My son will be 3 at the end of the month. For the longest time I've been talking to him about the potty and stuff. I just had a baby 7 weeks ago so I wanted to wait until I felt he was ready and he seemed ok with the adjustment of a new sibling. I've been stressing the 'big boy' thing to him (with giving up his binky and sitting in a booster seat instead of his highchair). So far he is doing good with the 'big boy' transition and I'm trying to take everything slow and easy. A few days ago before bed, he said he wanted to sit on the potty... well I was just thrilled. Didn't want to sit on the little potty, he wanted the big potty, so I got his seat and put him on it. I put two books about the potty by the toilet (that I will keep there for him) and we sat and read the books. Well, he sat for about 15 minutes and nothing happened. I had to keep telling him to stop playing with his wee-wee and keep it pointed in the toilet. When he said he was 'done' (when he really wasn't since he didn't pee), I let him flush the toilet and wash his hands (because his potty books talk about doing that). And when we got in his room I asked him if he wanted to try on underwear and he said yes, so we tried it on and I asked how it felt and he said 'nice'. I told him that this is what big boys wear. We then took them off and I put him in his nighttime diaper and jammies for bed. This is the first time for all this.The following 2 nights before bed, he asked to sit on the potty and the same thing happened, we read books, sat for a while, nothing happened even tho he said he was done... flush, etc. I was reading some older posts about potty training to get more ideas, plus I was considering doing pull ups first but it seems that most parents don't like them and they are a waste. I'm a SAHM so luckily I have time to stay home and focus on this. The trick will be getting him to recognize the feeling before he has to go. I would like to do the bare bottom technique but it's too cold for that now... maybe just underwear and no pants. If he sees he has no pants, maybe that will remind him that he can't just 'go' wherever he's at and he needs to tell mommy he has to pee/poo. He might 'forget' if he has pants on... I also thought about not letting him flush unless he actually 'goes' but continue with the praise. And I want to get some candy corn or something that he likes (but doesn't normally have) that I can offer him as an incentive/reward for going on the potty. Incentives and stuff work very well with him. Am I on the right track here? This whole process has me nervous. Not that any mom looks forward to it.
I second everything that Breanna M. said! Praise is the biggest reward. You're doing a good job! Keep it up!
You are absolutely on the right track!!!!!
I would encourage you NOT to give him rewards. He isn't a dog doing a trick!!!! He is a human and HE needs to master this developmental milestone.
Did you give him a reward when he walked? When he said his first word? Will you give him a reward when he writes? NO! Then don't give him a reward (or punishment) with potty training.
This is simply a developmental skill that he has to learn.
You do EXACTLY what you are doing. Encourage, help, participate.
If he makes a mistake - he helps you clean up "oops, let's clean up and try again next time" no emotion, no disappointment. When he does it "yay! good job." and then go on about your day.
I agree with the no pull-ups. They are very detrimental. Letting him run around in just underwear is fine.
The other thing you can do to 'speed' the process is to give him LOTS to drink and then wait about 10 minutes and then have him sit on the potty. That way you know his bladder will "cooperate"!
Good Luck!
As opposed to what someone else said...there's no shame in giving rewards for good work. Don't adults want a raise if they do a good job at work? Same thing...you're motivating good behavior with whatever works...stickers...or whatever treats get your son excited.
It sounds like you're on the right track. Some kids are easier than others. I know....I had 1 who was really easy...one who wasn't.
When you decide you're really serious...and he's ready...pick a few days when you don't have to go out and set a timer for every 1/2 hour or so and have him sit on the toilet when the timer goes off. The toughest thing for boys is they get involved in their play and just forget.
Good luck!
I'm also facing this with my daughter and curious to read the responses.
One thing I'm considering is doing the Gerber Plastic Training Pants, that you put on over the underwear, so you're not cleaning up messes everywhere for the first few days. I found them on Amazon (maybe Target or Babies R Us has them, haven't checked).
Good luck!
Hi, T.:
Talking about things like potty trainning is a waste of your time.
When you go to the bathroom, put your child on the potty chair.
When you finish, show him what you did and he will learn.
I would wait until it gets warmer before the underwear thing.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
D.
I did the bare bottom method with our daughter in the fall. I know it's colder now, so I'd just make sure he has socks on his feet and turn the temp up a degree or three. While I understand the previous comment about the child not doing tricks, the reward system worked well for us. One for pee, two for poop, lots of praise for a good try and lots of encouragement to have a good try if there wasn't one. Stickers on a chart for waking up dry. No toilet paper or flushing if nothing happened.
Fifteen minutes is a long time on the potty. I mostly let Madelyn dictate how long she'd stay. Sometimes it was a matter of seconds. I started out setting a timer for very short periods. Bell went off and we went to the potty. Eventually her (very obvious) cues were all I needed to know when it was time, but she liked the bell for a while after that.
And yeah, it's completely normal to feel nervous for the first week or two. And when you start going places or going to bed without diapers, too. But you'll both get through it!
S. :+)
you're doing a great job. i did panties at home and pull ups during the night and when we were out till i got the cues down for the first couple months with my daughter. when i thought she was ready she did panties at night too. there were plenty of accidents so buy a good mattress cover not some junky one from walmart(not worth the money). whenever we went out we tried pee-pee before we left and found the bathroom when we got there and before we left the store. it just always set a time for us to make sure she got to try to do her business and i think we only had 2 accidents at the stores :/ oops. i always praised her for trying. if she didn't pee she didn't get to flush. we always set the timer at home for 15-20minutes to get her to try and lots of fluid :) all kids get it eventually its just another step in growing together. don't stress about it and he'll do just fine. in the mean time always have papertowels and a couple changes of clothes on hand. for a reward i would pick a sticker chart to work towards something rather than a food item like going to the park or pick a movie bath crayons something fun. good luck!
Put him in regular undies and no pants. Feed him lots of fluids. The hated feeling of pee in the underwear is what will encourage him to use the potty. At first he'll just cry and make some messes, this is where being a sahm mom is handy. Just be somewhat firm-as in stick to the underwear and be patient and make him do it. Take him to the potty every half hour. Eventually he will go and then the rewards will come into play. Poop usually takes longer to start doing in the potty. Again, for child #2, we ditched all the super sensitive patient stuff and just approached it like, "You can do this" and after some crying and trauma, he was a pro inside of 2 weeks. It's really hard, but sooo rewarding when they "get it". Keep your eyes on the prize and stay the course! Don't relapse into pull ups. It prolongs things BIG TIME. We kept ours in diapers at night and for errands for a while.
Wait until it gets a little warmer and do the bare bottom technique. Try to get him to urinate when he wakes up. stick him on the potty. after he gets out the bathtub because he will probably drink water while he is in there. I would also say to him do you want to go and buy a potty to go in? Walmart has a bunch of them and thery are very reasonable. They usually have stickers in them as a reward. You are on the right track. Good luck
