Preface: My child is very strong willed about when he's ready to do something and so far if he doesn't want to do something, he won't no matter how hard I try to encourage, reward, or force.
J can potty & does when he wants to quite successfully, both #1&2. So now that it's summer & he's almost 3, I figured we'd give it a really good effort. We tried the 3-day method and he just completely melted down b/c he was having no success in getting there in time. He would run away when I got dry undies and requested his diapers. I eventually caved & let him put on a pull-up b/c we were both ready to throw tantrums.
The next day I decided to set the timer for every 30min to "try", but kept reminding him to tell me if he had to go. That worked pretty well for us. Dry undies for several hours, then it all just fell apart with several accidents. I was fine with the first few, but then I found him sitting under the table playing with the dog in a puddle of pee. It didn't bother him at all & it was terribly disgusting to me.
So we've been on & off between undies & pull-ups the past few days, mostly undies when we're home, but pull-ups at night/nap and if he goes to my in-laws. He's still not interested at all in using the potty. Every morning when I get his underwear he whines & cries to get a diaper (even though we don't have any). We've done rewards, but he doesn't seem all that motivated by them.
I think a lot of this is just his strong-willed nature. When he's ready to do something he will, otherwise too bad. So now I'm at a loss and I'm exhausted. Should I just keep going & maybe it will click? Should I give it a break for a few days? Should I just let him wear diapers forever? Depends sound pretty good right about now ![]()
Ugh...I hate potty training!!
Re: Potty Training WWYD?
My sister was in the same situation as you until a couple of weeks ago. Her son turns 3 next weekend. She decided she would keep reminding him to go, taking him when he asked, and then finally one day it was just like it clicked and he said I want to wear undies. So she put him on and then sent him to day care. He had accidents the first couple of days but hasnt had one in a week. He still sleeps in pull ups at night.
I think the biggest key to it is that you have to have everyone that keeps him committed to doing it. It was really when she sent him to day care in underwear that he really started to be serious about it.
If it was me I would continue to take him, remind him, but wait another week and then try underwear again. My sister hated cleaning up wet clothes so when he was having tons of accidents she didnt put him in them. Her son was the same way in that he didnt care if he wore diapers forever!
Potty training is STRESSFUL! ((hugs))
The 3 day method took about 5 days for us and K is still in pull-ups at nap-time and overnight. She asked for diapers a few times but I didn't give in--but it wasn't THAT big of a deal to her like it seems with J. I wanted to give up SO many times (especially after day 1 and going through 26 pairs of undies...)
Every day got a little better for us and by day 5 she was accident-free and has been minus 1 or 2 small incidents where she didn't make it on time.
If I was in your situation I would take a break for a few weeks with undies but maybe do pull-ups and stop with the diapers altogether. I would still ask him to tell you if he has to go potty but if he doesn't then maybe don't push him or make him sit on the potty?
When does he turn 3? Maybe tell him when he turns 3 it's time for big boy undies again and pull-ups will go away during the day. And if he wants to be extra special and wear undies before he turns 3 then you will give him an extra special surprise?
Hang in there. It's tough!
Thanks for all the thoughts & advice. We are having a better day today potty-wise, so maybe we're on the right (slow) track.
Thanks! It's actually a PJ shirt & goes with these adorable green & white striped shorts. They are from the Gap, but I bought it at a consignment sale.
Best of luck to you! I would probably do what the other posters said and give it a break for a while. We did not follow any particular method of PT either, we just did it gradually and one day it clicked. And my DD is very stubborn and does things on her own time line as well (crawling, walking, etc).
Also, I read in What to Expect the Toddler Years that the average age boys PT is 37 months and for girls I think it was 34 or 35 months. I think some people on this board start really early (but I know daycares encourage it as well and some children may be ready that early), so I did not put any pressure on myself to have her PT by a certain time because I know it just has to click (and by doing it that way, we had very little accidents).
It will click for him soon, best of luck :-)