Should I potty train my 26-month-old who goes potty every 5 min and makes it to the potty only half the time?

Question

My son is 2 years and 2 months old. He has been pulling off his diaper and peeing on the floor and pulling it off when he poops for about 6 months now. He tells me when he has to go and after he has gone.

I have been stubborn to officially potty train because with my other two I waited for them to be a little bit more mentally developed, but I also did not have this problem of them seeming to want to potty train while also making just as much of a mess as if I were potty training. In the mornings, he wakes me up and says he has to poop and we go to the toilet and he does. He has an obvious dislike for diapers as well.

I started potty training reluctantly and this is day 2. The kid goes potty every 5 minutes! It’s little tinkles but man oh man! I don’t have enough towels or underwear for that! He makes it to the potty about half the time. And the other half I’m changing undies and wiping up pee.

Should I go back to diapers or follow through?

Answer 1

I also did not have this problem of them seeming to want to potty train

This does not strike me as a problem. When kids show interest in growing, you should encourage them!

The kid goes potty every 5 minutes!

Even though this is understandably annoying (especially if you've got places to be), your child is trying really hard to learn the cues. Every time he goes to the potty, he learns something, even if that something is "false alarm".

If you have the option, I recommend spending most of your time with your kid on hardwood or vinyl surfaces, though. Carpet won't do so well during this period. ;)

Answer 2

I am not sure there's any one canonical answer here, but I vote follow through. My reasoning:

• Going back to diapers may confuse him
• He may resist going back to diapers and it could be equally or more stressful than forging on
• He's highly motivated right now and I don't think you should waste the momentum
• Two days is not long enough to really know if it's working (50% success in two days at 26 months seems pretty decent to me!)

I would suggest that if he's going every five minutes, he's probably not emptying his bladder properly. Ask him to stay on the potty a little longer, and lean forward a bit to help 'finish the job'. Maybe read a short book while you wait to see if he's really done. It could also be a novelty factor of just wanting more chances to use the potty-- if you suspect this is the likely cause, maybe just soldier through: using the potty is going to become commonplace soon enough.

On the other hand, if his bathroom habit even in diapers is 'dribble every five minutes', a visit to the doctor is in order to rule out UTI or similar; a two year old will pee more often than an adult, but that doesn't sound like a usual elimination pattern for that age. I would expect 30-60 minutes between wet diapers or potty visits, and for some kids several hours.