My son just turned 3 and has no desire to use the potty, any advice???

Answer 1

Well my son was potty trained in less than a week with no rewards other than underwear and with minimal accidents so I think I did something right:)! He was 3 months shy of his third birthday.

Cheerios in the toilet don't work until the kid is potty trained and you want him to learn to pee standing, because of the height of the toilet and the added stress of aiming it's best for boys to start sitting down. If they can watch daddy do it a few times that sometimes helps. Don't worry that he is 3 most boys aren't potty trained until they are 3-3 1/2. It shouldn't take you more than a few days if you child is really ready.

Here's what I did .. It’s quite simple.

Buy a potty book - I like the Sesame Street one it's short and to the point. Just to introduce the idea, it also talks about being able to stop playing and run to the restroom like a big boy.

Let him pick out some underwear and then you get him some that are plain. DO NOT put him in pull-ups they learn fast that they are just like a diaper even the ones that have wetness liner don't really work. Pull-ups are for night time and nap only.

First thing you do in the morning when he wakes up is take him to the restroom. If he is staying dry through the night he is definitely ready and will need to go in the morning. Tell him today we are going to start going pee-pee like a big boy and wearing big boy underwear - diapers are for babies and you aren't a baby anymore. Make it light and fun. Put him in the underwear - I would put a thin panty liner in the underwear so if there was an accident it wasn't very bad.

Take him to the restroom every 20 mins or so. If he goes make a big deal out of it, jumping clapping whatever. The reward are the underwear and being able to go, other things are unnecessary and hurtful to the process - they come to expect things and it can take much longer to potty train.

Quickly he will start to hold it and you will be able to lengthen the time between "potty breaks". If he has an accident don't get mad or make a big deal, just say oops we had an accident we need to be careful because you won't have any special ________ underwear if you have anymore accidents. If he does then you can put him in the plain underwear until he has a dry day. If after a week he is having accidents because he is too busy playing and doesn't feel like going you can say .. One time is an accident two times means baby diapers. By then he will be into the big boy underwear and he won't want to go back to diapers.

What I think worked for us was putting him straight into underwear he didn't like the feel of peeing on himself and really feeling it at all - quickly he came to love his underwear and would run to his drawer after nap to put on a pair - fortunatley for us we only had to use nighttime pull ups for about 2 weeks but not all kids are able to do that. We were also VERY consistent once we put him in underwear we never went back we meant business. And the panty liners were great because it helped keep the mess down and he felt every bit of it.

Somthing I forgot to add for all those who say he is too old not to be potty trained -statistics show kids who are forced to potty train too early have more accidents later on and often go through periods where they go for weeks having "accidents" and aren't considered fully potty trained until they are five.

Answer 2

Firstly I must say that I have never met a physically or mentally normal 18yr old who is still wearing nappies..lol..so take comfort that it will happen for your son too. Dr Phil had some fantastic ideas for this very thing on a show he once did, perhaps you could check out his website and see if there is a link to potty training on there.
I have three kids. The first trained herself at 20mths, the second wasn't interested until the day he turned 3 and within the week he was day and night trained, the third child I am still struggling with and she is 4. She still has the occassional wet night and sometimes wet days, but yet not at preschool funnily enough. Potty training is a devil of a thing as you will have ppl telling you your kid should have been trained by 2 but that doesn't happen with all kids but most have a handle on it by the time they turn 6. Good luck with it and try not to stress too much..it will happen eventually.

Answer 3

My oldest son was almost 3and 1/2 before he was potty trained. It just takes some children longer than others to catch on. I used the summer time to take advantage of his lack of interest. I would let him run around with out a diaper on and always kept an eye on him. When he started to touch himself I knew that it was time for him to go. I would encourage him to stand at the potty and turn the water a different color. I would put water and a few drops of food coloring in the potty seat and let him change the color (with his urine). Once he got to the big potty he would occassionally ask me to do the same thing. And of course I did, what ever works.
I wish you all the luck....mommies potty training little boy is a challenge because we obviously don't have the part to show them how.

Answer 4

My son didn't become fully potty trained until he was four, mostly due to the fact that I was diagnosed with cancer and it was a crazy year.

We tried different games but nothing worked, he just had no desire to use the potty. We talked to a counselor and they told us not to stress too much over it, that some kids just move at their own pace. He did show more interest when he began spending more time with his cousin (who is three months older) and saw him using the potty rather than wearing a pull up.

When he finally did start using the potty occassionally, we took his pull ups away during the day completely. He learned quickly that if he went in his pants it was "gross" and it helped encourage him not to do it.

Answer 5

My son was 3.5 and I was desperate! I tried everything in the book and bribed more than I can think of but he refused..... One day, I jsut gave up. I told him that when he is ready to learn how to go like a big boy, he can consult me and I will teach him. Until then, he will be in nappies. I parayed and prayed, and one day, he told me that he would be willing to try but not on thep potty- he wanted a toilet insert. Fine with me! I put him on the insert that very day. He sat for a half a second, like his bum had been burned :) but I praised him and gave him a treat. the next morning, he sat for a full second. Soon he was sitting twice a day and we have not looked back!

The best thing I could have done was to back off completely. I never spoke about it, didnt ask him, didnt mention anything, put the potty books away etc. If you can do that without stress, you might have the same miracle as we did. good luck!

Answer 6

My youngest son is about to turn 3. We just potty trained him.
He has recently taken an interest in Spider man so we bought a pkg of Spider Man underwear, swim arm rings, beach ball and pinned them on the bathroom wall in front ofg the potty chair.
I told him if he pottied on the toilet, he coould have a prize. He was quite motivated and it worked quickly. It has been a month and we are still rewarding him.However, he still has accidents.
I have bought lots of underwear and shorts and carry around extras as well. Good Luck! THey love prizes. And make it exciting add lots of verbal praise he should do well. Some additional tips.....if he does not respond the first two day, stop and try again in a week. during that week just talk to him at any opportunity about going potty on the toilet. Example: I potty on toilet, etc..

Answer 7

I have no children myself, but I have a nephew that just turned 3, and my sister was dealing with the same issue. She was concerned he was "behind" the other children. The answer is he simply is not ready. It won't be long before he is, but at 3 children exert their independence and this is part of it. You might try rewarding him when he does use the potty, but given the age, he may only go if he gets a reward. Don't worry though: He is perfectly fine. 3 years old is a transitional period between very young and young, and he is only discovering that he can do things in his own time now. Good luck....Everything will be fine.

Answer 8

My son started using the potty when he felt like it, from age 2 on. He wasn't totally trained til he was 3 1/2, about 8 weeks before preschool was about to start (cuz he had to be trained by then to attend) We decided no more pull-ups during the day. We put his potty seat on the kitchen floor, which was close to the play room, and put him in big boy undies that he chose himself, from the Disney Store. It really only took about 2 days, and he was completely trained. I truly believe that some of our previous attempts failed because he didn't like briefs! And still doesn't, he likes boxers or boxer briefs. Good luck!

Answer 9

Let him see you or your husband use the bathroom. Use peer pressure - point out which of his friends are already potty trained. Explain the benefits of being potty trained. Give him a sticker for every time he uses the potty - you can place the sticker on a book or piece of paper if you don't want them all over the house.

Answer 10

That's perfectly fine. Try letting him walk around without a pamper, and offer him the potty every 5 minutes, give him some liquids to drink to make sure he has to go when you ask him. Also please do not put the potty in the bathroom it should be in the living room or where ever he spends the most time.