4 yr old that wont potty in the toilet

United States
January 20, 2009 9:36am CST
I babysit a 4 yr old that knows the concept of going in the toilet but would rather play or watch a movie than potty in the toilet. His mom and me have tried doing the if you pee in the potty you can watch a movie but then he does and while hes watching the movie he pottys in his pull-up/diaper. I have tried taking tv away when he wets his diaper and taken toys away that he was playing with when I find out hes wet. I have even tried briving him with candy and that didnt work either. But none of this seems to work. Any pointers out there? I really do beleive boys are harder to potty train that girls now.
4 people like this
12 responses
• United States
20 Jan 09
Have you tried putting him on a schedule? Take him to the bathroom every 2 hours during the day. It may be that he doesn't recognize the feeling of having to go to the bathroom yet. When we trained our boys and girls, this is what we did. We also had one child who would still pee her diaper, and when we found she was wet, we would put her on the potty and have her stay there until she did go. I always thought it was a bit harsh, but it worked.
@katrhina23 (1282)
• United States
20 Jan 09
Children need to be potty trained as early as 2 years old. I think what you need to do is to take him out of the diapers and time his pee. encourage him to pee every 2 hours or more .
2 people like this
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
21 Jan 09
The parents missed the time to potty train. Potty training should be done around the age of 2 or 2 1/2. If that time is missed it gets very difficult. One lady I know had 3 children of her own then looked after 4 other children. She believed that the kids would eventually train themselves. Well, all of them were 4 or 4 1/2 before she finally took away the diapers because other children laughed at them and they were going to start senior kindergarden in the fall. My little granddaughter is 18 months old and goes to a very expensive day care centre where all the caregivers have their diplomas in early childhood education. So I hope they know what they are doing. They are going to start toilet training in another month or two. But the parents have been told to make sure there are 6 outfits in the child's locker every day since the child will be taken out of diapers, will be taken to potty at regular intervals and at times when she usually has a bowel movement. I don't know if training pants will be used or not since so many outfits have to be available. Also the parents have to asure the day care centre that they will take part in the process and not sabotage it. You can also ask the mom to check out different books on toilet training to help along since it is more difficult at an age when they are fully aware of bodily functions but are holding back when asked to do it outside of the diaper.
@Sissygrl (10912)
• Canada
20 Jan 09
I have started to take the diapers/pullups away every day for a few hours in the morning, and i keep asking do you have to go pee ? do you have to go pee ? every 20 mins or so. i keep her in the kitchen where there is no carpet in case of an accident. . we colour/have a picnic/do puzzles/crafts. . now she can pee a little bit in the potty every 20 mins or so, i guess she can hold it, but if i have her in the highchair, or dont ask her to potty before she needs to go, she will do it in her underwear. . and she wILL NOT poop in the potty. Have you tried getting him to do target training with cheerio's in the toilet ? lol that do esn't work for girls.. but it may for him for peeing
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Jan 09
he is not my kid. lol they havnt taught him how to stand up and pee yet and I think i should be the person to teach him since im just the babysitter.
• United States
21 Jan 09
shouldnt*
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
21 Jan 09
My Godson was over four years old before he started using the toilet. He was old enough and knew the concept, but his mother would just change his pull up. He knew that whenever my husband and I took him out, we were not going to deal with a pull up, therefore, he used the facilities when he was with us. What broke him with us, is that we had gone to pick him up one day, and he ran back into the house because he forgot to bring a pull up. I told him, that we were not doing pull ups that day and he brought it back in the house. I think four is really too old to still be using diapers and pull ups, hope the child gets the hang of it real soon. Good luck
1 person likes this
• United States
20 Jan 09
I don't really think taking stuff away from a child for not using the potty is very wise emotionally. It makes them feel as if they have done something very horribly wrong. I recently saw an episode of Nanny 911. She says to succesfully potty train you need to make it fun . She has a song and dance to encourage children to potty train . It goes something like this , evrytime the child uses the potty do a little song and dance . Act crazy......... Sally just used the big potty , sally just used the big potty ,,,,,,,,,,yay yay, Sally used the big potty . She says even the adults should do this using their name like "Mommy just used the big potty , etc etc . every time they use the bathroom also . This makes it a game for the child , and we all know children love to play games . Try it , see if it works ...........good luck. And when she does use the big potty let everyone know, chilren respond very well to Praise. This also may be something mom wants to discuss with her pediatrician , just to make sure there is nothing medically wrong ..... Cheryl
• United States
20 Jan 09
thank you for your response..I do praise him when he does use it. I think im gonna try what you sugessted from nanny 911 and hope it works.
• United States
20 Jan 09
Have fun singing and dancing with him . I hope this works for you. Let me know if it helps you. Cheryl
1 person likes this
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I know that people say take the child every hour or two, but that is a big time gap & it should be done every 30 mins. That is how we got my daughter potty trained. I also have nephews that were potty trained younger then 2. I think it's all a time thing... every child is different, some are not ready & some are ready, but might be on the lazy side... LOL! Anyway, I have always been told that going every 30 mins, every single day, even if the child doesn't have to go... it's getting them use to the idea. Soon enough the child will start going on his/her own, then you can stretch the time to an hour, then maybe 2.... then they will just start going when needed...
