Potty Training for Three Year Old Boy - Twin Falls,ID

First off, you sound like a terrific mom, and like you are doing all the right things. You are not alone in this.... we all know how you feel.

My boy just finished training, at 3 years, 2 months. I tried the charts, the stickers, the rewards, etc. Nothing helped. I finally decided to back off and just let him do it when he was ready, because he had shown interest, and could do it all from a physical standpoint. Then I started to do things differently. The first thing I started doing was to move all his diaper changing stuff into the bathroom. We started talking every day about the fact that the bathroom is where poop and pee belong, and he started flushing the solids in the toilet. We did the entire diaper change standing up, right next to the potty. It just seemed to me that if he was doing all his diaper-related stuff in the bathroom he might get the idea. I think it helped, because he started doing well at day care (school) but not at home. School was let out in late May and in order for him to move up into the "big boy class" he HAD to be using the potty all the time (well, except for accidents). So, on Wednesday before he was to move up the following Monday, I sat down with him told him the facts. Use the potty or stay behind with the babies. It worked. He flat out started using the potty full time that day.
Anyway, I think that if the push about school had not come up, he might still be using diapers. I don't advocate pushing a child to do anything, and if my boy hadn't gotten on the potty train that day, I certainly wouldn't have pushed him.

my oldest did that for a while. they can't tell its coming till its too late. they have a hard time figuring out the sensation. it will pass please be patient some kids train slower than others. he is not doing it out of spite and I say that cause of the "ohoh" he can't tell quick enough to get to the potty. give his body time to develop.

Potty training can be SO frustrating!!!! Your son is totally normal, believe me. Here is what I did with all three of mine.

First son, I got a book called "Potty Training in a Day." this book worked! In a half day he was done - NO ACCIDENTS. I am not kidding.

Second son, I used techniques from "Potty Training in a Day" but had to adjust it a bit for his personality. I added a toy bowl (it was HUGE). I filled the bowl to the brim with all of his favorite toys and candy. I let him dig through and look at all the wonderful things (he loved trucks especially), then I took it away and told him that each time he went on the potty he could have one item of his choice. Well my second is quite dramatic so we had a full day of screaming every time he remembered the wonderful bowl (I made sure it was within eyesight), but he used the potty all day that day. By day two he never had an accident again.

My third, has followed the book almost to the letter like my first with total success. For the record, she was the hardest (the first two are boys, weird huh?). I think it was because you really need uninterrupted time to pull it off and we have a very busy house but she succeeded within a day just like the other two.

In short here are the the similarities between them all:
- Dedicate one, uninterrupted day for this - no other people around.
- Get lots of junk drinks that you would never let your kids drink all day.
- Choose some alterations to the book that you think would work for your child. They are all different.
- Make it fun and his job, not your job to make him do it, none of my kids ever needed to be told or reminded to go to the bathroom - EVER!
- The peeing doll from the book is very important even for boys.
- Make the ability to go by themselves easy, have a little potty chair available and easy access. It is harder to get them to feel successful with themselves if they can do it themselves.
- Be sure not to make it a deal where you are reminding them all day, it is their job!
- STAY CONSISTENT!!! Whatever you choose, do not vary.

Just remember, we don't know any adults that pee themselves so he will succeed. And as with all kids, they respond to how you respond and sometimes they are just working you. Just get it in his camp where he wants to take it and do it.

Good luck, hope this helps!

You are working very hard at something very natural. Take away the diapers. Give him some easy to change clothes. The fastest way to learn to avoid accidents is to clean them up for yourself. The same with Potty training. Cover the furniture and let him figure it out.

He just may not be completely ready yet. My son LOVES to sit on his potty while I'm on mine. He's SO not ready yet. He doesn't even tell us when he's pooped yet. (He's not 2 yet) I know my son is a little too young to push any training on him yet. I'm simply letting him get used to sitting there for a few minutes with me.

I don't condone lying to them. My daughter wasn't trained in time for 3yo pre school. I didn't force it. I let her take the lead. And we had rewards. I figured that eventually, they will feel embarrassed by wearing diapers if they're not wanting to do anything about it at 3 or 4. I was 4 when my mom finally convinced me to use the potty. I was STUBBORN!!! I knew darned well how to do it and when I needed to. I didn't want to stop what I was doing to do it.

Hi--
My oldest had underwear days and diaper days starting at around your son's age. I let him decide and did not pressure him at all. Just after he turned 3 1/2, and the week after his little brother was born, he decided he suddenly was a big boy. He was completely potty trained within a week. No rewards. No running to the bathroom every half hour. He just did it when he was ready. Incidentally, my son's personality is very like yours. Long attention span for books, a little reserved around new people, loves dinosaurs, etc. My philosophy is why stress them out when they are little? They will do it when they are ready, not one second before, and allowing that is easier for everyone. He won't go to kindergarten in diapers. Sometimes boys just take longer to be emotionally ready and body aware enough to be fully potty trained. You're doing all the right things--it's not you. He just isn't ready for whatever reason. You said yourself that you think you will back off again--trust that instinct. Your his Mommy, you know him best. Trust yourself and it will all work out.
J.

At about that point with my son (age/situation) I did something that might not have been a good idea, but it worked. I told him one night that in the morning his diapers just would not fit him anymore. He was getting too big for them and the only thing that would fit him was his underwear and some pull-ups for at night. That might have been a bad idea if he were more sensitive, but thankfully that night he refused to go to bed in a diaper and told my husband they were too small and were for babies. (I was not trying to put diapers down, but his little brother wears them and is clearly a baby.)

You are doing a great job with your son so far, so don't worry. It is very normal for a child to be in diapers at this age and even a little longer. 4 or so is often considered the outside point in child care, but you have all summer and into the fall. I would back off altogether and just keep talking about what you are doing--when you use the bathroom, when you change the baby, etc. It sounds like he totally understands, he just might not be able to organize himself yet.

Just a little something to cheer you up. My oldest was 3 1/2 when he finally trained. We had tried everything from being naked to his favorite character underware and nothing worked then one night while he was in the bath his dad went in and went to the bathroom and as soon as he seen dad he wanted to be like that too. From that point on he was trained!! Only 3 accidents after that one of which he was really sick and one when our furnace went out in the middle of the nite and it was only 40 degrees in our house, can't say thats too bad. He is now 19 and a very well adjusted young man (soldier). I would say don't push it, he will do it when he is ready and maybe to give him a little boost see if he can watch dad sometimes. Good Luck and good for you for staying positive.

honey you sound like an awesome mom. you sound very smart and you sound like you've done all the research. you know what you're doing. unfortunately for us moms, even the best of us...sometimes they just don't follow our carefully laid plans :( he may not be ready this summer. just hang in there. you have a few more weeks. but it's just not one of those things that conform to what is convenient to us. it's really got to be when HE is ready. i hope he is soon :) keep it up and he will get there. just do like you have been - keep trying, when you see he's not ready, back off. eventually he WILL be ready and then it will stick. i wish i had better advice, but you seem to be doing everything right. sometimes they're just not ready when we want them to be!