to feel like a disposable diaper. The wet underwear is still what is going to be against his skin. All the plastic pants are going to be doing is preventing the wet underwear from leaking onto his pants.

Also, they do make "training underwear"--have you tried them? They look just like briefs, but the crotch is super thick. If accidents are a daily occurence, I would use training underwear with either plastic pants or a cloth diaper cover over the underwear.

I would also recommend checking out the Diaper Free Baby website. You can learn how to get in tune with when your son needs to go. We have been applying many of the EC (Elimination Communication) principles with our 13 month old, and so far, it's been going great. Good luck!