Toilet Training Help - Salt Lake City,UT

My son did the same thing. We would allow him to use the toilet every time he asked to but if it was nap time we wouldn't engage him or allow him to do anything except use the toilet. We also started a sticker chart and when he actually did pee he got 1 sticker and when he actually pooped he got 2 stickers. We never gave him a sticker unless he actually went potty on the toilet. Within a week he understood that just getting up to avoid naps did not get him his reward. He still tries occasionally but that helped cut down on the time manipulations. I hope this helps you as much as it did us. P.S. I just bought a bunch of stickers from the dollar store and I made a really big deal about them to my son!

I think I'm with Crista on this one. Parents setting an age to potty train just adds stress in the house. However, it sounds like you are doing great by letting him lead you. I wouldn't push it. I would suggest you use pull-ups for night time and traveling. I did this with both of our kids and it works great! It takes the frustration out of bed time. You just let your little one (i do think he is a little young for training yet) know that he will have to wear them at bed time until he is bigger and won't have accidents when he is sleeping. You can still take him potty before bed to keep the routine going, but I wouldn't let him play the game of getting out of bed 3 times after. Let him wear his big boy undies during the day. As far as using pull-ups for traveling, still make stops. Ask him if he needs to go potty or if he is wet. I took my kidlets on a road trip from Idaho to Texas this Summer without my husband, and it really isn't a big deal to stop, stretch and use the potty. The kids needed it. I also used to use the pull-ups for just running errands around town when my kids first started to train. I just took them to the potty when we got to where we were going, and all was fine. The pull-ups really do cut down on the stress level of potty training. Relax and have a good trip.

I'm always surprised to read the questions about toilet training where the parent picks an arbitrary moment in time to train the child. I let all my children do it when they were ready, and each did it at a different age. (one, two, and three). Certainly I've known boys who couldn't do it until they were four.

I'd go back to the diapers and relax about it. When it happens, it often happens all at once. My one-yr-old went through the entire process in one week. My three-year-old made the decision (succcessfully) in one day. The two-yr-old did it for a while, then went back to diapers for a while. Remember, in their mind, they often still want to be a "baby". Growing up is scary. They like to have the option of backing up in time. It comforts them. Good luck!

I'm in the middle of potty training, too. People say to never put a diaper on again once you start, but I don't see how. We put on a diaper at nap time and bed time. And when we leave the house. He's just not to the point that he can hold it for very long. He's not ready to go out, even though he does fine at home. and he doesn't have the control to hold it while he's sleeping. And Pull-ups are a joke. They don't feel like real underwear, they feel like a diaper. My son says they're diapers, and doesn't care if he pees on it. So why pay more for them?
So if that's what your son is doing, meaning that he has a diaper on when you put him down for a nap and bedtime, tell him that you're going to put a diaper on him while he's sleeping, and when he wakes up you'll take it off and he can go in the potty seat again. Because right now, I think he's pulling your chain and stalling bedtime. Make it clear that once the diaper goes on, potty training is over for the day (or you're taking a break for nap time) so he doesn't get any more trips to the toilet.
I especially think he's pulling your chain because he gets away with it more times with Dad than he does with you. He's testing you, and it looks like Dad is a little softer.
As for the trip, I totally understand where you're coming from. I was so nervous on our first potty-trained trip! It was Christmas time, too. I considered putting a diaper back on my son, who was nearly three by then. I didn't do it, though. Before hand, we'd practiced holding it. I gradually didn't rush to take him to the potty when he said he had to. I'd finish what I was doing and then take him. He got so he knew how bad it was, and how to hold it. We did stop on the side of the road a few times. We have a little potty seat, but we just let him pee on a bush. That's an advantage of having boys! I also didn't give him much to drink until we got to our destination :)

I wouldn't try to keep up the same routine for potty during your trip. Trips are stressful enough, let alone with a child that seems to have taken control over how many times he goes.

As for the bedtime and naptime routine: He knows he can keep himself up by saying he has to go. I don't feel he's really ready. I'd put it on hold for a month or more then try again. Good luck!!!

He is smart enough to know you want him to use the potty and he can use that to stay up. Have him go before bed, then that is that. He is VERY young to be potty trained completely yet. He has to have all the cues, ablitity to wake up dry, pull pants up and down, know the urge pee and poop. I would say the trip may throw things a little off kilter and that is normal. Try to just make normal potty stops when you can and keep going during your vacation and see how he does. Do not make it a big deal, don't give up on pullups just yet either as he is young and can regress super easy. Just be patient, you can continue it going, just with no pressure. He is smart enough to try and please you with saying it, but to truly know when he has to go, hold it is another thing and takes time. It is about being ready internally and his body being ready too, not just verbally.

