[StephanieMB]

Today marks the beginning of potty training for our 2.5 yo fs. He is extremely strong-willed, so I do not know how this is gonna go. However, I do know that I'm really sick of size 6 diapers and horribly smelly diaper changes. He's a 40 pounder, so he's a big boy!

My plan of action is just putting him in shorts, no undies... no pampers, and letting him play outside or be in the kitchen. The rest of the house is gated off to protect carpets from puddles. We have his little potty in the kitchen and he knows that is where pee and poo-poo are supposed to go. I set the timer for 15 minutes and then have him come in and sit down on the potty.
I will reward him each time he happens to get it right.

Does anyone have other ideas for how to train a kid his age?

[jbee]

sounds about right. make a big deal when he does it, act like a nut, lol.
i tried 2.5 with first dd and got frustrated. second dd i just waited, a little after 3 she decided to do it pretty much on her own.
ds i will just wait too, he is 2.5 now.

[shaylynn]

When I have little ones sit on the potty for training, I give them 2 M&M's just for taking THEIR busy time and sitting for me, if they actually go, even a couple of drops, then I give them 3 more M&M's. Yes, I know that is bribing them but this way they are getting something even if they don't have anything happen. Usually by the time they are fully potty trained, they don't like the feel of it in their pants anymore and voluntarily go without having to give an incentive. And yes, of course, praise them up when they go.

[cabbagepatchkid]

How's the potty training going?

I used M & M's, also. I put them in a glass jar and kept them where the kids could see them. I gave 2 for pee and 3 for poop. I only gave them to the one who peed/pooped. For the first week or so I also gave the older kids some m & m's when they went so that the one that I was trying to train would see how the system worked . If the child is mentally old enough to "get it" then things move right along when using a reward system.

[wannafostersoon]

I am all about the M&Ms. I'm a strange mommy though. I am in no hurry for my two year old to train. Granted she JUST turned 2, but I'm letting her go at her pace. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) she is starting to give cues so it won't be long now...

You have all the right ideas. Make a big to-do when he does anything. Let the bigger kids in on the celebration. They LOVE it and will actually encourage the little guy to go so they have an excuse to yell, scream, and jump up and down. It's cute.

[xxsurroundedbyxy]

Just started at the beginning of July with my 27 mo old. Nothing much worked til we played outside in the kiddie pool naked and he peed in the grass. I think he needed to SEE the action to understand it (going in the diaper there was no seeing what was going on)

Also, he loves ELMO so I rented Elmo's Potty Time DVD from the library. That helped in the area of him whining when I said it was time to go potty. He would whine every now and then and I would say, "Did Elmo cry when he went potty?" and S would say "Noooo" and I would reply "No. Because Elmo is a big boy and big boys use the potty." So off he would go without complaint. He also loved the Kermit the Frog Goes Potty book as well.

We are not really pushing it hard as he is just 27 mo and my 14 yr old did not get it til he was almost 3.

I'm happy that he will even sit on the potty and pee EVERY time. We still go in our pullup BUT we do know what the potty is for and he does go potty every time and even poo-poo a couple of times (I think by accident).

We don't do rewards though. I figured I'd wait to pull out the big guns for when I really need them......after he is potty trained and then refuses to go in potty (they ALL go through this phase and I am hoping the candy will come in handy then LOL)

Kim