AAHHHH!!!! Toddlers...help

[falon_17]

My son has just had the yuckiest, most germy day of his life. This morning he dipped a cup in the toilet and took a big gulp while I was shampooing my hair! There wasn't anything in it but water, but jeez...it's a dirty toilet! Then he licked the door on a clothes dryer at the laundromat, then ate a bite of pizza off the floor when it fell out of his mouth also at the laundromat, and he's been licking his hands and putting his fingers in his mouth ALL DAY. I am freaking out that he'll start puking any minute. That toilet thing is really scaring me. It was kinda funny at first (you have to have a sick sense of humor to raise a toddler and remain sane) but now it's got me worried.


Also, any of you moms have sons that you have potty-trained? I thought my son was ready, so I bought him some Pull-Ups and he has 2 potties. But he won't tell me when he has to go, and when I do ask him he always says yes but just sits on the potty and does nothing. And now he's into this phase where when I put him in his crib at night and leave him alone to go to sleep, he strips naked - diaper, socks, and all! And if I don't catch him in time he pees in the bed! Once it was not only pee...and itwas 4 AM....I wanted to die. I'm getting so frustrated. How can I get him to pee in the potty? And how can I make him keep his clothes on at night (without duct-taping his diaper to him, lol)? I can't watch him all night long...if he wakes up, he strips! Help!

[thegooddr]

Falon,



Don't think of it as the yuckiest germy day of his life, think of it as
the most serious bit of education his immune system has had in his life
and I can tell you that is going to be good for him in later life.



As for potty training, I haven't got there yet, mine little lad is only
6 months, but I do know from when members of my family were potty
trained there was great variation in the age they had to be trained,
and how long it took. My niece got potty trained totally in about
a week (seriously, we could not believe it) but then I have seen it
take months aswell. How old is your little lad ? Perhaps to
start you should just go for training him through the daytime and then
duct taping the diaper of a night time. But as I say, I haven't
got there yet, I think the moms on the board may be in a better
position to advise.



Iain

[crimgoddess]

Believe it or not, the toilet is actually cleaner than many other surfaces- your kitchen sink is actually much dirtier than the inside of your toilet!


I don't have any children myself, but I have heard that it takes longer to potty train boys as opposed to girls. I know for myself, my mother said it happened quite quickly and by the time I was about 2-21/2 all systems were a go. For my brother- he just got the hang of it before he started kindergarten (which in Canada is age 4- he was actually a few months shy of his fourth birthday being born in november).


Have you picked up any books about using the potty? They do have a few out there made to be read to the really young kids, just to help kind of explain and provide an example (ie- are you ready to be a big boy and pee in the potty just like <insert name from book>?). It always works well to condition him to want to use the potty- if he does go while he is on it, praise the behaviour.


*amber*

[curly wurly]

I know how you are feeling falon-17. I have a little boy who will be 3 in May. He loves to play with anything dirty. he even tried to eat a worm in the garden a couple of months ago. It was horrible. He is also facinayed by the toilet and i have to stop him playing with it. I agree with Iain though that this will boost their immune systems in the future. I still cringe each time though.


As far as potty training is concerned, I am having the same problem. My daughter was completely trained at 2 years and 2 months, even dry at night times, but my son is a lot more difficult. Some days he will use the potty but other days he is just not interested. How old is your son? I am sure he will get there eventually. Good luck!

[zane2673]

Potty training a boy, UGH!! My son was my first child he was potty trained with number two until he was four. He had constipation issues and took forever to convince him to use the potty for that. The pee part, well, we made a game off it outside with peeing. Eventually, he had great fun going outside and peeing in the bushes. If he's stripping at night, I would invest in a water proof mattress pad or crib sheet. In order to get my son to sit on the potty and go, we bought him a leapster pad. The only time he could play with it was after he sucessfully used the potty or would sit to do number 2. Good luck!!

[curly wurly]

Oh no, does that mean I could have another year to wait until my son does his number 2's on the potty? We are getting there otherwise, but the thought of doing a number 2 on the potty scares him. He was quite happy to do it in the bath though. He thought that was hilarious!

[reese]

In the tub? If I wasn't an emet, that would make me want to....

No kids for me... ever... BUT I have 2 nieces. One of them had NO accidents
after the first time she went on the potty. She has always been a pleaser, and
when she received praise for her actions, she wanted to keep doing it. The
younger one is 4, and she just started going on the potty.. and still has
accidents. She doesn't care how happy you are with her. She is totally
uninterested in making anyone happy but herself...

[gubba]

I have a 4 year old son and he has been potty trained since he was 2. We spent 3 days at home naked and he peed on himself a few times and figured out the potty was a better spot. He never pooped without being on the potty once he figured out the pee thing. Now, we were very lucky and he does not poop in the middle of the night, so he was super easy to train. I do know that you can't do diapers sometimes and not at others since it does confuse them. Also, I did have friend who is a Dr., duct tape the diaper together since his kids pulled diapers off too. My son loves being naked, so he enjoyed his 3 days of nudety to learn the potty was the place for him to be.

[donna1216]

Ahh, potty training. My girls were terrible, he is obviously not ready yet. I would sit Haley on the potty and she would HOLD IT until I put the diaper back on her. And I have heard boys take longer than girls!!! Don't sweat it!! I know, changing diapers gets old, but he will not graduate from high school in a diaper!! Just try once a month or a every couple of weeks. I had to learn to be patient, my girls are both extremely intelligent and I was worried that them not using the potty by the age of 2 was a reflection of their intelligence, when to them it is a form of control (emets can relate!!). They learn that they can actually hold their pee/poop and that they control that and choose to either go in the potty or go in their diapers or cribs or YES, even the BATHTUB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[falon_17]

I was just kidding about the taping the diaper thing, that's funny that alot of people are saying to do it!! lol.


My son is almost 2 1/2 years old. I want him to be potty-trained so that he can go to preschool next year instead of daycare all day. I've heard of the peeing outside thing, and also putting Cheerios in the toilet to aim at, but he can't stand up to pee anyway. He has a Potty with Elmo book but its not one of his favorites. Maybe a movie would be better.