potty training...where the heck do we start?!

[Doodles]

Doodles is in playgroup now & I've noticed quite a few of his friends are either potty trained or potty training, one mum who's little boy is the same age as my son was quite surprised that he still wears nappies

Doodles hates using the potty, can't really say I blame him as whenever he gets up off it he has a bright red mark around his bum ( he's not heavy for his age in fact he's a couple of lb under weight) so we bought him two toilet seats, a hard plastic buzz light year one (one of his heroes) and a cushioned one with cars on (he loves anything with wheels) as well as a lightening mcqueen toilet step. He cries whenever we put him on the toilet and he'll only use the toilet step to reach the sink to brush his teeth
So we got him the bath crayons so that he could draw on the tiles next to the toilet while he was on there, incase he was just getting bored, but he's not interested

I don't know what I'm doing and I think my darling son is taking full advantage of that fact (he may only be two but he's pretty quick to figure out whats going on lol), any advise please? He starts school in January and so I'd like him to be making good progress with his potty training by August really so we can work through any hiccups

thank you x x

(p.s not sure if it's relevent but he's 3 in December x)

 

[rbryan0205]

i would just keep putting himon it every day and increase the time when he is happy with it. if there is a certain time of the day when he "goes" or about 20 mins after a drink put him on it and then the positive praise can happen when he "goes" or if he sits on it x sticker chart maybe??

 

[midnight]

he sounds like he might not be ready dont force him onto it as this will give him a negative thinking about toilet training
have you got any books on toilet training for him to look at??
make sure he is involved in buying his big boy pants too leave the potty about so he can just sit on it fully clothed if and when he choses to
the key is to get it to be a positive thing

 

[Laura_C]

I tried with my daughter a little too soon, but soon found out the reason she hated the potty so much my in laws had been dragging her on it behind my back getting her all wound up! I think if they are like that then they arent ready. I found the key was to get a potty that was comfortable and that obv they were happy to sit on. Grace was a little underweight and has a little skinny bum and she was never confortable. So I spent a little more and got one that was like a seat with lid from Tesco's. We just starting leaving it out and not mentioning anything about it - don't make it into a big deal. They get so curious that one day I explained what it was an she had just been sitting on it watching tv etc. One day I was in the kitchen, came back in the lounge and she had pulled down he own pants and was sat to have a wee. She didn't do anything at first but for that I gave her tons of praise and told her how clever she was and she was happy to sit on it then. We then moved onto taking the nappy off and putting her on regularly to try and wee. I took a couple of weeks of work thinking it would help to be at home and have some consistency. She nailed it in three days! The poos she struggled with at times and had some accidents but had it sussed very soon. She soon mastered the toilet but that took some time as she was so diddy! She loved being a big girl wearing knickers! You could let him choose some underpants he likes with characters on as well. Nursery were wonderful and even did a reward chart for her. She soon went dry at nap times too thanks to their help.

I was so glad she was toilet trained well before she started preschool at 3 as I had no worries that she would have an accident. They have to take themselves so it's a good idea for them to trained before they start. Good luck xxx