How can I motivate my 3-year-old to potty train successfully?

[ChefBeckyD]

Yahoo! Potty Training is now working!

DS is 3 (turned 3 in June) and for a long time, I have known that he COULD do it if he wanted to......He has been dying to do to school, so I told him a couple weeks ago that he had to wear big boy underwear to go to school. All of a sudden school wasn't so important anymore.:grumpy: BUT what I discovered this week was important was the BACKPACK!!! He wants a backpack so bad - so I told him if he could stay dry I'd buy him one with wheels! He immediately wanted to put underpants on! BUT we didn't have the right kind! The other thing that is important to him is to be like Daddy. That means underwear that looks like Daddys. I had to search high and low, but I finally found boxers for my very skinny 3 yr old! He put a pair on yesterday afternoon, and stayed dry all evening until bedtime, and he has had a pair on all day today and is still dry! The most exciting thing is - I haven't had to ask him about going potty - every time he has had to go - he has come to tell me he has to go! He even came in from outside to tell me!

Whoo Hooo! That's gonna be a savings of $45 a month!!!

 

[pamperedpals]

Wahoo Becky!

I am trying to get my 3 yr old son to do the same. He knows when he has to go, he does it just to spite me in his pull-ups. Over Labor Day Weekend, I am going to put him in big boy underwear and get it done. At the same time I am going to get my youngest son (going to be two at the end of October) off his nightime bottle.

Congrats, again and I hope that is the end of pull-ups for you. The monthly savings is nice isn't it?

 

[chefann]

I can't believe you found toddler-sized boxers! How cute!
Sounds like he'll be completely trained by the weekend. wa-hoo!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Laurie - we don't have pull-ups, just regular diapers. But yes! I think it he was refusing to go on the potty, just because he knew it was a battle he could control! He would say "no, Mom, I'm not big enough yet" or "no, lets just change my diaper" or "maybe tomorrow I will"......the little stinker!

I had no idea the backpack meant this much to him!!! We have offered a puppy, a tractor, and several other things - but it was the backpack of all things!

Hopefully you will find the right motivator soon!

 

[pamperedlinda]

........ He even came in from outside to tell me!....

My DS would have just peed in the yard! He used to go outside just so he could take a pee in the back yard - I've got a few pics of him thru the window too! Congratulations, I know you are excited about that. Now, you just have to remind him to go to the bathroom before you go somewhere in the car. It would never fail that I would get stuck in traffic and my DS would have to go NOW! I can't tell you how many times I've just had to pull over on the side of the road for him....couldn't have done that too well with a girl

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I can't believe you found toddler-sized boxers! How cute!
Sounds like he'll be completely trained by the weekend. wa-hoo!

He looks so cute in them too - but I've found now that he shorts don't stay up as good - the diaper was adding the extra bulk to keep them up!
Right now he is just running around in a little car show t-shirt, and his red boxer shorts.....so darn cute!

 

[chefann]

He looks so cute in them too - but I've found now that he shorts don't stay up as good - the diaper was adding the extra bulk to keep them up!
Right now he is just running around in a little car show t-shirt, and his red boxer shorts.....so darn cute!

Oh, no! You've got a little redneck! All he needs is a baseball cap and a (root) beer.

 

[tlennhoff]

That is great. Woo hoo enjoy your savings and his increasing Independence.

 

[Cindycooks]

WooHoo y'all that is great! Not to encourage candy, but with my preschoolers, they get one M&M for telling me and trying - and 2 if they go. It works!

Speaking of poopy - guess what Taylor (my 11 mo old grandbaby) is doing right now!

 

[ahammons]

Yahoo! Potty Training is now working!

DS is 3 (turned 3 in June) and for a long time, I have known that he COULD do it if he wanted to......He has been dying to do to school, so I told him a couple weeks ago that he had to wear big boy underwear to go to school. All of a sudden school wasn't so important anymore.:grumpy: BUT what I discovered this week was important was the BACKPACK!!! He wants a backpack so bad - so I told him if he could stay dry I'd buy him one with wheels! He immediately wanted to put underpants on! BUT we didn't have the right kind! The other thing that is important to him is to be like Daddy. That means underwear that looks like Daddys. I had to search high and low, but I finally found boxers for my very skinny 3 yr old!

