Best Method

United States
August 29, 2007 12:37pm CST
My son is 3 and half years old and still has no interest in the potty seat. I have tried a couple of times to get him. He is not scared to flush the toliet thats his favorite part he just won't go. I have candy, charts and money to give him when he goes and he still doesn't seem to care. I have let him have a book while he sits on the toliet and nothing. Put cereal in the toliet and nothing. He has a little seat and the toliet. He likes to sit on the toliet the most when I get him to. My mom was telling me yesterday that my cousin got her kid potty trained by putting him in underwear and asking every ten minutes if his pants were dry and he was potty trained in 4 hours from being annoyed by getting asked all the time. This is the only thing I haven't tried yet and think I am going to after the weekend. I have let him run around naked also, doesn't care if he is wet. I want to put him in school so he can interact with other kids but no early childhood center will take kids that aren't potty trained. I have been waiting for him to do this for a long time and I understand that having a baby brother a year ago slowed him down. If the 10 minutes doesn't work then I think I will be potty trainning them both at the same time. So my question is how did you get your kids potty trainned? How long did it take you and at what age?
5 people like this
10 responses
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
30 Aug 07
Perhaps you could try making a game out of the potty. Tell him he will get aomething nice if he does his job on the potty. Show him a chocolate cookie (or other favorite thing). If he does it, then he gets the cookie. If he doesn't, then you eat it while he watches. Make sure hes wearing training pants, so when he gets wet, he gets cold and uncomfortable. Yes, he is probably a bit jealous of the attention the baby gets. After all he used to get all the attention himself. He may be slow learning the potty because he's getting your attention by being delinquent.
• United States
30 Aug 07
...My children are a year and nine days apart. (I'd never recommend condums for BC!) When I started potty training my daughter, my son wanted to do everything she did, so it was easy. It was a family thing. I still have a hard time keeping them out of the bathroom when I am in there! ...Working in pediatric medicine, I heard a lot of methods to potty train. I think you are left with putting your son in underpants, sending him to toilet every 10 to 15 minutes and letting him get wet once or twice. It is important that he feel uncomfortable in soiled clothes if he doesn't go in toilet. Make him bath and put soiled clothes in laundry. He needs to experience all the work that goes along with not making it to the toilet in time. Telling him he will have to show his baby brother how this big boy, manly thing is done may give him the desire to learn, too. ...Are there children his age you know that are potty trained that he can play with? Some peer pressure may stimulate his desire to use the toilet. ...The Muppets have a book, "I can go potty now!" that my children read. It maybe worth getting. ...Good luck, gf! Hang in there. He will learn. ...Have a peeeaceful day! PBWY =(^;^)= Della
• Australia
30 Aug 07
Emily (now 5) was trained when she was nearly 4 and Cameron (now 4) has been fully potty trained for more than 6 months now. Everybody always said that boys take longer than girls but I found it was the other way around. I tried to push Emily but I just ended up getting very frustrated. So, I left the nappies on until SHE TOLD ME that she was a big girl now and didn't need them. So my recommendation is just wait and leave it until he WANTS to go without a nappy. The other thing I did when I felt either of them were just being lazy by not using the potty, was clean up after themselves, ie wet clothes in laundry and I even left the mop and/or a towel handy and made her/him clean up his mess - they didn't like that!One other thing - we had a battery operated potty! Great for the boys. It had a sensor in the middle and if they aimed right it played a little tune!!
@nmw2005 (1197)
• United States
30 Aug 07
Not sure if it will work for you, but I know people who have tried it. Take one of those blue tabs that changes the color of the water. Tell him that when he goes potty he can do magic by changing the color from blue to green.
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
30 Aug 07
Hello bartell. Potty training can be a challang to ever mom. I have four kids to potty train. They are all grown and in their fourties now. What I did was have a potty chair next to the big one. Every time I or my husband went to the toilet we took which ever kid was being potty. I also took them every time i just happened to think about it, after meals I think the pullups as well as disposable darpers are a great hinderance to potty training. They keep the child comfortable after they go to the potty in them. Your 3 1/2 yyear old is really old enouth to undersstand what your telling him. I also potty trained my 2 1/2 yrear old grandson. We moved near a play ground and while he was at this play ground he wet his pants. I told hem if he ever did it again he could not go there to play. That was the last time he ever had an accident. So I would sugggest that you find something he realy likes to do and tell hime he just can't do it if he's not using the potty. Try it and he will be traiined so fast your head will be spinning.
