Are some children genuinely very late to be ready?

[Fabuleuse]

I had a few goes at training DS1 when he was 2. We finally just about got there the week after his third birthday, but he would have frequent, daily pee accidents (a lot of little dribbles in his pants and some bigger ones). I never even attempted to night train. When he was about 4 years 3 months it was like something physical changed. He stopped having daytime accidents and became dry overnight even with a nappy on. We stopped using the nighttime nappy from then and he has never ever wet the bed since then.

Now I'm at this delightful stage with DS2 who was 3 last week. We had a few short attempts previously but we are on day 3 of our first real cold turkey attempt. It's going miserably. He's done a few dribbles in the potty and about 45 on the floor. He doesn't seem to care at all about getting it in the potty other than he knows he gets a chocolate button and he likes that, but still not enough to stop him doing frequent small pees all over the living room.

Do I persevere or not? Is anything likely to improve after the day 3 mark? I feel like surely he should be ready at 3, but do I just produce very late potty trainers?

Personally I’d persevere if you can. I’m potty training DS1 at 26 months and we’re on day 4 and I think it’s starting to click

See, I'm the opposite to PP. I'd have a break, go back to pull-ups and try again in a few weeks/couple of months.

We've tried for the last 6 months with DS since he was 3. We've never put too much pressure on him, we've had the potty's around the house, sat him on the toilet if he's interested, and talked about going to the toilet. Nursery would do the same thing along with taking him to the toilet as the same time as other kids so he could copy them. A couple of times we've tried without nappies and again so have nursery. He got too distressed so we went back a step.

A few weeks ago he decided he was a big boy now, "no more nappies, just pants". At first he was going every 15 mins but now he's doing really well. He may have the odd accident every other day, but mostly he's cracked it.

My little boy was 3 last month and I just feel he isn’t ready. I’ve tried a couple of times since he turned 2 (periods of 3/4 days at a time) and he’s had a couple of wee’s on the potty, but I feel like he can’t tell when he is about to have a wee yet, we’re still having lots of accidents (more accidents than successful wee’s) and I’ve tried everything. Including keeping him home and naked etc but it just hasn’t clicked yet. He’s so advanced with every other aspect but it’s just toilet training that we are having massive struggles with!

DS1 was just over 2 when he asked whether Teletubbies wore nappies? i seized the moment and said "No, they wear big boy pants". He said he was going to do the same, we went out and bought pants and from that moment on was dry day and night.
I thought "why do people make a fuss about potty training, it's a doddle"

Then ds2 came along.

He refused to sit on a potty, ignored all attempts at potty training. When he got to 3 we tried again, and in the end we used a star chart and the promise of a certain toy to incentivise (bribe!) him into using the potty. He still had regular accidents during the day until he was 4, and wasnt reliably dry at night until he was 6.

They all get there in their own time though.

We’re going to have a break for a week I think and then try again full force! The last thing I want is to pressure him too much so that he has a bad association etc
I definitely think some children just aren’t ready until later on!

I’d see it as walking. Some children walk at six months and others over two years, but they all have falls as they learn. However, you can’t tell the difference between the early and late walkers by the time they start school.

I'm glad to hear some others have had similar experiences. That's very true that they all do things at different ages but they all get there in the end. DS1 could read before he was reliably toilet trained (early reader)! My sanity ran out this afternoon so back in pull-ups now and will try again in a month or two. I just sometimes read things like the oh crap book that make me wonder if the problem is me not being persistent enough with it, and the fact that people are getting success with 26 month olds when mine is nearly a year older!

Try and read 'oh crap' potty training - we trained my DS at 25 months in 4 days. The book made so much sense and gave me the confidence to stick with it.

Don’t worry OP! I’m now on day 5 and I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘success’. Very mixed bag with a LOT of accidents especially now we’re in trousers. I’ve officially lost the will to live

I’ve said it in a few posts here but if if blackcurrent juice is a regular feature in your house, try cutting it out as doing so could be your miracle cure.

I loved Ribena as a kid and was late potty training, had nappies at night longer than I would wish to admit and then my own two DDs were virtually the same. Both were in Drynites. Then someone pointed out the black current juice problem- they both loved Ribena and Robinson’s apple and black current.

We stopped them having it and the problem stopped virtually overnight.

If it’s a feature, ditch it for water and milk and see if it’s your miracle cure too.

Joining this thread as I'm still trying to potty train my 3y 8m ds. He's so late to be trained, I've been trying since he was 3. He just doesn't seem to feel the need pee in the potty when he can just wet himself and I'll change him, iyswim. I'm hoping it will click soon??

I tried many times with DS but went back to nappies as it was to much hard work. He would get annoyed at me asking and then not go and have accidents.

I've started last week at 3yr 5months, and it seems to have clicked much better. This week he's had 1 accident out on a walk. He gets a chocolate when he uses the potty but I only ask him to use I before we leave the house.

I just need to get him to use the toilet more than the potty now

I'm reading Potty Training Boys at the moment. It's quite a gentle approach (I think) compared to Oh Crap! It also says boys are generally later and can take longer to train than girls. It's very much about taking it at your own / little one's pace so we're doing a mix of pants and nappies. I know other methods don't advise that but it's working for us at the moment!

Here for support and a hand hold. DD was 3 a few weeks ago & we need to get her dry for starting nursery in January.

Today will be day 4 I think....

Mix of success & accidents so I'm persevering but I'm no idea what I'm doing.

I'm following the oh crap potty training and I'm not sure if she (or I) are ready for block 2

She had her first poo yesterday. She knew she needed to go so just hid. I had to physically carry her to the toilet. Sat for ages and nothing more than a bit of leakage do I put her into the shower. Just as I was taking her out she had a small accident so back on the toilet when eventually she did it.

Not sure why I'm writing this just maybe to let it out with others at the same stage.

DH works long hours and hasn't seen the kids for a few days so I'm basically doing it on my own with a 11 month old

Just feels like I'll never leave the house again