Toddler Toilet Training help! (merged)

Dustykitten

Not sure if any of these ideas may help but if you haven't tried them, they might be worth ago.

Firstly, I would try to increase his fluids (particulary) water dramatically. Try anything from straws, playing tea parties, ice cubes etc. The more fluid he has the more he will need to go and thus the more practise he will get! This will also aid the consipation problem.

Make sure you are only rewarding the behaviour you want and ignoring that which you do not want. He is a man and as we all know the more you ask (nag to them) the more they resist - sorry guys I am a cynic but I do have a DH, DS1, DS2 and DS3!

There are quite a lot of fun story books - the little princess series does one 'I want my Potty' and we had one called 'All by myself' - try the library.

I am sure you have tried rewards eg stickers on a chart - in the loo on the wall is a good place.

Some boys are not keen on sitting - have you tried him standing at the toilet on a little step (or large book). What about a ping pong ball in the loo for him to aim at?

If all else fails I would consider going back to nappies for a while to prevent this from becoming a big issue for you both. Best of luck and as with everything, especially problems with kids, this too will pass!

comping_cat

I was going to suggest getting him to stand as well, if dad is around, maybe encourage him to go to the loo with him and copy!!!
If there is anything he particularly likes, can you bribe him with it? Like a chocolate treat, stickers or picking something to watch on the tv.

Rachie_B

you say he used to go on the potty ? has anything changed in his routine / homelife ?? very often a set back in potty training / sleep routines etc can happen as an effect of something else going on

If not then all i can suggest is to TRY and be laidback about it,my eldest son was the same ( with poos though not wees) and it drove me mad until i stopped being uptight about it and just went with it

my thinking was,well he wont be going to junior school still pooing his pants lol

and he actually "grew out" of soiling himself a few weeks after starting part time nursery school @ 3.4 months

id also keep on with the bribery thing too if you think it will work with him sticker chart / reward chart ?

frostyspice

Thanks so much everyone, your advice is very much appreciated.

Dustykitten, I think you've hit the nail on the head - the more you ask the more he resists.

It's fab to know that this stage won't last for ever, even if it doesn't feel like that at the moment!

Many thanks once again to all who responded.

Mrs_pbradley936

Check out this site https://www.drphil.com and do a search on potty training. Dr Phillip McGraw is a family/relationship expert. He suggests getting a doll that can wet and... well go and read what it says and see if you want to try it.

HappySad

Potty training son 3years 1 monthsworking mainly from Gina fords "Potty training in a week" Obviously not working to her time scale and using her tips to work with my son's individual personality/needs ....

Anyway.

so far achieve.
-Will it on potty when asked.
-Will sit on potty and do a wee.
- Will sit on potty and so a poo
- Will hold wee for a long time in morning and during the day.
-Will sit on travel potty and do poo and wee.
- Will say yes that he needs the potty when you ask him.


Not achieved
-Will not go to potty on his own steam. . by this I mean he will not point out to you that he needs to go for a week or also not go over to the potty to use it.
--Will say that he does not need the potty when you know full well that he needs to because he is repeatedly holding his crotch.
--He is happy to wee & poo himself and carry on with lifes better things (playing etc) than go over to the potty and use it.
---He can ask for what he wants in everyday life.. but will not ask for potty.

So currently DH and I are watching him and using the clock to work out when he needs to the potty. So how do we get him to as least ask for the potty then to go over to use it himself. We are using plenty of praise, clapping, hugs and swinging about as rewards when he does use the potty. Sweats, chocolate and star he does not like .. But I could use the star chart along with the praise. He uses the pullups only when sleeping as "sleep pants" and this is my choosen not to go back to pullups during the day. Have you done the intense no nappy in one go method? What tips can you offer.

Just basically/or not how do I get him to ask for the potty or walk over to use the potty himself??? Interested in those who have had a siminlar challenge.

patchwork_cat

Hi
You say that he will say he does not need the potty when he does , but he will sit on the potty when asked to . Just tell him to.

With my 2 I didn't use any books. It is a leap with some children to have them know that they need to use the potty . It is a long time since I potty trained my 2, but I did have toddler taming and 1 thing that sticks in my mind is him saying - they will get it.

It is all very well to be calm from a distance, but with nursery and playgroup constraints some times there are arbitary times to things.

For quite a while children will forget when they are busy and that is why any reception class worth its salt will have changes of clothes.

Keep telling him to go to the potty - he will get there. He is holding it in if he is doing the wee dance, so he is ready.

plane_boy2000

Hi,

Having a similar issue now with our second child.

Our eldest who is now 4 was not a slow child, but never the first out of his friends to develop - we started trying him 20 months with no luck - left it until he was 2 and had it cracked in just 4 days. Thinking we had does really well had no concerns about our second child (daughter). Everybody said that girls were easier to do anyway. Here we are at 30 months and still trying hard after working on it all summer.

Cant really offer any help as we have the same issue, but we did find that pull ups confused our daughter as she though she had a nappy on so would make no effort to tell us.

janeawej

is the potty somewhere where he can see it? best to keep it in the family room or even one in several rooms as if it is in sight it may jog his memory out of sight out of mind is common with toddlers! you are doing everything right just keep reminding him and put thim on the potty at least every 2 hours whether he wants to or not! be calm and encouraging, have you tried a star chart? a star every time he uses it maybe 2 if he asks for it! every 10 stars a little treat, very small one favourite sweet or similar (not to cost more than a few pence) it may be a good idea to ask what he would like as a treat (but remember the idea is not to spend loads of money!) you may find using this that you have loads of little deposits in the potty just to get the stars !!but it can encourage him to go, tell him to call for you to wipe his botty and give loads of praise, i think you are doing just fine, they do all get it in the end trust me! I have potty trained over 10 toddlers and they are all different

mishkanorman

Im in the same boat, my son is 3 in september and we have been potty training now for nearly 4 weeks, with complete success in the last 2.
I havent been using any books to help, and im sorry to say i cant abide that gina woman.
At first my DS would not even notice he was weeing, and many times i nearly gave up. I used to not mention the potty at all, no reminders or do you need to go (he plays with/holds his parts as well-lots !!) and once we had an accident i used to take him to the potty and say "no it has to go there" never got angry or said it was naughty. On the 2nd week i bought some pants with thomas the tank engine on (hes never seen him before) and kept telling him that thomas doesnt like getting wet, this worked great and it connected the dots for him. it also meant i wasnt constantly asking him if he had done a wee, i simply said is thomas still dry.

He will now ask for potty when he has to go or just sit on it if its in the room, he seemed to get there all in one go !!

good luck with this, try not to beat yourself up if the book says "by day 3 your son should be able to wee into a pot from 50 paces" or something equally unreasonable.

mishka