That's great Becky! My oldest turned 3 at the end of March, and still isn't potty trained... he's the same way as your son, it sounds like. He wanted to go to school so badly, but now he's not sure b/c he doesn't want to wear underwear! He refuses to wear them - he said he'd wear them if they were like Daddy's (boxers), but I can't find any in his size. Could you please tell me where you found them?? School starts on September 5th so I don't think he'll be starting as planned, but they said we could enroll him as soon as he is potty trained.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Oh, no! You've got a little redneck! All he needs is a baseball cap and a (root) beer.

Ahhh, just like his daddy!

and his favorite pop is root beer!

 

[krzymomof4]

My boys always liked to pee on things. After doing this 4 times, I had all the boys take cherrios or fruit loops. We would put them in the potty and they would see if they could get it in the hole or make them sink.

 

[pamperedpals]

Hopefully you will find the right motivator soon!

I'm thinking about taking away his "keeping Mommy's pillow warm" from him until he potty trained. Every morning when I get up to go to work, I go and get him and put him in bed with my DH. That way if he wakes up early, DH turns the TV on in our bedroom and my youngest get's to sleep longer. Daddy does too!

He really likes to keep my pillow warm. Last night when I tucked him when I got home from my show (wouldn't let DH tuck him in told him "No, mommy's doing it when she get's home.") He said "Do you promise to get me in the morning? Pinky swear?" I just about died laughing when he said that. I love my boys!:love:

 

[JaimeQ]

I can't wait till my DD is potty trained. She has gone pee pee on the potty once... we try but we don't force anything. She is only going to be a year and half next month. But it was very exciting when she did go that one time We called everyone and told them hehe. Now her new thing is, is she is sleeping in a big girl bed!! She went from her crib to a twin size loft bunk bed with no problems.

Glad to hear potty trainging is working for you chefbeckyD

 

[pamperedlinda]

.....Could you please tell me where you found them?? .....

If you have an Osh Kosh store near you they have them, the one near me is in an Outlet Mall. My son wears them as pj bottoms.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

That's great Becky! My oldest turned 3 at the end of March, and still isn't potty trained... he's the same way as your son, it sounds like. He wanted to go to school so badly, but now he's not sure b/c he doesn't want to wear underwear! He refuses to wear them - he said he'd wear them if they were like Daddy's (boxers), but I can't find any in his size. Could you please tell me where you found them?? School starts on September 5th so I don't think he'll be starting as planned, but they said we could enroll him as soon as he is potty trained.

I found 2 pkgs of them - Hanes brand - at Meijers, not with the other underwear - they were in the baby aisle with plastic pants and diapers! They are boxer briefs - made from a jersey material. I got them one size up - a 4t instead of a 3t, they are a little loose around the waist - but this also made them looser around his legs, so they are more like real boxers. I've noticed they are really easy for him to pull on and off, which might have been some of the problem with the briefs we had for him - they were hard for him to maneuver.

 

[ahammons]

Thanks! I can't remember if there's an OshKosh store around here (I just moved back after 4 yrs), but there is a Meijer. I need to go there tomorrow anyway, so I'll have to see if I can find them. That's a great idea to get them a size bigger! I know that he's just being stubborn so that he can have control over something, so maybe this will convince him. I'm also going to call the preschool director to see if we can tour the school to get him really excited about it.

 

[DebbieSAChef]

3 year olds....My three year old used to take off her panties in the playroom and secretly put on a pull up to go poop. It was such a battle to get her to go poop in the toilet. She hated it. After we got back from our vacation in May, the month she turned three. She was like another child.
She was potty trained within a week after I thought she was just going to wear pull ups for the rest of her life!!
Now I just have to get my 21 month old potty trained and our newborn Daniel will be next after that. Until we have another one!!

What a relief to only change two diapers now. Soon only one!! It's funny but I look forward to that day almost more than graduation!!! :love:

Debbie

 

[gilliandanielle]

Congrats! It is such a wonderful feeling! My 2 year old isn't even close, but I finally got my 3.5 year old trained the week after Baylor was born. With all the diapers that I got as gifts and with gift cards I have barely had to buy Baylor diapers yet! It was great to go from buying 2 kinds of diapers to 3 kinds of diapers (1 expensive trip!!) to buying 1 kind of diapers! I am sure that my DS will be easier to train than my DD, so hopefully it will happen soon!

