Potty Training for My 2 Year Old Son Who Will Be 3 in December 08 - Lancaster,TX

Hi S.,
I'm a mom of 5 so yes I have been through this potty training dilemma a few times. My first son I started to potty train him around 3 right before my 2nd son was born. I put so much effort in that potty training I wore myself out. I didn't know what I was doing as a first timer and I think I put to much strain on myself and my child. He was potty trained at 3 but I thought to my self I will never do that again. I know my kids will not be 18 years old and still wear diapers. They will eventually get it. I will introduce the potty to them around 2 and let them take it from there. When they use the potty I give much praises! When they dont I just act normal. My 2nd son was 4 when he was potty trained, 3rd son was 3 and my daughter was 2. she was my easiest, just one day she wanted to wear her big girl panties to bed and I didn't fight her, ever since then she has been potty trained. I have to start over again in about a year. The joys of being a parent :)

I raised 3 boys and 1 girl and learned that boys don't develop the "nerve" connection from bladder to brain as early as girls. My own boys were all older than 2-and-a-half when it happened for them.

So, understand that a child can't really tell you that it is about to happen if he/she CAN'T FEEL it. When the proper nerve-pathways start developing - - you will know it! They will grab themselves and start dancing!!

We had a similar problem. We resolved it in 2 days by putting him in big boy underware at home. He hated being wet - so, we would just patiently change him when he had an accident and put on some new underpants. After the 2nd accident, he would start to pee and say - mommy, I need to go now. Less than 48 hours later - no more accidents. We still have an accident about once a week at night (he REFUSES to wear pull ups or diapers at night).

Good luck

Try using cheerioes in the potty and have him do target practice. You can even use the "magic water" that turns green when he goes #1..or do a combination of the "magic water" and target practice. You can also find free potty training charts online to help him see what a good job he is doing and possibly earn a prize or special outing when he reaches a goal.

Don't rush him through. He is still young but should start to be interested. My daughter did not get trained until she was almost 4 and it was not that we did not try, she was just not interested. Long story there..

Good luck!
J.

put cheerioes or fruit loops in the potty and have him "aim" for them.

We gave our son 3 m&ms every time he went on the potty. I know that doesn't work for all children, but he was highly motivated. Eventually he forgot about the m&ms and he went potty without even thinking about it.
My son also really liked to go potty out in the backyard - it is a boy thing. It motivated him as well - a special treat...lol....
I hope this goes well for you.

When I potty trained my daughter who will 3 in Sept. I had the opposite problem. It took three days to get her fully pee potty trained then another 2 months to get her poop potty trained. I never used pull ups or a diaper she wore big girl underwear and wet on them for 3 days straight, then finally it clicked and she would tell us when she needed to go. I think they just tired of peeing on themselves and they start going. I know this would be hard since your son goes to school, but maybe you could try it on weekend. Everyone I talked to said don't use pull ups or diapers once you start potty training. I read the 3 day potty guide it really helped you might look into buying it online. We did lots of laudry for those three days, but it was worth it. Since your son already has poop down it should work. Good luck!

Something that worked for us was something they do at his school. The get a potty chart started and add stickers when they go. When they fill their potty chart they get a "prize". It worked really great for our child. We also told him what we wanted a lot but tried not to get "on" to him about it. Just let him know he was a big boy now. Good luck.

I would go ahead and but him in underwear so that he feels when he is wet and he'll catch on. Also you could make it fun for him by adding a cheerio to the toilet for him to aim at ( they dissovle quickly and doesn't cause any harm). Maybe he can see his dad go once so he knows what it's suppose to do? ..alot of men are iffy on that one but it worked for my son. Good luck!!

My son was the same way. What helped him was seeing his dad go #1. My son was confused about trying to pee sitting down. Within a week of watching dad, he understood boys go one way and girls another. This might be something your husband and his older brother can help him with. And I would definitaly
put him in training pants at home (especially if that's what he uses at school) to be consistent. My son got upset if we put him in diapers after he got to wear big boy underpants. Hope this helps and good luck.

He may just not be able to feel #1 before it comes yet, it took my daughter a while. Nw that the weather is hot I'd let him run around naked in the house and especially the yard. You will use a lot of towels the first couple of days cleaning up wet spots, but he'll really get the feeling of what is going on down there. After about a week of naked in the house my daughter (3 y/o) is going to the potty by herself without reminders. I thought the day would never come :-)

We put our son into "big boy" underware at home. We also started a reward system, we bought a big book of stickers and everytime he goes potty on the "big" potty he gets to put a sticker on the mirror. We started with little einstein stickers I got a birthday express but now we are onto the big book from walmart. He loves it so much that he pretends to go so he can have a sticker (which he doesn't get unless I can tell he went or saw/heard him). Our sons trial is the #2.