Right I have a few months to fully potty train an unwilling child - help!

[CARNAT22]

James is due to start nursery just after his 3rd Birthday and has to be fully potty trained.

Thus far he has shown absolutely no interest or willingness to potty train so I was very much thinking "we'll do it when he is ready" but now we have a deadline!

I have a few potty's but I was going to get one of those seats that go over the toilet?

We have pull ups and pants.

He still suffers constipation and can verbalise he needs a poo - sadly he can tell me he needs a poo for up to a day before he actually goes (poor thing) so him telling me isn't actually a great indication when it comes to poo's? BUT he only goes a few times a week and it's normally at night so I am not too worried about this side of things. It's the wee's I need to focus on.

Where do I start? Any tips?

TIA ladies

X

 

[Emily0505]

I'm starting Cam the week after next.

He's done a few wees and poos on the potty but is still in nappies.

We will be making a trip out shopping to buy some big boy pants and then I'll just use pull ups over night.

I've got some stickers and was going to do a reward chart type thing.

I don't really know how to go about it other than keep asking him if he needs to go, praising and encouraging him when he gets it right and explaining that he needs to use the potty or the toilet if he has an accident.

He starts nursery in September so I would really like him to be sorted by then!

XX

 

[littlemonkey]

Watching this thread with interest. We're in a similar boat with my eldest. He goes to play group in September and I want to get him potty trained while he's home with me during the summer.

I was talking to my childminder about it this morning (still goes to hers on a Friday) and she suggested not relying on LO telling you to begin with. Instead setting the routine of every so often going to toilet or using the potty. This should then encourage them to tell you if they need. So I might give this a go.

My son is really funny, he'll tell me when he's about to poo or as he's doing a poo. Then when it comes to changing him he denies the existence of said poo or blames it on the baby!!

I don't know what it is though, I have a real sense of anxiety and fear of potty training. I think it's because I'm so used to how easy it is with him right now and I hate the idea of anything that makes it harder. With a young baby too, sometimes I get so overwhelmed with stressful situations! Please tell me it's not just me who worries about it so much!

 

[Emily0505]

Potty training worries me too.

The thought of leaving the house with him not in a nappy is terrifying!!!!!

Cam denies his poops too! He'll be stood there squeezing one out, red faced and stinking to high heaven and if I ask him if he's pooped he'll say no!!

Funny little fella!

XX

 

[Georgesmum]

In a very similar boat to you! George needs to be ready for September and feeling a little out of my depth with all this potty training business. He refuses to have his nappy off so getting him on the potty bare bottomed is absolutely impossible. He has a screaming fit if i leave his nappy off!

 

[Rooster30]

I want mine ready for Seotember too and he's also not interested at all. Argh. It's going to be a struggle.

 

[babyscotcher]

A little tip that I remember from helping my mum potty train my you get brother. If you are going with the routine approach or if getting then up half way thru the night then a good way to encourage a little boy to wee is to tickle the bottom on their back. If in doubt running the tap works well too. X

 

[Les1504]

I'm in the same boat too! Harry is 3 in July and I'm so keen to get him trained. He tells me he's weed and pooed in his nappy and will use the potty if he's naked but pants really upset him! X

 

[Laurajcole]

Try not to stress about it too much. I know you have a deadline as such, how long away is it?
I think once you find he's ready then it will happen quite quickly!
My advice would be to ditch the pull up's. Too confusing.
Plenty of nappy off time, be prepared for a few accidents. Don't make a big deal, just leave the potty around. Maybe even get some stickers in. My nephew loved a sticker, he also loved doing to the pee pee down the toilet song (just make up a silly song when he flushes it) then once he's peeing in his potty introduce some pants, be prepared for a few accidents because he will feel safe as such. Then build up again. Lots of praise fuss and attention.

