When potty training your dc,did they always know when they wanted/needed the toilet?

[Bubbaloo]

I've only been trying to pt ds1 since Tuesday so I know it's very early days but he doesn't seem to know when he needs to go to the toilet and I wondered if this was common.
I have been taking him to the toilet every hour and each time he has done a wee and I keep reminding him to let me know when he needs to go,so we can go to the toilet.1st day we had 2 accidents(wet trousers),then yesterday he was dry until just before bedtime when he wet his trousers again.
Today he has had a friend over to play and has had 2 accidents(wet trousers) and we managed a trip out to the dentist aswell.
I'm really pleased with how it's going but I also think that if I didn't take him to the toilet every hour,he would wet his trousers.Also both times today it was me who noticed he was wet-it didn't seem to register with him until I mentioned it.
Is it worth carrying on in the hope that it will soon click with him or is it best to leave it a while?
He's 3.4 and I really need him out of nappies by March,in order to have an operation which they won't do til he'd clean.
Any advice would be appreciated,please.

That seems quite good to me. Are you reinforcing the 'toilet wees'? - ie; lots of praise, stickers as rewards etc? I have met some mum's who don't really emphasise the difference between 'good' wee's and the other sort, - and I am NOT advocating punishment or blame, just loads of positive praise for getting it right.
I think that lots of children get so busy with what they are doing that they either wait too long, or are so engrossed that they don't notice the feeling, so just keep reminding him.
Keep going, he will get there!

If he's weeing on command then he has control of his bladder, but he might not yet recognise the sensation of a full bladder because he's never had to hold it. Keep doing what you're doing, and try to encourage him to go to the loo alone. You and his dad don't normally go around telling people when you need a wee, so it's not necessarily something he'll ever do as it'll seem a bit strange to him. Hopefully he'll soon realise that it is much more comfortable to wee in the toilet. He might also do well with a reward system to motivate him.

Thanks.
Yes,we're using a reward system which seems to be working very well and we're also making a big fuss each time he goes.He also gets very excited with each wee.
The first day he even managed a poo on the toilet,so we had lots of jumping up and down and clapping which was quite fun.

My ds has been sitting on a potty from 6 months, but it has taken him until now (19mths) to be aware of what he is doing and tell us when he needs a wee or poo. If you've just recently started training then he might not be used to noticing the sensation of needing to go. Can you tell when he's doing a wee, if he's concentrating, or stops playing momentarily? I can usually see this with ds, and alert him to what he's doing so that he learns to recognise the sensation.