How to make my 3-year-old tell me that he needs to use the potty?

Question

My little boy has just turned three years old. I have only just recently stopped the nappies, but my little one doesn't like the potty. I've worked on that he sits on it with his tablet watching kids programmes and he uses it.

The only problem is that he only uses it when he wants to, most of the time he will just pee anywhere he is stood and I know they do that and accidents happen.

I just get frustrated sometimes as I'm asking him every 5 to 10 minutes if he needs to go potty. I have also done a sticker chart for him but that isn't working either, he still just goes where he wants.

Am I doing something wrong here? Can anybody give me some ideas how to get him to tell me he needs the loo, even though I'm asking him every 5 to 10 minutes if he does!? Any help will be appreciated!

Answer 1

Your boy has been taught to pee on himself when ever he feels like it, basically his whole life. Nappies you know. He didn't need to know if he has to go.

Summertime is great for potty training if he can walk around without pants. He'll realize soon enough when he has to go.

At the moment I believe he has hard time knowing. Some kids pick it up faster than others. You can help him by understanding his patterns. Is pee coming usually right after meal or 15 minutes after? Patterns, habits, and anticipation.

Sometimes my 5 y/o doesn't know that she has to go, when I ask her to go to the bathroom before getting into the car.

Answer 2

First, I'll add to KettuJKL's answer that, if you can, spend as much at-home time as you can with no pants or diaper, and also keep the potty accessible. For us, we kept it in the living room because that's where most of the toys are and where the tv is and everything. Sounds like you've already got a setup pretty much like that, but I just want to emphasize that I credit that with most of the potty training success we had with both our kids. You can supplement by having some folded towels around on the chair or sofa or wherever he's likely to be during the day.

Second, when he does pee on himself, keep a positive attitude, and put him right on the potty, even before you clean him up. Say, "Okay! Let's sit on the potty!" and then sit there for a few seconds (my trick is to count to 10 or 20 together, sing a song, or something like that). Then say, "Let's get you cleaned up, and we'll try it again!"

Finally, if the sticker chart isn't working, or any other suggestion, toss it out. Kids seem to just respond so differently that you just have to try stuff until something seems to make the kid happy/excited/proud/comfortable. With my son, we actually spent a period where, each time he went to the potty, we would ask him if he wanted to put his pull-up back on or if he wanted to go without for a while. Sometimes he wanted it and sometimes he didn't. But my daughter was really different; it's just hard to tell how it's going to go.