potty training help?

Question

my son is 2 yrs old and whenever we try to put him on the potty he screams and cries, he will goto the bathroom with us and sit down on the potty, but if we try taking his pants off, even with a diaper on, and sitting him on it he screams to no end. any ideas would help

he is fine with walking around the house w/o pants on, but if it involves taking the diaper off he hates it

even if one side of the diaper comes undone he screams untill its fixed

Answer 1

Get him excited about using the potty. If you make it look like something he "gets" to do rather than something he "has" to do then he'll be more excited about it. Also, try letting him decorate his potty (a plastic one that goes on the floor) with stickers and things to make it seem more special. Let him pick out his own underwear too and also his own rewards.

Answer 2

When it becomes unbearable for him to have a mess in his pants, he'll be more receptive. Where did this nonsense that you have to potty train at 2 come from anyway. All of my children were well past three before they even wanted to use the bathroom. If you make this an issue, he'll have trouble for a lifetime. Back off. Give him time. You'll notice when he comes to you because his diaper is uncomfortable. I would be concerned about his screaming too, as another mentioned, he might be experiencing some things that shouldn't be happening. Walk into his daycare unexpectedly a couple of times and see what's up. I'm really worried about him.

Answer 3

i have two children a 4 year old girl and an almost 3 year old boy. My daughter took to the potty so easily i thought nothing about training my son until he started the same thing as your son. we started training him right about on his 2nd birthday and the stress was overwhelming eventually we just decided that maybe he wasn't ready and forcing him was not going to help so over the next few months we bought him his own potty and decorated it with stickers of his favorite things. it was left in the bathroom and there was no pressure put on him to use it. When he would make a mess in his diaper i would simply tell him it was yucky why would you want pee or poo poo all over your bum next time you should try to use the potty and i left it at that. then one day out of no where he came screaming out of the bathroom for me to come see. i went and to my surprise right there in his potty his first poop, we threw him a big party and since then his has used his potty all by himself. I guess my main advice is that when he is ready he'll let you know don't try to force him you'll probably just make him hate the potty even more. Good luck

Answer 4

You're expecting a 2 year old boy to be potty trained??? Haha good luck... Just kidding. It takes alot more time for a boy to potty train. My ex-girlfriend's little boy didn't figure it out till he was 4. That's a little extreme, but it happens.

He's got to watch his dad(or any guy, but the same guy everytime) He's got to watch a guy do it before he's gonna want to do it. That's the fastest way to teach them. And though this might seem a little awkard for a guy, he's also got to be the one to show him how to hold it and point it when he's standing up.


Don't stop trying, but he'll probably not learn for a little while longer. It just takes boys longer for some reason.

He probably screams cause he's got some sort of fear of the toilet, but feels protected with his clothes on. I had one. I used to think snakes were going to come out of the toilet.

Does he have a problem when you try to take his pants off to take a bath? If he does, that may be something else.

Anyway, let him watch the same guy do it everytime, and offer him rewards for doing it himself. As he gets to be a little older(like 3) and more understanding, tell him everytime he messes his diaper, he gets a toy taken away and doesn't get it back till he uses the potty. Start with his least favorite toys. But everytime he uses the potty, make him feel like a little Superman. Give him something really special, especially the first time he does it on his own. But don't push him too hard till he starts showing interest.

Good luck!


P.S. I would suggest not doing the Cheerios thing. Next thing you know you'll have him eating Cheerios for breakfast and you'll turn around to see him standing in his chair, peeing in his bowl! I have heard of this happening.

Answer 5

Well I know it's hard to start potty training your son. I just went through that with my 2 yr. old. Although he didn't cry about his diaper being taken off. I told him that he's a big boy now, and only babies wear diapers. That helped a little, but now he's using the RR now without problems. Maybe he is scared of using the toilet. Including the ones in public, because there so loud when you flush them. You need to tell him that there's nothing to be scared of and nothing will happen to him if he sits on it. Maybe you should try buying him a small seat, that could work.

Answer 6

Your son doesn't seem ready for potty training, and if you force the issue, you'll wind up with trouble getting him trained. Give it a rest.

He'll let you know when he is ready. My nephew decided on his third birthday that he wanted to wear "big boy" underpants that he got as a gift from his mother. That was all the "training" he needed and stayed dry after that. My own son was about 2-1/2 and decided that all his friends at daycare used the potty and that he would, too. He rarely had an accident after he made that decision. Let your son decide.

Good luck.

Answer 7

Potty training you child can be one of the most frustrating experiences as a parent - or it can be a fun experience where you get to watch your little baby grow up!

1. Encourage the behavior
Let your child know that going to the potty is a positive experience. Continually express the benefits of potty training to your child before you attempt to potty train in language that he or she will can understand. For example, if you child is wiggling while you change their diaper say, "Won't it be nice to be able to go potty by yourself. It's so much faster." Point out that using the potty is something big kids do. Emphasize how much cleaner it is to "go" in a potty and how good underwear feels. Make purchasing their first set of underwear an event. Let your child pick out whatever design they want.

When we started potty training our daughter, we went to the store and let her pick out the underwear she wanted (she went with a fashionable Elmo print). She was so proud of the underwear that she wanted to put it on right when we got home. We started potty training her then since she was so excited!

2. Set a date limit.
Let your child know when potty training will begin. For example, "when it is your birthday Mommy and Daddy are going to let you start using the toilet." This helps the child get used to the idea.

3. Encourage the child.
Let them sit on the potty fully clothed a few times. Let them play with the toilet paper and pick out their own underwear. Also, let them help you stock the bathroom with books and toys they can play with while they are on the potty. This helps them to understand the concept of preparing to learn a task and take ownership in the idea. The books and toys will help them stay on the chair long enough for something to happen. My daughter especially enjoyed looking at her baby albums. I also kept a stock of baby wipes under the sink and often wiped the floor while I was waiting. My bathroom floor was always clean!

4. Reward good behavior
Bribery works. Use it. Candy is good for little rewards every time the child sat on the potty successfully. The downside to this approach, however, is that eventually you will have to wean them from the constant rewards. Other positive rewards from a hug to a call to Grandma to tell her the news works just as well.

5. Dealing with accidents
Have patience, patience, and more patience. Do not show anger to your child as it will only discourage him and damage your relationship. Count to what ever number it takes to keep your cool. Keep the child involved by having them turn on the washing machine or put the clean clothes away when they are done to understand the consequences of an accident.

Good luck, following these steps will help make the potty training experience more bearable!

Answer 8

don't rush it, just back off of the potty training until he shows more signs of being ready.
my son was NOT ready until he was almost 3 and then one day he just walked in and decided it was time to go in the potty. he never wore a diaper after that, and never had one accident.
continue to gently show him his potty and let him know that's where big boys go. but don't force it.
another suggestion is to invite an older child for a weekend to spend time with him. when your son sees the older child going to the potty as "big boys" do, then he'll be more encouraged. but still... let him set the pace. he WILL get through this time.

Answer 9

If he is having a negative reaction to the potty than he is not ready, and pushing him will only prolong the wait for him to be ready...My son trained himself when he was ready, and he is now accident free during the day, diapered at night and just fine. He trained himself a bit after three.

Answer 10

My kids (boys) wanted nothing to do with the potty when I first started training them...it took a while, but they finally came around on their own...they were potty trained by the time they were 2 and a half years old...I didn't stress I just let them get used to the idea on their own terms