Experiences of boys and waiting till 2.5 and going straight to the toilet with no potty

[cityangel]

His Mum who is very down to earth said they went away and it took 3 days. He started with pants from nappy (without pull ups). I have heard positive things about straight to pants and waiting until they are ready, particularly with boys. Aparently he started pulling his own trousers up and down for dressing.

What surprised me was that he went straight to the toilet (with booster seat) and had no potty.

What I'd be interested to know is whether people have found waiting with boys until 2.5 has helped?.

And who has gone straight to using the toilet? And why? Is it just a case of if they never get the potty as an option they just learn the toilet quicker?

I am pg with #2 and would either have to train at ds first birthday (August) or wait until the baby dust has settled down, November time where he'd be 2 & 3 months but the weather wouldn't be as good.

My other challenge is he gets really bad nappy rash and is close to growing out of the only brand I fund that worked (having already grown out of washables)

Thanks in advance

Oh and has anyone tried going dry day and night at the same time or is that just silly?

Waiting until 2.5? Blimey - mine was pushing 3 and he honestly wasnt ready before then - still went straight for the toilet tho because he refused point blank to use the potty.

It didnt take very long at all - when we had tried before he was ready it was a complete 'mare.

DS was 2.5 years old and trained (on the third attempt)

we always used a toilet and seat and not a potty

seemed to work for us

he is nowhere near dry at night - this is a hormonal thing and you cannot train them in the way you do in the day

i think if a child is ready to train then they will do it much more easily than trying to force it IMO

i did all 3 of my boys at 2 years 3 months as it was in the summer and easier. they all went out and chose big boy pants to wear and were allowed to flush the toilet after going - which they thought was great fun and very grown up. within a week they were all sorted - if they weren't i would have given up and done few weeks later. didn't see the point of training them to use a potty and then retraining them for the toilet, plus didn't fancy cleaning a potty out. used booster seat which made it much easier

1st birthday seems very early

Thank you this is very helpful. I have read a bit about regressing so I am thinking training him at 2, 1 month before new baby is a bad idea then.

What were the signs that your little ones were ready? I really don't want to rush him as he's a stubborn little bunny.

We have a potty, but I figured as most of his friends are older we need one for a visiting friend.

I just hope he doesn't grow out of the nappies before then

we waited till almost 3 with ds1 and he was done that day more or less

I don't see why you shouldn't potty train him at age two. It's what older generations did; potty training at two or before was normal. Some children will be ready; others may not be, but I can't see the harm in trying.

I wouldn't worry about regression with the new baby; not all children will regress. Only worry about it if it happens!

no signs really, more i got sick of nappies and the weather was good, so i knew i could do loads of washing. think 2,1 might be bit early - people say if you do too early takes forever. best to pick a time when you don't have to go anywhere important - ie accidents don't really matter and you are near toilet.

I don't see why you shouldn't potty train him at age two. It's what older generations did; potty training at two or before was normal. Some children will be ready; others may not be, but I can't see the harm in trying.

I wouldn't worry about regression with the new baby; not all children will regress. Only worry about it if it happens!

oh sorry managed to post twice

We started DS a little later, at 2.7 - I was hoping for him to be toilet trained by the time he started preschool at age 3. He went straight on the loo with a booster seat. Took relatively little time for wees to be sorted, poos took a bit longer to sort out but it was all relatively simple and stress free in the end.

Still not dry at night, but that's a physiological thing rather than a "training" issue.

I would highly recommend Elizabeth Pantley's book on toilet training.

I started training both DD and DS when they were around 2.5. No potty, straight on loo.

DD trained in about a couple of weeks.

DS took a bit longer, put him back on nappies for a week or so when I felt that he was not really ready for it. When I tried again he was dry very quickly.

Nothing to stop you giving a go just before the baby arrives. You can go back to nappies if he is not ready for it and try a couple of months later.

Thank you this is really helpful. It sounds like the getting them dry at night part is a nightmare

night time depends on the child. one of mine was a nightmare. with the other one the babysitter didn't realise he had a nappy so didn't put one on and since he didn't wet the bed we didn't bother using one again. he was quite young - think maybe 3.5

lots for me to think about. I guess I am worried about not rushing ds. He is quite stuck in his ways though and when we went from bottle to sippy cup we really had to be firm for him to get the idea and I understand that with potty training this isn't the best approach.

would a bribe help? mine were allowed to choose a toy which they could have once they were dry

We're training DS at the moment and he is 2.4. We went straight to pants apart from nap times and night times. We started with a potty months ago before bathtimes and when he was being changed but went to trainer loo seat a couple of days after starting "proper" training as it was going well.

