Potty Training

My daughter just turned 4 in March. I thought she would never be potty trained. We used to have a babysitter that would make her sit on the toilet for over an hour at a time if she peed in her diaper, so it was a huge set back. So frustrating. I took her to the doctor because I was so worried, nothing worked. Then this year she started preschool and they worked with her there, and one day she came home and I asked her to try. We prayed together before she sat down, and to this day she has never worn a diaper during the day again. That was it, all the fighting, her tears, my tears and she decided that she didn't want diapers anymore.

To me it is the most frustrating thing for a parent of young kids. The only good advice I have is don't worry about what everyone else has done or says. It will happen, just not as soon as we would like. Just try to find patience, that I seemed to lose a lot!

Good luck!

I know its frustrating mom son who is now 7 wasn't potty trained until he was over 3 and a half. I think kids do it on their own time. Hang in there. I have 3 kids and each one was different. I think a schedule helps if you can get him to try. Maybe something like fruit loops to aim at to make it fun? Also not to get too personal but my boys really liked going in with their dad. You might want to take a break for a few days if you both are really stressing out about it. My youngest also ran around without pants for a few weeks. That was fun! But it seemed to work. What fun it was to convince him he had to wear pants again! Hope this helps.

Hang in there. Every kid is different and from my experience, boys take longer than girls. My son loved his "potty train". We made a train with poster boards, cars and all. On it was his potty chart. He put stickers on it each time he went. When he filled up each car he got a treat (dollar store) and when he made it through the cabose he got his reward. You can choose whatever he wants that you're willing to give. It was a big success for Wyatt and we'll be trying it with McCoy this winter. My girls were super easy, but Wyatt needed a little encouragement.

Good Luck!

I think all kids will do it only when they are ready.  Have you asked his dr if he/she is concerned about it?

My son was pretty easy to potty train.  We tried when he was 2 1/2, but he didn't seem ready.  We didn't mention it again for almost 2 months, then tried again.  Basically we sat in the bathroom for almost an entire day.  I was 6 months pregnant and I was determined to accomplish potty training before the baby came.  I thought that maybe if we focused on it for the whole day, rather than trying to make him remember it while he was playing with toys, etc, it would be easier.  After that day, I think he's only had a few accidents.  It worked for him, but I can see how it would be too much pressure for some kids.

In order to encourage him on a daily basis, we gave him a sticker chart to sticker up every time he went.  We also gave him a new piggy bank and gave him money every time he went.  Paying him may not have been the ideal way to achieve potty training, but he LOVED taking his earnings to Target and buying a new car.  I think it gave him a sense of pride, knowing he worked hard for the money in his bank.

All kids will respond to different methods, and they will only do it when they are ready.  Maybe back off for just a few weeks, change the whole potty training attitude and see if he responds differently.  Do you have family that could work with him?  Some kids may respond to someone else more so than mom or dad.  My mom sent me to grandmas and I was potty trained over the weekend.  My mom said I was very stubborn with her, but I acted totally different when grandma tried.

Good luck! 

Jessica
~ Mommy to Luke and Shawn

I thought potty training was hard. My husband and I tried very hard. My mother was helping also, but when he would go over to my mother-in-laws she would put a diaper on him if he asked. That did not help at all. Anyway he would have pullups on and that was not helping either. Finally I took away the pullups and started in underwear for him. We went to the store and he got to pick out his underwear. We would make sure in the mornings that we would stop and go to the bathroom before going to play or watch TV. Things started to look up once we got him into underwear. He also went to school with pullups on. We explained to him that if he had to go to ask his teachers to take him to the bathroom. One Saturday he went over to my mothers house and she worked with him the whole day on going in the toilet. I think that shortly after that he was trained. He mainly decided to do it on his own. But we did try to get him to go when he got up in the morning and then again before naptime and after naptime. And ofcourse before bedtime. He normally worked with Daddy much better than Mommy on this stuff. Sometimes Mommy does not have the patients for dealing with these things. But I am learning to deal with these things each day.

Mommy of Aaron

My son was 3 years old when I started to potty train him and I looked up websites on potty traing and what help the best for me is leaving him diaper and underwear free with just a long t-shirt on so he wasn't exposed and it worked so well. We also made sure his potty chair was in the same room as him so it was right there for him