Potty Trianing

One of my friends was having a difficult time potty training her 3 yr old boy- mainly because he was just being stuborn! Her Ped told her to let him run around naked all day! When he would have to go to the bathroom, he would come ask his mom for underware or a diaper- and she would just tell him no- he needed to use the big boy potty... and wha-la... he was potty trained a few days later!!! Apparently he was still too comfortable with going in his pants, but when the pants were gone he knew not to go on the floor and eventually just went in the toilet...

I don't know if that's going to be helpful, but I know boys are generally a bit more difficult with potty training- and something has to "motivate" them to do it!!!

Good luck!

Hi, D. ~

I have been through this frustrating battle twice - yes, they were both boys. My firstborn was impossible. He was well past his fourth birthday when we decided this was just a power struggle and simply refused to let him wear training pants. We had tried stickers, coins, candy, punishment (I do NOT recommend this one), and even Dr. Phil's "fool-proof" method. My mom came over one day, and my son asked her to put a diaper on him. She said any child who could ask to be changed needed to be potty trained, so she picked him up and carried him to the bathroom, making him go in the potty, and that was it. Imagine my frustration at having fought with this situation for months and having my mom potty train him in 15 minutes. It never occured to me to do it that way, and I don't expect it would work for most kids. Every child is different, of course.

My second was definitely easier, since he wanted to be a "big boy" like his older brother. But we still struggled. What ended up helping the most was a sticker chart. My son is really into Toy Story (you don't want to know how much of this video I have memorized) and we bought him a bunch of Buzz Lightyear stickers to put on his chart. And then we'd put a "Zurg" on today's line if he went in his pants. If he ended the week with mostly stickers (like, only 2 or 3 Zurgs) he'd get a Toy Story character. He was so excited to go in the potty to be able to choose a sticker and put it on his chart all by himself! I'd draw a picture of the character he was trying to earn on the chart as a constant reminder.

And when he got his Mr. Potato Head - toy #1 - we considered him "fully potty trained" and got rid of the pull-ups. We had a party with the works - balloons, treats and he got to throw confetti in the air. He's so proud of himself!

Well, we've got two down, and one to go. Fortunately for us, our third is a girl, and we won't have to worry about potty training for at least 6-12 months. I plan to use what has worked before and go from there.

Hang in there, D.. He won't go to kindergarten in diapers! :)

~ R.

Try having him watch his daddy go pee for a couple of weeks. That's what worked with my daughter.

Peter Potty®
i have heard a great deal about the above product,
and even though my son is 17 mos, we are going to
get one - he has been showing interest in using
the potty - and not being comfortable in a dirty
diaper.

stace

Hi denice L my name is T. and i read about your potty trianing problem. Well i 'm a stay home mom and work at home taking care of children in my home. They are between 3 years old and 5 months so i know how hard it could be to trian them but maybe i could help have you tryed making a potty chart with happy face stickers? And every time they go they get one and it really helps.I hope this will help you it did for me good luck. T.

Have you tried offering a treat when he goes? I used to offer lollipops when she went potty and would bribe her. she started to catch on quickly. As she got more used to going, we cut back the lollipops and now she doesn't get them.
The other thing that helped was just putting her in panties and letting herself go on herself, when she first started doing that she didn't care that much, then she started to actually feel bad when she did. She started realizing when she should go.
Another tactic is equating diapers to bad and underwear to good. my daughter started getting rashes and the diapers hurt when she had them on so i told her the diapers hurt and she needed to be a big girl and go on the potty. this last one is what made her finally turn the corner.
I tried everything too! just be consistent and encourage, don't punish. :o)