Potty training - please help an idiot parent

[RubyrooUK]

I'm sure this has been posted a million times before but I'm a bit stuck.

DS who is 2.4 is always fiddling with his nappy, goes off to have poos in private and squats when he wees. So he seems ready but will always deny needing a wee/poo when asked.

DH and I have been at home with DS for two days with no nappy so he can try and introduce the idea of the potty.

So far, the main success is that DS no longer says the potty is "scary". He did two pees in there yesterday and one poo today when we spotted it at the right time.

What hasn't happened at all is DS asking for a wee or poo. In fact, he will say "no wee wee on potty" and "no need a wee wee" then immediately do one on the floor. He gets panicky and shouts "no no no need potty for wee wee" if you ask him.

He doesn't seem at all bothered about peeing down his own legs. He isn't interested in looking at his pee and poo in the potty although we celebrate every one like loons and don't make a big deal out of accidents on the floor. We just point them out and say "oh look, you did a wee wee, where do wee wees go? In the potty!"

We have tried bribery to use the potty but he doesn't seem to care. We have tried offering him marshmallows, crisps, strawberries, stickers and use of our phones to play games for using the potty but he isn't bothered. (He hates chocolate so buttons are useless). Actually he is not terribly easy to bribe in general as we have not yet discovered anything that he wants more than doing what he wants to do.

Now we are a bit unsure what to do next as we actually need to leave the house sometimes. We are also all crazy and miserable being indoors. (Well, I am.)

Should we:

• use pull-ups and offer potty out and about at all times?
• use pants and just change after every accident when out even though he never tells us he needs to go?
• use pants at home and pull-ups when out?

Or is a child not ready for potty training if they won't ask to go or indicate a need?

My DH would be prepared to sit in the house for the rest of his time off if that would help but I am not convinced that DS is fully aware when he needs a wee yet (think he does have more idea about poos). So he hasn't ever yet told us that he needs to go.

Ahhh...any advice?

Where do you put the potty op?
My DS would not use potty unless it was in the bathroom. I think they find it confusing that everyone else uses the loo but they are expected to perform wherever.

Grown up toilet with child seat?

Oh and you've just reminded me of my MIL good boy choc buttons she used as a reward while trying to pt my DNeph.
I think you have to just keep taking him to the bathroom until he gets the idea and eventually it just clicks. Sometimes they pee sometimes they won't they have to learn to make the connection. It's sounds like he is ready, he is obviously aware that he needs to go. He just hasn't learnt to connect the two.

Try not to go back to nappies once you have started it just gives mixed message and is terribly confusing.
Although I always kept a pad in DS car seat. He would always pee if he fell asleep for any length of time in the car. On a long journey we would put a night nappy on him.

He says the grown up toilet is "too too scary mummy" and bursts into hysterics when he uses it. And then he spends ages going round in a mournful way going "toilet not scary...mummy's here...toilet is scary".

We did try at first just putting the potty in the bathroom and going to the loo together but then he just peed on the floor and got annoyed at being taken upstairs, went back down and peed on the floor again.

He's just sat on the potty, said "all done", got up and while playing with his trains, peed on the floor again. DH pointed it out to him and sat him on the potty but he has just said "all done" and got up again.

He just doesn't seem to get the bit where he tells you he needs a wee wee.

Sadly no amount or type of bribery interests him either. I can't believe I have a child who thinks chocolate is "yuck disgusting".