Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Potty Training
Ok, I'm going to ask for advice ... will my son every be potty trained??? He will be 3 next month and I am starting to dispair! I get so frustrated with it all, which doesn't help. I'm tired of washing wet underwear and pants with absolutely no results. I feel like we both just get more and more frustrated as the day progresses. Me nagging him to sit on the potty and him going off right after we get off and peeing in his underwear. And pullups don't seem to help either. We have tried rewards for sitting and trying, rewards for doing your business and are holding out a reward for a toy he wants when he can keep his underwear dry for a whole week. I don't know if he just doesn't get it yet or if we have the wrong approach. Oh, and another toy is promised if he can tell us before he needs to go and then go in the potty. What're your thoughts?
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9 comments:
stop completely. return to diapers full-time and try again in a month or two.
i have no advice to give. none at all. other than that. if that's even helpful!
Potty training is the most frustrating thing to teach a child!! Parker is potty trained now, except for at night, but it's been a LONG process.
What finally worked for us was to have a "potty chart" for Parker. Every time he went potty in the potty chair, he would get a sticker, if he wet his pants, he didn't. Then after a row was full (5 stickers) he got to pick a prize out of the prize bag. I tried the so many days being dry and then you get a toy tactic, but 5 days were too long for Parker's short attention span. I let him keep the potty charts that were full of stickers. He was soooo proud! The poop training is even harder. I finally gave up trying to get him to go poop on the potty because he was holding it in. Instead I had him ask for a pullup and he would go in the pullup and I would put underwear back on him when he was done. Right around New Years Parker decided to go in the toilet and has been doing great ever since.
Hope that helps!! It is incredibly frustrating! He'll get it. :) Sorry for the book!
Oh I forgot to mention, that after Parker got the hang of this prize bag thing and was doing better, then he had to fill 2 rows before getting a prize. We also filled the prize bag up with match box cars and trucks....things he absolutely loves to play with.
Ok, I'm done now. :)
Such a frustrating time! Don't know that I have any advice....but well familiar with the frustration! Sometimes it seems like our tactics change DAILY. Some people suggest to stay away from pullups....they blur the line between diapers and undies.
Thanks for the tip on green eggs and ham! Sounds better than dumping a bunch of food coloring in!
Potty training is the most frustrating thing I've had to teach my children (so far)!!!!!
I've heard that the key is patience & not getting visibly annoyed. Can't say I was very good at that.
If he's very resistant just stop & try later. The daycare ladies taught Evan, I didn't really have to do anything for him... Wanda (from the daycare) said the key for her was timing. It was a fun thing & they tried the potty on a routine schedule. Then once they'd gone a few times successfully, she started to work on getting them to tell her they needed to go.
And cheesy as it is... here a link to a potty training article.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/potty-training/CC00060
I agree with Shannon. Stop, go back to diapers, wait awhile and see if he wants to try again. My daycare boy was 3 or a little older before he finally wanted to train.
When he does finally show an interest in training, take him shopping and let him pick out his underwear.
I think it's a social thing that your kid should be trained by 2 and when they are 3 and still in diapers, it makes mom feel horrible.
Don't worry, he'll be trained by school!!
i've heard that boys take a little longer. I agree with Neisha that it's a social thing that they be trained by 2 yrs. I think it's very rare when that actually happens.
Here's my 2 cents...
1- just wait until their ready-let him keep wearing diapers and he'll eventually be ready and realize that big underwear is the way to go. How many 5 and 6 yrs olds do you know that still wear diapers that are capable of wearing underwear? =)
2-Our PT said she did this with her 3 kids...in the summer marked off an entire week to just stay at home, and have the child wear a big t-shirt (so it covers their tush) and play outside with out underwear on. They'll have some accidents, but at least you're outside and it won't be all over your carpet. they'll start not liking it running down their legs. by the end of the week all her kids were potty trained and wearing underwear.
I do understand not wanting to be changing 2 kids diapers all day long, but if it's frustrating for the child it's going to be frustrating to the parent, and to me, that's harder than just changing the diapers.
Good luck!
PS when Jonna was finally potty trained we celebrated by going out to dinner and making a big deal of it then. We didn't do any charts or daily prizes or anything like that.
I keep forgetting to tell you about what my sister in law told me - a potty training idea called Kamp Kool-Aide - fill your kid up with what ever they will chug and have them sit on the potty every 20 minutes all day long.
We did a sticker chart for Jonathan, and it seemed to work for him. At first he got to pick a prize, after only a few stickers, then gradually we increased the # of stickers he had to get. Then, a whole day, after that worked for a while, then 2 days, etc. But, if Ethan is resisting, don't push it. Looking back, I think that's what caused us the most stress. I'm not sure I agree with going back to diapers, unless Ethan has the idea that diapers are for babies, and he is NOT a baby. Having a new baby in the family can be a huge help or a huge setback, as in our case. I think I would keep asking him if he needs to go, or if he wants to try, but if he doesn't, don't push it. But don't put him in underwear until he can stay dry for a while and doesn't resist going to the potty. It's too much stress and work for you!
On another note, will you be at Emo this year? We are thinking of going. And, we're going to try to get down to see Rob and Jess (Indianapolis) at the beginning of June.
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