using the potty

Smh619

Our little one turned 2 in June. All summer he's been "pretending" to use the potty. I give him a piece of toilet paper and he "wipes his bum", puts it in the potty and flushes. He'll sit on the toilet with the seat down and his pants off but if I try to take his pants off to get him to sit on it he freaks out.He's been showing signs of being uncomfortable when he soils his diaper lately. Any advise on getting him to actually SIT on the potty??

blu-eyedwife

I'd keep doing what you're doing.  Follow his interest in it and talk about it.  Tell him he can use it whenever he wants to.  If you go to the bathroom, ask if he would like to go before/after you. 

But leave it at that.  Don't pressure him to do it, because that can backfire.  If he freaks out when you try to take his pants off, then don't take his pants off.  Don't turn this into a battle of wills, because that will just continue and make the whole process difficult.  When he wants to sit on the potty, he'll do it.  If he feels like it's his choice, and something he wants to do, it will be the easiest thing in the world. 

LSU628

Do you have a potty chair that is down on his level? We bought a potty chair and for the first few days any time DS willingly sat on it on his own, he got a treat. Now he's to the point where he will pull off his pants (still in a diaper) and sit on the potty. We put him on the potty every time before he gets in the tub and sing a song. He's had potty success a few times, and now he's figured out what the sensation feels like so he will look down as the pee is going into the potty. I'm going about it very laid back and following his lead. We cheer like crazy when he goes in the potty, but I'm in no rush.

jlpev

I agree with the seat also take him to town & let him pick his own seat. Good luck sounds like hes close

Jellybean707

We started by doing what you are doing with the pretending. We also had a policy that if DS wanted to sit on his potty and pretend while we went to the bathroom he could. One day he all of a sudden dropped his pants and sat on the potty.

After that we started taking him to sit on the potty every 2 hours and eventually he went. We also rewarded with candy for a few weeks but we don't anymore. He's not 100% yet. We go through about 3-4 diapers every 24 hours.

DawnLilly

I just let him go naked and when I'd start to see him go we would run run run to the potty. Afterwards, if anything had gotten on the floor before we made it to the bathroom I had him "help" me clean it up. He was also very receptive to the book It's Potty Time! by Tracey Corderoy.