potty training...any advice?!

[ladypop]

Our DS is 33 months old. We tried to introduce potty training not long after he was 2 but he simply was not interested. Since then, we often talk about it with him, read books with him on the topic, mention how some of his friends are now using the toilet and about what a big boy he will be when he doesn't have to wear a nappy anymore etc.... but it still does not seem to have much effect.

The last 10 days I have been asking him if he would like to use the toilet/potty, especially in between nappy changes. Sometimes he says yes and happliy goes on it other time he just refuses. When he does sit on it, he makes a sound as if he is weeing and then says 'i am all finished now!' I praise him for sitting on the toilet, even though he has yet to do an actual wee.

My plan is to continue doing this and build it into the day as much as possible. He goes to nursery 3 days a week and they are also doing the same. I am also considering a sticker chart as an insentive. I do feel a little reluctant to use bribery at this point as he already has sweet treats and I do not feel comfortable doing this.

However, I am thinking that if we have made no progress by Christmas I will use the holidays to go 'cold turkey' and spend a few days at home without his nappy on, using the potty every half hour etc to see if we can crack it.

It is tricky for me to do this at the moment as I am only generall with him 2 consecutive days at home (weekends) and we seem to have plans most weekends which I do not want to cancel to just stay at home!

We have a baby due in April so really feel he needs to be potty trained (in the day) in good time for this big event in all of our lives.

I am basically asking for any thoughts on what I have said/planning to do! Thanks x

[Shakey1500]

I'm sure loads will be along with tips :)

I only have the one DS and chose to do the following-

Biggest thing was i didn't use a potty, used to put him straight on the toilet, holding him until he was tall enough to stand and dangle his willy over (!)

Also did over a holiday, continuity was useful.

Had a big pile of clean pants to hand. Also put him in jogging bottoms for easy up/down. Spare joggers and socks also.

Asked him every half hour or so (casually) if he wanted to go

Made the (obvious) big deal when he did it.

Patience of a saint :)

[gallicgirl]

No experience but I have heard that the later it is, the more likely it is that the child will get dry quicker. maybe the cold turkey approach will work for you.

Anecdotes=science.....right?

:)

[perceptionreality]

Honestly, I would just leave it until he decides he doesn't want to wear nappies any more. April is quite a while away yet and there is a very good chance he will do it on his own before then. There is actually no need to train a child at all - they will do it by themselves when ready ime.

I've just been through the same thing with my dd, who is 3 years, 5 months now. I tried training her at 2.7, then at 3 years 1 month, all to no avail. She knew wees go in the potty but simply was not emotionally ready. Nursery and the HV said just leave it so I did, and one morning when she was 3.3 she woke up and decided she didn't want to wear nappies any more and from that moment she used the potty with no prompting from me. She now uses the toilet.

You can do it the hard way, but often it's counter productive imo and you end up with wet carpets, stress and having to ask all the time if they need to go. All children are ready at different times, too so don't listen to people who put the pressure on about it. I would say sitting him on there after a bath is a good idea and will encourage him in the right direction.

[perceptionreality]

Oh, one other tip - make sure you have a potty he feels comfortable on. By 3, the standard ones can be a bit small and uncomfortable and my dd refused to sit on those at all so I bought a Baby Bjorn Potty chair which she was happy to sit on right away and the rest followed in time.

[mamij]

We went cold turkey. Took DD1 to buy vests and knickers (letting her choose). Telling her what a big girl she is and no more nappies. Asked every 30 minutes or so whether she needed to go too. Had accidents 75% of the times during the first few days. Stayed dry from day 4 onwards.

Ignored the accidents (and cleaned up telling DD it didn't matter) and made a really a big deal of successes.

[LingDiLong]

I've always done the cold turkey thing with my kids - all 3 have trained relatively easily. Just go for it and don't make a big deal of it. I actually think kids need to wee all over the place to work out what that funny feeling is in their bladder - and what is the result of it! Nappies these days are so absorbent and wick the moisture away very effectively, it's only when you remove them kids can have the opportunity to properly understand how it all works.

[Shakey1500]

Oh yes, I had one of those Thomas the Tank padded toilet seat things with the handles on the side (funny how you forget these things!) Still held him though till he was confident enough.

He was about the same age as yours.

[Beamur]

I agree with everything perceptionreality said. I tried the cold turkey method on DD aged about 2.5, no results apart from a distressed child. (It does work for some people though) Left it, but with lots of friendly reminders, pottys in the house, and she got there in the end - but only when she was ready - which was about a year later. She was reliably dry when she started pre-school.
Bribes help too. DD found potty for wees quite easy (in the end), but it took another 6 months to crack potty for poos. This was rewarded with a new scooter. She's 5 now and still proud of the fact that she got her scooter for potty training! She has only had a handful of accidents since coming out of nappies.