potty training?

[kelseym]

im looking for a little bit of advice. my son is almost 21 months. i bought a potty chair a couple of weeks ago just so he could get use to it. i started sitting him on it just to see what would happen a few days ago. today he went potty (pee) on it twice. now i know that really doesnt mean anything, that he may still be to young. but i thought if we could roll with it, maybe we could get it done sonner then what i thought. but i dont think he realizes what he is doing. how do i get him to know that he is going potty? and are pullups worth it? ive seen alot of people dont like them. should i just stick with diapers? thanks in advance.

[CW&M Mom]

Is he waking up dry in the mornings?

[wholesalebiker]

pull ups at bedtime at most, if he can feel that he needs to go...Best bet buy bunches underwear and rubber pants....Even if he wets himself.... most kids don't like the feeling and will learn to go potty faster(Although, you may be iratated a week or so with laundary)... pull-ups just soak it up !!

[paige3]

if hes standing have him aim at something in the potty. it will be a game to him and hell also understand that the pee is comming from him and going into the potty. pull ups arent worth the money and they were harder for my son to take off.

[kelseym]

he wakes up relatively dry in the mornings. and no he is not standibg up, i figured it would be easier to start sitting down. Thanks for the advice

[MelInKansas]

He's not too young to know when he needs to go and to be able to go once he sits down. Now, he may not be old enough to be completely independent with it - as in, go to the bathroom on his own when he needs to go, pull his pants down, go, make sure he's not still wet or dirty (of course you will help him wipe for a while, at least I do), and get redressed. That's a lot of steps for a little guy to remember. My middle DD was at least 4 before she could get all the steps right. She would wet herself because she had trouble getting her pants off or something.

But if you're willing to help him every time he needs to go, or at least most of the time, then you can keep going with it as much as he has interest. Let him sit on the potty when he wants to. One of the books I read talks about watching and as soon as they start going is when you praise them and say "great job, you're going on the potty!" and make a big deal out of that. Then they start realising what it feels like to release it and figuring out how to control it. They also realise what the goal of it is. But also, instead of making it only about going on the potty, get the concept of keeping pants "dry and clean" started. So, it's one thing if he goes on the potty, that's great, but also make a big deal out of it if his pants (diaper) are still dry and clean when he goes. Because obviously that's the ultimate goal. At this age I would not push anything, I would just let him practice and give him lots of positive reinforcement when it goes well. You can take further steps (moving to big kid pants, etc) as he seems ready to take it further. I would even keep him in diapers for a while, just don't make a big deal about them. Diapers are cheaper than pull ups and keep stuff in better. We don't use pull ups for very long. I have had friends whose kids have been in pull ups for more than a year while they worked on potty training. What a hassle, and what a lot of money! And the kids like the pull ups, but they use them just like diapers, so my thought is, if they're going to go in it like a diaper, they can wear a diaper. I only use pull ups while they are actively potty training, if I have to go somewhere where cleaning up a mess would be a big problem, or if they are in someone else's care. Shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks, or you start depending on them. That's just how I do it anyway. I still use diapers at night until they can stay dry at night, because I don't expect my toddler especially to get up and go in the middle of the night. Some of them do, I guess, but mine never did.

HTH!

[lovemygirls]

Both of my girls were potty trained by the time they were between 24-26 months. My first daughter was a little faster than my youngest. We would get so excited when they went to the bathroom in their potty and they loved the attention they got. We went out and picked out big girl panties and they did not want to get them wet. We were aware of every clean potty in town just in case we were out and about and they had to go. I never used pull ups at all. I did use diapers at night for a bit but not for long because they just loved the big girl panties. We did have lots of laundry for a couple weeks but after that it was over. Good luck on whatever it is you decide to do.

[scissorbill]

I'm on my third boy. We got the potty out with my first at 27 months and it was too early. We waited three months and he was trained at 2.5
Wanting to avoid the same thing I waited on boy #2 until a week before he turned three and he was trained by his birthday
Now #3 is 2.5 and I think I'll just wait. It's totally okay to sit them on the potty and try and let them guide the training, it's just more work in the long run. Potty training gets a bad reputation for being very hard and it's just not. When they're ready they'll do it. We did it without pullups, I can still remember wearing those thick Gerber training pants. Haha! Good luck with this milestone!

[B_small_77]

I'm working on finishing potty training for my two youngest boys (I have 6). The second youngest has some learning difficulties, he is training at the same time as my youngest - its sad that he is behind, but it is nice training two at the same time. They are almost 5 and almost 3. I think 5 is definitely old - by the technical standards - to still be potty training, but it goes to show that children do it at their own pace .... and not a moment before that. So I came to accept it and be happy that I can train them at the same time.
I always say the work POTTY to them. Reminding them, asking if they have to go potty. If you say it enough, I think they get used to it and know what is happening. To get the one to go (2nd youngest, with troubles), I started using a woopie cushion....yes, I know it sounds weird, but it worked! He thinks the sound is so funny. He gets to play with it on the toilet, and knows its there.
In the beginning, they got treats when they went potty. A big treat at the end of the week if they go all week with no accidents.
For bedtime, though, I do use PullUps - and like them. Just for overnight.
Best of luck to you!

[fungirl2727]

My son got really into potty trainer at 3. He loves using the potty so much now. He wears undies at all times now. He even wakes up in middle night and use potty if he needs to go. My son school is very strict and you have to be potty train to be in 3 yr old class. There was a child held back last yr because he wasn't potty trained. The kid still wasn't potty trained at age 4 in the 2 yr old program. So I think the parents finally took him out of private school. I think the school couldn't put a 5 yr old in a 2yr old program for another yr. i do think girls potty train way faster then boys. My daughter was potty train be 2 my son was 3 yr old before he was potty train. If. Ever had another son I wouldn't start him on potty training until 2 and half.