Potty Training(moms of boys only)!?

Question

My son is almost 20 months and I was wondering when you started your sons on potty training and how did you go about it?I have heard it is harder to train boys.What age is good to start?He still seems so young to learn.Please answer only if you have potty trained a boy-Thanks!

Answer 1

----This is lengthy, but it works! Please read all-----
I have potty trained 2 sons, and worked in several day cares. I was very successful in potty training all of my 2yr. old. As soon as the child shows an interest, put him on the toilet, every 1-1/2 hours. If he goes, reward him with his favorite treat. If you set him on the toilet backwards, with the seat up, then he will see himself go. Make a major production of it.
I had one child that was afraid off the toilet, period. He wouldn't go near it, I rewarded him for just sitting on the toilet. Before I knew it, he was potty trained.
When your child is fully trained, then take him to his favorite place to eat, or a special toy of his choosing.
Don't promise rewards for using the potty unless you have them on hand.
Keeping them in a glass jar or zippy bag in the bathroom, (sealed) is a great idea, because they can see it, you just have to keep it out of reach, or they will be no more.
Also, be patient, and make potty time fun. Any stress what-so-ever will discourage him, and he will not go.
If he says he has to go, drop everything, no matter where you are, and take him, and hurry, they wait till the very last minute to tell you.
I wish you the best of luck. I know you can do it.

Answer 2

I had many people tell me boys are harder but I think it depends on the child. Because I heard they are harder I started my son when he was 2 1/2. He did very well! Maybe because I waited until he was a little bit older. I would pump him full of juice and we would go to the potty every 30 min. We would sit in there and play with his toys or read books for awhile. When something happened we would do the "happy dance" and he would get one m&m. He caught on quick because he wanted a M&M! He was trained for daytime at age 3 but it took to age 5 to train overnight. I didn't worry about the standing up thing for a little while. I just wanted to work on basics at first. When my husband had to go potty my son would just go with him and watch to see how boys do it as they get bigger. Most people use the "aim for the cheerios" method but we never did. Looking back on it training my boy was a lot easier then training my girl that I have now and she's almost 3.

Answer 3

Well, im not a mom, but im a single dad so I potty trained my 3 year old triplets.... I started potty training at a year and a half, but it was just not clicking so I stopped and started again at 2. One of them got it right away, the other 2 it took a few months... As long as they are potty trained by 2 1/2-3, dont worry about it. It can be hard depending on the kid but try it and see how it goes, if it doesnt seem to work, put it off a couple more months. Some parents will say they have to be trained by 2, but thats ridiculous, all kids are different and to be honest if it doesnt bother you, as long as they are trained for preschool, then they are fine!

Answer 4

All kids are different, so if your little one is showing signs of wanting to use the potty then I suggest giving it a shot. I have 2 boys. The oldest started at about 18 months going to pee in the potty. Then we had to move. After we moved it was like he lost interest in it. So we didn't push things. At about 2 and a half, we started again and things went better this time. Between me and his dad and his grandpa (who watched him during the day) we was able to get him potty trained in a about 2 weeks. We gave him a kids watch to wear. We would ask him about every hour or so if it was time to go potty. He would say, Yeah and take off running to the bathroom. He learned what the feeling was and eventually began acting on it on his own. With our youngest, he wanted NOTHING to do with the potty. He knew how from about 2 and a half but he would scream bloody murder if you even mentioned it. As far as I knew, he had never had a bad experience with the potty. So, finally a few months ago, just after he turned 3, we told him enough was enough. We threw out all the pull ups (they are just like a diaper, so please don't use them) and put him in some of the cloth training pants. He had a few accidents the first couple of days, but by the 3rd day, he was going like a pro. With both boys, we took them out and let them pick out their "big boy" underwear. They love it. I wish you the best with this, good luck!!!!

Answer 5

Every boy is different. I have a 3 1/2 yr old boy and he started gaining interest about the same age. Attempting to make it more fun and interesting helped us out a lot. Try putting a piece of toilet paper in the toilet and have him aim at it. Cheerios work too. Some stores also carry little targets you can put in the bowl for him. One of things that helped up most was making sure we put him on a "potty timer", basically every 20-30 minutes take him in (or have him use the portable kids potty). If he didn't go then, try again in 5 minutes. They now have out an item called the "Peter Potty" that looks like a mini urinal. You can go to www.peterpotty.com and check out where they are sold near you. My son loved it because he got to flush it himself (it holds 2 cups of water in the top that you just refill when empty). He wanted to use it all the time....that REALLY helped. Hope it helps you!

