How did you teach your son to pee?

[Oh Haha]

No, I'm not being funny.

My 2.5 year old is going with me running errands and driving in the 911 more lately. The problem I have run into is having to take a leak while out.
What do you do with him when you are whizzing?
I tried using the urinal but I couldn't pee and keep him from running around the restroom. Finally, Mr. Leave-a stinkin' load exits the stall so I took Jake in with me and finshed up. He tried to plunge the toilet midstream.

Soooo.....you guys that have been Dads for awhile help me out, please. What did you do at that age?
Thanks,

[fastpat]

You have to let them watch you until they want to do it the same way.

You do know that this is why men make better pilots than most women, right?

Men have to automatically calculate the trajectory to get it in the bowl. "Contemplating the stream" it's called.

Yes, seriously, that's what it's called.

Yes, it is.

[rcecale]

The key thing to remember is that you can't make them learn it. It really has to be something they want to do. If you try to force the issue, you're really just pi$$ing up a rope. (pun intended. )

The bottom line is this. All they've ever known is dumping or whizzing in their diapers. Mom or Dad will deal with the mess...no big deal. It's gotten them through this far in life...

Once they get motivated about it and really, really want to start, they'll pick it up extremely quickly. Your job is to figure out how to motivate him. I'd highly recommend steering clear of the "ridiculing" method. Chances are, that won't work, and will only drive them further back to the diaper.

Most of all, just know that it will happen. He'll learn it when he's ready.

Randy

[alf]

How to teach: Let them watch you pee.

What to do with the kid while you pee: Put him on the sink counter and play how long can you keep your hands on the mirror. If long enough till daddy is done you get a gumball.

[jyl]

You're actually asking how to handle him so that you can pee, right?

Put him up on the sink, sitting on the edge. Wipe off any splashed water first. At 2-3 y/o, he won't be likely to jump off, not unless he is really daring, and he can also play with the faucet. If he does make a suicide jump and bruise himself, don't make a fuss over it like a woman would. That just makes them into crybabies.

If you're actually trying to teach him to pee, I don't remember how we did the toilet training. I think I was a bad husband and left that one for my wife to handle.

[Noah930]

Let them watch you pee.

I tried that at home last week. My 15 month-old snuck away while I was attending to business, picked up my cellphone, and then proceeded to toss it into the toilet, with me still mid-stream. I hesitated, kinda awkwardly bent down (careful not to miss the bowl or pee all over my pants), and snatched the phone out of the bowl, easily maintaining the integrity of the 5-second rule. I figured I can wash pee off my hand, but it's a much bigger pain in the rear to get a new cellphone and reprogram in all those phone numbers. Popped the battery out, dried the sucker out overnight, and thankfully the phone was saved.

[mikester]

I've been letting my 18 month old watch me when he wants too. He usually makes a dive for the toilet mid stream, gets upset when I stop him and I pee on the rim.

It's a thing we do.

[Don Plumley]

Let him take a wiz outside first. I seem to remember the unbridled joy of peeing on a wall, a fence, you get the idea. Then move to porcelain. And don't forget the lessons about down wind...

[Noah930]

...or electric fences

[Don Plumley]

Originally posted by Noah930
...or electric fences

Myth: Peeing on the 3rd rail busted by Mythbusters!

[alf]

Originally posted by Don Plumley
Let him take a wiz outside first. I seem to remember the unbridled joy of peeing on a wall, a fence, you get the idea. Then move to porcelain. And don't forget the lessons about down wind...

Oh yeah, i should have done that with the boys for potty training.

We all (me and my 2 boys) enjoy watering the plants while camping, but that is post potty training

[M.D. Holloway]

Wayne - you have to put a healthy fear into him so he stay put, motionless while you drain your vain or you could have him pony up to the next urnal and have a race with you. My Son always wins then does the happy pee pee dance cuz he beat Daddy. No great feat, see how long it takes him to wizz when he is 42 with an enlarged prostrate!

[pwd72s]

Float a few cheerios in the bowl..."sink 'em!"

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally posted by Don Plumley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Noah930
...or electric fences
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Myth: Peeing on the 3rd rail busted by Mythbusters!

Ahem. Mythbusters were wrong. My father bet me $10 per second I would not piss on our elecrtic fence when I was a kid. I've got to say, never, never, ever, never, never again will I do that. That single experience is the reason why, more than 20 years later, I have a healthy fear of electricity.

[Oh Haha]

jyl is right on. I don't know what to do with him whilst I pee. At home he does watch and I hope, is learning.
Thanks for the advice guys. He is getting better at letting us know when he has to go so we are very close on the realtime potty training.
(I wish my Dad was still with us to ask these type of questions.)

[wcc]

I usually take him in a stall with me. If that isn't possible I use the urnial first and tell him to watch then see if you can do what daddy just did. I feel better and now it's his turn.

I like the the two urnial race idea, might give it a try.

I also like putting him on the counter when I go. I've done this and it works. Except now he hops off the counter and bugs me to put him back up there so he can do it again.

As for teaching him to go candy or toys are a huge bribery tool. Since our son has allergies we bought a large pakage of wanna be matchbox cars and when he would use the toilet he'd get a new toy. Now we give him chocolate.

When he was one minute using the toilet and the next going in his diaper. When he started telling me that he was wet or something I asked him how it felt. He didn't even like to walk with a wet diaper. I would tell him that he should've gone in the bathroom like a big boy cause I can't change you for a while. I'd let him sit in it for a little bit then change him. He hated that wet diaper feeling. It wasn't long after that he started going to the bathroom on his own.

Good Luck Wayne! Just think, you'll know all the tricks for when your daughter gets that age. Or better yet, just let your wife take care of teaching your daughter.

[Nathans_Dad]

My son is peeing in the potty like a champ now, we did the timer method. Just set a timer for 20 minutes or so and when it goes off it's time to try and pee in the potty. That way he gets significant exposure to the potty and it isn't anyone's fault when he has to go try. My son would throw a fit if my wife or I tried to tell him it was time to go potty, but when the timer went off he would just run in there. Wierd.

Anyhow, we taught him sitting down first, simply because when they are sitting you can read stories or sing songs or whatever to pass the time. They get antsy when they are standing up for that long. Standing up came about 2 weeks after he could reliably pee sitting down.

Now pooping in the potty, that's another story...still working on that one...

[Tishabet]

My dad taught me how to pee by encouraging "sword fights."
No joke here, we would stand one each side of the bowl, he woudl start peeing, and I had to pee in the bowl as well and see how many times we could make our "swords" cross.
Worked like a charm for me.