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Potty training for reluctant parents… please

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If you have the entirely understandable attitude of not giving a flying fig about the continence or otherwise of my children, look away now. 


But it has come to this. Boy Three is two and three quarters. He’s a big lad, he communicates well (and frequently) (and forcefully) and as far as I can see has a good understanding of what’s going on in his body (once we established that fart does not, in fact, come out of his willy). However, he is not potty trained – far from it. 


There is a notion I’m fond of that one day, when he’s ready, he will get up and say: “Mummy, today I will not wear a nappy because I am a Big Boy and will use the toilet.”


In fact, it’s not so much a notion as something I’m hoping for fervently. A dream. If I think it hard enough it’ll come true. It will, won’t it?


You see Boy Three is a wilful little mite. Actually, scratch that, he is wilful and not a little mighty. Battles must be picked with care and fought to the death. There will be yoghurt on the walls and Lego on the floor. 

Add to that the fact that his big brothers will do quite a lot for an easy life and his father is something of a pushover. Yes, you Panther. “It wasn’t me, Boy Three made me do it.” Ha.


So we have tried sitting him on the toilet, he’s now too big for the potty. Out of dozens of goes he once produced one tiny dribble of wee to thunderous applause. 


Now we talk about it. “Would you like to have a wee on the toilet?”
“No thanks, I’d like a nappy.”
“Big boys like you use the toilet.”
“I’m too small. Can I have a nappy.”
“What about the potty?”
“I’m too big. Get me a nappy.”


Whereupon he helps himself to a nappy from the packet and climbs up onto the changing table.


Sigh. 


Please tell me that my dream will come true and one day he will get up and the job will be done.

Comments

  1. Your dream came true for us this week. Our three & a half year old boy (sorry – we'd been hopeful over the past year too) now tells us he needs and wants 'to shake off his drips'!!! Nearly there.

  3. Aaaahhh potty training… If one thing puts me off of having another child is simply the thought of having to go through this again!
    My first boy was like your until 3 exactly. The week he turned 3 was also half term week so I plucked up the courage and decided after 2 failed attempts to be firm. For a week I prep him and told him that when you are 3 you were not able to wear daytime nappies (that was the law). I repeated it over and over again, everyday, until te day. Then on the morning of the first day of half term I took his night nappy off and it all began. We never went back. We had accident the first 3 days and then we were able to leave the house without fear! But with spares always.
    I thought boy number two would be the same and didnt even bother to try until he was 3yo. It was a nightmare! It took him 6 months to be dry and no more number twos in pants (yuck!) . Preschool even had me round to see if we could strategise… I spoke to health visitor about it and what she said is “it's normal”. A few weeks later we were there… He is turning 4 I'm July and I can say that we have been ok on that front only since Feb this year. Not easy but what I learnt in the process is to be firm on your decision. Maybe get him a book about it you can read together. Male him feel involved and proud when he does well and completely ignore when he doesn't. Good luck 🙂

  4. It'll happen. I was (secretly, I hope) quite horrified by friends of mine who were making no attempt to potty train their wee boy at nearly four.

    Until he did it himself, in a day, with no accidents at all, before or since.

    And given how much time I spent chasing mine around with a potty and a bottle of dettol, I'm thinking their approach was probably the right one.

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