Answer 6

My son started potty training at 22 months. At first he did really well. I'd take him to the potty every hour or so and 2 or 3 times a day he'd go. He knew how to put his pee pee and poo poo in the toilet and was able to tell me when he had to go on some occasions, but after about 2 months he suddenly did not want to go to the bathroom anymore. He just refused. I though that he was young still and they say boys are harder so I waited for him to be "ready". When he was almost 3 1/2 he still refused to try using the potty. I sat him down and told him he was getting too grown up to wear diapers anymore and that in 2 weeks he'd wear only big boy underwear - no more diapers. I reminded him of the upcoming day as the 2 weeks passed. 2 weeks later after he woke up, we talked about what a big boy he is and how from now on he wouldn't wear diapers anymore, only underwear. He attached to that idea right away. He had no daytime accidents the first few days, but even after that on days when he just was tired of the effort that went into using the bathroom, he still insisted that he was a big boy now and that he had to wear underwear. We tried giving hime spiderman underwear and telling him Spiderman doesn't like getting pee pee'd on because a friend of mine said that worked for her son, but it didn't have too much effect on my son's accidents. He wet his bed every night for the first week, then he'd have one or 2 nights a week where he wouldn't wet. Over time he started wetting the bed less and less. He just turned four and now
he only wets his bed once every month or two. Just try what you feel is right and don't feel bad if your first 3 or 4 approaches don't work. Nothing makes a parent feel as unqualified as trying to potty train a toddler. Most parents have a hard time figuring out what works for their child. In the end it all works out. Good Luck to you!

Answer 7

I potty trained my son and daughter at the same time, he was 3 1/2 and she was 2. I waited that long and it was the EASIEST thing I think I could have asked for. He was trained in less than 2 days, night and day! He does seem a little young for toilet training yet, you might give it a try and if he doesn't seem ready try again in a few months.

Answer 8

I started at 18 months, but both of my sons were hearing impaired so they didn't get it until 3 years old. I have heard that this is common with boys even without hearing loss. I think it depends upon the child and how quickly they are to learn, some are slower than others, both girls and boys. I have girls too, and they were potty trained at 18 months. I have known people with both boys and girls and some just don't spend the time teaching their children. I know girls and boys who can't even walk until 2 years old, and potty broke at 3 and 4 years old. So try at 18 months and keep it up. He'll get it eventually. I know it is time consuming for you, but well worth it in the end.

Answer 9

Some boys are more stubborn some are not, I have potty trained 2 boys and a girl, I found that naked time helps train them becasue they dont have anything in the way they may have to pull down, I havent had luck with pull ups they are where treated like diapers in my house and used for pottying in. Underware they didnt like the feel of it wet so if you dont feel comfortable with naked time you can try just underware time (big boy time), I also found that having them sit on their potty when I went potty was a great time for them to learn by example.

My daughter started at 2 and was easily trained by 2years and 6 months.
my 1st son we started on and off from 2 on was finally trained by 4 years, we were worried he wouldnt be able to go to preschool he still has accidents at night he is 5 1/2 now, I was told by his peditrician night wetting can be casued from him having a sleep disorder, he also had a seizure from a high fever, and he was in acoma for 12 hours had some nerve damage from that where his body shakes if you wake him like he was shivering, we have to limit his water intake after dinner so he doesnt wet the bed as much, because he also sleeps so deep.

Now my 2 year old son (3 in feb) has been fully trained day and night since he was 2 and 1/2 also he still has accidents if he is out playing with his siblings and doesnt want to remember to come into potty but nightime has been wonderful with him, he doesnt drink that much before bed and he wets maybe once a month.

Answer 10

Mother of 2 three year old boys!!! Potty training is sooo stressful. I started traing them the day after their 2nd b-day. i rented once upon a potty video and we went shopping together for their new potty- the excitement lasted about a day!- I keep treats in the towel closet for every good try and accomplishment. ask him about every 30 mins if he wants to go and then cheer and go crazy if he does it. if he has an accident or just isn't interested tell him it's time to be a big boy. if he just wont do it, try again in a couple months. Good Luck!