Potty Training: Underwear at Night and Will He Ever Tell Us When He Needs to Go?
Saturday April 26, 2008
A reader has asked about some potty training issues with her son. He doesn't ever indicate that he needs to go, and I believe part of the problem is that he doesn't go on his own. He's taken and put on the potty to go and this has been their practice for nearly a year. She's also inquired about what her son should wear for night training -- underwear or a diaper?
I've given her my answer and shared what forum members have said about the subject, but if you have some helpful experience or advice to share, please leave a comment below.
Comments
Stephanie,
I think you missed the mark on this one. Their 21 month has been going for a year on the potty? Isn’t that too young,developmentally speaking. Most kids that I know get potty trained aroung 28 months. They should be able to speak, pull down their pants, and most importantly, have the muscle control to hold thier urine. I am willing to bet that shortly after thier child’s 2nd birthday he’ll be fully trained-too bad they spent a year trying. They could have done it in a week if they waited until an appropriate age.
Yes, it is very young, I acknowledged that. It looks like they tried a form of infant potty training which is really rather like the parents are trained. (Although even for that, the window is a small one and 12 months would have been too late. 4-5 months is the recommendation for that method.) It’s not for everyone, but works for some. The problem can come around this time, though, when parents have been putting their child on the potty for so long and expect that after a year the child will start to recognize their own urges. Then they have to either continue on with what they’ve been doing or take a step back so that their child can reach the other milestones of readiness.
Sure, if they’d waited then he would have potty trained much faster… but they didn’t wait and now have to move forward the best that they can.
Hi Stephanie, I am a mother of a 22 month old little boy, and my concern is that he he can only say one word. He can only say bye bye. I have been trying to teach him new words, like mama, dada, cat, and other easy words. should I be worried at all and what can I do to help him talk more or make him want to talk more?
I think if you stop giving your child liquids at a certain time, you’ll find significanty less bed wetting. My now 16 year old had dry nights from 15 months on… but didn’t give up diapers til she was past 36 months…. She was scared of the potty and my 15 month old isn’t scared of the potty, but just insn’t interested yet. She stays pretty dry until about 5 minutes after she wakes up… then she pees like crazy… now if I could only get her to sleep through the night in her crib…
My approaches with my 2 children (1 boy, 1 girl) were slightly different, but I more or less waited until they each were 3 to really potty train. I planted the seed and encouraged potty use before then, but didn’t make a big deal of it. Both of them were daytime trained within 2 weeks with no accidents. I think it’s best to wait a little longer - even if you are sick of the diapers and the mess - because it is so much easier.
As for night time, it took my son forever to stay dry at night (OK, till he was 5 - now he is
. Because he outgrew Pull-ups, I took him to pee every night around 11pm and he would stay dry the rest of the night. Eventually he just stayed dry. My daughter (age 3) is wearing Pull-ups at night right now and often wakes up dry, as long as I have limited liquids before bed.
Well my daughter ( now 4 ) has been completely potty trained about a year ago and my son who’s 3 1/2 isn’t interested. I’ve tried everything and he cries for his diapers. So Maybe it’s just boys but I really don’t know what else to do with him.
Andrea Hi I feel your frustration I have the same situation My son is 3 1/2
and has no interest either. He would stay in a wet pullup all day if he could.
I even tried wearing underwear but he would always wet them. good luck Just wanted to say we are in this together
Thanks carol