Potty Training Boys - Any Advice
Happy Friday everyone!! Since so many members of this site are parents, I was hoping to get some advice on potty training my soon to be three year old. My son will be starting pre-school next fall, so I have about 10 months to get him sufficiently trained so that he can attend. My problem is that I have 5 older neices and then there's my son. I have no idea how to get this headstrong little boy to use the potty. So far we have gone cold turkey and are only using diapers during his nap and bedtime. But from this, he's managed to train himself to hold it until I put a diaper on him. So, while he's not having accidents, he's still not using his potty. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Boys are tough to potty train. I would just plain go cold turkey and no more diaper at all. Make a big deal about how he has grown up so much that he doesn't need "baby" diapers anymore. That was the only way I could get my son to stop going potty in his pullups.0
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ours decided he wasnt going to use a potty. This meant a lot of rushing him to the toilet and sitting him on it, often after the event...
he's very independant though, and refuses to let people help him, so he then went through the phase of putting himself on the toilet. we have a training seat, that is unused. Within a few weeks, he didnt want to sit on the toilet for wee, he stands.
almost no night time accidents, been really good for that!
so just go for it. no nappies, give him underpants. Yes, there will be accidents, lots, but nothing that an old towel wont soak up.0 -
Cold turkey is the way to go with boys. My oldest we did in 1 weekend. My youngest wasn't so easy it took a few weeks to work him out and even then he still was having accidents for a few months after that.0
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Put 3 or 4 cheerios in the toilet and have them aim to sink the ship. Worked every time for my boys! The game appeals to the Also, have them go every hour they are awake. You have to make it a routine. Hope this helps.0
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I have 2 boys who are now 6 and 8... they were not so hard to train...but my advice is to just be patient!! Do not try to force him... he will do it when he is ready.
We did not use a potty in my house... we used a regualr toilet with a small insert for #2's.... and I started them standing up (like a big boy) to pee right from the start... Makes for a messy sprinkle around the toilet, but that's no biggie!!
I did read online about putting a cheerio or fruit loop in the toilet and having them "hit the bullseye" that actually worked!! and we had fun with that!!
Good luck! and don't stress.... He'll get it!0 -
That's pretty impressive that he is holding it. My boys potty trained pretty late unfortunately and one would just pee in his underwear and not even care so I think it all depends if they are ready or not. I've heard of people putting cherios in the toilet and let them try to hit them or something like that....maybe just make it fun for him to go
Good luck!0 -
Expect lots of accidents (at least at first). And boys seem to be too busy to go potty, so my 5.5 yo still has occasional accidents. It was the same for my nephew. If he's holding it til you get a diaper on him, I agree with a previous poster that said no diapers. If you want fewer cloths to wash and your schedule allows you could have him naked on the lower half until he gets it (I didn't do that but have heard it can help).
You can always try bribery. 1 piece of candy (something really small like M&M or a mini marshmallow) for going potty or a new toy for being fully potty trained.
Good luck! It will happen, just hang in there and plan on doing lots of laundry lol. 0 -
Put 3 or 4 cheerios in the toilet and have them aim to sink the ship. Worked every time for my boys! The game appeals to the Also, have them go every hour they are awake. You have to make it a routine. Hope this helps.
Hahaha yes this
With boys it is all about what they can do with their bits!0 -
We stopped the diaper thing as well - and if he's holding it well - every hour or so I would sit him on the potty (I started every 30 min, then ever hr, then 1.5, etc - then one day he squealed "tee tee" and he's been telling me ever since). If you already know about how long he's hold it then you can gauge about when to sit him on the potty. When he goes in the potty - make a big deal. Lots of cheers, applause, etc. Some people even recommend a few pieces of candy like two or three M&Ms if he goes in the potty. If he's into stickers - that could work too. This worked great for my son (he'll be three this coming December) - and we've been out of diapers since June and the whole process probably took us about three weeks.
We spent a lot of time in the bathroom - I'd have him sit on the potty about five minutes and say silly stuff with him like "come out pee pee" until he either tinkled or apparently didn't have to go.
Also - what kind of potty are you using? I bought a cute little frog potty - and he wants nothing to do with it - so then we let him pick out the potty seats that go on the big toilet - and he was cool with that.
And get daddy involved if possible. I could cheer my little guy on till I was blue in the face but sometimes it just worked better if Daddy did it.