 

[MrsT2011]

B was a nightmare to potty train - don't get me wrong he would use the potty or toilet at home from 18 months on his terms but as soon as I tried to get him dry he rebelled lol. I tried everything from reward charts, bribery, choosing his potty and pants to just going cold turkey and changing him every 1/2 hour! iPad apps, books you name it!
Then one day it just clicked and within a week he was independent in taking himself, would tell me when he needs to go and dry at night (was always good at night anyway). It is true that they'll do it when they're ready - boys are stubborn! Good luck x

 

[beckyboo1]

To me they'll do it when they're ready, but i totally get the deadline thing

So to me you need to pick a week or two that you know you can dedicate a bit if time to it.

Harry was potty trained pretty early ( he was 2 yrs 2 months). But I picked a week, we bought some "big boy undies" together and went for it

I asked him every half hour or so if he needed a wee- we had a couple of potties downstairs so there was one always within reach.

He soon caught on, and wherever we went that first week we took a potty with us and I made sure he had a wee before we left the house (this rule stands to the day).

To me once you've started you can't go back, unless they're completely not ready. I know sept will seem close, but honestly in less than 2 weeks we were dry during the day so don't panic.

He still wears a Pull up at night, but that's fine by me.

Summers a great time to potty train as shorts are so much easier to pull down (plus a bit of naked/underpants wearing in the garden is helpful too!!)

 

[CARNAT22]

Thanks ladies. We actually have until mid November but it's a strict condition of him going to nursery.

We're going to start small - so lots of nappy off time and access to potty's. I'll try that for a few weeks and see how we get on.

X

 

[TORino]

If you think he's ready I'd recommend you go cold turkey. Completely remove the nappies and deal with the accidents for a short while.

in my experience, swapping and changing between having nappies on and not confuses them. We found if she had a nappy on she would usually wee in it, even when she was trained (long car journey to France to avoid accidents)

 

[Mrs CW]

I have been really lucky with both my boys as they were both really keen to use the potty. I started the same way you are, my youngest is already really good at using the potty we just need to fully train now. With my eldest when I decided he was ready I just took nappies away and for a couple of days he wore nothing on his bottom half and then I introduced pants. I always kept the potty in the living room so he didn't have far to go when he needed to. He picked it up really quickly. I took pull ups with me when we went out just in case and used them at night until he was trained, so there was a difference from a nappy (only slight difference I know). From our experience we didn't use the toilet seats for quite a while as my eldest didn't seem to sit right on them and wee would go everywhere! Hope it goes well x

 

[Violet]

One thing that might help is getting your other half to wee in the potty with James watching? We did that a few times with D and it really helped him understand what was going on and he was more keen to wee on the potty cos Daddy did it. Poos took a lot longer, but (touch wood) he's cracked that too now.

Now I've gotta try to teach him to wee up a tree or something without wetting his clothes so when we r in the park it's easier.

 

[littlemonkey]

Can I just ask what probably seems like a ridiculous question. For all of you who had their LOs with nothing on their bottom half, what did you do when leaving the house?! Staying in all day for a week isn't an option for us!

 

[beckyboo1]

Little monkey I bought a cheap potty and kept it in the car

So I'd make him wee before we left for anywhere. Then say if we were going to shops is ask again when we got there etc

Worked fine.. I think we had a couple of days of staying local - ish til I knew he was getting the hang of it then we went for it

Just make sure you take a couple of spare sets of clothes!

 

[H16]

I'm introducing my daughter to the potty next week, she is getting very good at telling me when she is going to do a poo etc so thought we would start early (18 months old) and take it slowly. To start with I am going to just sit her on the potty every time we have a nappy change so she starts associating the potty with toilet issues. She actually asked me to use the toilet the other day so hoping she enjoys potty training but we will see lol x

 

[Emily0505]

The last two nights when I have been getting Cam ready for bed he's asked me for his potty so he could do a poo.

He never tells me he needs a wee but I have noticed a couple of times that he holds his crotch and crosses his legs in that classic needing a wee pose. Of course when I ask him he'll say no!

I'm writing next week and then got nearly three weeks off so I can concentrate on potty training.

Hopefully he's ready and will pick it up quickly.

Then after he's potty trained the next thing is getting rid of the dummy!

XX

 

[littlemonkey]

Emily, getting rid of the dummy has been the easy thing for us!! LO has only had it for bed for what for like ages now and we've started putting him to bed with out it. He hasn't even asked for it.