Ok I think I have read every article out there and I have tried all the tricks but I still can't get my 3 year old to potty.
When I say this I mean he doesn't even want to wear big boy underwear and he wants nothing do do with the potty chair. Can anyone help??

i didnt have any problems with my kids.
but my youngest granddaughter is 3yrs old and she is still haveing some problems being trained.

have you thought maybe he may feel hes not ready if he feels that way dont push it. just wait for a few more months

As my mother said, she has never seen a kid go to kindergarten in a diaper. But I know some daycares require a child be potty trained by a certain age.

I agree, give it some time, they usually decide to do it on their own time table.

Have you tried the cherios in the potty? It's like target practice (and from what I can tell,,, training for being a man).

Hey!! You start there, then move up to writing your name in the snow.

As I said... man training.

You don't say whether there is a male role model there. Boys like to imitate, so, unless you can pee standing up, you need to find someone to take him into the men's room with them. On the other hand, my granddaughter is having trouble because she wants to pee standing up like her big brother.

I think kids train when they're ready. But, "incentives" (read, bribery) works pretty well with kids who are on the brink. With my son, every time he told me he had to go and actually went, he got a sticker. When he got 10 stickers, we went on a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. He got a couple dollars worth of tokens and a fruit punch and he was thrilled. Two weeks and a billion trips to CEC later, he was totally trained.

Find what you're son loves but you don't allow too often and work with that.

I used a treat incentive to get my 5 trained. When they sat on the potty whether they went or not they got a treat. Either M&M's or gummy candy. I would give 2 for sittin there or either peein and if they went poop they got 4. Didn't take them long to figure out that sittin there got them the treat. Before long they weren't just sittin but actually goin. I also had a book about potty training that I read to them. Figure out what kind of candy you're child goes crazy over and give that candy only when they are on the potty. Also gettin them on the potty at the times they are most likely to go helps, after gettin up from a nap or sleepin, after eattin, etc. Best of luck! Patience and persistance will pay off.

Thank you all!
I have tried the chereo's, I have tried the candy, stickers, what have you. I have tried most everything I can think of and he doesn't even want to wear the big boy underwear.
No there is no male role model in his life, unfortunately, and I dont have any guy friends who he can go into the men's room with!!

You don't need a male role model, you just need a kid who's ready for it. Keep talking, keep trying, eventually it'll catch.

My two oldest boys wouldn't potty train and I tried every trick in the book. Then one day they just woke up and started going, and that was the end of it. They were both 3.5 at the time.

My daughter is almost 3 and still showing no interest in going potty.. I'm hoping she'll be one of those one night wonders soon! :D

It'll happen... Good luck. :)

my son was being stubborn with it too, but after all the other boys in his Sunday school class went to the potty he wanted to also. One week later and completely diaper free. So may not be an adult male model needed, even kids around his age or a bit older, especially other little boys. That and nifty "big" boy underpants worked great. Skipped the pull ups completely.


My daughter I used the "potty train in 24hrs" book, ended up taking 24 hours but one afternoon filling with favorite drink, no diapers and a doll that would wet as well and she was well on her way except for during the evenings.

Each child is different and I skipped the treats stickers and candy completely.

I just learned to leave the bathroom door open and let my kid watch me go. The hardest part for me was staying balanced on the little step though.

I wrote my name in the snow last week. Good one!

Sorry I am too lazy to write it twice. Go to the parenting thread and look up Kids eating habits. I wrote and extensive post of that and another on Potty training. Hope it is helpful. Grandma Joy

Give him time, he's just not ready yet. My son was the same way, and it just clicked one day. The more you push, the more he may resist.

What I did with my daughter is when we were at home, she could only wear panties. When she lays down then yes I'd put her in pull ups. When we went to go somewhere it would be pull ups at first but then gradually kept her in panties, but be sure to bring a LOT of clean pairs. My daughter learned in about 2-3 months.. It was great... I've told my other friends what I did, they tried it and it worked for them too. Not everything works for everyone, but it's just an idea from one mom to another.

If the child isn't ready, it won't happen. My nephew didn't go until he was 5. Another little boy in his sunday school class told him that you don't use the potty til you are 5. He went on his 5th birthday and never had trouble after that.

Sit him backwards on the toilet with a couple of washable chalks and let him draw on the tank cover.

Yea, i recently started potty training my daughter. She seems to prefer shoving things in the toilet to going to the bathroom in it, but, she thinks its fun to sit on it as well, so, we'll see how it goes. It's just tough to tell when she has to go sometimes and know when to sit her on it, and i work over 40 hours a week, lol. Don't think the cheerio thing applies to girls, any tips on girl training?

-Shannon