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Georgia Babies
Help with boys: Peeing standing vs sitting
Okay, mamas of boys... I need your help. We started potty training Brady about a month ago and we had him sit on the potty to pee. I thought this would be easier because he isn't tall enough to reach a regular potty without a stepstool and wasn't sure how you handle that out in public restrooms, etc. Plus, I figured it would be less messy than having him learn to aim.
Anyway, he is doing fantastic at only wears underwear when he is with us. He tells us when he needs to go and only has a few small accidents where he starts going before he realizes it and then tells us he needs to go and finished on the potty.
BUT, he is not doing so well at daycare. He still wears pull-ups there and even though they take him to the potty every time they are doing "potty time/diapering" many times he has already gone and other times even if he is dry he doesn't go in the potty there. I found out last week that they are having him stand at school and obviously that must be part of the problem. I have asked them to sit him on the potty and since then he's gone a few times at school, but when talking to the teacher this morning she said all of the other boys stand and was sorta questioning me on whether I wanted him to keep sitting. I said yes because that is what he is used to but I guess I wanted to get some input from you ladies on what you did.
Sorry, this got long! I guess I'm asking: Did you teach your boys to pee standing or sitting? If sitting, when did they make the transition to standing? If standing, what the heck did you to in public restrooms or when you didn't have a stool? TIA!
Also, if your DS was in daycare did it take him longer to get the hang of it there? I'm wondering at what point I should just start sending him in underwear because I think he knows the difference and that's why he doesn't tell them he needs to go...
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Re: Help with boys: Peeing standing vs sitting
Ethan and Jack have been the complete opposite when it comes to potty training. Ethan was a potty training pro and trained by 2 1/2. We (and the daycare) taught him to pee sitting. I felt this was the best because we seldom had issues with him making a mess. Ethan, on his own, started standing when he was about 3 1/2 so now he pees standing.
As for Jack, he is still not potty trained. He doesn't like to sit on the potty and would prefer to stand (like big brother). We are trying to get him to sit, though (so is the daycare), and some days he will, some days he won't. The child has yet to pee in the potty, though, but has pooped. Go figure. He seems scared to pee. The daycare is working diligently with him and hopefully something will just click very soon and he'll start going to the potty.
In the beginning Carter sat to pee, b/c the toilet was too high for him to properly stand to pee. I didn't wan tto risk him standing on a stool to pee and losing his balance mid-stream. Even sat to pee at daycare in the beginning, even though the toilets are smaller and lower.
Our rule was that if you can't properly reach the toilet, you have to sit. If you get into the habit of making a mess and peeing everywhere (which they are prone to do at that age), you have to go back to sitting. Carter saw that some of his friends at daycare were doing it standing and wanted to try it. As long as he tried really hard to aim properly, he could stand. But if you are not paying attention and get pee all over the place, then you have to sit.
I would let Brady tell you when he wants to stand and you can monitor his "aim". If it's not good, maybe have him pee sitting for a little while more. My big thing now is getting Carter to lift the seat. But he knows the rules and if he makes a mess, he gets out the lysol wipes and cleans up after himself.
I would send him in underwear too.
I really want to do this but I feel like daycare would hate me. I know it would be messy for a while because he will be playing and probably forget to tell them he needs to go, but really, I'm not sure how he's going to learn otherwise if he knows he's in a pull-up. Maybe I'll give it another week or two and then give it a try.
Mommy to Abigail Elizabeth (11/4/11) and Brady Jasper (7/2/09)
my blog
Finn sat at first, and now stands when he can reach, but when out in public he sits still, mainly because he is too short to reach it standing.
I would send him in underwear as well.
For a short time, he sat down... I found out that he was doing it at school standing up, with the mini toilets so we started letting him stand up.
Jennifer, I think that they initially teach them by having them hold their arm straight, and holding the toilet cover. This is so that they can aim better. I'm probably not explaining it well. They then wash their hand immediately afterwards.
Since our toilet at home is higher, I just hold William standing up at home. Now he's taller and tip toes and can aim on his own.
No way! They aren't doing you a favor, I'm sure you pay a pretty penny for his care. I bet it takes less than a week once you put him in underwear full time anyway.
Mommy to Abigail Elizabeth (11/4/11) and Brady Jasper (7/2/09)
my blog
Owen started sitting and then switched to standing (most of the time) a couple of months ago. I was all nervous about him standing and teaching him that. I feel inadequate at potty training a boy sometimes. First, he saw his best friend standing so he wanted to be like Liam, then they switched them to standing at daycare too. So now he stands at home on a stool too. He does not want to sit anymore if he just has to pee.
At school they do teach them to lean forward with their arms straight out, holding onto the lid/seat. So they pee no-handed, if that makes sense. Owen has always been pretty good at aiming. I tell him to aim at the water and he likes that it makes a splashing noise. Some poeple put cheerios in the potty and tell them to aim at them. The problem is the dripping afterwards when he is almost finished. We are working on that.
Owen just moved up to the 3 year old class at school and they don't want pull ups at all. He has done great ever since with just wearing underwear at school. If I were you, I would send him in underwear with 5 changes of clothes and just get it over with. In my experience with daycare, they have always wanted to push them on to the next thing, ie potty trained, so I find it a little strange that they aren't the ones wanting underwear.
Daycare taught Gavin to sit. I was fine w/ it b/c of the whole public thing and not being tall enough. When he switched daycares, they said that about half the boys sit and half stand. One day the teacher walked in and found 3 boys standing and peeing at the same time. Gavin was watching- lol. The next day, there were 4 boys standing and peeing at the same time :-) So yeah, he finally figured it out. Now he switches. At home and at school, he usually stands (except in the mornings- he's too tired so I just sit him on the potty and tell him to point it down). But in public, it just depends on how tall the potty is.
Talk to his teachers. I mean really sit down and make them understand how serious you are about it. This was one of my major reasons for pulling him out of our old daycare. They told me that they were all about PT, but they really weren't doing anything to help him. They totally expected him to just run in there and go when he needed to, so they never said- Gavin, time to potty! Umm, he was 2! What 2 year old is going to stop playing to go pee? I felt like I was paying enough that this is one thing THEY should be proactive about- especially after I had done the 3DPT with their blessing and even encouragement. I didn't understand why they were being so lax about it. As soon as he got to the new school, the teacher had him totally trained in a week and thought we were crazy when we said he still had accidents at home! So I think it just depends on the teacher.