The Potty Is Ready Is He?

J.,

I have 2 boys, 5 & 9. Both of my boys potty trained 2 weeks before their third birthday. I'd say don't be in a rush, however... all kids are different. I bought the potty when they were 17 months and had them sit on it at bathtime. Just to practice. Then came the targets I made from toilet paper. Just draw their favorite thing on it and throw it in. They will pee on it for fun. Later came the potty party. Which their is a great book out their called the "The Potty Party". Get it! You will make a day of potty training, where you do nothing but celebrate his efforts. Calling grandma's and eating cake, presents... etc. He will then love to show off how he can do his job. Good luck.

T.
Draper

J.,

Like many of the other posters pointed out, the first is to determine if he's ready by checking out the sites the other ladies mentioned. You won't turn him off completely by delaying it: you'll turn him off by pressuring him to use it.

My son was 3.5 before he was potty trained, but he had been showing signs of being ready right around when he turned 3. We had a lot of control issues, but after I laid off, he started peeing in the toilet after 2 months. That would have been sooner if I had figured out earlier that he was afraid of peeing in the potty chair because the guard wasn't high enough and the pee went *Everywhere*.

We ended up using one of those cushioned potty seats with Bob the Builder on the big toilet, and it worked. After about a month and half, he decided to start pooping in the big toilet as well, but we had him "ride the horse". That is, he sits backwards on the toilet without any aids. Now, that's the primary way he uses the toilet; no more potty seat at all. It's a bit of a pain, since he has to undress half of himself, but it gives him the security of knowing he won't fall in the toilet, and he's a little too short right now to manage standing and peeing, esp in a public toilet.

When the kid is almost ready to change their own diaper, they are FOR SURE ready for potty training! My boy loved getting "Spiderman" "big boy pants!"

I asked pretty much asked the same question and I was told that around 2 years old is a good time. To me that makes sense and I am looking forward to trying out some of the ideas that I have read on here.

"They" say most boys aren't ready until they are around three. But if you want to know if he's really ready or just getting there, check out diaper websites like Huggies.com and Pampers.com. Most have a checklist of signs of readiness. I also found BabyCenter.com to have excellent potty training resources. And if he is ready, then books and videos are a great way to show him. My kids both loved "Potty Time with Bear" from Bear in the Big Blue House (also recommended by our pediatrician as one of the best). Also, the Dr. Phil method of "Potty Train your child in one day" is excellent (it was how I trained my son after weeks of aggrevation). (You can find the article on his website under Advice, Parenting, Toddlers and Infants.)

Good luck.

Good luck.

There are videos that my kids loved (Once Upon the Potty). To me I found that it was not worth it to start too soon. Both of my girls were 3. You can try candy rewards or aiming at cheerios in the potty. I think all you can start by doing is letting him know that is an option. They have cute books too that you can read to them.

Hi J.!
My 3 year old, (just turned 3 today), has been working on the potty training for several months now. He was interested, then he wasn't. We talked it up to him a lot, he went in the bathroom with daddy all the time, to watch daddy, and we received an Elmo potty training video for Christmas, and he loved watching that. We kept telling him about big boys, and potty time and such. Finally he just kind of did it. We kept his lil potty out for him all the time, and he really just did it on his own. We only had a few accidents with number 2, and went thru a lot of number 1 accidents, but he eventually learned the "feeling" he had before he had to go. I've been told over a hundred times, they sort of just take to it on their own time, their own way. I don't consider him fully trained yet, as he's a lil scared of the normal toilet, and so when we go out in public, he's in a diaper or pull-ups (and overnight), BUT I constantly ask him when we're out, if he has to go, and we try to go into every public restroom so he can be familiar with them. I'm figuring he'll just take to all that when he's ready too. I'm not presurring him, I don't want to scare him. But he does great when we're at home, he'll even take off his diaper to go, so I'm going to let him do his thing! I would just start talking to your son about it now, introduce a lil potty or one of those seats to put on the normal potty. Show him videos like the ladies have mentioned below me, and I think just talking about it and introducing it will at least get his wonderful, smart mind's gears turning, prcessing the info you are providing to him. Our son is real good at listening to our words, he knows what we're saying to him, is something he needs to hear, so we just talked it up to him. I think boys may be a litle more stubborn, BUT my cousin didn't get her daughter trained until after she was 3.5 years old. I think it depends on how much time you spend on it. Don't pressure him, but definitely start NOW. Also rewards are great...we had suckers, and M&M's, we'd give him one M&M if he went number 1 and two M&M's for number 2, then I went to offer him that, and he said, "No tanks mama, no more no more". So I thought, okay, nice...hmmm...and he just goes now, never asking for anything in return. He knows it's easier to do it in the potty than in his pants. And everytime he goes now he runs out and announces it, he is so thrilled with himself, because we have always been positive about it. When he announces it, I always try to respond to him like I did the first time he went, we want him to know how proud we are of him, what a big boy he is. It's great! They are so smart, never doubt what they are capable of, so I would begin with your lil man NOW!! I think as they are turning two, they are more vocal and are more understanding of you, they listen, and the earlier you can get them trained the easier.....GOOD LUCK, keep us posted!

If he has a favorite character, take him to the store and let him pick out "big boy underwear"....then its a reward to wear those instead of icky diapers. Dont push it too hard though, he could resist and it will make things much harder. Good luck!