Toilet training boys

[*EJ*]

I feel like I have no idea how to do this. I got some nappy training pants today. But our problem is that while he will go to the toilet pretty much every time we put him on it, he's too little to tell us when he needs to go.

Do I just put him on really regularly and hope he learns to hold it in?

What i would suggest is when you are ready let your DS run around nappyless so he can start to feel what it's like to wet. So that he can then relate the feeling of needing to go, to wetting himself and then knowing that the feeling means to run to the toilet. That's how it worked with us. It took us forever to have DS1 finally do a wee on the toilet.

That's why in my previous post i was so excited to have DS2 stand outside, hold himself, aim and wait a few seconds for a wee to come!! From my past experience that's a huge breakthrough!!

I also suggest lots of talking about it and showing him how it's done, but not in an overly forceful way

[nickle730]

My DS toilet trained a little before 2. I started him early because he has kidney problems and I really wanted to be able to monitor his urinating. He learnt sitting down and I taught him to hold his 'tonky' down so that the wee went into the toilet and not all over the seat/floor/wall! I have not used a potty because it kinda doesn't make sense to me, you teach your kid to toilet somewhere and then you have to teach them to go somewhere else! Only my opinion though. I also didn't really want to deal with the stuff in the potty when I could just get them to go on the toilet then flush it away! We had a step and a cushie tushie which we left on the toilet so it was always ready for the kids.

It took DS a couple of weeks until he was reliably TT, and he asked to go nappy-less at night also. I think my kids have both been pretty easy to TT!! Just luck I think, rather than any particular talent on my part.

DS didn't start standing up to wee until he was about 3. We have an 'open door' policy and he saw his dad standing up and wanted to do the same. Took him a couple of weeks to get used to driving his tonky and my floors saw a fair bit of pine o clean!!

My advice is that once you make the decision to TT, stick with it. No more nappies during the day (apart from naps), regardless of what you are doing or where you are going. Maybe plan it for when you can have a quiet couple of weeks with lots of time at home? We also used bribery, one smartie for a wee, two for a poo. Nothing for a try because we discovered the kids would go sit every 5 minutes and ask for a smartie!! Pull ups didn't work for us, I think they must feel just like a nappy and we had zero success with them.

Good luck! Life is so much easier when TT is done!

[teepee2]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

My DD wasnt ready for TT till she was about 3 so im not going to rush it this time either unless he seems ready. Might wait till the weather warms up a bit and give it a go - i think i might even wait unitl after xmas when i know i can stay home for a few days, at least until he gets the gist of things.

What i would suggest is when you are ready let your DS run around nappyless so he can start to feel what it's like to wet. So that he can then relate the feeling of needing to go, to wetting himself and then knowing that the feeling means to run to the toilet. That's how it worked with us. It took us forever to have DS1 finally do a wee on the toilet.

I'll definitely give that a try EJ. Thanks!

He learnt sitting down and I taught him to hold his 'tonky' down so that the wee went into the toilet and not all over the seat/floor/wall!

That's my main concern!! LOL

[KimB]

Both my boys watched their dad go on the toilet and they wanted to be the same. We bought a step for them and then put froot loops in the toilet and told them to hit the froot loops with their wee. They thought it was hilarious but it worked. We also used a cushy tooshie for when they needed to sit. They felt safer sitting on the cushy than on the big toilet seat.

[ladybird11]

Great thread - I'm in the same boat as you, and I think I'll give the TT for him in Summer - outdoors .