Potty Training Help! - Racine,WI

the thing that worked for us is just waiting and NOT pushing in any way shape or form. usually our son would come into the bathroom with me (sometimes my husband) and usually then he would sit on his own potty, whether he went or not didnt matter, he was sitting there "acting". its amazing; when a kid "gets it" by himself its more effective than when we "push" them to do it. with my son, who is extremely self motivated, if we MAKE him go, its torture, he flips out, and it just isnt going to work. when he has to go and does it on his own, it works beautifully. hes trained himself.

from what it sounds like, you are where my son was for a while. just do your best to do what you have to do to get him to go. the only way he is going to learn is to just do it his way. if you have to go somewhere, realize that you can try to use underwear, but you are probably more safe using a diaper. and big deal? it wont deter him at home (usually). i would rather do that than have to deal with my kid and him peeing on a store floor... (he did that in the dog food section of L&M once).

anyway just take it easy, do your best, and dont stress. he wont go to school in diapers. lol

When we were potty training my now 4 year old, he would still go #2 in his "big boy" pants aka underwear and I hated cleaning them out. It was gross. I'd just assume throwing them away which was not a logical option. My bf had my son clean his own underwear out when he went #2 in them and that was about the last time he did that! If your son doesn't like to be dirty or wet maybe just use the underwear...that way he won't like the feeling and will hopefully stop doing the deed in his pants....hope that makes sense...

How about not putting a diaper on him? How about some Gerber trainers? They catch a little bit of the pee... No pull-ups or anything like a diaper. Tell him he is a big boy now, since he is going on the potty, and he gets to wear undies. Explain that you don't go in them, and have him pick out some specials one he can wear if he doesn't get the trainers wet. Don't go back and forth. Make the leap, and stick to it.

If I was you, I'd just put him in trainers and deal with the messes.

Also, young kids (under 3) still need reminders. So you can't expect him to tell you ALL the time. They just get too easily distracted. My daughter turned 2 in March. She is completely trained, and has been for months, but I still sometimes have to ask her if she needs to go before we go shopping, etc.

What really worked for us was getting him underwear that really appealed to him, in our case, it was Disney Cars. He really loved those but I told him if he wanted those "big boy" pants, he had to keep them clean and dry! Voila', worked like a charm!

Sounds like you have a system that works as far as it goes, but it's not quite the same thing as his being trained. The ease and familiarity of relying on the diaper will probably stick with him for a few more months, at least.

Once he's not only physically able to recognize urges, but also emotionally motivated to take on the whole commitment to using the potty, then he will probably train himself in a very short time. Kids generally train with enthusiasm, or at least uncomplicated willingness, when they are ready. It's a natural developmental step for them, like walking and talking.