Potty Training Trouble - Plano,TX

NO more diapers ( or pull ups)and make him clean up the mess.
Do not be mean and stay very positive about the whole thing. Think about it why should he take time out of his fun day to go and sit on the potty or stop watching tv just because he has to go.He has a diaper on so it is not that uncomfortable to just go and have the diaper changed by you when it gets uncomfortable. Believe me you will have a few messes which you will have him stop what he is doing to clean up his mess. ( I always re cleaned the mess) take the underwear to the laundry room ect. But he will be trained in no time. Think about the fact that when the only thing that was used in the past was cloth diapers kids were trained much earlier.

I know this time can be very frustrating! My daughter, now 3 1/2, seemed to change her mind everyday about the potty. I tried sticker charts, treats... the whole 9 yards. The only thing that worked was time and patience. When she would use the potty, we went crazy with the praise. When she wouldn't, we'd clean her up and ignore it. She FINALLY got the hang of it at about 3 yrs. and 3 months. Just hang in there. And if you haven't already, take away the diapers, make a big deal about big boy underwear and only use pull-ups at night. Its messy but he will eventually become disgusted with being wet or messy.

Unless there is a reason why he has to be trained now, I'd back off and wait until he is ready. Much easier if they are ready. My second child is also a couple of weeks away from turning 3 and she is not even starting to be ready. I figure we'll get there before next fall when she has to be potty trained to go to preschool. My first child was ready 3 months before turning 3 and did it in a week with only 2 accidents. Who knows! :)

Mandy, my best advice would eb to buy the book "potty training in less than a day" and follow it to the letter. As a nanny for the better part of 17 years I have potty trained many boys. In a nutshell here is what I would do.
Plan to stay home all weekend with no distractions.
Take the diapers off and absolutely do not put them back on (ever) unless it is nap or bed time.
Have him learn by teaching a doll the proper way to potty and rewarding the doll.
Have him practice the steps of going to teh potty and reward him every step of the way. *make his rewards his favorite drinks to encourage his need to go.
If he has an accident have him practice going to the potty 9 times (this encourages muscle memory and habit by repitition), clean up the mess on the floor, remove and place soiled pants in the hamper and put on dry pants. He will quickly discover that it is a lot quicker to just go in the potty to begin with.
Then express your displeasure with wet pants but every 5 min (make the time longer and longer as he learns) ask him if his pants are dry. If they are reward him for having dry pants. Dry pants should be the main focus.
Keep the day all abotu praise and reward lessening them as he goes until no more reward is needed and he is going from habit. Of course keep up the verbal praise and hugs.
Good luck!

back off for now. there's no rush to have it done yesterday. if he's still doing this in a year, then i'd worry.

M.,

My son, now eight, was exactly the same way. I tried everything to get him to go potty to no avail. I finally stopped trying so hard to see what he would do and lo and behold he was going all on his own every time. When I stopped pushing him that's when he decided to do it. Good luck, I know it's hard.

Back off and try again in a month or two. My youngest is turning 3 in a couple of weeks and she justs wants nothing to do with it. She could care less if she's sitting in a wet or dirty diaper. She understands the concept, she goes all night staying completely dry (and can even stretch that for an hour or more into the morning!). But she doesn't want to go on the potty. I have two older children who managed to get trained right around the time they turned 3, but my youngest isn't going for it! What worked with the other two was a reward chart. A sticker was earned each time they went on the potty, then after so many stickers they earned a small prize (dollar store stuff) and once they got it down completely they got a big prize (tricycle or something like it). But the stickers, prizes, etc. all have to be something they were into.

A friend of mine gave me 2 points of advice which actually worked for our son. The first was to have Dad show him how it should be done. Kids are primarily visual learners up to a certain age so seeing how the 'equipment' is supposed to work might help. The second tip was to toss 3 or 4 Cheerios into the bowl. It made going to the potty fun and helped with aim (target practice).

My son was trained by 3 1/2 yrs, and some boys take longer than that. If you are frustrated, It's because you are pushing him too early and he's just not ready.

no need to rush, I have three boys and here are my three things that worked each one was very different and what worked for one didn't work for the other two...

my first refused to sit on the potty, he would cry kicking and screaming, so I gave up and bought a "potty bell" (aka kitchen timer) and gave it to him as a "special" gift and told him that every time the bell went off he had to go to the potty, I let him set it and the first time. The first time it went off he ran to the potty on his on, no problem! now why he couldn't go to the potty for me, I have no idea, but he could go for a bell, I was just glad it worked!

2nd wouldn't have anything to do with going for the potty bell, (my Mom trained him while was in the hospital for a month with my 3rd) but we let him run around naked, or pants less, and if he had an accident he had to help clean up, the bell just didn't work at all, but when he finally got the hang of it we couldn't get him back into clothes... he said he could feel his pee pee wiggle to tell him he needed to go potty, so we had to put boxer shorts on him to get him wearing clothes again, so he could easily feel his pee pee wiggle :) I've had friends use this same method with their boys and non had an issue with transitioning back into clothes, so you wont have to worry about that, just thought I'd share because it is a funny story.

3rd he fully potty trained pretty easily the first time, in about a week, by using a timer but he quickly went back to going in his pull up, then it took me 6 months to get him potty trained again, I finally just told him that we were all out of pull ups and he had to wear the big boy underwear from now on, then I used a timer, and we would set it for 30 minutes but the biggest difference seemed to be that because we "practiced" running to the potty and taking down our pants, 5 -6 times n a row then we would clap and cheer and about throw a party he thought that was great, I think it gave him confidence that he could "do it" then we used the timer and no pull ups, he hated being wet so he was motivated (my 2nd could care less if he was wet, he didn't even notice) but the "practice" made a big difference. he also had a special "treat" of candy in a "special" box that set on top of the potty so he could get it himself if he went on his own.

it is different for each kid, my 3 boys all trained in their late 3's, the first was the easiest, he night trained on his own before he day trained, my middle was the hardest because he couldn't go more that 15-20 minute between bathroom breaks (still goes often and he is 8), and the last took the longest but when he was ready it happened fast

good luck, there are many ideas that work well just different for each kid hang in there and give them all a try till one seems to work

M.: You might try telling him that if he messes up his clothing he will have to wash them out hisself cause he is old enough then watch him was them out in the potty. It might take a couple of times but he will get the point. But make sure you are in there so he doesnt flush them down.
Good luck

Have you seen Dr. Phil's show about potty training? I bet there is something online.

He showed the cutest little boy who refused to potty train. He had a doll who would go peepee. They had lots of juice and liquids. The little boys job was to potty-train the doll. Of course, the little boy was able to tell the doll what to do. They had a big party to celebrate the doll's success. I think that "Thomas the Tank" may have even called the little boy. Then it was the little boy's turn. Whoo-Hoo. Big party, etc. It kept everything very fun and positive.

I wish I had seen the tape when it was time to potty train my kids. Good Luck!

Jen