Potty Training Isn't Working..

I've raised four kids and I had a hard time with my son, too, so I did give up. The reason was because going to the potty was becoming something that he saw as something negative, something that he did not want to do. Instead I left the potty chair in the living room and let him play with it whenever he was in the mood to and, eventually, he started showing an interest in being a "big boy" and using the potty. My philosophy is this: As long as the kid isn't still in diapers when he starts school, it doesn't matter exactly when he started using the potty. I had the same attitude about the bottle and none of my kids wore diapers or took a bottle to school.

Rewards work best for potty training IMO. There are pullups around now that allow them to feel wet when they are wet. You could use those or training underwear and plastic pants so he can tell when he's wet. Then tell him you would like him to use the potty and that he will get a sticker (or some other small reward) when he uses it. You could give him a star on a chart and when he racks up a certain number of stars he earns a bigger reward, like an ice cream or something.
The potty training should be a positive experience and not a negative one.
When he goes in his pants, if you can get him to clean up or help clean up that will reinforce that going in the pants is more trouble and a negative thing. Don't fuss a lot or give him a lot of attention when he messes up,(little talking while cleaning up). The attention, even if negative, may reinforce the behavior. Instead, praise like crazy when he uses the potty and you give him a reward. You may have to just tell him and remind him about the reward potential for a few days in a row before he decides to use the potty. But try to get him to make the right choice himself and praise, praise, praise!

I am finding the same thing happening with my two year old. He gets the idea what the potty is for but would rather wee on the floor then sit on it. He is at the stage when he will come and tell me if he needs a nappy change as he knows when he has pooed.
But i am not too concerned as he is my fifth child and all my other children did it in their own time.
I just leave the potty were he can see it so he knows its there if he feels like using it.
I did that with all my children and the day did come when they decided that they wanted to use the potty. But there was a few accidents but that is something to be expected. I believe it is best to allow the child to do it in their own time as all children are different and develop at a different rate.

Hey, you're doing a great job! Try not to get frustrated - although I know this can be a long and drawn out process - but try to remain patient. I think the important thing to remember is to not "force" him to sit on the potty, but rather word it in an encouraging way so he thinks it's his choice. I found that when potty training my kids - they wanted to be independent and found it much more enticing to go when they got to decide when they wanted to go. I'd say things like "Mommy needs to go potty like a big girl, do you need to go too?" and then my daughter would be like "hmm yes!" and sit on there while I sat on there. Sometimes I'd let her sit on the portable one in the living room while watching tv just to get a feel of when she needed to go and then once she went I'd give her lots of praise and hugs and kisses. Just try to monitor his drinking and encourage him to just "sit" on it every few hours or according to his bladder needs...you know him best. Try to have your husband (if applicable) take him with him so they can go together. Try putting cheerios in the potty and then having him try to hit the cheerios when peeing..kind of a fun game and teaching him how to aim at the same time. I've trained two girls, and my son is now 7 months old so it may be different with him. If he resists all together try taking a break and then encouraging him to go again in a week or so. He has plenty of time! Hope this helps and stay encouraged...he will get it!

Boys are harder to train and to be honest I think 2 is too early. I do not think your son really understands what is going on. Also some children do not have as much control of their spincher muscles... For bowel movements, as early as others.

My son was not mentally ready until he was about 3 and a half because one day when my mother was watching him she decided he should be trained so she had a marathon type training day. Well he was so scared after that day he would not even look at one.
But when I sensed he was ready I offered him a reward and he only had one accident after that ( because I was on the phone and when he said he had to go). And to me if a child has more than one or two accidents then they are not really trained, and any parents who claim they are trained are only fooling themselves.
A child HAS to understand what they are doing. Not to be crude, but he should be noticing that his dad uses "the big potty" and want to copy him, that is a BIG motivator. Social cues are very important.

My son was really easy to potty trained. I gave him stickers on his sticker chart, each time he used the potty, flushed, and washed his hands. I had a circle for each place that a sticker went, and then when he got to the tenth sticker in each place, I had the circle done boldly, so he understood where the stickers had to reach before he got his special prize, since he didn't grasp the concept of numbers yet.

He was consistently peeing in the potty all the time about a 5 or 6 weeks before he was able to consistently poo in it, though.

One thing that he really liked, was using the big potty, instead of his potty chair. He will use the potty chair if he really needs to go, and can't make it to the bathroom, but he prefers to use the big potty, with one of those little seats on it. It makes him feel more grown up!

Ok, you really need to stop pushing, the more you push the more he'll not want to do it. If you continue to push you may scare him away from the potty completely & it'll take even longer.

Obviously he just isn't ready to begin & he's trying to tell you that so you need to leave it for a little bit & let him take an interest in it, in his own time.

If you insist on forcing him to go with it, perhaps leave the potty alone & put him on the toilet. My daughter has no interest in her potty & if she's nappy-less she'll just hold on until she's got a nappy on again. However, she will happily sit on the big toilet & has gone a couple of times.

Also, from what i have heard, little boys are harder than little girls so if 2 is too young for my daughter then there's a good chance it's even more too young for your son, you're just not listening to him:)

Don't stress about it & again, don't force it or you'll keep him from wanting to go at all on his own. He'll take an interest in it when he's ready & you should just sit back & wait for that time to come!

My son had a problem pooping on the potty. We had quite a few messes before he would finally do it. Don't give up...it will happen when he is ready. Don't push too hard, just let it happen on his time. Good luck!

My son tried at 2 yrs old, even succeeded a couple of times, but he never really got it and then he just refused. It became so much of an issue and was stressing us all out, so we said we would try later. We kept talking about it and just let him go. He didn't try again until about 3 1/2 and then he just did it, almost all of a sudden. One day he asked to wear his 'big boy undies' and that was it.

He did try to 'back out of it' a couple of times. I just told him that was fine but he would have to sit on 'the brown towel' on the floor. He really didn't appreciate that and he decided that he would go in the potty instead. LOL! There was very little 'training' involved as he was just ready for the next step and took it himself, with no stress to him or us.;) It's been great and he has not had but a few accidents, wet ones. He's done wonderfully as HE was ready and was not being forced by us. It was hard for me as I had my mom telling me to MAKE him sit on the pottie. I just couldn't see that as he would cry and be so miserable and just hold it until I put a diaper or pull up back on him. I felt so bad and he felt bad and what does my mom know about MY son anyways? LOL!

I had many supportive friends telling me that it's very common for boys to potty train later and just do it when they are ready and that is what he did and he is so proud and does so well now. He never has an accident. It's great and we are all happy and the diapers were not really that big a deal looking back now. His success is what is more important.

I have two kids and my first was a pain to potty train, when u sit him on the potty try giving him a toy to play with, sometimes it will take their mind off of holding it and they will go and when he does potty make a big deal about it and give him some candy or something to reward him, skittles were my sons favorite, after one week my son was potty trained. and good luck!!:)