I know there are several request for help regarding potty training their child on here, but I need HELP! Here is the situation: I have a two and a half year old son who is in the process of being potty trained. He is a very strong willed child. He tells me when his diaper is dry and wet all the time, so I figured it was time to potty train. He's very excited about it too. He talks about how all his friends wear "big boy pants and goes on the potty." He loves his new potty that plays music when he goes on it. The problem is that he will sit on the potty, but won't go. The minute after he gets off the potty he goes in his pants. During the day he wears underware and at night I have him in pull ups. Here is the Big question, in three weeks we are due to have another baby. I heard he will regress. Do you think we should just put him back in diapers until after the baby or continue on with this long journey? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
When I potty trained my boys, I used a "potty chart". Everytime he used the potty, he put a star sticker on the chart. When he had an accident, he put a sad face on his chart. At the end of the week, if he only had a few sad faces (or none later on) we would let him pick out a small toy at the store. My boys responded well to seeing all the stars on their charts (and had fun with the stickers).
I was potty training my oldest when my third was born, she didn't regress at all. Both of my kids that are potty trained were a couple monthes older than 3. I would try every once in a while, but if they didn't seem ready, I would stop and try again another time. I know it's not fun buying 2 sets of diapers, I did it for over three years becuase of how close in age my 3 kids are, but it might be worth doing for a while to save you extra stress when the baby comes.
My son was 2 1/2 all most 3 when my daughter was born and the doctor told me I was wasting my time with potty training because they will fall back to going in there pants when the new baby comes. But I continued any way and he did just fine.
K.-- I finally finished potty training my son who will be 4 on 3/1. We was "pee" trained at about 3 but would not poop in the potty. I tried EVERYTHING. My daughter is 3 mos. My pediatrician told me to stop trying. To not talk about it, completely leave it alone for at least 6 weeks (at the time my daughter was 4 weeks). We did. No mention of it and he went back to pull-ups b/c I could not stand chaning the poopy underwear. Well about 4 weeks in he started going. Two and a half is still pretty young for a boy. My advice is to use pull-up and when the baby is so new anymore, try again. YOu may see that he becomes ready on his own. The one thing I realized is you can put them on the potty-- but you can not make them go on the potty.
Good luck with the potty training and new baby...
I would continue if he is interested. i worried about regression with my daughter when my son was born. It may happen, for a very brief time. But, your son will realize that the best way to get your undivided positive attention once baby is here is to go potty (or at least try). SO keep encouraging him. Have him wear pull-ups during the day if it makes it better for you once baby is here. but, keep up the praise and talk about ehat you notice ("I see you went to the potty right away when you felt the peepees were there.") It doesn't matter if he is successful or not yet. Just praise the process. The EARLY end of normal potty training for boys is 2 1/2. It goes up through age 4 for NORMAL potty training ages. Don't put too much pressure on yourself or him. Just enjoy him and your new little one. He will come around when he is ready.
Keep trying unless it becomes stressful for him. If that happens, back off. Your son will either want to be a baby with the new baby and stay in diapers or will want to differentiate and be the big kid and potty train real fast. I suggest you get some cheerios and let him have target practice in the toilet. I also used food coloring to see if his "pee" would change the color of the water. It never worked well, but he thought it was loads of fun. Also, for poop, go to the dollar store and buy 15 small items. Wrap them all up and put them in a basket in the bathroom. Every time he poops in the potty, he gets to open and keep a gift. By the time you finish the basket, he should be trained. I would also get rid of the pants at night the second you see he is dry. He may be dry in the morning upon waking and just wets because he is up and playing and you were not there to put him on the potty. Hope that all helps.
My son's personality was/is similar and he was not potty trained until 35 months. We let him go commando (no underwear), cleaned up the 3-4 accidents he had, and he was completely potty trained in a week. Of course he still wore Pull-Ups to bed for about 6 months... We did this during the Summer and it worked without a hitch. And yes, you should expect some overall regression in all aspects of your son's behavior- we experienced lots of jealousy. Ultimately, just give it time.
I would keep going. It really sounds like he is ready. Make it fun, and give lots of praise and rewards! I also would run the faucet while my kids were on the potty, or have them run around naked, they really get to the potty fast!
As far as regressing, I had always heard that too, but it made my daughter train better when we brought her brother home. I always said maybe it made her feel special, and nothing gives more attention than going potty and staying dry:)
