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@HappyBaker: so my son didn’t do well with the 3 day, naked method, you mentioned. I ended up just doing it gradually. After work/daycare, I would immediately change him into underwear when we got home, and take him to the restroom every 45 min to an hour until bedtime. He caught on after a few weeks.

I also skipped the little potty and just got a toilet seat with a built in for children. I’m also wondering how old he is? My son did great at 2.5, but he was uninterested/ not ready when I tried around 2.

I also let my son stand to pee, and I might have sprinkled a few Cheerios in there for motivation it helped a ton to have something for him to do while he went.

I'm 100% of the school of wait till they're ready. My 5yo son had to be trained by 3 to move up classes at daycare, so we had to start when he was like 2y10m. He was NOT READY and it was terrible. He had pee accidents for another year at least and just now, at 5, is consistently pooping in the potty. (Side note: he was recently diagnosed with high functioning autism which I do think impacted his potty training)

My other son is 2.5 and not ready. I'm not planning to try anytime soon.

I just finished the book Oh Crap Potty Training and recommend it! Of course, my LO is 16mo, so I haven't tried it yet, but it came highly recommended by numerous friends who used its methods.

I was, funny enough, just coming here to chat about potty training. For the past month, my 16mo son has been obsessed with the potty. He wants to watch us go the bathroom, pretend his toys are going to the bathroom, etc. Tonight, he asked to be picked up out of the bathtub, put on the potty (I held him), and then he peed. He stopped, started again, practiced, and then said he was done and went back into the bath. I was so shocked that I thought, "I need to go reread that book so that I know when to start really potty training him!"

i heard and read so much about the three day/oh crap method of potty training that i was really disappointed when my son wasn't magically potty trained in three days. both my kids (DS we waited and potty trained when he was 3 and a couple of months because he just didn't ever show any interest, DD we started right after she turned 2) just needed a couple weeks of being taken to the potty regularly and then they got it.

i think there is absolutely nothing wrong with waiting (i certainly did with my first and have no regrets), but i also think there is no harm in building on the efforts you've made so far but taking a more gradual approach. taking a few weeks to potty train is totally normal and not that long in the grand scheme. either way, good luck !

My son was absolutely not ready at that age. We encouraged him but he was terrified. He didn’t end up getting serious about it until he was 3 yrs and 3 months. Ex DH and I didn’t really agree on how to go about it so I ended up doing it the weekend after his vasectomy so he was unable to “help”. Worked out well and I got him day trained. Night training took another few months but I’ve had so many friends push it early and end up with years of accidents and bed wetting.

So my DD is 2.75 and we are in basically the same situation. We were casually training (not oh crap) just letting her be pantsless sometimes and she was interested in the potty but rarely wanted to use it. She could hold it until we put a diaper on her. Then she just got terrified of peeing, even when wearing a diaper. Like holding her crotch, whining, crying, asking to be picked up. So we’ve dropped the whole potty thing and after about a week of just saying “diapers are great” she is finally not scared of peeing in her diaper. All that to say, we are waiting a couple more months!! I feel like maybe one day she’ll just say she’s ready?

ETA: I also was worried we missed the window of doing it before 2.5 but I am hearing of more and more kids being trained around 3. Maybe it’s easier in some ways earlier, but it can’t be the only way!

Ok I’m back here hijacking this thread because I think we are ready to try again but I don’t know what that means! DD will be 3 in 6 weeks and is obsessed with playing potty. Literally her favorite game. She also tells us when she’s going in her diaper, and understands how it works, and loves to watch me go. But she has no interest in actually sitting on the potty. When we tried a few months ago she got so freaked out we had to stop but I feel like she is ready now.

I know a lot of people do the “bring to the potty every 30 mins thing” but I think she would just refuse. Last time, we did pantsless time but I think she’ll refuse that too. Lol. My husband thinks maybe we just put the potty out and tell her it’s there but I feel like that won’t do anything. We also wonder if putting an insert in the actual toilet would work better than the little potty. We tried bribes last time and it worked a bit to get her to sit there, but then she still got traumatized. Anyone have any ideas? Do I literally just wait until she decides she wants to go?

Thanks and sorry for the novel!

@JJ2626: Is she rewards-motivated? Would a sticker chart or just straight-up prizes work? My older son was super easy to potty-train because we bribed him like crazy, got a bunch of Paw Patrol figurines and told him that every time he peed in the potty he got one. It got expensive, though. You start with telling her she doesn't even have to pee, just sit on it with a bare bum for two minutes and then she gets a sticker.

Ok reopening this thread in desperation! @HappyBaker: do you have any update?

My daughter is now 3 years, 1 month old and still not potty trained. We took a break and then a little before she turned 3, we bought some underwear she was excited about. She got into sitting on the potty and successful peed about 4 times with an m&m reward. But otherwise, she just holds it until she asks for a diaper and now is back to not wanting to sit on the potty at all, and is clearly stressed about it. No reward is working. I’m tempted to just tell her we threw out all the diapers so she has no choice. But I’m worried she’ll hold it until she gets a UTI. My husband wants to back off again and just wait for her to tell us she’s ready, but I feel like that could be forever! I started looking into a potty training consultant who could just tell us what to do. But, am checking back here in case anyone has any words of wisdom? Thanks!!

@KT326: thanks! This is great to hear that it just clicked for you at 3.5. My DD is so stubborn too! She clearly capable but just won’t do it. I am worried she is already having a bad association with the potty. The problem is she now wants to wear underwear at home but then doesn’t want to go in the potty. We are giving her a diaper when she asks but I feel weird saying, no more underwear. Either way, we are definitely leaning toward backing off again. Thanks!

@JJ2626: It's so tough because every kid is so different! My youngest basically potty trained himself a few months before he turned 3. (But he also had big brother to look up too, I think that helped).

We have a similar situation where our oldest was in a daycare that was very potty-training-centric. Now our twins are 2.5 and in a preschool that expects us to drive the process.

We have been talking about the potty with them, and exposing them to it. We also bribe them with two chocolate chips every time they produce something in the potty. One of them has been on a great streak this week and gone a few mornings in undies and/or keeping her diaper dry. The other one had been on a great streak for awhile but seems to have lost focus on it.

I'm so worn out from working full time with young kids during the pandemic. I think if I really focused on it for a week and kept them out of diapers we could convert them, but ugh it's such an exhausting prospect!