1 person likes this
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
20 Jan 09
He is being lazy. At 4 yrs old he should have been trained already. I have to say, my first son was trained at 18 months. My second son was harder. He would go under the table and go in his pants. I finally just told him, if you dont go in the toilet, you won't have a birthday party. That is all that I had to do and he was trained. I watch a 2 1/2 yr old who won't even go near the toilet. I blame it on the parents as they don't want to start training him. I am all ready to start, but they have to do it at home too. Sounds like at least the mom is concerned about this too. I have used bribery, taking things away too. It depends on the child what works. Maybe you can make him a chart to earn the tv. When he comes in on a fresh, new day you can show him the chart. when he goes dry for one whole day, he can have the tv the next day. Then if he wets, he has to go dry for 2 days before he gets the tv again. If he goes dry for a week, give him a special prize.
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
21 Jan 09
This is your problem not his. (I helped raise 4 boys). He likes the attention he's getting by filling his pants. First thing..... get rid of those pullup diapers. Explain to him, that hes too old to wear babies diapers. Get a nice little pair of training pants with tight legs (to keep his job in) Then explain to him that he is toilet trained, and he can go by himself when he has to. Then sit back and see what happens. When he fills his pants let him sit in it. He will hate the cold feeling, and the smell will be awful. When he cries tell him to go into the bathroom and clean himself up. (you can help) then put another pair of training pants on him. this little boy knows whats going on. He's enjoying the whole thing now. He will soon find out its not any fun when nobody gets excited about it
• United States
21 Jan 09
wow...back up. First of all this is not my problem. I am not the kids mother. I am the babysitter. I do what I am told from his mother so I dont lose my job. And you cant let a kid sit in his own pee and poop if you know its there. Thats just cruel. There are other ways to potty train a child then to let them sit in it. How would you like it if I made you sit in your pee and poop till you went in the bathroom and "cleaned yourself up." A 4 yr old is not gonna be able to clean himself up. Your just wrong.
2 people like this
@Sissygrl (10912)
• Canada
21 Jan 09
I agree.. you can't let him sit in his own feces.. he will get rashes and infections possibly. .
2 people like this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
21 Jan 09
The point is- He won't sit in his own feces in training pants! But he will in a pullup diaper. He's not stupid, he knows whats going on. Hes got both his mom and his babysitter all tied up in knots and he's enjoying it. If you stop babying him and start treating him like the little boy he is, he will begin acting like a little boy rather than the baby your making him out to be. Get on to it, and show him how uncomfortable it is to act like a baby. I know what its like, I raised 4 boys and never had a problem that couldn't be fixed.
@nixxi76 (3191)
• Canada
20 Jan 09
You're right about boys being harder than girls when it comes to potty training that's forsure but this is a sign of abuse to allow a four year old to wet themselves. Unless the kid is mentally disabled... I think the mother needs more disaplining skills and figure out who's in control.. the child or her. That's not fair for you either because he's not your child and you pretty much have to obey what the mother wants. I would sit down with her and figure out a way to stop this child from this nasty habit. Make out a reward chart and use stickers if you need to and if he's good with it all week then he should earn a prize. Persistance is the key and no matter what, keep trying.
1 person likes this
@bamakelly (5191)
• United States
20 Jan 09
This is something that can be a struggle to deal with. I have a five year old son myself and he was not fully potty trained until about the age of four himself. Every child has their time frame. I do agree that it is probably a little more difficult to train a boy. I think when a boy is ready he will know and the parents will know. If there is really any concern maybe a doctor could intervene. Some of the ideas that have been implemented by the parents here that you speak seem like good theories to use. Sometimes the child could feel pushed and that could cause a child to not want to cooperate. Believe me. If my son can do it anyone can! I thought I would never get him figured out when it came to the toilet training. He is now doing good and sometimes he has an accident during the night but we have him wear pull ups. Accidents are going to be a part of life.
• United States
20 Jan 09
I know this is hard I have a 2 year old that I am trying to potty train as well as an 18 month old, all these people telling you that he should have been potty trained need to lay off these things take timand if you push the child there not gonna do it all you are gonna do is scare them even more. mY 2 year old was doing great and then we sent him to his grandmothers house and when he came back he refused to go to the bathroom besides in his diaper they were not making him use the potty up there with them. One thing that I have learned is that you have to be persistent with this. I've tried everything that you have butnot the cheerios my kids would rather eat them than pee in them and I don't want to take the chance of them doing that. My advice is just keep trying and I've had a lot of luck with putting them in the corner or the time out chair when they go in there pants or under the table or wherever they decide to go so try that and good luck I know what your going through