Potty Training Question

[LindsC]

DS is about to turn 3 next month. Up until a couple of weeks ago, he has showed very little interest in potty training. Well, one morning he woke up and asked for underwear and did not want his diaper. The only thing is that I have to ask him about going to the bathroom and he isn't showing any initiative of his own yet. I have no problems with this since he is having accident free days with my prompting. My question is, when should/will he start asking me or going to the potty by himself? I don't necessarily mean him doing everything for himself, but telling me that he needs to go before I ask him.

[Juvysen]

IMO, it's hard to know... kids that age tend to get really sucked into their play, etc. I suspect it'll depend on the kid...

[Katie T]

Originally Posted by Juvysen

IMO, it's hard to know... kids that age tend to get really sucked into their play, etc. I suspect it'll depend on the kid...

I agree on this 100% But hurray that he is showing a interest that is exciting!

[lunarlady]

My DD is 3.5 and just recently started letting me know when she needs to go. Up until this point she would go if I took her, but if I went to long she would just pee her pants. The only thing that really worked is the bare bottom method. Since she didn't want to pee on the floor like a puppy, she would go on her own. But undies=wet pants. It is very nice that he is showing interest, but give it a couple months before you start trying to get him to let you know when he needs to go.

[LindsC]

Thanks for the reassurance. I knew that it was going to be awhile before he was ready to tell me he had to go, I was just looking for some similiar experiences to guide me. He has been doing very well with it so far. He is averaging one accident per day and that is great in my books. He went from being 100% in diapers and totally not interested in potty training to having maybe 1 accident per day in less than 3 weeks!

[jillmamma]

Originally Posted by LindsC

He went from being 100% in diapers and totally not interested in potty training to having maybe 1 accident per day in less than 3 weeks!

Wow! Neither of my first two were like this...in fact, the 4.5 yo STILL forgets/doesn't want to go sometimes and will have occasional accidents! So, I would say he is doing great!

[JMJ]

I read somewhere an idea on how to help kids to start to take the initative when you think he's ready or in the transition stage where he's sometimes offering and sometimes not. If you set a timer to take him when the timer goes off, invite him to beat the timer by offering to go before it goes off. If he doesn't offer, no problem. You'll just take him as soon as the timer goes off.