Potty training

United States
August 19, 2007 5:23am CST
I am potty training my son. He was almost completely potty trained and then he starts to get lazy and when hes playing with his friends or watching tv he pees in his underwear. I get so irritated because I know he can pee in the potty. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can make potty training for my son fun and get his interest back. Before it was preschool i told him if he wanted to go to preschool then he had to peepee in the potty. but now hes started and then he had two accidents and they told me to put pullups on him untill he is potty trained. PLEASE HElP
3 people like this
6 responses
@pinnibabu (135)
19 Aug 07
you have not mentioned your son's age. I remember I had started potty training my daughter when she was a year old. Firstly I had to be patient. Later she realized she was supposed to pee and do her potty in the loo itself. I made her realize that it was not right to do whereever she wants to; Everyone goes to the loo and she should also go there. U also make your son realize the same. I am sure he will change
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Aug 07
Thanks for you help. my son is three Ive been working with him over a yr. He was doing great and it just seems like he lost interest. I dont know how to make it fun for him.
1 person likes this
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
19 Aug 07
For some reason when kids concentrate and are having fun they forget about having to go to the potty. My daughter had the same problem and she would have accidents. I would always ask her every couple of hours to go potty while she was at home. You might have to put some pull-ups on him while he is in preschool until he gets back on track. But while at home, often ask if he has to go potty and make him go regardless. That's what I did for my dauhgter until she started going on her own.
1 person likes this
• United States
19 Aug 07
thanks for your help. I do ask him and make him go. I guess he just gets so distracted he dont think about it. It gets me because he was doing really good and then he just seems like he dont care
1 person likes this
@MrsFrizzle (1963)
• United States
20 Aug 07
You have to constently remind him. I worked in a daycare with 12 2-3 year olds all potty training at the same time. The only way to ensure they do not have accidents when they are playing or watching tv is to say go sit on the potty and they usually will go. I would tell each child every hour or two. If they would go they got a sticker on there potty chart and after the chart was full they got a prize. After a while the child would go just to get the sticker and earn a prize and eventually they will stay in the cycle. Also make sure you are being constant with you and the school.
• United States
20 Aug 07
thank you for your suggestions. I love the potty chart idea i might give it a try.
@GardenGerty (157918)
• United States
20 Aug 07
I watched five little girls who had birthdays within two months of each other. Mine trained super easy between twenty months and two years old. One child would do like your son. I just would make her stop playing immediately, then go change her own clothes and wash up before she could go play some more. She learned quickly that it was much easier to go potty and get it over with than to have to change her own clothes, especially since her mom put her in tons of clothes. I would refuse to put him in pullups at home, save them for preschool if they insist, but I do not think it helps, other than to be convenient for them.
• United States
20 Aug 07
Thank you for your help. I do agree that the pull ups dont help. The reason his preschool said that was because he had two accidents in the same day. I dont know if he was just so distracted he forgot or if its just he was in a new place surrounded by people he really dont know.
@carissa765 (1097)
• United States
19 Aug 07
The best thing to do is just remember he is a child and TRY not to get frustrated... I know I thought yeah rigth easy for you to say when my mom told me the same thing.. I finally learned that it doesn't help them if you do. They think they are "bad" if they see you get upset over something, and potty training is not something you want them to feel like they are bad over.(save that for the lying) Anyway after I got over the frustration and anger, I found ways to make it fun... Have a potty party everytime he goes, make him feel like he is special every time. Throw some ripped up paper in the air and sing a happy song.. (make one up with him, it is fun) You can also try giving him something to aim at. Put cheerios in the toilet and tell him to sink the ships. Play like it is a war and tell him they are the enemy. Try not to give him gifts of value, becuase this will only make him expect it every time and then he will go back to pottying in his pants when you try to take them away and not give them to him any more. Make sure evry time he does go in the potty that you tell him how proud you are of him, and that he is such a big boy. Never associate "I love you" with a job that got done because you need to love your children for "being" not "doing". Good luck and I hope you find something that works for you and him, and no more pull-ups would be great I'm sure.
• United States
19 Aug 07
Thank you. You gave me some great things to try. I like the cheerios idea and i think im gonna try it.
@sherry24 (252)
20 Aug 07
My eldest is 4 and he doesnt like the idea of poo's, I have 6th sense with him now and know the signs, he doesn't mess himself, he just tries to hold it in. Then my 2 1/2 year old was trained then has started messing again, I got really frustrated too, but then I recieved an update email from pampers (I recieve one for each of my 3 at their particular stages) it said that 2 year olds regress for a little while, and just to help them through it and be patient.
@mamaida (48)
• Singapore
20 Aug 07
I train my son when he was about 2 1/2 years old, when I was on my maternity leave having my daughter. I bought a horse like potty and put it in the balcony where he usually play with his toys, but he still have not use it. After about a week I remove the horse like potty in the toilet and let him play with it during his shower and I was teaching him to do his business there. After making him familiar, I started with asking his to do his business every 1/2 hour and also and night carrying him to the toilet about every one to two hours. I pitty him at first but it realy works, after trainning for about 1 month here was responding to my trainning, and I am always racing with him to the toilet and he really enjoy doing it. So far during this potty tranning he only pee in his pants once during the first week. To my surprise he tend to get up to pee during the night, he will wake me up from my sleep. My husband was also supportive he will wake up at night to carry my son to the toilet to do his business. After about 2 months it was a normal routine for my son and I also start buying a removal toilet seat for him and he start doing his business using the normal toilet bowl. Same goes with my daughter, Now my son is nine and my daughter is six when I tell my friends about this, they will say that I am lucky that my children responded to the trainning. But I still think mummy and daddy have to play a big role in this making it fun.
• United States
20 Aug 07
Thanks for your help. I do agree that mommy and daddy play a huge role in potty training. I agree that they need all the support that we can give him. I just get so upset because i have been working with him for over a yr on it.