Is he just not ready???

[runtus]

DS 31 months and ready for potty training - or so i thought...............Started 6 days ago and will happily have a wee and a poo on the potty and/or toilet but only when asked to.

If left to own devices he wets himself and appears non to bothered by it. I have tried reminding him where the potty is, I've tried not harrassing him, I've tried meeting with his other froends that are trained and seeing if that would help, I#ve tried star charts.

He just seems to rate it really low on his priority list and pretty much ignores me when I'm talking about it!

Should I stop and try again in a couple of months or do i persevere and attempt to remain calm in the face of being blindly ignored???

I think I've worked that out at 2.7 years? If so, your DS is the same age as mine.

I tried him a few months back and he was just like yours. After Christmas, before NY, with him leading it we gave it another shot. We're now on Day 9 and can count the accidents on one hand. Therefore I would say wait a while and try again, but in the meantime keep talking about when he is a big boy etc. Also it's only been in the last few days he's been asking to go - and he doesn't always get it right, and I still remind him before going out/before bed/before meals... But apparently my nephew took nearly a month before he got the hang of asking for it reliably so I'm taking heart from that!

I'm really torn as to what to do. On the one hand I don't want to go backwards and have to start again but on the other I don't want to stress him/us all out when he isn't getting it.

I wouldn't mind so much if he just bl**dy listened!

runtus have no idea how old that is, surely he can be years now, or when he's 30 you will be saying 'ds is 952 months today'

anyway my ds was only just 3 when we potty trained last year, I had tried a couple of months before that and he just didnt get it, same as yours just wet all that time, and not bothered.
When he got it, he really got it, and was trained within a week and dry in the night. IMHO it is best to wait until they are ready, and dont bow to pressure from others, you know your child better than anyone, let him dictate the flow [excuse the pun]

Hmmm need to think about it overnight I think...................

Maybe the lure of the present will get to him in the end.

runtus I used to bribe ds with chocolate buttons when he did a wee or poo on the potty.

However when he wasnt ready even this wouldnt have worked, he just wasnt ready. BTW he milked the chocolate thing for quite a while

tried that - not bothered.

beginning to think I'm flogging a dead horse

Decided to stop for a couple of months and give us both a break. Put nappy on late this afternoon and he was immediately happier so think we have def made the right decision.

well done, hard decision to make. But the ground work is there and when he's ready he'll be much faster getting the hang of things.

I had this same problem with my dd when he was that age so i gave up and left it a month then tried again and he was using the toilet within a couple of weeks, i'm glad i left it although family and freinds commented on him being "late" it was less stressful all round.I agree with weegle your making the right decision.

Hi Runtus

I've just given up on DD (22 months). I went for it because she was showing and interest in pants since two of her friends (same age) were successfully potty trained at half term and when they were visiting they'd all crowd into the downstairs bathroom and try the toilet (with help from the mums of course). So we gave it a bash over the Christmas break when we weren't planning on being out much, but DD ABSOLUTELY REFUSED (we are talking kicking and screaming in addition to 'no, mummy') to sit on the potty and all but three times did the same on the toilet (we managed three short 'sit ins' with a book). She just didn't see the point although about 3 times towards the end of the experiment she did shout 'toilet' as the last of it was trickling down her legs! It was causing such strife that it was a relief when I admitted that maybe she wasn't ready and was too young. We may try at half term if she seems to be showing interest again, but DC2 is due at Easter so failing that it will be an attempt in the summer.

I felt a bit frustrated at my failure and maybe wasted time but we are all so much more relaxed now. I've just ordered a story book about potty training to read with her and I'll make a more concerted effort to sit her on the toilet as a preparation technique!

Good luck for next time!