My grandson is almost 3 years old. He can count to 100, he knows his ABC’s, and he can ride his bike without training wheels. But he refuses to accept potty training. We have bribed him with Blues Clues and Bob the Builder underwear, candy, just about anything he likes but set him on the pot, he cries, yells, and generally refuses to go. Take him off, put on a diaper, and he will go a minute later. My daughter got him to use the toilet for about a week using reverse psychology, telling him he could not use the toilet. He caught on and it does not work anymore. He wears the largest diapers available. Any suggestion would be helpful. BTW, his real name is Joseph, Jojobean is a nickname.
Not having kids I can’t say much. Except that my mother toilet trained my brother by just saying (by the time she had a second baby ) “You’re a big boy and you’re too old for this. It’s time you started going in the potty. Here are your underwear.” He never had an accident.
StG
Well I would say back off a bit there. and let him wear regular underpants and let him take his wet underpants to the hamper and let him tell you when he has to go, he’ll always say no if any asks I bet. Be very very patient, dont make a federal case out of accidents. Give the responsibility of his toilet duty to him. Be encouraging but not fanatical over a success. When out and about be prepared with extra clothes - He’ll get it soon enough and it sounds like he is very busy in learning other things right now.
I apologise if I’m reading too much into this, but it seems to me that your grandson knows he has you over a barrel, so to speak, and is enjoying it ie. its a control thing. If he’s as smart as you imply, he is bright enough to know that he has the power here.
So back off. Don’t make a big deal of it.
How many friends his own age does he have? Most three year olds are toilet trained by now. Maybe he needs to spend more time playing with kids his age, and “peer pressure” will encourage him to start using the toilet.
To parrot what other posters have said–just be patient, and try not to make a huge deal out of it–lest the kid develop some sort of complex later in life.
I wasn’t fully out of diapers until I was 5. And I came out perfectly fine! Right? RIGHT?! eyetwitch
Kids will go potty when they’re ready to. I learned this with my daughter and am learning it with my son now too. My daughter started using the potty all by herself shortly after her 3rd birthday. I’d worked with her for about 6 months before that but she wasn’t interested in it and wasn’t interested in my bribes so I quit pushing. She just did it when she was ready (shortly after her 3rd birthday) and hasn’t had a single accident since she’s been potty trained! Hopefully my son will be the same. He’ll be 3 in September and he’s not showing any interest in the potty anymore and he’s not interested in my bribes either. I’ve backed off of him too so I guess we’ll wait and see what happens.
You need to take the diapers away from him. That’s it. Let him wet himself and he’ll figure it out real quick-like. I know it might sound harsh, and I really know how many messes you’ll be cleaning up, but it’s the best way to teach them. Don’t put him in big boy underwear just yet, though. Carter’s (Sears) still sells those training underwear - they’re pretty thick cotton - and make sure and get some rubber pants to go along with it. We don’t use the rubber pants when we’re at home, but when we’re out we’ll use them.
Also, make sure he helps clean up every single mess he makes - not as a form of punishment - but as a way of teaching him the consequences of his actions. And I even mean making sure he helps remake the bed when he wets it in the middle of the night. Once he realizes that life is easier with the potty, he’ll be gold.
I have a 2 1/2 year old who I’m potty training right now. Sometime it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But she gets better at it every day.
And yes, I do a helluva lot of laundry.
He’ll get it soon. He’s obviously one smart kid!
According to my nurse mother, kids can take up to 5yo to potty train, although not everyone does. It’s a developmental thing, not an attitude thing. He has to be able to know that he has to go in order to make it to the toilet and the point that the brain starts to recognize this is different in each person.
I took a very relaxed attitude about toilet training with my kids. They all trained quite quickly and easily shortly after they turned 3. I have friends who pushed their kids to do it earlier, but they generally spent 6 months or so cleaning up accidents and having to carry an extra set of clothes around. Waiting until they had good control made life much easier, IMO.
My oldest was particularly stubborn. She clearly had control, but refused to use the potty or toilet. She would run around without a diaper all day and request one when she needed it. This went on for months. Finally, I just lied to her one day and told her we were out of diapers. Given the choice of peeing on the floor or using the toilet, she (fortunately) chose the toilet. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this method, but I was desperate.
Having a little more experience under my belt, I was crafty with my youngest. We decided together (when she was a little over 3) that she would give up her diapers when she was 3 1/2. I think it helped to relieve the emotional weight of the issue. When it came time to use the toilet, she did it because it was time to do so, not because Mommy wanted her to.
I think that often times making a big deal about it (special new undies, treats, etc.) backfires because it makes it seem too important.
sophie is right, and look at it this way racer72 you can let him practice outside too, tell him, if possible, to go water the shrubs in the backyard. My kids never liked the short potty seats. They liked a step stool up to the toilet with a kid toilet seat on top.
I tried to keep little books handy for when they had to take a sit, Often they would be hopping off and on when getting used to putting a bm in a toilet. Lots of fun especially when company comes to visit! ;j
Look out you have us parents on a roll
Oh, one more thing (I’m all about this subject right now). Put the potty in the living room in front of the television.