• United States
30 Aug 07
I am a mother of 2 boys - now 19 and 13. I remember this so well. When they are ready they are ready. My 19 year old was 3 1/2 years old when he told me he didn't want to wear a diaper and overnight he was potty trained because he decided that. You can show them, provide all but when they are ready they are ready...Trust me - it will happen- don't worry about it!!! And, generally boys take longer.
1 person likes this
• India
30 Aug 07
Have patience on your son. In this age, this is normal with a few children. Continue to discipline him in a polite way. After 6 months, he will not do that.
1 person likes this
• United States
30 Aug 07
Hello Bartell, Sometimes when a mom has a new baby the older child is no longer the baby. Then the older child regresses to keep the baby title. If he is jealous of his brother and any attention his babt brother gets from you, then the three year old will rebell to keep you attention on him, he will want to remain your baby. Easy fix. Try to tell your three year old how tired you are of changing diapers and how you can't wait until both he and his brother uses the potty instead of diapers. Of corse, do this in a loving and gentle way. Also tell him something like this: "mommy can't wait untill your baby brother is a big boy like you, because you use the potty instead of wetting your diaper." "I will be so happy when both my boys use the potty because that gives mommy more time to play and do fun things with you both." You do not have to use those exact words of course, but what this does is reinforces your love for him and that he is now your big boy and how pround you are of him. You see whenever there is a new baby, the older child feels left out and will do anything to maintain the position he felt comfortable in before the new baby arrived. Even though you youngest is a year old, your other son has no concept of age and time, just that he used to be the baby, and now his younger brother has that place. Also potty time is a good time to just talk with him. Take the time to really let him know how proud you are of him because he is now your big boy. Think of a fun thing he likes to do. When it is potty time, talk about the fun thing and then say something to the effect: "I really want to go to the park today (if that is what he likes to do) but I don't know if we will have time, because you still didn't go yet and I don't know how long you will take. Did you go potty yet? Repeat that every 5 minutes to him. Also make him want to do his fun thing by asking him questions like: "what do you want to do at the park today? Did you go potty yet? We can't go to the park until you go potty. Also when he wets his diaper, look sad and say: Oh my, I thought you were my big boy. Why don't you tell me when you need to go potty? Your son will learn the difference in by facial expressions and your words when you are happy with him and when you are sad. If he has regressed to wanting to still be the baby in the house, you will see a big change in how he responds to this suggestion. I too am a mother, but my daughter was potty trained at the age of 1year. She hated to be wet and when she was 9 monthes old I started sitting her in her potty chair. She is my only child. I have a degree in the medical field and this is what I learned from my classes when becoming a medical Transcriptionist. Well it is worth a try and if it doesn't work, you have lost nothing and if it does, you have gained a potty trained son and more time as a mom. :) Take care, Jadona2006
@LadyDulce (830)
• United States
30 Aug 07
Potty-training my younger brother was the hardest! It took about 2 years. Right before he turned 3, he finally got the hang of it, but it took a few years after that for him to get the aiming thing down. My sister was much easier, she just decided one day to sit down and pee in the toilet when she was 2. Having 2 older sisters probably helped; she was always trying to copy us, lol. My son is 13 months and already pees in the big toilet, though he won't poop in it; he'll wait until you get the diaper back on him for that. There are so many cool training toilets to choose from now; next week I'm getting my son the "Throne"; hopefully he'll poo in that one, lol. They know when they're ready, just be patient; good luck! Blessed Be
@mistissa (1349)
• Netherlands
29 Aug 07
We got him potty trained by indeed just putting him on an underpants, and not asking but telling him to go every 15 minutes. Sometimes he would say no, but we made him go anyway and he had to go indeed. I know it takes a little time and effort, but as soon as he gets the hang of it you will be happy you took the time. Do reward him whenever he goes and pipi in the toilet. We have a sticker system here, he has a chart and gets a sticker when he goes to the toilet. As soon as he has 15 stickers we go to the store and he can choose a small present. My son is now also 3,5 years old and is dry for 4 weeks now. Good luck
1 person likes this
29 Aug 07
I know exactly what you are going through. My daughter turned 4 in July and wasn't potty trained until about May this last year. She just never had ANY interest in using the potty. I tried EVERYTHING like you have mentioned and nothing worked for her either. Everyone kept telling me "she will do it when she is ready" and it really seemed like that would never happen- but it did. (She never liked wearing panties) I actually bought the elmo potty book and she really liked it. After that she was going and almost never had an accident! I wanted her to go to preschool and luckily she was potty trained just in time! (although she still wears pullups at night but rarely has an accident.) I would say just keep talking about it with your son and he WILL get it eventually even if it seems he never will!! Good Luck!!
1 person likes this