Don't know what the Jeff we're doing

[NoSnotAllowed]

DS1 is 3.1 and is still in nappies. Ive not really tried to tackle potty training before as DS2 is only 16 months younger and my hands have been thoroughly full.

DS1 is due to start preschool next week so we thought we'd give potty training a go today and see how it goes......no successes at all. 5 wees and 1 poo all done in the pants. He's excited to be wearing pants, he's excited to sit on the large chair-like potty and he knows the theory behind it. But it seems he can't release into the potty - he can sit there for 10 mins, get up and immediately pee on the floor.

Is this a sign he's not ready? Or is this perfectly normal? If he has no successes tomorrow I want to throw the towel in but DH thinks we need to persevere now that we've started.

Any tips would be very gratefully received!

I think you need to persevere now that you have started. You will only send mixed messages if you go back to nappies now.

I used the gina ford guide to potty training when dd was 2 years 7 months.

I can't remember the exact details as I no longer have the book but here are my main tips:

• stay at home for the first 2/3 days. The first outing should be a walk nearby. The second somewhere a bit further with a toilet available. On day 4 we walked to the village and dd did a poo in the library and a pee in the cafe.

• one day one we took dd and sat her on the potty every 15 minutes and encouraged her to sit for 5+ minutes. I reduced this as the days went on but constantly asked her if she needed a pee pee and pointed her to the potty, reminding her it was there. We went from telling her to go on the potty to telling her it was there and asking if she needed to use it.

• accidents were cleared away with I recriminations and no major upset.

• once the nappies were off they stayed off! No going back and forward to suit us as that is just confusing. Bedtime is the exception of course. Some people use nappies for naps initially but we chose not to and didn't have any issues.

• you really need to be 100% focused on it for the first week, and especially for the first few days when you are at home/on the initial outings.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the replies. I think his main issue is that he is so play orientated that he doesn't want to stop playing for the length of time it takes to sit on the potty. He's very possessive over toys so he doesn't want to put them down to use the potty incase DS2 then picks them up and 'steals' them.

We've already had an accident this morning and he's only been in pants for an hour. I really bloody hate this. If he could just do one on the potty then it'd give me some conviction to carry on. As it stands at the moment I would quite happily let him live in nappies until he's a teenager!!

Personally I'd put a nappy back on and try again in a month or so. My three were all potty trained when they asked for it, so they were very motivated and it was really easy.
They were all totally dry within a couple of days. Age varied from 2.5 to 3.5. I'm a big fan of making life as easy as possible for yourself!

Hi, I have the same problem with my son who is 3.5 and still in nappies but i desperately want to get him potty trained before he starts school in April. He sometimes tells me when he has had a no 2 but other times doesn't and he has been a late developer for almost every milestone there is like walking at 17 months and still has on going speech problems which is getting better with therapy sessions and nursery. He doesn't seem to have much self-awareness and i am too terrified and haven't a clue what to do or how to get him ready. Also, he has very lose stools which is also playing on my mind when it comes to taking off the nappy and letting him wear pants but they are also getting better and according to the docs and hospital, its toddlers diarrhea which fingers crossed appears to be settling down. I need help to in the potty training area. Has anyone every potty trained 2 children at the same time as my daughter who is 2.5 is very sharp and knows when she has been and tells me and also asks to sit on the toilet where as my son is very sheepish about sitting there for any length of time.

He's had no nappy at all today and has had 2 accidents followed by 2 wees in the potty so I think we're making progress. No sign of a poo yet today though....

We used a reward chart and pirate Petes potty book. A potty in every room and a special trip to buy pants. We are getting there- the odd accident when he gets too involved in play. Training pants were very useful- they go in the wash/tumble drier and catch little accidents- they are reusable so much better than pull ups as they don't feel like nappies. DS is 3 in a few weeks. Good luck and keep it up.