Tips for potty-training boys?

[teacher316]

My little boy is 2 1/2 and I'm SO ready to be done with diapers! He knows how to do #2 but hasn't figured out how to go pee on the potty. Any tips would be great!

[GothMummy]

I used bribery with my son. I bought a bunch of cheap pirate figures and for every day that he didnt have an accident, he got a pirate figure.

but now I am struggling with my daughter... who is 2 years 1 month. She doesnt care about rewards or sticker charts etc!

[Sarahlacewing]

I used bribery with my son. I bought a bunch of cheap pirate figures and for every day that he didnt have an accident, he got a pirate figure.

but now I am struggling with my daughter... who is 2 years 1 month. She doesnt care about rewards or sticker charts etc!

^This. The only thing that has worked for my son is giving him a handful of mini m&ms when he goes after he gets dressed and washes his hands.

[Sandra]

I personally don't have any kids but I used to babysit for a coworker of mine while she was still potty-training her son. He was a little bit older than your son but still struggled a bit with having accidents at night. She talked to his doctor and he suggested cutting off any drinks within 2 hours of bedtime. I remember her saying it helped a lot with the accidents. Of course that's probably going to be at a later stage once your son actually starts using the potty a bit more. Best of luck.

[Sarahlacewing]

I will say in relation to that he almost always pees when he first wakes up/ after he drinks. 

My sister would sit hers on the potty once an hour every hour to try to get him to go.  And that worked out pretty well for her.  Eventually he figured out how to go and how to hold it.

They reach a point where being wet is uncomfortable for them and then they are much more likely to go.

[Eviecorn]

When I trained my son, I pretty much spent a weekend with him being naked in the house, having him sit on towels and the like, and taking him to the bathroom like clockwork every half hour.  He got the message of what we were trying to do pretty quickly.  I didn't scold him for accidents, but praised him immensely for going in the potty.  After that we were able to do the same thing while he was clothed.  He learned when to hold it and when to let it go, and it happened pretty quickly with him.

That method doesn't work for every child, but the important things to remember is that you need to use positive reinforcement, not punishment/discipline.  Also, accidents will happen, so be patient.  Be patient with each other and eventually it will happen.  If it takes a while, don't beat yourself or him up over it - he won't go to high school in diapers.   

[Yuitsu]

My cousins little boy got read to when on the toilet. He still wants to be read to and he's now nearly 5. Don't do that one, you'll be forever buying new books.

[Teddy]

With my nephew we did the "prize" thing, too. We had a store of small snacks and cheap toys he could choose from each time he went in the potty. We also took him to the potty and made him at least try to go every hour or so. This seemed to work really well for him. Good luck!

[Lady Starflower]

My husband and I kept my son naked from the bottom down. My son is a fairly neat kid so he hates any mess which really helped him not to pee anywhere in the house except the toilet. Took about a weekend for him to get it and now he just goes to the bathroom whenever he needs to...no muss no fuss which is nice.

We did a bit of the bribery (with cheap Hot Wheels cars) but he didn't really care all that much. We found the naked thing worked better.

Good luck with your son

[Sugar]

I don't remember exactly when my son was trained for both, but it seems to me it took forever.   It didn't really, it just seemed that way.   I feel for you about the diapers, teacher316!

Mind you, once he got it, that was *it.*  No accidents, no whoopses, all good.  Wish I could remember what tactic I used - I may need to use a similar strategy for keeping his room tidy.

[shadowdreamer]

With my brother...(long story I had to help a bet since my mom was a single mom at the time) We put cheerios\fruit loops in the water...its werid..but it worked because he thought it was funny that he could pee on the cheerios or fruitloops..it also helped him learn aim... But also teaching him to sit first might be easier then teaching him to stand and or sit.

[cricket]

I totally agree with the Cheerios and bribery methods.  I have three boys and with all three we would throw a few Cheerios in the potty and tell them to aim at them.  When they would go with no accidents they would get a small handful of M&Ms.  Worked like a charm!

[kaoskat]

Unless he's a puppy, I got nothin'. Good luck though!

[xeevee]

I was similar to, Evicorn.  Just let my son be naked.  Also, he seemed to love to pee outside, so we let him do that too.

[kezrob23]

Definitely go rudie nudie get him used to the potty without having to worry bout getting pants off in time too. Plus saves on washing my Mr. 2.5 is actually ready, he asks for his potty after a bath and uses it, but it's too damn cold here to go nudie. I tried, but 3 pairs of pants in half an hour and I decided to wait till summer. I hear you on the nappies, I do old fashioned terry squares and plastic pilchers. So with my daughter previously, I've had 5 years of cleaning washing and folding!! Over it big time!! And I recommend to sit before standing, no way I want my 2 year old in control of his doody!!