Potty Training Boys - Any Advice

TR0berts

I was difficult to train as a young boy - or so my mother tells me. My parents had one of those small wooden child's toilets. Apparently, I wasn't a fan. One day, they decided to get me one of those little plastic (I think it was plastic?) toilets that looked like a real one. Apparently, that's all it took - a smaller version of a "big boy's toilet."

sylwheat

Been patience, and wait till he is ready. I have two boys. Once I took the diaper off, I used underwear - no pull ups. Don't go back to diapers and you won't have too if he is ready. Let him "stand" like the big boys. My husband would take the boys with him everytime he went to the restroom. Both were very easy to train - but I did wait till they were ready, I think @ 2yrs old.

tabbykat6802

I am working w/ my youngest son(3) right now. The daycare started him some time ago and he seems to do pretty well w/ them. It's when he get home that it all goes downhill. Almost as soon as he walks through the door, he pees his pants. Lately he's done much better, showing/saying that he needs to go potty and sometimes being successful. Praises galore. Offered him a piece of halloween candy once, but he doesn't seem to depend on that treat, thank goodness.

My other 2 boys(now 9 & 7) didn't start until after their 4th birthdays(the lightbulb just clicked a few days afterwards). For my oldest: we(and my inlaws)t had a toy jar set up, so that he got a quarter for #1 & 2 quarters for #2. once the jar was full, he got to buy his toy. Chocolate worked for my middle son.

I was so happy when my youngest started out earlier than his brothers, but it has ended up being a slow going affair. Since we are not home most of the weekends, I have hesistated on going underoos only.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

My son is 3. As soon as I decided to let him stand to pee my son liked peeing on the potty. If he's not tall enough buy a stool and let him stand on that. We've just gotten rid of the last diaper, I told him that he's too big and they don't make them in his size anymore (we do use pull ups for nap time and bed time, he woke up dry this morning). I was very much against pull ups at all but they don't take the moisture away from the body the way that diapers do so when he pees or poops in them it's not comfortable like a diaper. I let him pick out his own character underwear, and we used to say "okay Bud, now remember that [Thomas, Buzz, Lightening, etc] doesn't like to be peed or pooped on." At one point I bought the thick white training pants and plastic covers, I sat him down and told him that if he kept pottying in his pants he'd have to wear those, I put him in his character pants and when he pottied in those I switched him to the trainers and plastic and he hated it. We would set the timer to take him every 30 minutes to try pottying, it takes them a while to learn what it feels like to have to pee before they HAVE TO PEE. We do treats at the end of the day when he's had a good day. We're still struggling with pooping, so that's become our focus now. We're at a point where we're not only giving rewards for pooping on the potty (2 chocolate chips) but we're going to start taking toys away when he goes in his pants which he can earn back by having 1 full good day. Hopefully this will work, I'm tired of cleaning poop off of everything.

n2thenight24

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!!

These!! I let both my boys just run around naked when they got closer to 3 years old. I never pressured them to use the potty, I just kept them naked, worked like a charm for both boys and as my pediatrician told me, just relax, have you ever heard of a 1st grader in diapers? They will learn when they are ready!!

caroldot

Boys are much harder for some reason! I had a 2 story home at the time so we had potty's all over the house for a while. He also never sat to go pee-pee like most kids start out - he did it like Daddy. My husband would have him come along when he had to go so he could see they're both boys & this is how this works.

Try putting cheerios in the toilet for him to aim at.

You could also try a reward chart on the wall. Everytime he goes potty, he gets a star & after so many he gets a reward. It can be something like a matchbox car.

My pediatrician also told me not to stress. Every child is different and will do it when they're ready. When my son decided he was ready, it was like it literally happened over night. And he was about 3 1/2 when it finally happenened.

caroldot

Also - someone probably mentioned this as well but let them run around naked! I know its not ideal weather for that right now but at least for a little while each day will help!

JessieGurlJb

I went with "poop candy" i put m&m's in a jar in the bathroom.. showed my son that i was doing it.. showed him to go pee and got myself and him a piece of candy. then i got a potty doll (it was a boy potty doll) and showed him how the baby goes pee in the potty.. then he and the baby both got one candy.. (he got to eat the dolls piece after "feeding it") then i would show him the doll having an accident on the kitchen floor.. we would together tell the doll NO NO and show it to the potty.. i did this several times a day to remind him.. when he went poop in the potty he would get an extra piece of candy. eventually i phased out the candy and the doll. my son turned 3 in september and has been completely off diapers or pull ups for 6 months.

