Potty Training Is "Hit or Miss"

Hi J.,
I have a great on-line book on potty training. If you want it, just shoot me an email at ____@____.com and I will send it to you.
Good luck!
M.

Sounds like he is not ready. The only way be can tell you he has to go is to be able to feel it and k know what that feeling is. I know changing diapers sucks but I feel if you wait till he can feel like he has to go and can tell you then going potty in the toilet will be an easy transition. It is a developmental things (but alot of people don't tell you that) good luck in what ever you decide.

J.,

This is typical. Not unusual and totally okay. Kids need guidance and example to learn how to do things, and that is no different for potty learning. They are learning to understand and identify the sensation of having to go pee and relate that to using the potty instead of a diaper/pull-up. Huge Change and weird at the same time.

Think about what must be going through his head...I've gone in my pants for all this time and NOW it's not okay? Whoa.

Here's what I did that seemed to work. We made it fun and carefree. Accidents were no big deal and part of the learning process. At first, I set an egg timer for 30 minutes (like they do at my son's school) and every time the timer went off we'd run to the potty...okay, race to the potty. Once we got there we'd sit and 'try'...sometimes if there was nothing we'd sit on the potty and read a book about using the potty. But, this was still during the pull-up phase. Two weeks in we went unders shopping...he picked them out and helped me wash them. Then we talked about the unders and threw away the pull-ups together (bought nighttime ones together too), I gave him ownership of the process and made it about him growing up and onto a new phase of being a big boy. He loved it.

We stuck with potty checks. And in between I'd ask him if he had to go. Four weeks later and a ton of accidents later, we made it through an entire day a Disneyland with him pulling me out of line at Dumbo and Small World to use the potty. Never been more proud.

Okay, now poop. Sometimes he makes it and sometimes he doesn't. Still no big deal with me. His Pedi said, this is about muscle control and learning how to push a muscle that previously you had no control over. I've gotten him the books Everybody Poops, Yes, Potty No, Potty and A Potty for Me and this is helping. But, again it's a process that my son is learning he has control over and it's fun to see him feel proud.

It sounds like you're on the right track, but just need to keep up the progress and then adapt to what he needs to show him he can do it. Stickers, rewards and praise go a LONG way.

Good Luck!!

When you take him to the bathroom, especially so frequently, he feels that it's your job to get him there, not his. It really is counter-productive to teach him to tell you what he needs; he needs to be ab;le to manage those needs himself. The method that was recommended to me, and I've used with all 4 of my kids, is a modified version of the method suggested in the book, "Toilet Training in less than a Day."

Teach him to TAKE HIMSELF to the bathroom. You should on;ly be involved afterward, praising him for going and checking to see if his hands (and bottom) are clean. If he has an accident, he should "practice" in the wet pants, showing you several times in a row what he should have done - put down his toys, run to the bathroom, pull pants down, sit on potty chair, wipe, stand up. Make sure he hurries through the practices, to cement the idea that you should hurry when you have to go potty.

The "practice" not only cements in his mind the order of actions, but is uncomfortable, annoying and time consuming. Children who avoid going to the bathroom because they hate to leave what they're doing learn that it's quicker and easier just to GO, once, than to have to practice, supervised, for a much longer time, then clean up, then FINALLY get back to playing.

Good luck! Hang in there! This doesn't last forever!

Its ONLY been 2 weeks. It takes time.
No worries. It a process... not a slam dunk. And don't be surprised if they have mistakes. Its normal.

Then there is pooping in a toilet, which typically takes longer to "master."

Then there is night-time ability. This is a WHOLE different topic. This takes longer.... a typical child, per our Pediatrician, will NOT be dry ALL night, until about 5-7 years old.

My daughter, by the time she was 100% "perfect" about the potty, took about 1 year. Like the previous respondent said. Some kids are sooner, some later. But then for night-time... my daughter was not perfect about it until about 5 years old. She is almost 7 years old now, and very rarely will still have a little pee accident in bed. Because she sleeps so solidly.

Again, its only 2 weeks. Sure, you hear of toddlers getting it right away... but don't compare to that. Go according to YOUR child. No pressure... or they will get anxious/stressed about it all and regress.

If this is any consolation, "accidents" STILL happens in Preschool, and even Kindergarten kids. THIS per my daughter's Teachers and Pediatrician, is 'normal.' So pee accidents WILL happen.

All the best,
Susan

My daughter did not start telling me she had to go until after her third birthday. Before then, she would go if I told her to (unless she didn't want to, then it was a big fight). I don't think she knew when she had to go before then. When she got peeing down, I started using a hand held shower to spray her when she pooped in her underwear. I only did it twice and she started pooping in the potty regularly. Potty training has been my least favorite part of parenting. You're doing pretty good for two weeks of training. My daughter peed in her potty for the first time in June and was really trained the next June - a whole year. I wish I had realized how long it would take; I wouldn't have gotten so stressed about it.

Hi J.. What worked for my daughter (who will also be 3 in Dec.) was letting her run around with just a shirt on, no panties, no diaper. She was confused by the underwear, thinking it was a diaper. She also got the sensation to go more often, being as it was a bit breezy down there, lol, so we got to practice a lot. The first day it was half and half, the second day there were 2-3 accidents in the morning and none in the evening, and the third day she had 1-2 accidents, so day four I put her brand new exciting Dora panties on and we've been good ever since. She just needed a few days to figure out the toilet before adding the underwear to the mix. Good luck!

i had that problem too..then i took my son w/ me to meet w/ his new school principle..he played in her office while we chatted..then she asked about his potty training and i told her what u just wrote..and we discussed how he doesn't tell me when he has to go..well he was paying attention and after that he always told me when he had to go..now that he is 3.5 he just goes on his own and tells me when we're out and about if he has to go..so maybe discuss it w/ people in front of him..see if he hears u...and changes and talk to him about it.