[Rainbowbird]

I guess this is a rant more than anything else, since I know there is not one thing you can do to make a child potty train before they are ready....but I am about going insane! DS is 2.9 yrs. and shows no signs of pooping in potty. He will pee, but only if I ask him to. Shows no real interest. Once the novelty of the potty wore off, he pretty much wrote it off. We were using these target things that he liked, but then the novelty of those wore off, too. A friend used M&Ms to potty train her son...I am not so keen on food rewards but she said it worked. Has anyone else used anything like that?

I know I can't rush it but it still drives me insane. He is almost 40 lbs. and his poops are huge and disgusting. It is a job to clean him up. And he also has this annoying habit of pooping right after I put him up for his nap, no matter how long I wait to bring him upstairs before doing so....I swear he is holding it just to stall the nap from happening! Nevertheless, he will fall asleep 99.9% of the time after his diaper is changed. He always gets a story, etc. before his nap, cuddles, etc. I have been careful not to make a big deal over this--I just go upstairs and get him for a diaper change when he calls me, then return him to his room. It is becoming a routine, a ritual, a very annoying one--and I don't know why he does it! He will poop downstairs at other times of the day. It does suggest, to me, that he has SOME control over when he wants to go. It's really weird!

Any ideas or thoughts on this? I know I realy have to relax over it internally, since it is probably a long haul ahead, but I had to vent. It is driving me NUTS!!! Oh, did I mention I have a 6 month old baby girl, so I am sure that is not helping his interest in the potty training thing. I swear I spend all day at the changing table.....

TIA!

 

[neveryoumindthere]

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[goosysmom]

(hugs)

My 18 month old will pee in the potty...sometimes....she knows when she has to go bc she will stand there and say Uh-oh and cross her legs and I will take her to the potty (we have a cute one out in the family room that has a cushion over the seat so it's like a chair but you remove the cushion and the potty is there and we have one in the bathroom) and she will sit on it...for 5 minutes, 8 minutes reading her little books or looking around or clapping and get up....I can't make her stay there longer.....So, after she gets up, on her way out she stops and says UH OH and pees on the floor...she holds it the whole time......and then goes when she isn't on the potty..
Now, this is fine in the bathroom bc we have tile flooring...but the living room is carpeted as is the rest of the apartment (what I wouldn't do for pergo flooring right now) and I can't let her run around naked all day (she would prefer it)....

I just know that she won't be in diapers when she is in kindergarden (like her step sister was in pull ups but that's a completly different story.....can't train a child when the dad says it's time and the mom says she will train when she wants to and puts her in a pull up to drive to the store...)

He'll train, mine will train.....

Just wanted to let you know that you weren't alone in the struggle...

FWIW, I have friends who have used the M&M method and swear by it and I have others who make a chart with stickers and if so many stickers are up (successful potty trips) in a certain period of time their little boy gets a matchbox car (the cheapp ones from TRU....) and it's enough to make it worth it...I guess everyone has their own way of doing it....It's just holding it until you get the diaper on em that kills me....Maybe switch to cloth diapers (you can buy pull on styles that are leakproof or plain ol cotton ones with a pull on cover pretty cheap from Gerber or fancier ones elsewhere...We use cloth here...

 

[Rainbowbird]

Thanks for the hugs and support! We do use cloth diapers. FB though. Maybe I should put him back in prefolds.,although actually I think he knows when he is wet and he will tell me that he has peed and needs a new one.

 

[Kerlowyn]

I am right there with you.

My just turned 3 year old DS has NO intrest in the potty..
none
zilch
zippo
nada

He could care less. There are few things worse in this world than toddler poop

He is in cloth dipes also.

 

[TortelliniMama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainbowbird Thanks for the hugs and support! We do use cloth diapers. FB though. Maybe I should put him back in prefolds.,although actually I think he knows when he is wet and he will tell me that he has peed and needs a new one.

Someone I know said her dd was using the potty during the day but still had a wet FuzziBunz every morning. When they switched her to non-fleece-lined diapers, she started staying dry all night. Those FBs do a good job of making wetness less irritating!