My DD is almost 2.5 yrs, we're learning potty too! It's super frustrating sometimes, but I'm getting better working with her to control when/where and she's starting to take to it for real now.
If mine says she needs to potty I pull over immediately, even if it's in the grass beside the road, she has to know that her word counts as far as when she knows she needs to go.
I think once we start the training process we can't stop for convenience of a trip. This isn't about whether I'm comfortable or not, it's about my child and her development.
Good luck! It helps me to remember that it's HER bodily process. How would I feel if someone tried to tell me when I had to potty or when I couldn't?
A.

Kids will let you know when they are ready. My son basically woke up one morning when he was 2 1/2 and decided he was going to start using the potty. He was 100% day trained in a week. It took him a few months to consistently make it through the night, though. Every child matures differently. Also, it takes more than just the child wanting to do it. His body has to be physically ready also. I don't believe for one second that it is any harder to train a kid after they turn 2 and the idea of putting someone on the toilet every 35 min just sounds ridiculous to me, but if it works for some people, more power to them.

I'm potty training my 27 month old and I let him wear his big boy underwear when he's awake and we're by a toilet. Other than that he still wears his diaper to sleep in and if we'll be in the car for a long time. I also carry my portable potty in the trunk and pull it out for him to use when it's convenient. It encourages him to go! Barely 2 is still on the young side too. My older son was potty trained just before he turned 3 and he caught on super quick. Patience and time will work best with your 2 year old. Best wishes.

i thought it would be annoying to stop a lot on a long trip for potty breaks too, but it was no big deal. it turned out to be good for my kids to take so many breaks. kept them happier. and you never know, he may be the kind of kid who is motivated by using different toilets. when my second son began potty training, he really liked trying different toilets, so when we went shopping or to someone else's house, we had no problem convincing him to use the toilet. oh, i do remember one trip we went on that i explained to one of my sons that he would have to wear pull ups during the long car trip but could go back to just using them during sleeping once we got settled at our destination. he agreed to it, so i felt safe about not having a mess in the car, but he surprised me by keeping dry the whole trip. good luck!

I am reading this amazing book, I will have to get back to you with the title and author I don't have it on me. Anyway I have an 18mth old and am in the preperation process for potty training so I am training myself first on how to do it right to be successful. I have a huge fear of potty training because I am afraid it will take so long.
Anyway I am not finished with the book but a few things I can tell you from what I have read is that she says to dedicate an entire weekend to potty training. Set a timer for 20 to 25 min. and once it goes off to take your child to the bathroom. Sounds so time consuming I know but if it works then I know that I am willing to do anything. She also says that if you wait longer then age 2 to potty train the harder it becomes. So I wouldn't wait I think you can master it before Thanksgiving :).
I will get back to you with the title and author.

Hi C.,
If you are serious about training right now and he seems genuinely ready for it, then I would take him every time he says he has to go. However, when you see that it is just a stall tactic then make sure he isn't getting any positive reinforcement from you while he is sitting on the toilet. For example, no talking, no smiling. You may even want to stand outside the bathroom with your back to him. Then when he is in bed give him the smiles and hugs and attention. I would assume the behavior would stop rather quickly.
About the trip, in my opinion your son is already learning to use the toilet. I don't think you can just decide for him that he is going back in diapers for the trip. It is going to be a lot of work but I think in the long run you will really confuse him if you tell him to forget everything he has learned, just for the sake of the trip.
Take care, Enjoy California!!!
B.

Seriously, if you want to toilet train and do it right, follow the program in Toilet Training in a Day (Azrin & Fox). Otherwise you may give up with your 25 month old and be starting over in 6 months or so. I know from experience. Good luck!

You SHOULD let him sit on the potty each time he asks because he is testing the waters to see if you will let him. If you don't let him at least sit on the potty he might stop asking and then he won't do it for a long time. For your trip you could take a potty seat and have lots of walmart bags to put in as liners that you can tie off and throw away at he next rest stop and so if he has to stop a lot (even if there are no towsn or rest stops) you will have his potty. You are very lucky to have him wanting to potty train this early. I have 2 boys that were potty trained at 2 1/2 and 3 boys were potty trained at 3 1/2 and one boy who is now 4 almost 5 who is still refusing to poop in the toilet(we are taking him to a child therapist to try and figure this one out). So if I were you I wouldn't wait because then you might lose your chance and wish for it back a year down the road. Good luck!!