Comments on: Ask Dr. Potty

By: Alicia

Alicia — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 23:42:16 +0000

Was wondering if u knew any fun sings to sing to get my son to go?? Or activities??

By: Alicia

Alicia — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:36:36 +0000

Hi,
I have a 3 and a half year old son and when he turned 3 he was very curious about the potty alwaysfollowing me in the bathroom then one day I got him to sit on the potty but he never did anything , I got him to sit on it a few more times each day and now that he’s nearing 4 in June, he’s actually told me he’s scared of the potty he keeps flushing the toilet to try to get rid of the water.. I keep telling him not to be scared that I will hold onto him so he won’t fall… I’ve also let him use the other pottys that don’t have the water in them but all he does is sits on it and won’t do anything… Another thing I’ve tried is over a weekend I’ve had him be without a diaper to see if he will let me know when he has to go but he just goes and it doesn’t seem to faze him.. What can I do?? I’m scared he’s gonna be in diapers for way too long and I’ll have to wait too long to get him into kindergarden please help I need all the tips and tricks u can think of

By: E.B.

E.B. — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:35:27 +0000

I am so pleased to have found your site! I’ve read through the 7 most-common mistakes and have a question: My son will be 25 months when our 2nd baby arrives. He’s 22 months now and showing signs of interest. We’re catering to those, letting him sit on the potty, etc., but not pushing it because we have the little one on the way. After the new baby arrives, how soon do we start pushing the potty issue? Thanks!!!

By: Diann

Diann — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:41:18 +0000

Wow! I wish I had found this site earlier! I have a 3 year old daughter who is finally getting the hang of going wee wee in the toilet. Some days she refuses to wear underwear and will want a diaper instead. For a week, I put away all of her diapers and would only let her wear them during naps and bedtime. Is it ok for me to insist that she wears underwear during the daytime? We tried pull-ups but she still refuses to wear them and wants a diaper instead. When she does wear a pull-up she wants to wear undies over top. We have been rewarding her with candy (the only thing she seems to be interested in.)

I see from other posts that #2 is the hardest part. I’m trying to be patient – but she will not sit on the potty for more than 2 seconds even when she says “woo woo is ready to come out.” We have tried reading and singing while she is on the potty but she just can’t seem to sit still. I even told her I’d take her to McDonald’s when she does woo woo in the potty. Do I just need to be more patient? Thanks!

By: Heidi

Heidi — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:23:30 +0000

Hi,

I am really confused about my son’s readiness. He is almost 27 months, and we have been taking a gradual approach over the last several months making a potty chair available, allowing him to observe us, learning to pull pants on and off, and learning to wash hands. We talk about it throughout the day when relevant, and have been trying to teach him the necessary language. His language development is fairly slow (not delayed, just not very clear) so one my biggest concerns has been the ability to articulate when he needs to go.

The last couple of weeks he has started saying “pee pee” frequently and showing definite interest in going to the potty. He will sit on the toilet, but not do anything. I praise him like crazy for being willing to sit on the potty. I got really excited about his interest thinking that maybe he was ready, but he doesn’t wake up with dry diapers after his afternoon nap and is still pretty willing to have a dirty diaper on. He lets me know after the fact, but if I can’t change it immediately he never seems to care. I am just not sure what the appropriate next step is. Thank you for any advice you can give!

By: Tracy

Tracy — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:27:04 +0000

Hi I have a toddler who just turned 3. I have been potty training her for about 2 months now with no success. She showed signs she was ready by sitting on the potty, and telling me that she’s pee or poo, so I took all those as signs. Started the potty training, encouraged her with stickers, books, and candy. I sit her on the potty for several minutes, with no luck. But as soon as I take her off the potty, she goes in her pull ups :(. I have even resorted to little underwear, sit her on the potty for several minutes, and still she will only go “after” she gets off the potty. Its always after. What am I doing wrong? Your help is much appreciated. Thank you.

By: Kendra

Kendra — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:15:57 +0000

Hello,
Just wondering if you have any suggestions. I have been training for two weeks now. My daughter does well when she does not have underware on. She wears dresses and very good about catching herself before she goes or when she starts to go. When she has underware on, she tends to go more than if she were bottomless. Any thoughts on how to get her used to wearing something without having to do a ton of laundry?

By: Trish

Trish — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:06:29 +0000

I have a 3 year old daughter who was doing o.k. going potty on the toilet, but has never told me when she has to go. I have her in pull-ups during the day, but in recent weeks she has been going potty in her pull-ups and also will go everytime I put her on the toilet. I set the timer for 45 minutes and she will go, but is still having wet pull-ups, and I don’t know if she can tell when she has to go yet. Please help, I don’t know what else to do, should I just put her in underware during the day, or back off training utill she can recongnize the feeling of having to go potty. Any advise would be helpfull, Thanks

By: cindy platt

cindy platt — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:33:49 +0000

Hi all,

The 3 comments above were answered privately in an e-mail. To cut to the chase: It is more productive to tell your child it is time to go to the bathroom until they have internalized the process and know their body well enough to just go. If you child is going number 2 in the underwear make sure she is part of the process of putting the waste in the toilet so that you are ensuring that she understands where # 2 goes. Have your child be a part of the cleaning up process. Keep it clinical and explain how it is dirty when we do not put the poop in the potty. Little leaks are part of the process. If he has not had a #2 accident since day one I would ride that celebration train forever. The leaks will work themselves out. Sometimes when we ease up on the gas pedal we get better results.

Cheers to all,
Sean and Cindy

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:07:11 +0000

Hello,
My youngest son decided he was ready to potty train at 26 months. I have two older boys and, as with everything else, he wanted to use the bathroom just as they did. I was a bit reluctant because I thought he was on the young side, but I couldn’t very well tell him to go in his diaper when he was enthusiastically going both number 1 and 2 in the toilet. (t has been 5 months since he began and we are still having an issue. He announces that he needs to pee and makes his way to the bathroom but has already gone a little bit in his pants. This happens all afternoon (he’s usually more on top of things in the morning). At first, I though it was b/c he was so young and he’d get the hang of it. But it’s been several months and I’m still washing a few pairs of underwear on a daily basis. Is there anything I can do to get him to put ALL of the pee pee in the toilet? Ive tried rewards and timed trips to the bathroom. It’s very frustrating because he knows what he needs to do but he’s not staying dry. He hasn’t had a poo poo accident since day 1.
Please help!
Jan