 

[moma justice]

ok.....
well i think you guys should look at the EC sight here for potty learning advice....although it is mostly for moms who are learning with young babes,the ways are very helpful for all ages (it is under the diapering forum)

and...as for the mom with the little girl who pees when she gets off the potty have her put her hand in a little cup of water, make a siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssss sound, run the sink...

and YOU CAN AND SHOULD let your dc be naked all day...that is THE BEST way for both of you to learn their signals and before they have to poop or pee...

OP have you tried putting him to nap naked and putting the potty beside his bed....

we kept our dd's potty close by 24/7 when she was still learning (we used one that was small....baby bjornlittle potty)

so we took it in the stroller, to the park, in the car, etc....beside our family bed, in the living room, where ever she was it was.....eventually we kept it in ONE easy spot in the house and now she just goes into the bathroom and goes potty by herself on the big potty!

anyway, even google infant potty learning, elimination communication and see what potty learning info is out there.

they even have stuff on how to potty train your older toddler WHILE you are ECing your infant...very cool

 

[Rainbowbird]

LadyJustice, interesting suggestions and I thank you for them.

I am concerned about letting him run around naked b/c he loves nothing better than to pee on the floor when he is naked. Does that subside eventually? We've got carpeting here....

He won't sit on the baby potty anymore. Has to sit on the big potty or stand like Daddy to pee. So we really can't carry one around with us....would it be backtracking to do so when he is already wanting to sit on the toilet?

I can tell when he is going to poop because he goes and hides, even goes into the bathroom and says he needs some "pivacy". Which I agree is a great step towards our ultimate goal. But he won't go on the potty to do it. Only in his diaper....

Maybe I will buy that bag of M&Ms.....

 

[april77]

I'm feeling the potty training blues too. DD was really interested in the potty for quite a while, requested to use it and for a time was peeing in the potty and only asking for a diaper to poop in. Then one day she started refusing the potty altogether. Now she cries if I try to leave her diaper off or requests a diaper to go pee/poo if she does happen to be naked. I know I can't push her so I have backed off for the time being. I don't know what caused the change and it's really frustrating. We tried a sticker chart and even the m&m route, but nothing has gotten her back to the potty yet.

 

[Stinkerbell]

I'm sorry for your frustration.

My oldest 2 potty trained just after their 2nd birthdays and maybe it was luck but I will tell you the few tricks I tried with both of them:

*a chart. Everytime they peed in the potty they got a star on the chart. If they pooped they got 3 stars. When the row of stars was filled up, they got a reward from the "jar". ( I think the rows were each 10 spaces long??)

*the jar: the jar had slips of paper which I wrote small rewards on. read any book with mom, watch any movie after supper, eat dessert before supper, pick a toy (small things from Dollar store, McDonalds, etc I had put away), pick a candy (stash of snack sized candies), etc. They would put their hand in and draw. Although one child wanted to pick without the jar system. he knew what he wanted!

:

*I put them in underpants during the day as soon as I knew they were able to hold it for a few minutes. Never used pullups or the like. If they did have an accident, they had to put the underpants in the laundry, clean the mess on the floor/bed/sofa, and clean up in the tub. They were in charge.

*I did not expect dryness all ngiht, so they slept in a diaper untilk they were really trained during hte day.

*I never made them feel ashamed or rushed. Ever. I acted like it was no big deal.

*I encouraged them to watch Dad pee as often as possible. Seeing Dad (or older brother) doing it made it more desiereable for them to emulate, I think.

Now none of this is new to you, Im sure. It just happens to be what I did and for us, it worked quickly.

 

[goosysmom]

Lady J,
I have tried the hand in the water bit but she thinks its for play and will tip it, shove her whole hand in and wipe it on her legs and belly and then still get up walk a few feet and pee.....We have a lightweight potty that she carries around with her (well, drags behind her) so it's always nearby....I would love to leave her naked as long as I can but we are renting and don't have daily access to a carpet cleaner and the first time she pooped all over the carpet after she took her cloth diaper off and then tracked it through the apartment (I ran out on the patio to get the cat) I just can't let her run around naked for too long anymore....I wish we had hardwood floors...Pee, easy to clean up but the poo isn't with the carpeting we have here....I know she's ready so I just need the patience and have to remember she won't be 5 like her step sister was....I"ll do a google search later today when she takes her late afternoon nap......