 

[jrstephens]

CONGRATS!! Luke made up his mind and just starting going himself. We have not had an accident of any kind in abot 3 months. I still put him in pull-ups at night jsut for my sake in case of an accident I do not have to strip the bed.

I was not a believer in "they will go when they are ready" until now. We tried everything and nothing worked. But the day he decided on his own he was ready there has been no looking back. he even held it for about 15 minutes from the time we were in a drive-thru until I could get him to the bathroom. I bought one of those fold up seats at Toyrsus the other day to have in the car for when he needs to go poop and we are on the road and have to stop at a bathroom.

 

[katie0128]

Laurie - we don't have pull-ups, just regular diapers. But yes! I think it he was refusing to go on the potty, just because he knew it was a battle he could control! He would say "no, Mom, I'm not big enough yet" or "no, lets just change my diaper" or "maybe tomorrow I will"......the little stinker!

I had no idea the backpack meant this much to him!!! We have offered a puppy, a tractor, and several other things - but it was the backpack of all things!

Hopefully you will find the right motivator soon!

Oh, no! You've got a little redneck! All he needs is a baseball cap and a (root) beer.

What did you expect... they offered him a TRACTOR if he went potty!!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

What did you expect... they offered him a TRACTOR if he went potty!!!

It's so funny - we live in the middle of town - a block from the library, grocery store, bank, etc......and don't even have a riding mower - but our son is OBSESSED with John Deere! His idea of a great time is to take him to the John Deere Dealership, and just let him look around. They know him at the store and have even saved old dealer catalogs for him. It is hilarious (to us) when people come over and he sits them down to go thru the catalog and correctly names every tractor model and the implements that go with them! So of course - we thought a new tractor would get him on that potty....but nooooo, it was the backpack!

He just came in again to tell me he had to go! Yeee Haaaa!

 

[missydivine]

Good for you! My DD is potty trained, but she will not poop on the potty. I don't know when she will start that. I'm hoping when she goes back to pre-school she will start.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Starting day 2 with Captain Underpants! :thumbup:
He stayed dry ALL DAY yesterday - and stopped whatever he was doing to come tell me he had to go.
I KNEW he could do this - and it looks like, when presented with the right motivation, he pretty much just did it himself!

I'm making up a chart, so that he can see how many days he has to stay dry before he gets the backpack. (My mom suggested not rushing out to get it right away - so he doesn't think it's an easy win!)

 

[Harrle]

My DD turned 3 in June, we started in January using M&M's every time she would make it to go on the potty. The real deal was telling her she could take dance lessons once she was a big girl and big girls go on the big potty. It helped that I took her to a relatives dance recital right after her 3rd b-day so she could see what she was working towards. We haven't put a diaper on in months - it is awesome!!!

We never went the pull-up route for either of our kids, it was one less thing we thought we would have to break the habit of. I remember the day I ran out of diapers and only had a pull-up on hand (freebie from whichever company), my DS threw a fit because he didn't want to wear it - that made going straight to underwear easier as well!! Like others my DS wore the boxers to bed but now also has to be like DD and wear just the underwear!! BOYS!!!

 

[chefann]

Becky, how's it going with the Captain?
Still dry, I hope!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Becky, how's it going with the Captain?
Still dry, I hope!

Still Dry!

We spent the day at "Mimi's" (my mom). My brother & SIL are here from VA., with their 3 kids. and then my other brothers 3 kids were there. So - he was with a bunch of kids today, and not in his normal environment - I was afraid he would be so busy playing he wouldn't want to stop - but we just had them all take bathroom breaks (thankfully, there are 3 bathrooms there!) at the same time, and he did great. He is sleeping right now - a rare occurance in the middle of the day - so I'm hoping he stays dry while napping!

 

[chefann]

How's Captain Underpants doing, Becky? Still dry?

