Seeking Help in Potty Training Two Year Old

L.,

I have three kids, ages 5, 4, and 1. All but the little one are pottytrained, now, but it was a long road. I tried to pottytrain my first when she turned 2. She was interested, but after a couple of weeks of mostly accidents and barely any actual pottying in the potty I realized that she had no idea what I was talking about. I put her back in diapers and at 33 months she just up and started pottying in the potty that had sat in the living room all that time. She did it herself and that was it.

The second was a bigger challenge since my third was born at just about the time when I would have trained him. I didn't want to mess with the up and down and cleaning up messes at 8 or 9 months pregnant, so I just let it go until after the baby was born. He was completely disinterested in it, and I found it easier just to change diapers than change entire outfits and clean up the floor, furniture, etc., so I didn't mess with it. He was 3 1/2 before he got some ninja turtle underwear for Christmas and decided he really wanted to wear them. After that, hardly any accidents EVER. He's been great!

I have no idea what number three will be like! I guess my basic theory has been to let it go until they were physically old enough to control it well and mentally old enough to understand what in the world I was talking about. Then it's just a matter of them deciding that they want to do it and then they do. I know that doesn't help much with the problem of buying two packs of diapers, but it probably won't be long before he'll decide to stop and the double diaper duty will be short. For a while, I had all three in diapers since my 5 year old wore them at night!

One huge thing that has helped with both kids is to let them pick out underwear that they absolutely love and cannot live without. There's a great motivation in that alone. OF course, I did that with my boy a year before he actually was pottytrained and it didn't work at that point. He just had to get old enough to see his friends doing it and understand that he was ready for it.

Hope that helps. L.

stop buying good diapers. we always used pampers. when my daughter reached 2 1/2 years she still had no interest/ signs in potty training. i switched to cheap diapers. she isnt potty trained yet (we've just been using them about a month) but she does tell me when she needs her diaper changed now and has more of an interest. if you buy the really expensive diapers that keeps the wetness away from them, they dont know/care they are wet.

Good luck with that. Boys in general potty train later than girls. Anywhere between 3 and 3 1/2 years old. I know what you mean about diapers. I had 3 in diapers for about 3 months. I didn't want to potty train as I was getting ready to deliver because they tend to regress when you bring a new baby home. I didn't want to have to start all over. I just trained my 3 year old, and it only took 3 days. We are still working on waking up dry, but other than that, he's done. When they are ready, they are ready, and it will take only a few days. Sometimes it's better to wait so you don't have such a headache fighting with them when they aren't really ready yet. Pull-Ups...don't really like them because they feel too much like a diaper. We just run around the house naked from the waste down, or in regular big kid underpants. If they are ready, you may only have a couple "accidents" to clean off the floor. Put the training potty in the room where the child is, and reward them every time they use it. I used pennies to "feed" his piggy bank. M&M's work great too. If you choose to wait....cheaper, good diapers that I've used for the last 5 years....White Cloud. I buy them by the box at WalMart. Good luck to you, and I hope this helped.

First of all, I feel for you. I had my second child a couple of months before my first one turned three and he refused to potty train. After 2 weeks of changing two kids I had it, and I couldnt even tell you how but he started going, but again he was almost 3. Now, I have twin boys that will be two next month. We have been trying the potty training for a couple of months, with some times going on the potty. They still dont understand to tell me before they go, but the key is to ask the child on a regular basis. My twins liked to play on the potty chair too much but were scared of the big potty so we got the little potty seat that sets on the big potty and now they dont play, but do get up there when I ask them and try to go. Of course applaud for the effort, but reward for actually doing. My pediatrician told me that good luck with training before 3 with a boy.

As for diapers. If you have a Wal-Mart by you, try the Parents Choice diapers. I have been using them since the twins were several months old and they work just like pampers and are about half the price. I pay $13.00 for a box of 80 size 5 diapers that would cost about $26 if I bought Pampers.