Any great advice at potty training a 2 year old boy?

[akmiss]

My son was doing really well with going potty but he has lost all interest........
Any advice? I wish I could just chant something and *puff* it''s done

 

[neatfreak]

1. Make a big deal out of it when he goes in the potty. Dance, sing, give him a treat, whatever works.

2. Put cheerios in the toilet so he has something to "aim" at. Also makes it like target practice, which little boys usually LOVE.

3. Make sure you aren''t turning him away from it by yelling at him if he has a mistake. Better to just use lots and lots of positive reinforcement when he DOES make it to the potty. If he gets yelled at when he doesn''t make it, he might just get frustrated and give up.

Good Luck!

 

[swingirl]

Boys just take a little longer so be patient.

 

[justjulia]

It''s been a while (my son will be 16 this summer!!!!!!!!) but, my old mom advice for you is to shop for some of those "old fashioned" cotton whitey tighty underwear. I believe they come in all the super hero colors these days. That way, he will feel the wetness and naturally want to get out of it, which leads to going potty more. At least that is what worked for me, (back in the dark ages, lol lol).

Also, I bribed with M&M''s.

 

[justjulia]

Oh, one more thing: it never worked to put one of those potty seats on top of the adult toilet...just too overwhelming. We used the toddler size. (Just in case--don''t know what you use..)

Also helped to have him go when daddy went. Some male bonding time. (lol)

 

[somethingshiny]

My son turned two in Feb and we started training around then. He''s not trained at night, but he does great during the day.

We have a potty in his bedroom and his playroom. Our bathrooms are tiny and he didn''t like to be in them all cramped up, so when we moved the potties, he was much happier.

He only sits to go, no standing. He wants to stand occasionally, and we he wants to I let him, but for the most part he sits. He got really frustrated trying to stand over the potty, aim and all that. So, we''ll work with cheerios in a few months.

He wears pull-ups and loves them. They have "learning designs" and he''s so proud when they''re still there.

We made a giant sticker chart out of poster board to hang over the playroom potty. We used stickers to write out "JT''s Potty Chart" and he gets to pick a sticker everytime he goes. I have stickers of just about everything so that he still finds them to be an incentive. We also use mini potty charts at Grandma''s house.

We also give lots of high fives. But, we don''t go crazy every time he potties. I''m afraid he''ll think it''s for us to get happy instead of for him to accomplish something.

We never made/make a big deal out of accidents. We just say "you''ll do better next time!" We''ve had some really rough potty days, but before bed I give lots of encouragement for the following day.

Public bathrooms are hard. He always wants to know where they are as soon as we get some place, but if he deems them unacceptable, he just won''t use them.

When we started, we kind of had a schedule. Immediately upon awakening in the morning and after naps. Before sleeping, after meals, and then about every 2 hours otherwise. It''s pretty much the same schedule now, but he''ll go longer in between.

Good Luck. And, let me know how night time training goes if you get there before we do!!

 

[LaraOnline]

Something I''ve heard from several different people as being really helpful is... getting their favourite cuddly toy to go to the toilet! Act out going to the toilet with the toy, and perhaps have the toy sitting on an icecream container potty, that kind of thing...

 

[akmiss]

Thanks for all the advice. I never heard of the cheerios one but thats a great idea. I do have a sticker board but need to actually use it......

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/28/2008 4:43:40 PM
Author: swingirl
Boys just take a little longer so be patient.

Yep.

I have 3 boys, and none of them were trained until 3. I tried at 2, but no one was interested. What I found worked amazing well, and quickly, was to let them run around at home with nothing on their bottoms. For some reason, going in mid air didn''t appeal to them, and they just started going for the potty. (no pun intended!)

 

[ellaila]

No personal experience with this yet, but this was just being discussed at my moms group the other night (though I think her kids are 3, not 2), and one mom uses different-sized stickers: small smiley faces and big ones. For the times when the kids try but don''t make it to the potty, they get a small sticker, and for the potty successes, they get a big sticker. And once they get a certain number of big stickers, those can get cashed in for some treat - like a trip to the zoo or whatever. This mom is a teacher, and she says definitely don''t do food reinforcements (I know a lot of people use M&Ms). But positive reinforcement is huge!

And yes, the Cheerios/target practice is great, too

Good luck!

 

[justjulia]

Date: 6/29/2008 6:40:09 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 6/28/2008 4:43:40 PM

Author: swingirl

Boys just take a little longer so be patient.

Yep.


I have 3 boys, and none of them were trained until 3. I tried at 2, but no one was interested. What I found worked amazing well, and quickly, was to let them run around at home with nothing on their bottoms. For some reason, going in mid air didn''t appeal to them, and they just started going for the potty. (no pun intended!)

I am laughing so hard I think I might start crying.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/29/2008 8:25:15 PM
Author: justjulia

Date: 6/29/2008 6:40:09 PM
Author: Ellen
Yep.


I have 3 boys, and none of them were trained until 3. I tried at 2, but no one was interested. What I found worked amazing well, and quickly, was to let them run around at home with nothing on their bottoms. For some reason, going in mid air didn''t appeal to them, and they just started going for the potty. (no pun intended!)

I am laughing so hard I think I might start crying.

lol The visual?

 

[justjulia]

Ellen, Even though I know your boys couldn't have been that close in age, I immediately conjured up an image of three triplet like little guys running helter skelter through a house, their little parts flying in the breeze... well, you know what I mean.

My daughter would always let us know she was ready to do #2 by running behind our ficus tree and grabbing onto its trunk. We had to find a way to make the thought transfer to the potty, so, we put the potty under the tree. Seemed to work.

My son, almost 4 yrs later, just wanted to immulate his big sister, so we probably had an easier time of potty training than most.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/29/2008 8:41:35 PM
Author: justjulia
Ellen, Even though I know your boys couldn''t have been that close in age, I immediately conjured up an image of three triplet like little guys running helter skelter through a house, their little parts flying in the breeze... well, you know what I mean.

No, you''re right, they weren''t that close in age, thank the good lord. But we do have some funny pics...

 

[LaraOnline]

It''s stating the obvious, but always having the potty around, or having a lot of potties, even in the periods that they''re not interested.
I also used to announce my own need to ''use the potty''. Of course, I would let her see what I was doing.

My little girl looked at the potties for the best part of a year, before she announced she wanted to use it.
I also keep the potties in view of the toilet, she loves it when we go together.

Every morning, I would ask her: ''nappies or big girls undies?''. One day, after months, it was big girl undies, and she basically learned very quickly. She refused night-time nappies a few months after that.

She wasn''t the first girl in her group to be potty trained, but when it happened, it was very quick, and very low key.

Boys...hmmm...encourage them to go in the garden? Get Dad to do it, ha!

My boy is 20 months, he is interested in playing / sitting on the potty, but potty training is a while off yet! My s-i-l was very competitive at her playgroup, and had both her boys trained at 18 months! (standing up)

 

[akmiss]

I have three brothers and my mom said that the boys do "take longer" at everything including being potty trained

Hopefully Lil' Troy will figure it out soon enough! He is a BIG two year old - about 41lbs (very tall too!) and the diapers are getting kinda small