 

[ginamkiely]

ok so it's great to know we're not alone in this battle of potty training. my son is 3 and will sit on the potty for an hour, do nothing, then get up and pee on the floor. lol. outside he goes "look mommy i can pee" and makes himself go and on the potty when i say ready set pee he makes the sound like he's peeing but does nothing. he's going to start school in a few weeks and they're "supposed" to be trained but they're ok if he's not. i really want him to get there and it's so frustrating. i've tried fruit snacks, lollypops, trains, you name it. he's as stubborn as his mother. thanks for all the tips though, i'm going to try out anything i can to get this boy into underpants before school.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

It's like a switch just flipped inside him! He has not had even ONE accident since we put him in big boy underwear! He has even been dry 2 nights all night long!:thumbup:
One day, he just decided to be a "big boy" ~ and all of a sudden he is! We struggled for months trying to get him to use the potty - and when he decided it was time - it just happened!


He has asked to put on a diaper so he can "poopie".......for some reason he is terrified of doing that on the potty. (racing heart, sweaty head, trembling!) so we aren't forcing that issue. I guess it will be like peeing. One day he will just decide to do it. Right now, he goes in the corner behind the big Lounge Chair - that's his private "poopie corner".

 

[ginamkiely]

It's like a switch just flipped inside him! He has not had even ONE accident since we put him in big boy underwear! He has even been dry 2 nights all night long!:thumbup:
One day, he just decided to be a "big boy" ~ and all of a sudden he is! We struggled for months trying to get him to use the potty - and when he decided it was time - it just happened!


He has asked to put on a diaper so he can "poopie".......for some reason he is terrified of doing that on the potty. (racing heart, sweaty head, trembling!) so we aren't forcing that issue. I guess it will be like peeing. One day he will just decide to do it. Right now, he goes in the corner behind the big Lounge Chair - that's his private "poopie corner".

so funny how they have their poopie spots.. for some reason my son feels the need to jump up and down in his bed and throw me out of his room while he's pooping. he's so weird. lol. it's so funny how they just all of the sudden grow up. i think we're going to blink and they'll all be in college. (so sad). i swear i'm going to have to be medicated the first day of Pre-K!

 

[ahammons]

on the potty when i say ready set pee he makes the sound like he's peeing but does nothing. he's going to start school in a few weeks and they're "supposed" to be trained but they're ok if he's not. i really want him to get there and it's so frustrating. i've tried fruit snacks, lollypops, trains, you name it. he's as stubborn as his mother. thanks for all the tips though, i'm going to try out anything i can to get this boy into underpants before school.

That is too funny.... my DS does the same thing! He makes the sound like he's peeing in the potty, then says "okay, I'm done!" lol He's supposed to start preschool in 2 weeks, but he can't until he's potty trained. Even though he'll only be there 2½ hours a day/3 days a week, I don't think they'll let it slide if he's not trained. So, he may just have to wait a little longer. I finally found some boxers (thanks Linda and Becky for the suggestions) - but he still won't wear them!! Stubborn kid!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

That is too funny.... my DS does the same thing! He makes the sound like he's peeing in the potty, then says "okay, I'm done!" lol He's supposed to start preschool in 2 weeks, but he can't until he's potty trained. Even though he'll only be there 2½ hours a day/3 days a week, I don't think they'll let it slide if he's not trained. So, he may just have to wait a little longer. I finally found some boxers (thanks Linda and Becky for the suggestions) - but he still won't wear them!! Stubborn kid!!

That's the way mine was too - until the backpack! He has 3 more days dry, and he can get his backpack! But before we discovered how much he wanted a backpack - NOTHING could entice him to give up his diaper!

 

[ginamkiely]

That is too funny.... my DS does the same thing! He makes the sound like he's peeing in the potty, then says "okay, I'm done!" lol He's supposed to start preschool in 2 weeks, but he can't until he's potty trained. Even though he'll only be there 2½ hours a day/3 days a week, I don't think they'll let it slide if he's not trained. So, he may just have to wait a little longer. I finally found some boxers (thanks Linda and Becky for the suggestions) - but he still won't wear them!! Stubborn kid!!

my sons school said they have to be potty trained too but then they made me sign a form that it's ok for them to change diapers. i'm just going to change him before we leave the house and pray he stays dry. it's a co-op so i can go whenever i want anyway.