Juliejustsaying

I have two boys...and I'll be honest...I just waiting until they were ready. They were both 4 years old...and one day I said. Well, I don't have any money for diapers, so you're going to have to use the potty.

Worked...

good luck...boys are the best...

Lleldiranne

As soon as it becomes a power struggle, you've lost. Trust me, my oldest son wasn't trained until after he turned 4 simply because he could really dig in and I didn't get it to stop pushing.

I looked at his favorite big-boy activities. It was the nintendo. I told him that Nintendo is for big kids, like his sister, and big kids use the potty not diapers. So no more Nintendo. He actually "didn't want" the video games for a couple of months :laugh: I didn't even mention potty for a while. But then when he started wanting to play again, I reminded him that it was for big boys. He decided that spring (right after he turned 4) that he wanted to go potty, and he was 100% trained in about a week.

Anyway, my point is to make sure that you don't make it a power struggle. Find something that motivates him, maybe, but don't worry too much. You have 10 months still.

Oh, and have him always sit down to start - that way he doesn't have to think about if he needs to stand or sit. The delay can cause him to have an accident. He'll learn to stand soon enough.

HeidibooJB

My eldest son was very hard to train. We even tried Dr. Phil's little trick with the stuffed animals and a hidden syringe of colored water, to make the toy pee. All this accomplished was an endless parade of toys that wanted to go potty ....lol. He actually managed to hold it for 9 days in one stretch. He would slam his little bottom on the floor and cry whenever he needed to BM. After several trips to the Dr. for lactulose (she thought he was constipated), a trip to the pediatrician proved useful. She told us to just put him back in diapers and forget about training, as it was a control issue for him. We did so, and within 2 weeks he trained himself. He's 13 now, and he's still a very strong willed child.
Our second boy trained himself in 2 days after being told he couldn't wear diapers to go to preschool. He's so much easier going, in all aspects. Two very different boys, to be sure.
Best of luck, and remember, it will take a lot of time and patience, but chances are they won't be going to prom in diapers. Enjoy these days, they are gone far too quickly.

mjmbjmgjm1

My oldest son who is 6 now took longer potty training, he was 4 when he got it down a couple months before preschool started. His motivation was that he wanted to go to school. He occasionally had accidents that first year of school. My second son who is 3 now was potty trained in a couple months before this school year. His motivation was also getting to go to school. I think you just have to find something that motivates them to use the potty.

maureendonahue

It sounds to me that if he is not having "accidents", but waiting until you put on a diaper, then he IS trained. The next step is to get him to "go" where he should-on the toilet.

Sinking the Cheerio might help him make the connection, as will routines (going first thing when he awakens, just before nap/bedtime, 30 minutes after meals). He also may not WANT to comply. (Boys can be stubborn!) Positive reinforcement works well with this. Stickers when he goes on the potty worked well for my kids. Eventually, it would be a sticker when they went all day with no accidents. I would get them a small prize (Dollar Store!) when they got 5 stars in a row.

Know that all kids eventually potty train and try not to stress too much! I have 5 kids (4 boys) and all the boys trained at about 3 or 3 1/2 after a lot of work. The one girl trained at 2 when she said "no more diapers" and I said then she had to use the toilet. She said OK and that was the end of that!

Good luck!

Debbe2

Since he is physically able to hold til the diaper is on then he's probably ready to learn how to use the potty. Start by asking him if he needs to go and explain that he can now begin to use the potty. Watch for signs that hes about to pee and gently and matter of factly prompt him towards the potty. When he uses the potty it's happy time for him and you! Games, bribes, books, love and hugs whatever you need to make it pleasurable and non threatening. Game example if needed for boys- aim for the Cheerios in the bowl. :laugh: Good luck!

toottoots

my son was almost three when he learnt.
My friend had just had a baby and i told him he couldnt have diapers anymore because we needed to give them all to the baby.

that and LOTS of praise (like a pee and poop cheerleader!) got him dry in the day within 3 days and dry night also within a week

rblair_22

Thanks for the great advice everyone! I really appreciate it!