Potty / Toilet Phobia

[LoveAngel]

My son is 2 yrs 10 mths and the potty training thing isn't going well. I have made several attempts since he turned 2, doing as the books all suggest and trying for a week or two, then stopping for a few weeks if it doesn't go well (which it never does). i have tried to get him interested in the potty, the toilet with a potty seat, the toilet without the potty seat...he has had books about using the potty, songs about using the potty....he has been around all his friends at nursery, most of whom are potty trained...and still, he REFUSES POINT BLANK to use the toilet or potty, and will just go on the floor and then cry alot (if I leave him nappy free) or beg for a nappy (!?). He is scared of the toilet, thinks he is going to fall down it and NO amount of coaxing or reassurance works. I am starting to feel a complete failure on this front. people keep saying 'he'll do it when he's ready' ...but will he?

YES, he will do it when he's ready.

Have a look in (I think) Parenting for my "let 'em be children fgs" thread and join in. It's quite liberating, honest.

Here

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! :-)

My son has just turned 3 and is only JUST getting it. We tried at 2yrs 10m and he just wasn't ready - was holding it for ages and then just flooding, refusing to sit etc. Perhaps leave him for a couple of months. I stopped after 2 good days and 2 awful days, because he was getting stressed. We started again, this is day 4, and he's only had 1 accident today (4pm) so far. Definitely leave it till he's more open to the idea.

Hi - I am in exactly the same place as you at the moment. Tried a few weeks back with my DS2 - he is 2yr 8months. We were most unsuccessful due to potty phobia - we had a 0% success rate and he even held a poo in for 2 days...ended up doing it in his sleep!!! We immediately put him back in nappies as I felt we were creating a problem that did not exist before. I have no idea whether this is going to help or not but when he does a poo we now go and empty the nappy contents down the toilet and flush the chain....he finds this a bit of a game and he now willingly wants a nappy change after a poo - I am hoping the penny starts to drop. I am gonna try and keep this up until after christmas and try again to see if it helps. Good luck - we must keep in touch with any top tips!!

Loveangel, he will get there, my ds2 age 5 only cracked potty training in the summer hols -just in time for him to start school.
He has other sn so I am not suggesting for one moment it will take your ds this long BUT my ds did have a toilet phobia.
Firstly we spent loads of time in the bathroom & then he felt confident enough to wee standing up. A table tennis ball down the loo encouraged his aim
When he first started sitting on it we had to hold him & make sure he could rest his feet on something solid.
As the others have said he will do it in his own time, try not too worry.

oh he will do it when it suits him im sure.

Dont stress, relax. Your worries are possibly making him worse.

A friend of mine used to put a ping pong ball down the loo, which her ds had to try and hit with his pee - turned it into a game. He loved it.