Ultimately I've heard that when they are ready - they will go. Just hang in there.0 -
Both of my kids (1 boy, 1 girl) trained the same way. I waited until they were ready (for my daughter 2 years exactly, for my son 2 1/2), took off the diaper and never looked back. Once they were ready they potty-trained themselves. I left them naked 24/7 until they got the hang of it, which took about a week for my daughter and 1 day for my son.0
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omg! i am trining my 2yr old now and sigh! my oldest son was trained in 1 week...fully potty trained. and this little guy well its a challenge! and because of daycare i cant just not put pullups on him.0
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OMG! I have 3 boys ages 22, 20 and 13 and man do I have some advice for you LOL!! My first son I was so young I had no idea what I was doing so my father helped me out but my younger two I sent to the bathroom with my oldest son and that didn't help. So some advice I took from a friend was to put Cheerios in the toilet (which sounds gross, but it works) and let him stand in front of the toilet to see if he can pee on them (yes it sounds crazy) but it was fun to the boys, they always wanted to use the bathroom to dunk the Cheerios LOL. Put him on a schedule and take him around the same time each day (I know we all have a life but as close to the same time each day). Praise him when he goes like clapping, high fives, hugs and telling him what a big boy he is. Don't buy anymore diapers buy him some big boy underwear the kinds he likes with his favorite cartoon on them and tell him he can't get them wet or poop in them, but if your afraid he will at bedtime then purchase him some pullups with the cartoons on them and that way he won't think it is a diaper, because they pull up like underwear. I hope my little piece of info helps, Happy Potty Training!!!0
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The best piece of advice I ever got was put the potty chair in the kitchen or where ever you spend the most time. Worked like a charm on my second son. No little kid wants to be alone in the bathroom. That and lots of cookies.0
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Potty training Boys??? Cats are easier.0
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A woman I know had a fantastic, though odd, way of training her son. One weekend during the summer, she made up three or four pitchers of kool aid. She brought them outside to her backyard that was fenced in. She brought her son outside, locked the doors to her house, and had her son take his pants off. He was naked from the waist down. She had him drink a couple of glasses kool aid at his leisure. What kid doesn't love kool aid, and mom was letting him have as much as he wanted that day. It wasn't too long before he started peeing. She had him go to a certain area of the backyard to pee. He had more kool aid, and as he needed to pee, she talked with him about the feeling he was getting before he actually peed. She let him know that when he started having that feeling, he needed to go to that certain area of the backyard to do it. After a few more times of this, he was getting the idea. Then she let him know that when he started having that feeling, that's when he knew he needed to go to he bathroom.
It worked for her. Good luck to you.0 -
With my 1st the idea of using the potty did not appeal to him at all and he'd often just sit there. When he was given the option to "stand-n-pee", he was all for it. I suggest making potty time fun, give him an object (cheerios work great) to try to hit in the toilet water. His aim may not be great in the beginning so keep cleaning supplies on hand.
We started with bathroom trips every two hours then gradually increased it. [I sure hope this 2nd one will be as easy if not easier to train :indifferent: ]
Don't forget lots and lots and lots of praises for when he does use the potty/toilet like a big boy. :bigsmile:
GOOD LUCK!!!! :flowerforyou:0 -
Shoot a cheerio will work on adult males! Then it is a game0
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Putting cheerios or fruit loops in the toilet for them to aim at is a great idea. I did that and it worked but I had something else I did that worked like a charm. I would go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of books and toys. I then wrapped them in gift paper and every time he went to the potty, he got to get an item from the gift bag. He loved it!!0
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my son was stubborn too. What worked pretty well was having him go bottomless around the house. As soon as he'd come home from daycare, I'd strip him down. He never had an accident when he was 1/2 naked. Put a pullup or undies on him, and he'd wet them and not care. :grumble:0
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We used a sticker chart at the beginning. Every time the bathroom was successfully used, there was a sticker applied to the chart. A full chart at the end of the week meant he could have a special treat (a candy or matchbox car etc). We never asked if he had to use the bathroom, we just routinely every hour said, POTTY BREAK! and went into the bathroom to do the business. The first week any trip to the bathroom without drama got a sticker even if nothing happened in the toilet *L* The second week we were pretty much accident free, the third week we were good to go with no problems. End of that third week he decided that he also did not want to wear a pullup to bed anymore. That was at 2.5 years of age, he's 6 now.
Be consistent, get a routine, don't get angry or frustrated at him over accidents or not telling you. This age is all about control for them and they are emotional little creatures - it's frustrating for them too. They've got mom and dad all up on them to do this really hard thing, and it's hard for them to remember to stop playing, or recognize the signs their little bodies are giving you to say IT'S TIME, MOVE IT!
Good Luck!0 -
Boys are tough to potty train. I would just plain go cold turkey and no more diaper at all. Make a big deal about how he has grown up so much that he doesn't need "baby" diapers anymore. That was the only way I could get my son to stop going potty in his pullups.
^^This! Don't use diapers or pullups even during naps or bed time. He will learn to not like the wet or soiled clothes in no time. Once I switched my son over to this method, it took him about 2 days to be potty trained. Plan to stay home and do a LOT of laundry though, but it is much easier than fighting with pullups.0 -
My older son was super, super easy to train. He trained right at 2 years old (but wore a pull up at night until he was just about 3), very few accidents and just caught on super, super fast.
