Toilet Training.... should i continue or is he just not ready?

[julianne]

My son is almost 2.5 years old and have been toilet training for the last week and a bit. I had my second baby just as he turned 2 - up until then he had been reasonably happy to sit on the potty before a bath but was a bit random as to whether he would go or not. Once baby number 2 arrived it came as no surprise that he had a blip and took an abhorrent dislike to the potty... would run away and get quite upset. At that point we stepped back to wait till he showed an interest again.

Well, over the last few months he has been talking about poos (tells me when he has done one an sometimes when he wants one) and wees so thought we would try again. It took a few days for him to be happy wearing pants, but that's ok now. He hasn't yet started to tell me when he needs to go. I watch him like a hawk for the crotch grabbing and dancing about and put him on the loo regularly (we got a toilet seat which he seems to prefer over the potty) but the hit rate isn't great. Lots of 'oopsy daisy' puddles.

so my question is...... does this all sound quite normal and just to persevere with it or does it sound like he isn't in fact ready?

any advice or pearls of wisdom appreciated,

TIA

 

[queenriccy]

Following this as we are getting the signs so are going to start toilet training very soon, luckily we have a downstairs toiletxx

 

[littlemonkey]

Definitely following this. I'm similar to yourself, son is two and baby number two is due in 8 weeks so I really don't see the point in starting until my second has arrived. I honestly am dreading this, I can cope with most things motherhood throws at me but wee and poo on my carpet not so much!

Personally I would persevere. I know everyone says pull ups are a bad idea when toilet training, but if he's still not telling you yet, it could save you a few accidents and clean ups at least. I'm sure someone else will have more words of wisdom to offer!

 

[Mrs CW]

My eldest trained just after his 2nd birthday and he would tell me most of the time that he needed to go, he was happy to use the potty which we kept in a our living room. We had a few accidents when we didn't get there quick enough but within a few days he got there. I don't know if you've been using pants straight away, for us for the first few days he went without bottoms (including pants) so that we didn't have to worry about pulling things down. We then put pants on and found he had a few accidents as I guess it feels a bit like having a nappy on - he was a cloth bum. I know it's hard with 2 LOs but it might be worth staying at home and allowing him to be bare below the waist for a few days to see if he picks it up. If it's upsetting him having accidents etc that may cause him to revert back. We only used pull ups in the first few weeks if we were out as I heard they were a bad idea.
I'm just starting to introduce the potty to my 2nd and trying to remember everything we did with D! X

 

[julianne]

Thank you all for your replies. Yes we went straight to pants although more often than not in the house he is naked from the waste down while we are doing this at the moment. He doesn't seem phased at all if he has an accident (pants or naked) - but he does come to 'tell' me. He managed a couple of pees on the toilet this evening - he didn't really want to be put on but noticed the i-need-a-wee dance. He was then pleased as punch he had done it.... hopefully the positive reinforcement will help. A couple of times I have spotted him just after he has started peeing - I'll say 'stop' and he will stop until i plop him on the loo, so he has some control.

Again thank you for your replies. For those of you reading this, about to start, I will keep you posted of our progress....

 

[Mrs CW]

That sound promising and good that he's got the control. My eldest gets really upset if he has an accident and always has. Hope it goes well this week x

 

[Staceylou27]

How about some sort of reward when he does go on he toilet? Maybe a sticker and when e tea so many he gets something bigger like a magazine or something? An incentive may help as he will want to get more stickers. Use something that motivates him.