Two-and-a-half-year-old not taking to potty training after three days

[DisneyDreaming2026]

Hi,

I am trying to potty train my little boy who is two and a half. We are on day three and he still doesn’t seem to be getting it, occasionally when I ask him if he needs the toilet he’ll say yes and use the potty. Otherwise he does it in his pants and isn’t really bothered.
I have tried putting him on the potty every hour or two but he refuses to sit on when he says he doesn’t need it.
My two daughters were potty trained within three days.

Am I giving up too easily if I put him back in nappies after today due to no progress in 3 days?
Or do you think he’s just not ready?
Any advice welcome!

Your expectations are far too much for such a young child. 3 days is nothing. Have you read up properly how long it's likely to take?

Yes agree your expectations are way to high. Stop putting so much pressure on the situation as it will end up stressful for you both. 3 days isn’t long enough in most instances

I had the same with my son tried to potty train him every few months from when he was about 20 months old, had several potties, training toilet seats, books, sticker charts, bribes. Didn't crack it till 3 years and 2 months old and was sorted within a couple of days and literally never had a day time accident since. I felt awful as loads of his peers were out of nappies much earlier, but I've had it on good authority boys take longer than girls. Xx Took way longer to crack night training though. Xx

I’d do the naked from the waist down method and keep the potty in the same room as him, that way he won’t have to stop what he’s doing to go and wee.
And you won’t spoil him if you offer a chocolate button for each wee on the potty. A funny dance and a happy wee song from you each time he uses the potty too will entertain him and encourage him.
good luck!

For lots of reasons at the time , I didn’t even START potty training my DS until just after his 3rd birthday

stop, wait for more signs he’s nearly ready and then try again. It’s not a big deal

And my 3 boys were all potty trained at 27 months old.
read up on the ‘oh crap’ method.

Persevere, get him to pee outside on stuff like leaves bugs and shrubs.
naked bottom (no pants) helps.
float cereal (a few Cheerios) in the water for him to aim at.
It takes time.

I think boys might often be slower than girls, so don’t compare them. I might wait a bit longer as he’s not getting it.

I was led by the kids. My 2 year old announced he didn’t want to wear nappies any more after spending the day with his friend who was dry. His brother was 2.5 before he was ready, but my nephews were over 3.

Naked from the waist down is good advice. keep the potty very close by and watch like a hawk.
I still have to keep the potty in the same room as my nearly three year old who has been potty training since before she was two.
When the potty isn’t in the room she doesn’t want to leave her play to go to the bathroom.
The sticker chart was quite motivating for my dd at first too.

What method are you using? And what readiness signs was your child showing?

Don’t ask if they need to wee. Default answer will always be no.
say it’s time to do a wee on the potty/ toilet etc
it will click eventually but you can’t rush it.

Doesn't sound like you've actually done anything to "train" him, more just expected him to magically get it. You can't learn a new skill without guidance. And there's no reason for boys to be slower, my son trained at 20 months. Have some confidence in him, read up on the Oh Crap method and commit.

We had the same issue with our toddler at 2.5. He seemed to be showing signs of being ready, but then when we stayed home over a long weekend and tried to actually potty train him he just didn’t get it at all.
Then, just before he turned 3 we tried again and by the end of the day he had nailed it and we’ve not had an accident since. I don’t know what changed.
But it might be worth waiting a bit longer.

Naked from the waist down
Give him loads to drink
Potty near by
As soon as he starts weeing get him on the potty and praise/reward

We did naked from the waist down a few months ago and he was absolutely fine but as soon as I put pants on him he wouldn’t use the potty. We did naked for about 4 days but he obviously can’t be naked at nursery so we gave up. This time we have gone straight for pants.
I thought he was getting ready as he would sometimes take his nappy off and say he needed a wee on the grass (when outside!) and also started telling me when he’d done a wee and poo and needed his nappy changing.

So far today we have had one accident and 3 wees and a poo on the potty, so I am more hopeful now than I was this morning.

Three days is enough for some kids but a lot need a bit longer - I would persevere OP. He sounds ready to me, he'll get there.

3 days is very, very early days. All children are different but often it takes boys longer than girls.
I woke take the pressure off him. Remind him every so often but if he says no leave it.

Push through. My son was done in three days at 22 months (sounds like your daughters). My daughter took over a couple of weeks at just before two. I thought she wasn’t getting it, lots of wet knickers, and then she suddenly had a perfect day of no accidents out of the blue. Like PP said, some kids just take a little bit longer

Thank you!

Today I have asked him if he wants to try the potty and he’s said yes or no. He has been correct each time. It was very stressful when he was refusing to try and he hadn’t been for 2.5 hours as I was expecting an accident, but he is obviously very good at holding it! I think I have been annoying him the past few days trying to make him go more regularly.

My daughters were just two and much easier. I know boys are harder and was beginning to think he still wasn’t ready!

Fingers crossed for the rest of the week!!

I have five sons and none were ready by that age. Once they were a little over 3 it all came together.

I trained my boys just after aged 2, much better to get them done early and save a year of nappies going into landfill!
I've never noticed a gender difference with potty training.

Yeah this was one of my biggest motivations too. Apparently an extra year or two of nappies in landfill for later training had caused environmental problems. Plus they can do it at 18 months to 2ish if you persevere