Potty Training!!!

[Nathans_Dad]

See that's the problem...exactly when is he good and ready?? We have read multiple books and searched the net and he meets all the criteria most people cite as "being ready". That's why we thought we'd give it a go. The only thing against his "being ready" is that he wouldn't do it when it actually came time to.

[livi]

Every child is unique. Give it another try in a few months. Chances are his own motivation will kick in soon.

Dr Phil supposedly have a technique making them dry in one day. Go figure.

[Rot 911]

The only real deadline you have is when he starts kindergarten. Many schools will not let him start if he is not trained by then. Until then relax and maybe when the "pressure" is off your son will become more willing. Right now he almost acts like he is going to get in trouble if he goes in the toilet!

[Nathans_Dad]

Exactly Kurt and that is what is so wierd about it. We have been talking to him about the potty off and on for almost a year, he has several books about potty training and he always talks about how tee-tee and poo-poo go in the potty so I can't figure out why he would be so afraid to just do it. It was really disturbing yesterday to watch him hold it for that long. My wife and I were pretty upset about it.

My wife talked to his daycare teacher today (he goes to school 2-3 times a week right now) and she thinks he is ready. I don't know, I think we are just going to back off for a little while and try to not put any pressure on him. Maybe it will happen. Who knows.

Worst case scenario he is in diapers for another few months. No big deal.

[Drago]

Perfect timing. Our second child is now 3 years old. Just yesterday I caught him "helping" us out by hittin' the head all on his own.

Later, I found out he crapped his pants and then went into the bathroom to deposit said crap...with his hands...into the toilet.

At least he's making progress.

[Nathans_Dad]

Hah, glad to hear I'm not alone.

Perhaps we need to put together a PPOT Potty Training Super Celebration in Vegas once all these little rugrats figure it out. We could have a big toilet shaped cake, lemonade which is just that special color of yellow...brownies...the list goes on and on!!!

[Jims5543]

My older one was potty trained by the time he was 18 months. We did the freeballing method with him and it worled great. He is 12 now.

My 2 year old shows no interest in potty training. We are not pushing it. We can afford diapers just fine so there is no need to stress us or him out. My wife tried freeballing him a week ago and he protested asking for his diaper back on.

She just picked up those diapers that let you feel it when you let go in them. We are going to use them on him when he is around the house.

[Nathans_Dad]

WE HAVE TEE-TEE...REPEAT...WE HAVE TEE-TEE!!!

My wife just called, she took him out to lunch today just the two of them for being such a big boy and trying so hard yesterday. They went to the store and bought a Dora potty book (one of his favorite cartoons). Brought him home and asked if he wanted to sit on the potty before nap. She said he sat there for about 10 minutes and they read the Dora book and he suddenly leaned forward and......VIOLA!! A full bladder emptied into the potty. My wife said she almost burst into tears. She was careful to not overdo it, just calmly told him how proud she was and he seemed very proud of himself. Maybe we have taken the first step. Who knows.

[RickM]

I feel for you, Rick.

I thought I had it tough with my 13 week old Golden Retriever. He's 3/4 of the way there.

[juanbenae]

this place rules. i have tears running down my face i am laughing so hard. good luck nat, i hope he gets it pointed in the right direction soon.

i may try the cheerio thing myself next time i have some drinks.

[legion]

Originally posted by k911sc
i hope he gets it pointed in the right direction soon.

Yeah, otherwise he'll be peeing on the bathroom door...

[Oh Haha]

WOOHOO!!!!!
1 down. How many other's kids to go?

[pbs911]

I heard something about hitting on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper . . . or how about rubbing their nose in it. . .

[unclenick]

My Wife and I have two girls: 3 yr and 2 yr old, and the oldest one is just finally potty trained and the little one is almost done. We learned from the oldest, dont push them. They will learn and go when they are ready. Pushing actually makes them not want to go even more. The little one will be 2 in one month and learned from her older sister fast.

We tried the bribing thing with gummi bears, M&M's, heck almost everything and nothing worked. We tried forcing her to sit on the potty until she did something, yep you guessed it...no workee.
She would sit there and sing and just have a ball doing nothing and we would be pulling our hair out! We gave up trying.

Then one day she started telling us she had to go potty, and wella, she was trained. Just give him time, he'll come around.

[1973911s]

Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
Yeah, I think we are probably pushing him too hard. We talked about it and we are going to go with pullups for now and just keep casually asking him if he wants to go. Put him on if he says yes, otherwise just let him go in the pullup...

I think this is a good idea. We were pretty lucky, and our daughter was potty trained by 2.5 years old. We didn't push her, just kept asking.

Is there a chance you have other kids in the area about his age, that he can see go potty on the toilet, that might help.

Michael

[cstreit]

I recently read about some new diapers that apparently don't absorb ALL the wetness so the kids can feel it, making it a bit uncomfortable.

(IS anyone else amazed at how much those things can HOLD?! My 14 month old drinks a LOT of water during the day and those things end up like cantelope stuffed down his shorts. Maybe the 14 month old girls are impressed?)

Theory being they can better tell when they've gone so they can recognize the symptoms, then, since they're not dry and slightly uncomfortable it'll help motivate them over time...

[osidak]

Before our little guy turned one my wife accidently washed a new diaper - She was taking the laundry out and started laughing.

I went to go see what it was all about and I have never seen anything like it. This little diaper (size two I think) was as big as a ballon and not a drop was leaking out of it. We held onto it for a few days to see if it would deflate - never did and we laughed everytime we saw it.

[RKC]

They all learn it eventually, but not on any schedule. My daughter learned about 2 weeks before school started (which was good, since she couldn't attend until she was potty trained). She still wet the bed occasionally until 7-8. All of a sudden at about around 8, she no longer had a problem (she's 9 now). We never made her feel bad about it, said it was natural, but it still made her sad.

My son? He just decided at about 3.5 to give up diapers. No accidents since then (he's 4).

Your son will be OK. Just can't say when exactly.....

[Dingo Joe]

Originally posted by livi
Why the hurry ? I understand "potty training" is still big in the US. Here in Sweden its a non-issue at that age. More harm than gain.

As a fellow father of four and a pediatrician I suggest you let him be till he is good and ready himself.

As Moses put it - its a parent issue.

Good and ready? I had friends that had a 5.5 year old boy that was still had to put on a diaper in order to crap. That's crazy, but his parents were of the mindset to let him have his way. I'm sure this will be good for him as he grows up.

BTW, I can train a small dog in a matter of days, 2 weeks max, not to poop or pee in the house and to ask to be let out. Why should it be difficult to train a higher level species to use a pot to piss in? It's the parents fault/problem. I don't think my folks (old school) had any issues training their 6 children...

[Seeeu911]

the time i really began to realize how much fun my life would be with my boys was when we could go somewhere without a diaper bag and they coud say "I want ketchup on my fries" or such.... I feel for ya bud..