Is it just harder to potty train a boy than a girl? I feel like I'm having such a hard time with my boy compaired to my girls.
My girls, once they peed in the potty for the 1st time, they knew what they were suppposed to do and at least tried to do it. Of course they had accidents, but at least they were trying.
My boy, when he was 18 mos showed signs of being ready so we got him a potty seat. The 1st day we had it he peed in it and we were so impressed and thought oh, he's going to be so easy to potty train! He didn't use it for months after that. Now he's 2, will be 3 in Sept. Every once in a while he'll decided he can use the toilet, usually for his daddy. But mostly he would rather use his pants. He'll even ask for pull ups sometimes because he knows he's going to pee his pants. Then sometimes he'll decide he wants underware instead, but he still goes in his pants.
Right now he's doing #2 several times a day. Once he's started i usually catch him and tell him to go to the bathroom, but then he won't finish because he doesn't want to sit on the toilet. So a little while later he does somemore in his pants and I have to change him again.
I don't feel like I'm pressuring him, just asking him to go to the bathroom if he's already going. And then reminding him that if he feels like he has to go to let me know and we'll take him before he goes in his pants.
Oh, and when we go shopping, for some reason he actually wants to use the bathrooms in the store. But I can't get him to pee standing up ( or kneeling on the toilet seat or what ever) he has to do it sitting down stradling the seat like a horse. Which means either taking off his pants and shoes so he can assume the pose, or pulling his pants down as far as they will go then dodging because it usually goes up instead of down.
Anyhow, we never went thru this with my girls. They were so much easier. Just wondering if it has something to do with boys, or if it's just my boy.
eh....my boy is proving harder than my daughter but i'm choosing not to worry about it. savannah...it took her about a week and she got it. she still had a few accidents but in general she was done in a week at 27 months old. jackson will be 3 on the 23rd and it's different every day for him. hoping he 'gets it' this summer.
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Whew! Yeah - what a journey!
We started EC'ing at 6 months and at first had surprising success, but it's been a back-and-forth experience ever since. We'd go through phases when he was really interested and consistent, and then he'd lose interest altogether. At first we got the pooping down, then lost that and got pee'ing down really well, but only now, the week before his 3rd birthday, did he get it all completely (well, except for nighttime, but that's a different story).
Over the last year, I think what it came down to was that he was simply way more interested in playing than stopping to go to the potty. The pee'ing part was SO easy as long as we kept the little potty near where he was playing, so he could just run over and pee. I think the fact that DH taught him to pee standing up WAY early was an inhibitor to pooping b/c he completely quit sitting on the potty at that point, and so I think he lost his comfortability with the sitting part. He had been very consistent over the past few months of coming to us and asking for a diaper when he needed to poop! So it wasn't an issue of not knowing when he had to go.... we would just consistently talk to him when he'd do that - saying that it would be quicker if he'd just go on the potty, or that it wasn't so messy if he went on the potty (he hated being wiped), and sometimes just told him he couldn't have a diaper until he sat on the potty for a minute... and he would always tell us, "I poopoo on the potty tomorrow," LOL! Boogerhead!
But then one day he just went and did it over at my friend's house, and then again, and again. Then he did it at our house, and all-of-a-sudden he figured it out. Who knows what clicked with him!
Now if we could get him to call us to come wipe his booty... he still just pulls his britches back up and goes back to playing... and then mommy finds surprises later in the laundry.
My only suggestion is 1) make sure he understands what you're asking him to do, and 2) have a reward lined up for when he does it.
My ds1 was really hard to tt (he has an Autistic Developmental Disorder, so communication was really hard), but as soon as he finally understood that if he did A he'd get B, the light switched on.
I have a friend IRL who is desperate to tt her dd (she's one of a pair of twins, so I totally get it - washing all those dipes is rough!), but I don't think she's ready, because she doesn't quite understand what Mommy's talking about.
So you can't rush it, but you can help it along, if they are getting a reward that they want. The tiniest drop of pee in the potty gets a reward as big as a big pee and dookie, kwim?
Good luck!
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Our first family pic in AGES!! And it's already out of date. Oh well
It's normal for boys to be about 3 1/2 before they've got it all figured out. Anything earlier than that is a bonus. It's stressful for you and them to be trying to train them before they're able. Hugs, I know it seems like it'll never come.
Kerri
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We are moving to New Zealand on January 29th
Yikes, there is TONS to do before then. Gulp.
I think boys are way harder. AT least, that's how its been for us. My son was learning from 2.5 to about 4 he finally got it consistently. He got peeing in the potty pretty quick, but for the longest time would try to run outside and poop! I am sooo glad my kids are dont w/ that. After my son, my dd came along and picked it up one day at 18 months and never looked back... what a relief! It was soo easy! She did it all herself. She's 2.5 now and still has accidents but usually goes on the potty pretty well. Potty training is tough work w/ boys. I have heard though, that most do train around 3. Good luck to all mamas going through it. Hang in there, before you know it you will be looking back and thanking Goddess you dont have to clean any more dipes!
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