Potty training - what's the next step?

[Anonymous]

DS is 3 and it feels like he's 90% potty-trained, but I don't know how to get to the finish line.

He was pretty good at keeping his pull-up dry in daycare for awhile and a week ago we started underwear. We set a timer and take him to the potty every 45 mins or so, and he usually goes and is dry in between. But if he needs to pee in between or we forget to set a timer, he will NOT tell us he has to go. He'll just pee in his underwear and maybe tell us afterward. I don't know if he can't tell, or he just doesn't want to stop playing / doesn't care.

Any tips on how to get to the next phase where he'll know when he needs to go to the potty?

Appreciate any advice!!

[Anonymous]

Rewards. Good ones. Get a mesh, see-through beach bag and fill it with Hot Wheels. Every day he stays dry for the day, he gets to choose one. If he doesn’t stay dry, commiserate with him and tell him tomorrow he can try again. Stay positive and tell him you believe in him.

Also, stop taking the lead. Let him decide when he needs to go and tell him you trust him. When he pees his pants make the clean up take longer than a trip to the potty. And absolutely no more pull-ups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rewards. Good ones. Get a mesh, see-through beach bag and fill it with Hot Wheels. Every day he stays dry for the day, he gets to choose one. If he doesn’t stay dry, commiserate with him and tell him tomorrow he can try again. Stay positive and tell him you believe in him.

Also, stop taking the lead. Let him decide when he needs to go and tell him you trust him. When he pees his pants make the clean up take longer than a trip to the potty. And absolutely no more pull-ups.

Start small and work up to the whole day. If you jump straight to the whole day and the kid pees his pants at 9, your day is shot.

[Anonymous]

He hasn't made the connection between needing to pee and initiating going to the potty because you are using a timer and going so often. Put him in charge of it. I mean, definitely have set times you go (first thing, before leaving the house, before nap/bed, before meals), but otherwise tell him it's his job to tell you when he needs to go--and then have a reward for every time he initiates going and goes (something that he will think is good, for our kid we did various things including m&ms, fake tattoos, small cheap toys, stickers, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He hasn't made the connection between needing to pee and initiating going to the potty because you are using a timer and going so often. Put him in charge of it. I mean, definitely have set times you go (first thing, before leaving the house, before nap/bed, before meals), but otherwise tell him it's his job to tell you when he needs to go--and then have a reward for every time he initiates going and goes (something that he will think is good, for our kid we did various things including m&ms, fake tattoos, small cheap toys, stickers, etc.).

Thanks for the suggestions. Question -- how do we keep the little reward from turning into too much of an incentive, in that he'll want to keep going/trying all the time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He hasn't made the connection between needing to pee and initiating going to the potty because you are using a timer and going so often. Put him in charge of it. I mean, definitely have set times you go (first thing, before leaving the house, before nap/bed, before meals), but otherwise tell him it's his job to tell you when he needs to go--and then have a reward for every time he initiates going and goes (something that he will think is good, for our kid we did various things including m&ms, fake tattoos, small cheap toys, stickers, etc.).

Thanks for the suggestions. Question -- how do we keep the little reward from turning into too much of an incentive, in that he'll want to keep going/trying all the time?

One M&M/treat any time he wants to try and then goes. No M&M/treat if nothing goes in the toilet. The point is to connect the urge to the action, not to reward just trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He hasn't made the connection between needing to pee and initiating going to the potty because you are using a timer and going so often. Put him in charge of it. I mean, definitely have set times you go (first thing, before leaving the house, before nap/bed, before meals), but otherwise tell him it's his job to tell you when he needs to go--and then have a reward for every time he initiates going and goes (something that he will think is good, for our kid we did various things including m&ms, fake tattoos, small cheap toys, stickers, etc.).

Thanks for the suggestions. Question -- how do we keep the little reward from turning into too much of an incentive, in that he'll want to keep going/trying all the time?

Nothing for trying. Initiating and peeing on the potty gets a reward. Two for poop. Make the rewards good. M&M’s burn out fast.

[Anonymous]

I’d still pantsless at home. And let him initiate.