Potty Training Blues
By qtfrog99
@qtfrog99 (279)
United States
September 13, 2011 2:19pm CST
Let me begin with a little history...I have 2 beautiful boys a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. My first son was always so interested in going to the bathroom. He would follow everyone in there and ask questions about it. He was so easy to potty train he was potty trained at 18 months, I would still put a pull up on him incase he didn't get up over night which was very rare. Now my 2 1/2 year old what a total opposite. He shows absolutely no interest in the potty at all. I will put him in trainer underwear (which are those extra thick underwear) and set my phone alarm to go off every 10 minutes. when it goes off I have to persuade hime to go to his potty chair and sit there. I have him sit there for at least 3-5 minutes, sometimes he will stay a little longer, if he doesn't go I reset the alarm and so on. I do give him M&M's if he does go in his potty, which is usually by a freak accident (LOL.) He will hold it, it seems until he gets off the potty then wet his underwear. Then he finds me and tells me wet mommy, wet. Then we start all over again. This has been our days now since he turned 2 in May. I do put him in a diaper or pull up for his naps and bedtime so that I don't have to clean his crib 2-3 times a day as well as all those underwear. I was hoping that there were some other parents out there with some good advice or some other tricks of the potty training trade. Cause after my 5 year old I though man what a breeze potty training is, boy was I wrong, he was just an easy case I guess. So please Help give me some new ideas to break up our "normal" potty training routine.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
13 Sep 11
Have you tried other forms of rewards other than M&M's? My oldest liked stickers and then she got to stick the stickers on the lid of her potty seat. My middle one likes tootsie rolls but she wasn't interested in training till she was 3. My youngest liked money lol but he kind of wanted to be trained and be a big boy so it didn't take much. I know they make targets you can put at the bottom of your toilet. I've also heard of people using cherios. Maybe you can use something like that to make it more fun. My son wasn't as interested teaching him to sit and pee, but when i let him try standing and pee he was more excited and more inclined to do it.
1 person likes this
@zralte (4178)
• India
14 Sep 11
Whew!!! What a relief to hear that I am not alone in the Potty Training department!!! LOL. Sorry, just had to say that.
Since I have two girls and no boys, I am not sure if it is the same or not.
My two girls are both difficult. The elder one is 4 years old and the younger one is 2 years. With the older one, I have tried everything; rewarding her, making her sit, etc etc. She just would not do it until she's 2½. Then we went for a visit to my mother's place and there were other kids about her age, and that did it.
The younger one is still a nightmare; but I am not stressing out as I did with the older one. I realised that when they are ready, they are ready. Until that time, all I can do is clean up after her and try to put her on a potty; 'TRY' being the operative word here.
I know that probably is not much help to you; but I thought by knowing that you are not alone might help reduce your stress.
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
13 Sep 11
OK, this is what worked here for the same situation. I have to warn you, it's going to sound totally off-the-wall haha. I only had girls, so when it came time for the grandson, nothing seemed to work. All that and he didn't want to sit to pee, no...he HAD to stand like his Dad. If he didn't wait too long and get wet pants, he got the right timing but got the walls and floor wet. I was telling my brother when we were on the phone, and he laughed and said he'd be right over. He rang the doorbell and handed me a zip lock bag full of Cheerios. What?! He said to put them in a plastic dish by the potty, then every time he had to go to have him throw one in, unzip, and aim for it. Whether sitting on the potty, or standing, he was to aim at the Cheerio. Well, then 'going' became a fun thing, and he probably made more trips in there to try and go than was necessary. But the main thing is that it worked, and there was no more stalling until it was too late. As whacky as my brother's idea was, it turned out to be great and sure solved the problem. I guess if we make it a game it's more appealing lol.
@jodylee (946)
• United States
14 Sep 11
My oldest son is four and he too potty trained effortlessness by 18 months. He spoiled me really. But now, I have my youngest and he turned two in March. I thought for sure he would be potty trained by about early summer. But he did not show any signs at all. I encourage the use of the potty and have since he was about 18 months. But really he only went about two times over the summer.
I have tried to be patient and continue to teach him of the importance of going to the bathroom. And now, finally he is going regularly on the potty.
Cheerios as a target is really fun for my son now and made more of a game out of it than anything. Plus it teaches aim.
Give your son time. He will use the potty in his own time. Every child is different and will do things when they are ready.
Good luck!
