Thursday, January 22, 2009

Do you have to potty?


I swear I have said this phrase about a million times this past week! Devin has been waking up with a dry diaper for a good 7 months. Then about 6 months ago we got Devin his potty chair and put it in his bathroom to let him explore it and get over playing with it. We would periodically have him sit on it and encourage him to go potty while one of us went to the restroom...he never would "go". Well we started seriously potty training Devin two weeks ago this Friday. He gets the idea of it and all but Oh Lord help me it hasn't "clicked" yet. Some days he is only having one accident and others...well they aren't so good. But it is always a small accident.


We are using the Huggies Feel and Learn Pullups and they have helped quit a bit! They way they work is when they get wet it gets cool and reminds him not to potty in his pants. I am like clock work giving him a gentle reminder every 20-30 minutes "Don't potty in your pants hun" and every hour and a half or so "Do you have to potty?", but of course the answer is no the answer to everything is no. I usually encourage him to sit down and try about every two hours and he always goes....


How do I get him to tell me that he needs to go? How do I get him to just go sit on the potty and go? How do I get him to go "#2" on the potty?


I know that there are books that parents read to help them with every aspect of raising a child...I would rather hear from actual experience what works for other parents. What has worked for you? He will be 3 in April and I do feel like he is ready, we just need some good advise!
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13 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, I tried pt Luke before Dylan was born at the beginning of June(he was 2 1/2). It was wonderful for the first 3 days. He didn't wear a diaper or underwear, he was just bare booty! We didn't have any accidents. We had a sticker chart and prizes. And then on the 4th day, all of the excitement of pt wore off. He didn't want to sit on the potty anymore. So, I gave up trying, and figured I would revisit it after he turned 3. We did keep on asking if he wanted to wear big boy undies, and if he wanted to give his baby diapers to Rhett. And the day after Halloween, something clicked. He woke up and told my hubby that he didn't want to wear diapers anymore, and he hasn't. Not a one. He has worn undies since Nov. 1st, with maybe 5 accidents total. Don't ask me. I talked to another one of my girlfriend's and her son did the same exact thing.
Maybe you could only have him wear the pull-ups at nap and bedtime. Do undies all the rest of the time. It's a little more cleanup for you, but I know Luke really hates the feeling of wet undies. It is almost like a negative reinforcement for them. And I got a big treat bucket and put cars and balls and candy and figurines in it. He really loved that. Good Luck!!!

Brittany said...

Oh, I know in a few years I am going to need all of these tips and tricks!

Betsy said...

We are doing the same thing and I have NO clue. If anything works...let me know.

Unknown said...

I personally don't think pull-ups are a good idea. It just seems kind of confusing for a child, sometimes they go on the potty, sometimes they go in their pull-ups. They need to learn NEVER to go in their pants, and ALWAYS go on the potty. So, we never did the pull-ups during the day, only at night. And I had a few accidents to clean up in his undies, but it wasn't too tough.
Luke really never had any issues with going number 2 on the potty. But I have a few friends whose kids did/do have issues with it. They have tried withholding a favorite toy starting first thing in the morning, and once their child goes number two they can get the toy to play with for the day.
And I also took Luke to pick out undies. So, he has quite a variety. One of my friend's also would tell her son if he was wearing Mickey undies for instance, "don't get mickey wet. mickey thinks that is yucky. so, if you need to go pee-pee, let's go in the potty so mickey doesn't get pee pee on him." her son DID NOT want to get mickey wet at all. So, you just have to find what works for your child. And what worked for us, was just letting Luke choose when he was ready. Thank goodness for small miracles:)

Becky said...

I have potty trained three of my kids now... couldn't tell you exactly how. I think I just yelled at them till the got it right.

Kidding! Kidding!

Maybe every time he sits on the potty have him practice saying "potty, Mommy" Then he'll start saying it when he has to go.

Heather said...

When you find the answer to this age old question- please share.

I have a toddler who will be 3 in March and it still hasn't clicked with him either. :-(

jannifergrier said...

My advice would be to just keep practicing and talking about it, but don't worry about it. I did everything with Ryan--big boy undies, dvds, m&m's--and honestly nothing really worked until a few weeks before his 3rd birthday, I was letting him run around naked so he would think about using the bathroom and it finally just clicked and he called me and he had went poopy all by himself and ever since then he has used the bathroom and has been dry every night with the exception of like 2 nights. I think that they do it when they are ready or atleast with Ryan it was on his time and not one day before. But once he figured it out on his on, that was it. I understand your frustration though, I could not imagine having to do double diaper duty right now :)

Sherry said...

I agree with HD. The pull-ups can be confusing and causes their accidents to seem less like one to them. They get more of a sensation of "accident" when wearing regular underwear. It will be messier for you but he'll get the idea of why its not a good thing to go in his pants.

Be patient and don't push too hard. Sometimes when pushed too hard, they "stick their heels in the ground" and refuse. I was the administrator of a child care facility for approx. 14 years; we pottied trained hundreds of children during that time! Also, I raised a son (fully P.T. at 2 1/2). However, boys can sometimes be a little more difficult to train than girls. (My granddaughter was the exception here. She's wasn't fully trained until age 3.Her mother begin to think that she would be wearing pull-ups to Pre-K:) )

I promise you, one day soon, it will all just "kick in" for him. :)
Keep up the good work!

Shell in your Pocket said...

Whoa..that is some potty...My kids just got plastic with a princess on it!
-sandy toe

Lorie said...

There really is not magic answer. You really do just have to ask like a million times and when they get it they get it!

Mandi @ Sweetly Home said...

What a high-tech lookin' potty! Sheesh! I'd like one of those in my house!

Hccm said...

We use bribery. Use the potty get doughnuts.

Three Yellow Starfish said...

I let my son run free! lol. he got it within a week after that becuase he does NOT like to be naked.