Almost 23 month old can’t seem to push down his pants.

[Anonymous]

He potty trained easily over the last two weeks but just can’t seem to get the hang of pushing down his elastic shorts. I feel like we must be explaining it wrong. He’s even wearing a size up to make it easier and no underwear. He’s developmentally normal.

How did you teach pushing down your pants?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

He’s on the young side for boys PT, this is one of the reasons why. Keep showing him and helping him

[Anonymous]

It just takes time. One thing you can do is give him another way of doing it. Some kids have an easier time bending forward to pull their pants down, others need to kind of squat down. It's a combination of balance, the proportions of their bodies, and personal preference.

In the meantime, make sure he knows he can always ask for help if he needs it, and then provide him with the most minimal help possible (so that he's doing as much of it as he can on his own). If he asks for help and you just do it for him, he doesn't get a chance to practice. Try just helping on one side, for instance.

Mine still needed some help by the time he was 3. It's normal. You also have to help with wiping. It just takes a while until they are independent, even well after they are technically potty trained.

[Anonymous]

We trained young and had an easier time teaching DS to pull down his underwear than pull down his pants. The elastic on pants is strong! If you used Oh Crap, give it a couple more weeks and then go to underwear with no shorts.

Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Practice when he doesn’t have to go potty. Make a game of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We trained young and had an easier time teaching DS to pull down his underwear than pull down his pants. The elastic on pants is strong! If you used Oh Crap, give it a couple more weeks and then go to underwear with no shorts.

Congrats!

I agree. The elastic on boys pants and especially boys athletic shorts is really strong. My 2 y/o kid is skinny and tall so the shorts that fit and don’t fall down on him are also hard for him to get off.

[Anonymous]

He might still need help, that’s not something my DS fully got the hang of until right around his 3rd birthday.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never found boys elastic waist shorts that my three year old could pull down on his own either.

[Anonymous]

I pt'd DS at 20 months but it wasn't until after the 2 year mark that he could do the pants bit on his own. I put my hands on his and showed him how to tuck his thumbs in the band and slide them down. Also practice with pajama changes.

[Anonymous]

My boys were both trained at 23 months. They didn’t learn to do their pants for a long time!

[Anonymous]

Put him in a kilt.

[Anonymous]

He's not even 2 yet. Cut him some slack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My boys were both trained at 23 months. They didn’t learn to do their pants for a long time!

This!

[Anonymous]

too young. Maybe next year.