Big potty training problem with my 3 yr old son?

Question

i'm trying to potty train my 3 yr old and if I leave him naked he goes #1 and #2 in the potty like he's been doing it for years, but he refuses to wear big boy pants and insists I put him in a diaper even when he's naked and doing such a good job going to the potty ( when I'm at home I wont put him back in a diaper I make him stay naked). He wont tell me if he needs to use the potty and I'm forced to put him in a diaper if I need to leave the house because he REFUSES to wear underwear ( I've tried sneaking them on him but he checks them and if its the underwear he cries and pulls them off in anger ) I've taken him to the store and made a big deal out of how well he was doing and how this was a prize for him being such a big boy to pick out his own underwear character and he refuses to even let me buy them. I have some that I bought a while back that he refuses to let me put on him! Help I don't know how to fix this problem and I can't go back and forth from naked to diaper?

Answer 1

Next time you two are going through the angry-underpants dance, before he errupts when you try to dress him in his underpants, tell him that his diapers are retired.  And mean it.  Get rid of every diaper in the house, and get used to the idea of packing extra underpants and pants for leaving the house.  Will he wear pants while naked underneath?

This might be a good place to start.  If he will put on his trousers without the underpants, then let him wear the trousers comando.  He only wants diapers because they mean lots of attention from Mom.  Keep giving him lots of praise and attention in other areas.  If he screams and cries and throws a big tantrum, let him.  Calmly tell him that big boys don't wear diapers, and that he can wear his trousers, underpants, or nothing (as long as he isn't naked in public).  You may go through several months of pantsless little boy in the house, but if he is using the potty, who cares?  When it gets cold, he will put his pants on.

When he cries, just busy yourself with something else, and don't let him get the negative attention.

Answer 2

My son did the same thing. Even when he finally started wearing regular underwear outside the house and staying dry, he would still wet the bed every single night. I wondered what was wrong. Finally, my mother-in-law bribed him with $50. She said if he stayed dry all through the night from the time we saw them mid-summer until kindergarten started in the fall, she'd give him  $50 to spend on anything he wanted. It worked! I couldn't believe it -- I guess he just needed to decide for himself when he was ready to stay dry.

Answer 3

We offered our son 3 teaspoons of ice cream as a bed time snack for every day he wore and kept his underwear clean and dry all day.  Diapers only for bedtime.  It works.