DS sitting on potty, but no wees .. ever!

[ilovemyoboe]

My DS, 2.9, is sitting on the potty willingly, and often doesn't want to get off. Sits there for quite some time if we sing songs or look at books or have some toys. However there haven't been any wees! Even if I put him on almost straight after lunch and he sits for 30 mins, there's still no wee. He somehow seems to be able to hold it in as I can't believe he has never needed to go in all the times he's sat on the potty over the last few weeks. Not sure how to encourage him to go. Have tried running the tap and giving him a drink. Any ideas?

hi, firstly, id say to you dont panic, as these days all lo's develop at different rates. Is your DS showing any sign that he is aware of when he needs a wee? or a pooh? if not then he isnt quite ready to be potty triined yet (imo). there are a couple of things that you can try working on instead whilst he biulds his awareness though, such as can he pull his own trousers up and down? if not, try and work on this, as my lo is 2.4 and just grasping the potty stage, she is just starting to recognise when a wee is comming, yet still struggling with trousers, yet i often go into her room after i have put her to bed and she has no nappy on and is saying she needs a wee (sometimes she does, sometimes its just a ploy to get out of bed!) try putting LO on the toilet (or potty) as soon as he wakes, as most people need a wee when they first wake, i read on here once that lots of praise and chocolate buttons work a treat when the first one arrives!
But, i think that until the first ever one on the potty arrives, he may be unaware of the trigger that the potty is for. best of luck x

It took us a while for us to get the first wees in the potty and for a boy who always does a poo after breakfast, he seemed to hold it in for three days! We used training pants for a couple of days - the Huggies ones that have a picture of a truck on them which disappears when the nappy is filled. And this made us realise that he actually sometimes only weed three times a day, so no wonder we weren't catching it! We made a bit deal of asking him if he'd done a wee and then checking the truck together and I think it helped him to be aware of it a bit more without the trauma of all the wet pants. They're not cheap, though so I probably wouldn't see it as a long term solution.

Same problem here

DS is 2.10 and initially went willingly on the potty. But he never did a wee or poo in it. And we started training him around 2.2 months, then had a break at around 2.6, then restarted at 2.8 mths...

He is now potty and toilet resistant and gets quite upset if I encourage him to use the potty. He also asks for nappies and rejects the "big boy underpants" [this includes pull-ups sadly]

I really don't know what to do now. Was thinking to perhaps wait for summer and let him run around with no pants on and see if he can get the connection between the sensation of needing to poo or wee and actually pooing or weeing.

Thanks for all your comments and ideas.

qwertysue - We had a first try at training back Oct which went horribly wrong! He had an accident when wearing pants, and then slipped in the puddle before I could mop it up. Went flying and really scared himself. Totally backed off until a few weeks ago when suddenly he decided he wanted to sit on the potty. I've let him initiate things, giving gentle encouragement, but haven't pushed anything as I didn't want to have him completely refuse to go near the potty again!
Really can't decide if he's not releasing the wee on purpose or because he doesn't know how to. But how do you explain to a 2 year old how to relax their muscles?

Trying not to panic .. but my mum is here to visit now and I know she thinks he should have been out of nappies long ago :-(

RaPa - poor you. That's kind of where we were until a few weeks ago. I didn't say anything about the potty, but just kept up the talk from us about using the toilet, the process and so on. Also explained to him where poo and wee come from (food and drink our body doesn't need) and that everyone does poos and wees and so on. Didn't mention anything about potties though. Two things have really encourage my DS recently to take an interest I think. The biggest was my husband finally taking DS to the toilet when he needed to go, and letting him see the wee come out! Took a few times I think :-) But DS absolutely fascinated, and loves going with Daddy now. I think seeing the same 'bits' as he has really helped. DS is a real observer, and likes to see how things work lots of times before trying it himself. Also took him to an older friends house last week, who did a wee on the potty. Showed my DS who was very interested, and now talk lots about his friend Joshua being a big boy and wearing pants, and doing his wees on the potty and so on. I don't pressure him by adding '.. and you should be doing that too", just keep the dialogue day after day. Very tedious, but he seems to want all that information and more. Another friend suggested looking at potty training videos on uTube of other toddlers using the potty to give him more to watch, so am going to try that soon.

babybouncer - thanks for that. Not sure about using pull ups as have heard mixed reports. Am not sure if it would backfire with my DS as he can get really fixated on things .. and I don't want him to only use these! I wish he would stand up and wee in the bath to practice releasing, but I made far too good a job when he was little of telling him not to stand up in the bath, and now he won't stand at all! Oops.