My youngst is 2 years, 5 months old and has NO interest in the potty. If you ask him if he wants to use it, he says NOOOOOO! No potty! lol. It sort of scares him. I'm trying not to compare him to his big brother but come on, kid. I knew we wouldn't get luck twice.
I would train him sittng down, for sure. I would also skip the pull-ups for during the day and just deal with the extra laundry for a little while. Also find him an incentive. My oldest is a candy nut so we gave him an m&m if he peed and two if he pooped and it worked like a charm. You can do a stick chart with rewards, anything you want after you find what their currancy is.0 -
I second the cold turkey thing. My son was very stubborn and had major constipation issues. Potty training actually resolved that, but it took my husband deciding he had had enough and sitting him on the toilet until he did something. We had tried rewards, etc, and it just didn't work with him. Yes there was crying involved, and a little yelling, but it only took about 2 days of him spending a lot of time on the toilet. He is a very tough kid!0
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I've always believed you really need to let them show you when they're ready. If he's only going in his diapers he could get a UTI from holding his pee. Sounds like he's not ready. Offer treats as incentive, but putting him in underwear will just stress both of you out. If you haven't already, get a man to show him how to pee standing up. I didn't do this with my son, thinking he would learn on his own when he wanted to... he's 9 now and is just now learning
What a mess! Read up about it on Parents.com. 0 -
I tried, and tried, and tried, and tried, to no avail. I was starting to wonder if he was going to attend college in diapers :laugh:
He has no siblings, which made it even harder, because there was no one around to "mimic", as most children like to do. In order to get him around other children, we put him in a Montessori school. After a few months of being around older children and seeing them go to the restroom, he decided one day, that he wanted to do the same. Go figure, eh?? There was no poking, no prodding. Just sauntered into the bathroom one day, pulls down his pants, gets on his step stool (he hates those training potties) and aimed perfectly into the toilet. :noway:
Moral of the story: No matter how hard you try, they will do it in their own time, at their own pace.0 -
My son was late to potty train - he just wasn't ready. We made the mistake of trying to early and it backfiring on us. My advice would be to make sure to wait until you know he can handle it. Although since you have already gone this far, I can't see going back. Talk it up, let him know it's what big guys do, etc. Can your husband take him in there so they can pee together?0
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My son is now 20yo and I placed him backwards on the toilet, facing the tank, and used the cheerio method. Consistency and patience is the key. Tons of praise about what a big boy he was and we were done in a weekend.0
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my son was stubborn too. What worked pretty well was having him go bottomless around the house. As soon as he'd come home from daycare, I'd strip him down. He never had an accident when he was 1/2 naked. Put a pullup or undies on him, and he'd wet them and not care. :grumble:
This is exactly what worked for us. We have two boys, and when our first one was 3, he still had no interest in the potty. My grandmother was the one that said to let him go naked for a few days. So, we did....and in 2 days he was completely potty trained. He's never had a single accident since. Our youngest is 4 now, it worked great for him, too...but he still needs a pullup at night. I'm perfectly fine with that, at this point!
Good luck!!0 -
did not read through all the comments so if this is a duplicate -- I'm sorry in advance.
use white underwear. Not even kidding. I thought my son would end up going from diapers to depends with nothing in between. Even had him go through batteries of tests to make sure nothing was physically wrong with him. After having a daughter potty train herself at 1 year (no lie)..this was frustrating to say the least. I was at my wits end and somebody asked if I had him in the cute little full of dye underwear...well of course I did. they said switch to white. I laughed and scoffed after doing everything short of inserting a pee bag on that kid....I kid you not. The very first day I put him in those white underwear ..the problem was resolved. I still to this day SMH over it..but it worked.
I feel for you..cuz it can be tough...those darn boys! gotta love em!0 -
My daughter was the PITA while potty training - my son (who was four years younger than her, so he had a role model/influence to help out in this area) was only 2.5 years when he was fully potty trained. Not sure if what we did to encourage it will work for you - but it's worth a shot. We were fortunate that he was training during summer months so we put him in a shirt, no bottoms, and had him running around the backyard to play. We'd ask him if he had to use the potty frequently. A few accidents dripping down his leg and he started to realize he was doing it wrong. We also used a LOT of positive reinforcement - but not just in the typical way of "hey kid, here's a star if you tinkle in the toilet" or "here's an M&M for your efforts". I had a treasure box and I filled it with little toys (like $1 toys or race cars, monster trucks, etc...stickers...just a grab bag of stuff). The initial investment was a little more costly than a bag of M&Ms...but it was WAY more fun to use the potty and get to pick from the treasure box! We used the treasure box more for when he pooped on the toilet since he seemed to pick up quickly on peeing in the pot. It didn't take long at all to have him fully trained and my in-laws were well impressed by this method. HAH!0
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