Potty Training Help! Please?

Question

I am currently trying to potty train my 3 year old son. I need suggestions of things you did to help your children learn. I am absolutely at my wits end with him. I know this question gets asked a lot, but I sure could benefit from some wisdom. He has been more difficult than my other 2 put together.

Answer 1

Maybe he isn't ready. All kids have a different time when they're ready for potty training. You could try making it fun, giving rewards, etc. But, never scold him for going in a diaper or pull-up or whatever.

Answer 2

try putting cherios in the toilet and have him aim at them. it sounds silly but it worked for my little boy

Answer 3

If he is really ready then sticker chart for every time he pottys like a big boy, only use underware, make sure you take him every 30 minute in the beginning and work up from there and make it fun.  Sing songs, read stories and stuff while he is on the potty so it isn't such a chore.  

Answer 4

Find something highly motivational (bike, trip, etc).

Get rid of all diapers and pull-ups (except at night if absolutely necessary, but take off first thing in the morning). As long as you still have diapers, training is optional for him. To help him quickly learn to recognize the need to go, train him bottomless in a long t-shirt for modesty.  Put a potty near where he is. If necessary keep him playing in areas with flooring or on vinyl tableclothes or shower curtains until he progresses.  He might have a lot of accidents at first because you said he is hard to train, but stick with it, they won't last indefinitely, most kids can get past this in about 5 days and complete training in under two weeks, even the most difficult child should be mostly done in a month.  The feeling of being bare will be a constant reminder that he needs to use the potty. If he has an accident, take him to the toilet or potty and have him sit for a minute, then have him help you clean up, he can't go and play until the job is done. When he does use the potty or toilet, have a huge celebration, praise him, maybe surprise him with an unexpected treat. If you need to take him out and about use underwear and thick pants like jeans.  Most kids can graduate from bottomless to underwear in less than two weeks. If he seems trained, but graduating to underwear causes accidents, go back to bottomless a bit longer.  

If he is holding bowel movements, try having story time on the toilet each night. Have him "push" a bit every time you turn the page. Choose a nice long story and hopefully the pushing will trigger a bowel movement each night before he goes to bed. My son didn't want to have a BM on the toilet, so I encouraged him to push for "practice", when the BM came that was just a bonus. If this doesn't work, you may have to consult his pediatrician, if he holds in BM's, he needs help.