Im not sure what to do with my 2 1/2 year old little boy. He was so interested in potty training a week ago and has now reverted to only wanting to use the diaper. He isnt against getting on the toilet, so I dont want to give up. We did find out he has fear of getting his foot wet. He doesnt like when he gets any body part or clothes wet. So we think thats the main reason for his rollercoaster potty training. Anyone have any suggestions on how I should proceed.
Thanks everyone who responded to my request. We haven't completely given up potty training, because he still will sit on the toilet without complaint, except to do it himself. We scaled back our efforts and took many of your advice about using pullups. For now he is ok with that. When he becomes more confident, we will switch to underware. I also bought a toilet seat attachment from Baby's R Us which helps keep the urine in the toilet. Again thank you.
DON'T give up. Boys just take longer. I have 2 boys. My first was so easy--wham, bham, thank you mam, he was done by 2 1/2....my second little boys is almost 3 and though he does not mind going pee on the potty, he still has a hard time telling me before he goes. The only thing I can say is let him see everyone else in the house using the potty and eventually he will get it! SMILES!
He's a little, tiny person. His mind is curious about potty-training, but his body's not cooperating yet. I would drop the whole topic for a while, and wait until he brings it up again a few months down the road.
Boys take longer, if you push it, it will backfire.
Put him back into pullups, then take him to the potty every hour to hour and a half and ask him to at least try.
If he goes, YEAH! If not well then thank him for trying.
Put up a chart, use stickers to chart out how well he does and have a reward he really wants at the end. My daughter potty trained for Care Bears, my son Transformers!
If you push him it will be a power struggle.
He has to fully understand the urge, be able to hold it, wake up dry and all that. If he isn't ready, he isn't ready.
Boys are funny and really just not ready unless all the pieces fit. So give him some time. Take him into the potty frequently but just ask him if he will try.
Don't give up but also don't sweat it either. Don't use diapers, use pullups. I trained both of mine fine in pullups!!! I didn't care for the potty messes and it made the situation harder. I don't believe in putting them in underwear at all until they are really ready, because it stresses you out with the messes and it does them. Tell him very matter of fact, when he is ready to be a big boy, here are the cool underwear he can have!!
My feeling is wait and give it time so when it is done it is done 100%, otherwise you can do what you are doing and it drag out longer and be stressful. Personally for me, just waiting helped.
My daughter and son were 100% (day and night)potty trained shortly after their third bday, it was worth just waiting!!!!
Does he have a little potty seat? That might help him with his fear of getting wet, since it has no water in it.
My first also had problems with waning interest. At first, he was self-motivated. Cheers and phone calls to Grandma and Daddy were enough. But when his interest faded, stickers and rewards helped a lot. I drew a chart on a poster board, with lots of little squares to fill up with smiley-face stickers. He got one for going pee, two for going poop. And at the bottom right corner was a picture of a tent, because his big reward for filling up the whole chart was a camping trip with Daddy. The picture helped him remember his big reward.
He got to choose the color of sticker, too.
And he got a chocolate chip for going pee, two for going poop, although he liked it better when I gave him freeze-dried strawberries for a reward.
Hi M. - I encourage you to "go with the flow" on this one. : ) I'm going through this exact thing right now. My 2.5 yo son is very interested in the potty but it's mostly just for fun. As soon as I started training in interest by taking him to the potty every 45 minutes, he started saying "no thank you! no thank you!" and that was my cue to back off a little. He hasnt suggested the potty for 3 days so I'm pretty sure I moved faster than what he was ready for.
Be patient - boys take longer than girls usually when it comes to potty training. My first was well into his 3s before he was reliably dry every day.
look into getting a Peter Potty, they are little urinals. http://www.peterpotty.com/
It won't help with number 2 but sometimes you have to tackle them one at a time! ;)
Good luck!
Give him time. 2 1/2 is actually young for a boy being potty trained. The more you push, the harder it will be for both of you (especially if he's as stubborn as my kids were, lol). Let him lead, and you follow. If he wants to sit on the potty, let him. If he wants to just use his diaper, let him, and don't make him feel like he's not doing it ok if he does. Chances are, he won't really be ready to potty train for almost a year (average age for boys is almost 3 1/2) so don't rush him. When kids are really ready, they figure it out very fast.
For my boys it was normal. They would get really interested in potty training, and then they would be done. Wait a couple of weeks, don't push it and it will be really easy. They like to get the idea, wait a little bit, think about it, and then it is really really easy to potty train them. My first took 1 week and he was completely done. My second did it himself one day.
