Wednesday, January 9, 2008

WFMW -- HELP! It's Potty Training time!

I am so very thankful that today is the Backward's Edition of WFMW. I am in desperate need for help!

The time has come for the most dreaded parenting task, at least it has been for me. I began worrying about this time when I was still pregnant with Hoss. The dreaded potty training is upon us.

A few days after Christmas Hoss had his first pee pee in the potty event. Since then, nothing. We have changed from diapers to pull ups only, but where do I go from here.

How did you potty train your boys? What type of potty did you use? The potty chair we have nearly seems too small for Hoss. Did you use the insert into the big potty? Did you start with sitting down or standing up? How much should I force the issue?

HELP! I need it!

9 comments:

Kerri said...

My boys are 6 and 1. I also have a 9yo daughter. I will do some things the same with the 1yo and some things different.

I used a little floor potty, but now I think the insert is probably better. We started out sitting. Then he was reluctant to stand, but he got it eventually. Cloth training pants worked pretty well for getting the message across. Of course, they are more work, and you still will want the pull-ups for going out.

With my son, we rewarded him for a good job by taking the lid off the toilet tank and letting him see how the flush worked. He likes anything mechanical, so that was a treat for him. You probably know already if that would work for your guy.

Fratzels said...

My son is 2 years and 9 months. We started him at 2.5 years.
I started by asking daycare their advice. As far as I am concerned, they are the experts and have done it for years - me, never.

First rule, according my daycare provider - no pullups. She said they are just as absorbent as diapers, so kids don't feel the wetness. We bought training underwear and rubber pants (the rubber pants only protect you from puddles on the floor).

Also, take him to the toilet every 30 minutes in the beginning, then start to stretch that time out.

Timmy gets a sticker on a chart for going on the potty. He also gets a sticker for no accidents all day. he gets a sticker for his shirt when he asks to go. It works for him.

I tried potty seats, but the urine always went under the rim and made a big mess. After a few days of that, he learned to balance himself of the toilet and that works out well too. Our toilets are too high for him to stand and pee (which is just fine with me as I'm not a fan of cleaning up dribble).

lisa h. said...

we tried training our son when he was about 2 1/2 and it went kinda ok and then he decided he hated the potty, so we took a 6 month break and trained him in 2 weeks just before his 3rd birthday.

-we bribed him with going to target each week (for 4 weeks) to pic a new ninja turtle toy because of his potty efforts. they say not to use food as a reward....so we just bought toys!

-i bought the baby bjorn potty seat (which i love) and would just set it in the living room the first few weeks (cause it's really hard to stop playing toys to go potty, so this way it was right there and easy for him). plus it's the best potty seat for boys in my opinion...easy to clean too.

-also i wouldn't ask or tell him to potty all the time....i might say...hey let's go outside and play with our friends, but first we need to go potty. it worked better than that way....hey it's snack time, but we better go potty first.

-it also helped to go straight underwear....pullups only for bedtime.

-and just pack lots of extra clothes with you...we had many accidents during our training at walmart, target, church etc....but it only lasted about a week and then he would tell me before he went and we'd hurry to find the bathroom.

SAHMmy Says said...

I posted how we potty trained our son backwards (taught him to poop in the potty first, then pee) at http://sahmmysays.blogspot.com/2007/10/ten-tips-to-potty-trainbackwards.html Potty training season is hard, but they all do learn eventually! Just keep up the positive energy! Good luck :)

Ang said...

Of course I've only been through this 1 time, so I'm by no means an expert :) For Mikey, bare bum style for about 2 days worked for him!! He hated when he felt the dribble down his leg (underwear just served as diapers in his oppinion), and we can count all accidents that we've had on both hands. Good luck!! Just remember that if he isn't ready, just to drop it for a while. It will happen!!! and don't get sucked into the mindset that it has to happen early!!

Anonymous said...

We liked using the little seat insert you place on top of the big potty. More stable & less fear of "falling in" than just sitting on the big seat. Our boys were on the big side for the little potty chairs. Standing & aiming at a couple cheerios was good, too.

We liked the cotton training pants which catch some of the accidents. (fewer puddles!) Unfortunately, each kid is different. Treats (M&Ms or jelly beans or a Hershey kiss) & sticker charts (add up to earn a prize) do help! Best of luck!!

Ronda

Janelle said...

Good luck! What's worked for me is starting around 18 months I got the little potty out and had them sit on it at regular times like before bedtime, then added in the morning, before nap, etc. At that point I expected nothing, but sometimes got something. We rewarded with skittles or M&M's. Then it moved on to more times throughout the day and then we jumped into going naked for a weekend and pumping them full of fluids and taking them every 15 minutes until they got the hang of it. Next step is cloth underwear-unless your daycare provider won't let you, when we used a daycare they wouldn't in the beginning stages, it had to be a pull-up.

Lindsey said...

I've only trained one but it so worked and I will use this method again!

With my little girl, the most effective thing was to let her go "pants-less" around the house. In other words, she wore a long t-shirt and nothing else. After one accident, she wanted to go to the potty. We didn't leave the house for 3 days just to make sure. On the 3rd day, she was wearing big girl panties and she has had VERY few accidents. Her doctor had told me to try this method but I thought the doc was crazy. I was SHOCKED when it worked so easily. Good luck!

Pam said...

I have only trained a girl so far. We went straight to panties, and did a couple of days of intense training. She knew what to do, but was very stubborn. Rewards of fruit loops worked for her. I put pull-ups on her when we went to church or doctor appointments because the situation was beyond my control, and I didn't want to cause work for anyone but me (learned this the hard way).

I hope it goes well for you, and like someone else said, if you try, and he is not ready, just give up for a while. I'd rather have an easier time with an older child than stress with a younger one. (Learned that the hard way too!)