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N is kinda interested in the potty but I am just not pushing the issue. We are planning on skipping pull ups because they are too much like diapers for us.

We just started truly training about 10 days ago and DS will be 3.5 in October. He was more than ready, but I was not. I finally had to commit and bought the Oh Crap! Potty training book to build up my confidence. He's doing really well, but the book made me feel like a shit parent for waiting for so long. We had to totally remove the pull up and underwear ( he goes commando) to get him going on his own, but he still isn't asking yet (aka he goes by himself or I have to prompt). I'm hoping another week or so and he'll be there.

So you're not alone, but it literally was the most exhausting week of my life.

Yep! DD is 2.5 and holds it if she sits on the potty. Bribes/ treats don't help at all, and most of the time she refuses to even sit on the potty. She has only peed on the potty 2 times, it usually surprises her and she stands up and pees everywhere. Just waiting until she is more ready.

We are planning to start right after he turns 3 in November. And fingers crossed all will be good by February when new baby comes.

I hate potty training! I swear my 18 month old will be pt'ed before my almost 3 year old. We are going cold turkey at daycare next week. No more pull ups!

I don't think 3 is late!

Uggh. DD turned 3 in June and we have been trying to potty train since the 4th of July. She does well with pee and OK with poop but only at home without distractions. Starting to freak out about her not being ready for preschool to start in 3 weeks. Plus we have a new baby coming in November.

Yep, DD turned 3 in June and potty training has been an ongoing process (battle?!) since Christmas. We are nowhere, and I mean absolutely nowhere, near having her trained. She has major issues with pooing, in that she never ever does a normal sized poo once or twice a day, rather, it is little tiny bits of poo that seep out all throughout the day (pretty much a large shart each time). That makes potty training so, so hard.... She also doesn't seem to have any control over her bladder and bowels as her nappy is never dry or clean for more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, which makes me wonder if we're trying to get her to do something she is physically unable to control yet.

I keep meaning to contact our health visitor and ask what we can do about this but part of me knows the response is going to just be that 3 yrs old is well within the normal range of when kids are potty trained and not to worry about it, so I just haven't psyched myself up for that battle yet. She starts preschool next week (they don't have to be toilet trained to start, but I'm wondering how that's going to go as she is literally pooing all the time.

On a different note, 18 month old DD2 is very interested in the potty and tells me before she poos now so I am only half joking when I say she might be trained before big sister! Sigh..,

LO will be 3 at the end of September and we finally bit the bullet and forced potty training about a month ago. It's gone great!

Like @BananaPancakes, I read the Oh Crap book and even though I felt bad for waiting so long, it was a smooth process. Now I wish I'd done it sooner! I was waiting for him to want to on his own, but the author's main point is that kids are resistant to change and it's really up to the parents to make them take this next step. Even though he would say no and refuse to sit on the potty when we were sort of casual about it (for months), once we did the three-day thing (we really only did two days and then he went to daycare), he took to it really well. I highly recommend just doing it!

@Mamasig: The book does go into that. I guess it's pretty common for kids to respond to training that way.

@Mamasig: Yes, she basically lays out a plan. The book is worth a read but the summary is:
- Pick a date when you're going to do it, and start talking about it to your kid in advance
- When the day comes, you hang out at home, have them be naked, and give them salty snacks and lots of liquids. This was especially effective for us because LO rarely has juice, so he was super jazzed and thirsty for it. The idea is for them to have lots of opportunities to feel the urge and go. You pay close attention to their cues. She talks through how to handle accidents so you don't traumatize them
- Days 2 and 3 are similar but you put pants on

I do think my LO may have caught on quicker since he was a little older. It hasn't been all roses - he had several accidents the week after we started. A couple weeks later we stopped using diapers for nighttime and he had accidents three days in a row. But (knock wood) he's been going strong with no accidents, daytime or nighttime, for a couple weeks now. Our biggest problem now is that he holds it all day because he doesn't like to go at daycare for some reason. So, not perfect but we're so happy to be done with diapers.

@JoJoGirl: I agree with that recommendation now that we're there. I was absolutely waiting for him to be "ok let's potty train now," and it just never seemed to be happening. Once I took the reigns and basically said "this is what we do now" it was like a light bulb went off for him. I feel lucky that there was no fight at all from him, and he's just doing it. I'm sure a really strong-willed/manipulative 3 year old could be rough, which is why it seems the book stresses training early.

Yep! Mine will be 3.5 soon, and she only just managed to learn to use the potty about a month ago. I was taking it slowly slowly for a long time (like, a year) and eventually she jsut got to the point where she clicked and pooped in the potty. Now she gets it and goes by herself every time.

@BandDmommy: I am praying that works for us! We are a few days away from turning 3 and I feel like he just can't get it. We have no more pull ups in the house and are going cold turkey tomorrow (at daycare mainly, ha ha ha).

@matador84: B had zero interest in potty train before we started. He told me point blank "diapers for life mom!". We did bare bottom for a weekend and by Sunday I had him in underwear. No accidents at all.. I think he just got it.. We never did pull ups. I've heard pull ups can feel like a Diaper and so I avoided them. Good luck!!!

DS just turned 3 this month and we are in the midst of potty training. He just decided one day he was ready and we've been going along with it ever since. The issue for us is that he's a very busy (and distracted) guy and doesn't usually know when he needs to go until right when he needs to, which means lots of accidents. He also adamantly refuses to go poop on the potty, so there's that. haha. He's pretty good about being dry in his underwear but he really doesn't care when he has an accident, so I'm not sure what else to do at this point. Rewards and incentives don't hold much weight for him and praise doesn't seem to carry over very long either. I was hoping I could send him to preschool in underwear next week, but I'm thinking he may not be ready.

@JoJoGirl: Thanks! Yeah, I do A LOT of prompting and he will sometimes sit, sometimes not. He does best when in underwear only (no pants or shorts). It's just frustrating that he doesn't seem to even care when he has accidents. There have been several times when I've found him "sliding" around in the pee on the floor. Ick.