What is the best way to potty train a 3 1/2 year old?

Question

i am home with him all the time and he is very hard headed. I have tried putting him in undies, rewarding him and all that I NEED HELP!!!!!

Answer 1

We just potty trained our 3 1/2 yewar old. He's our middle child. We thought he'd never be ready. Summer is a great time. first I bought him new underwear that he picked out, and after his firt morning diaper I put them on. And told him " good bye diapers " which he repaets all the time. Then we started sitting him on the toilet, ( with a training seat on it from walmart) we have a selection of books he like sitting there by the toilet, we hand him one, and say "OK, if you make a poop go in the water , we'll wash out hands and have a popsicle ! " It took about 2 weeks of this exact method, and he poops there every time now, and sometimes just tried in hopes of a popsicle. We buy those cheep Koolaid popsicles in the long plastic tubes . Works great , we have to pick up a box every time, I think you could bribe with something sugar free if needed., Also
( and some people may think this is cruel ) I told him to change himself one day so he could see what he has been doing in there ! my husband and I took the bathroom rug out, and stood close by with wipes at the ready, he took his diaper off and said ' OH NO I POO POO ! UCKY ! I could see then it was starting to click thus we explained why he needed to get the poop into the pot!

Answer 2

My kids are all well past the age of potty training. I can honestly say no matter the age or sex, potty training is work. CONSISTANCY is the best rule. I just helped my best friend potty train her 2 yr old. (I am also the babysitter) We both worked at it for 2 wks and now we are pleased to say that he is trained. Yeah, he still has "accidents", but that is to be expected. I recommend you do NOT use Pull-ups at anytime. (When my kids were little this just led to a longer period of time in teaching them to control their bladder) What I do recommend is that you keep working with him. If he goes for a 4-5 days or whatever you feel is comfortable and is making absolutly NO progress, then put him back in diapers. Wait a week and try again. Even while in a diaper, at changing times, put him on the potty. Maybe, just maybe he will catch on to the whole idea. If dador older brother is around have dad or older brother take him to the bathroom with him and show him how boys use the bathroom. If your using a potty chair, try using the regular toilet. (My kids hated potty chairs) Don't scold him too harshly for wetting or dirtying his underwear. You don't want to scare him. Ultimatly the answer is this...... Your little boy will let you know when HE is ready!!! GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

I am potty training my 3 year old son right also. If you are at home with him all the time then buy a timer and take him to the potty every 15 minutes. After he eats let him sit on the potty for about 15 minutes. My son was also very hard to potty train. But, I had to end up taking him to the potty every 15 minutes. Eventually, he will get the hang of it himself.

Answer 4

Honestly at first I let my boys run around naked lol. My friend did that with her daughters to. They learn the concept of going to the potty that way. Then I would work up to putting them in undies around the house and they got the hang of that. Then I would put them in there clohtes and make sure I took them to the potty very often till they got that concept. Also giving them a book or something to look at when you are trying to get them to #2 helps. Because they concentrate less on pooping. Its easier if they try to hard they are usually not able to. I also had my three year old watch me throw away the pull up cause he didn't wanna let them go. We let him pick out the undies he wanted. And gave him five after he did #2 and he said goodbye to the poop silly but it worked. There might be accidents but that is how they learn.

Answer 5

Consistantcy is what is needed. At 3 1/2 your child has a vocabulary and knows right from wrong. At 3 1/2 this child can do simple tasks and chores.

Quit cleaning up the childs potty messes in the pants. Make him/her do the cleaning up of the poopy messes and pee pee pants. Hard headed or not......the child keeps the pooping in the pants because he/she can!!

Present this child with new undies...even if they're the pull up kind. Tell him / her that you are no longer responsible for his/her doing the Make in the potty!! If he/she makes potty in their pants then he/she must clean it up. After this child has had to clean up their own pooey messes this child will probably more accepting of doing his / her make in the potty!!!

Answer 6

I am 14 and am trying to potty train my 3 1/2 year old cousin. What i am doing is my mom bought the training diaper things that have blue carrots on the front. When he goes, the carrots disappear. I started off just having him wear it all the time and asking him when he had to go. the problem was he only told me he had to go pee after he already went. So I started only letting him wear the diapers at night so now he has to tell me when he has to go on top of me asking every 1/2 hour because he won't go in his shorts because i told him if he does it will get yucky all over. When he does go in the toilet then he gets 3 M&Ms because he is 3 yrs old. So far it is working. Let me know if it works for you!

Answer 7

Take him to the bathroom every so often and play a game.
Throw some cherrios into the toliet. Tell him to aim, go potty and sink the cherrios.
Also, if he doesn't like wet underwear. Sit him on the floor in a certain area where it can be mopped and let him sit in them for a little while. He'll change his mind.
I've found that pull ups pull too much moisture away from their fannies and they don't suffer any discomfort so they don't see any reason to stop wetting their pants.

Answer 8

I had the same prob w/ my son...He is almost 4 now and he was very hard to train, I tryed cheerio's, toys, rewards...etc. The thing that got him was to make a game out of it.....I would say, " I bet you cant go pee pee or Poo Poo" and then I would say, "dont you scare me and go potty", and when he did I would act surprised and tell him what a big boy he was!!! It worked like a charm and has been doing good for over a year now!!!

Answer 9

Have you tried telling him to go in the potty? Let's not try to make this too complicated. If he talks, ask him what he's thinking. At this advanced age, you could tell him no ivy league college will accept a student who is not potty trained, or that he will have trouble in a male/female relationship if he continually goes in the bed.

Answer 10

Read the book called Potty Training in a Day. It is the only thing that worked for my son!!