Son Almost 3 - Tried Toilet Training - but Still Not Working!

My son was not ready until he was 39 months old. He would use the potty before bed and bath for about six months prior but just was not interested otherwise. When he was ready he told me he didn't want to wear diapers any more and we had maybe 4 accidents after that. I believe it was a breeze for both of us because he knew what the potty was and I didn't push until he was ready. Now my daughter has been a different story :) Personality has something to do with it too.

I have 2 teenagers now and I can tell you with certainty that he will eventually be trained. Don't stress yourself out over it. Don't listen to all the other parents tell you what stars their kids are and how they're training for the olympic toilet training team. There's SOOOOOO much pressure out there. He will train when he's ready. My son could barely put together a sentence so I thought it would be forever before he trained. All my friends around me were bragging about how little "susie" and "johnny" were learning to tinkle on their porto-potty and my poor little shlub had no interest. Well, one day he just said I want big boy underwear, I told him he had to go on the potty and that was it. Yes, there were accidents here and there but we were on our way. My point is, you will know when he's ready. Follow his lead and don't push. Also, he never used the training seat. I think kids want to go where their parents go. You can always try the little m&m treat after he goes trick. And there's always the aim at the cheerio in the toilet trick. But I promise you, when he's ready, truly ready, it will happen quickly.
Good luck!

My son was the same way when he was that age. It almost drove me insane! He fought me tooth and nail everytime until one day I just decided to stop trying to "force" him to use the potty. When I did that...he started to go all by himself! He was two weeks away from his fourth birthday when that happened. I guess it wasn't any fun for him anymore since I wouldn't fight him on it. :-) Good luck! I definitely understand your pain.

Don't be hard on yourself. Potty training isn't easy mentally for either of you, and lots of kids aren't potty trained at his age. This is what worked for my son. I bought a dozen cheap knit pants and a few dozen pairs of underwear and we went cold turkey. Forget him running around naked because he won't feel the uncomfortableness of being wet and he'll just revel in running around naked. It took about a day for him to realize he needed to pee on the toilet if he didn't want to be wet. Do you have a reward system like stickers? My son really liked putting stickers on a chart. BMs will take a little longer, and that's totally normal. Just be mentally prepared for a mess and a lot of extra effort for both of you. You can show disappointment if he goes in his pants, but don't be overly upset--it takes time. And you might want to point which friends use the potty and how grown up it is. Hope this helps.

You may not be using them, you didn't mention it, so forgive me if you aren't, however, do not use Pullups at all... Day time, night time. The child never feels uncomfortable, they don't know what you are talking about when you say don't wet your pants. They have never felt wet their entire life with these disposable diapers, so they have no point of reference.

I have heard from several friends with boys that boys are always harder to train. I have also heard lots of stories from people who try to push their kids. I myself never pushed either of my girls. And it was the best thing I ever did. My youngest who is 5, was potty trained about 3.5 months after she turned 3. I did not push her at all. One day, she told us she wanted to wear underwear, put them on and never wore diapers again! She did have a few accidents...it happens. My oldest who is now 13, was a little different, She was potty trained a little older but I did it the same way. He will do it when he is ready. Good luck!

My son was about 3 months shy of his 4th birthday when we did the bootcamp. We did the no more diapers, here's your new underwear bootcamp. The one suggestions I have about poops is just to try and have a very high fiber diet. Some kids try to hold it in, causing problems with constipation. High fiber and juices might help him to be able to go more easily. Hopefully that will help him be more comfortable.

My son did not potty train till he was 3.5. I now realize he just was not ready till then. Before that from 2 till 3.5 he kept making starts at potty training and then reverting. At 3.5 he just simply decided on his own an did it on his own.