We're now 10 days in and he is dry most days with one accident at most, usually because he gets engrossed in something. He is starting to tell us when he wants to go rather than us constantly ask him.

It's been a lot easier than I thought and if he regresses a bit when DC2 comes along in a few weeks then he does. It's not like the washing machine isn't going to be on!

Haven't done star charts or any of that malarkey. I thought he was ready because he was using a potty happily whenever he was changed (and was incredibly proud of the result) and it looks like I was right.

citangel - you know they are ready when they start being able to tell you that they are aout to do something or will want to use the toilet like you do.

And dont worry about the nights - I found that a lot easier than the days. I hear what everyone is saying about the physiological difference but my ds wasnt physically ready for days until very late - so nights followed very soon after iyswim.

Ds3 has just turned two and is asking to use the toilet - he's never seen a potty so I don't think I can be bothered getting one.

With ds2 we waited until at 2.2 he asked to use the toilet, we put him on a booster seat and he was dry very quickly.

Ds1 was much later at 3.5 but we waited for him to tell us what he wanted to do and he trained very easily.

As for nights, some are ready, some aren't. I've been lucky with my older three that they were dry at night almost as soon as they were dry during the day. Odds are ds3 will be the trickier one!

My Ds was trained on his 2nd birthday...took 4 days and he used the potty and toilet for 2 weeks,then just the toilet. I let him have another 6 months before no night time nappies though.

Dd was later, but much easier.

dd was 2.2 - day and night. She asked to go, spoke very clearly and was bossy at an early age. Had about 3 accidents in the first couple of days then none since.

ds1 was 3.4 - he was completely stubborn and would do it before. He had 2 accidents and was dry after that. He was and still is huge for his age, I found that although he got taller his bottom didn't really grow - so he didn't grow out of nappies. He was too big for a potty and went straight onto a loo (no inner seat), so much easier than cleaning out manky potties!

DS2 is 2.4 and beginning to show signs (I'm putting it off as I'm lazy!). I think every child is different and you have to be lead by them. Give it a go and if after a week it's not working go back to nappies. Good luck with the PT and the new baby xo

Thank you everyone this has given lots for me and dh to talk about

i am just starting training my son who is three in april and let me tell u this aint easy! at first he took to it great but has now lost all interest in going to the loo, i feel this could be because his dad who i am not with lost his temper and shouted'if your not going to pee get out the bloody bathroom grr' helpfull i am sure, not! this is not helped by the nursery insisting that i put him straight in pants and he will just get it, i feel he isnt ready and was wondering if there are any signs i should look out for that he just aint up for it yet? also is it only my mother in law who hand on heart swears that all 3 of her kids were dry night and day by the age of nine months? i must admit i am struggling not to slap the stupid woman and check she is not taking anything because my ex is such a mummys boy he now believes i am the mother from hell because my kid might god forbid hit three and still wear a nappy, shock horror!!!!!!

I only kept a potty beside DCs' beds for emergencies. I had a little clip-on soft toilet seat and a step stool, and they learned to use the toilet straight off. With my DS, I put some floaty breakfast cereal in the toilet to aim at and he was thrilled to be able to do tricks his sisters couldn't. . Also expressed a strong desire to be a fireman when he grew up. Not unrelated?

I bought the potty for oldest DC, but it wasn't a great design and it struck me while training her that it was silly to train her to use one thing, which had then to be emptied and cleaned, and afterwards retrain her to use the loo, essentially making two jobs out of one process, so ditched the potty except for emergencies in the bedroom and if someone else was using the bathroom it was left outside the door.

I think Honey1712's MIL may be right about babies being out of nappies at a much younger age back in the day. (Sorry your P isn't much help to you though). But I think it was the mothers who were trained and not the babies, and a lot of them spent their lives watching babies and whisking them off to the loo (course it cut down on laundry for them). If a child can tell you in advance he needs to pee and is keeping nighttime nappies dry about 5 nights a week, they might be ready.

My son is 2.5 and not fully potty trained, we tried the potty when he was two, but he didn't seem to get it, he would go on it sometimes so I left it a while and now he will use it during the day. He still wears nappies during the night, I am not too fussed, he will do it when he is ready.