When did your LO become interested in using the potty?

tracyl0826

My son turned 2 in September.  We've had a potty for at least 9 months.  He'll sit on it and we'll read books about the potty, but he never goes!  This has been going on literally for 9 months.  He only sits on the potty before his bath.  During the day I will ask if he wants to sit on the potty, he always says no.  I let him pick out stickers and told him that if he goes pee-pee on the potty, he can have one...still nothing.  We talk about undies...I showed him Thomas and Elmo undies in Target, still not enough to get him interested.  I haven't pressured him at all, hoping he'd get interested on his own.  I know he's still a little young, but we just found out we have baby #2 on the way, so I'd like to get potty training behind us before I'm dealing with a newborn.  Any suggestions for getting him interested?  Thanks!!

ashiscute

Has he ever peed on the potty?  Or does he always just sit there?  We started putting DD on the potty before bath right at 2.  She peed once out of nowhere surprising everyone (and I think scaring herself a bit) and then she slowly became interested.  I did not push it.  

Honestly, I don't think stickers and stuff like that help really.  He has to want to use the potty and not be in diapers.  I don't think new underwear or stickers are going to make it that appealing.  I'd probably put the potty away totally for a month or so and not say anything at all about it.  Only get it out if he asks.  And then in a month start talking it up again.  Make sure he sees you using the potty and whatnot.  It's worth a shot because right now he does not sound ready.

jllmb79

We had a potty around 12 months and she started out by sitting on it after bath. It only took a few weeks before she started peeing on it every night after bath.  At 21 months she started getting me diapers to change her..that is when I knew she was ready.  Up until that point it was only after bath that she went pee on the potty. I did the 3 day potty method and we never looked back.  I also played an Elmo video a few times about Going on the Potty right before I did the 3 day method.

Even now if I ask her if she has to go potty she balks at the idea....It works better for me to say "let me know if you have to go potty".

If you are interested google the 3 day potty method and give it  whirl.  No stickers, underwear or asking made her want to potty.  Bare bottom from the waist down with a potty in the room we were playing in worked.

dairygirl19

We've been playing with the potty since like 15 months.

She's now 2.5. Somedays she cares. Somedays she doesn't.

I'm not forcing her to do anything and I refuse to bribe her and beg her to go all day long.

She'll grow into it eventually. We have number 2 on the way next month so I'm not pushing it. The thought of changing 2 diapers is honestly less exhausting to me than attempting to fully potty train right now. She'll grow into it soon I think. She's on a "big girl" kick now so I think it's coming.

authorofdreamz

DD is at this stage as well. She is obsessed with going on the potty but all she does is sit for a minute, wipe, and flush she has never actually pee'd. I keep hoping it will just happen by coincidence and that will make things click but so far it hasn't happened. She shows all the signs of being "ready", stays dry for long periods of time, likes privacy when she is going, tells me when she needs to be changed, etc. The "3 day method" is not an option for us since we currently live with FI's family and they aren't okay with a naked toddler and possible accidents so we will probably just keep hoping for an "accident" on the potty.

veetveet

Introduced at 18 months, more interest by 2.5, fully trained by 3.

We stopped asking and just kept putting her on the potty-every single time we asked she said no! I stopped buying pullups. There were accidents but those stopped when I let her go bottomless for a couple of days.

Stickers were not effective rewards for us.... we used gummy candies. At first it was for pee.... then we told her she would only get them for poop (since she had no interest in doing that). We also promised her that if she pooped she could go to toys r us and pick out whatever she wanted. We made a big deal about it when she did.... went out for dinner, celebrated and then went to toys r us

sucredee

I tried at 25 months and it back fired (she had not shown any interest in the potty but was physically ready). I gave her lots of naked time after that and a month later, on her own, she was ready and was in panties full time from one day to the next.

funchicken

DD2 started going on the potty before her bath a little before she turned two, but we didn't push it. At 2.5 she said she wanted to start wearing underpants, so we put her in underpants. I think having a big sister got her interested more than anything. Weirdly, both of my girls hated wearing pull-ups to bed, so they night-trained really quickly, too.

harmonicbabe26

K has been obsessed with the potty since the day she followed me to bathroom and I told her mommy was peeing n the big potty. My sis was here to visit and left her son's potty back in Oct and since then K has been wanting to sit on it, with and without clothes/diaper. Recently she started school and her teacher said 'oh she's super intersted in the potty and that other kids go, you should bring some pull ups and start potty training'. Well every time I sit her on it she has fun then gets up and later pees on the floor so that tells me that she is ot REALLY interested as in not ready to pee. One day that time will come but no point pushing it. My friend decided to start early and now her DD absolutely refuses to wear a diaper but she can't really control it so she pees everywhere. No fun. Better wait longer till they are ready than start pushing something that they don't get yet... Age does not matter.

KissyFishyLips

veetveet said:

Introduced at 18 months, more interest by 2.5, fully trained by 3. 

This exactly. 

luvmygirlss

tried at 18mos wasn't ready. Tried again at 22mos and we trained within a week. It wasn't easy, she was stubborn and very afraid, but was definitely ready. We stuck to it and so glad we did! Good luck, let me know if you need help:)