Potty Training Boys - Any Advice

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shoot a cheerio will work on adult males! Then it is a game

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: