How to make Potty training work for 3-year-old boys

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When to potty train boys depends on how ready they are to get potty trained more than their age. As a parent, you have to decide whether your child is ready to go diaper-free and he could follow the instruction in a better fruitful way.

Especially with stubborn boys, who are strong-willed and refuse to use the potty, toilet training gets more challenging. However, some experts say that boys stay a little longer in diapers than girls. They believe boys are more active, so they just do not want to ditch diapers too soon. Another reason could be that girls share the same gender as moms’ so it is easier for them to relate, which leads to learning to use the potty faster.  

Typically, during the pre-potty training phase, we have too many concerns, like; How to potty train boys as early as 3 days? or parents get worried if they are starting to potty train their child so late. Even for starting preschool, your child must be fully potty trained.

Toilet training boys at the age of 2.5 to 3 is ideal, depending on how well they accomplish their development milestones. Helping them understand how to use the potty while standing and sitting. This concept you have to teach right from the beginning.

Most importantly, when is the right time to start potty training boys?

Before you start training your child, you have to make up your mind if YOU are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready to take a plunge and have gathered enough patience to be on it 3 days to a week. In a nutshell, moms’ readiness is more important.

Speaking of age, some moms may have been successful in training their kids around as early as 18 months to 2 years old, regardless of gender. Readiness may vary for every kid so you should not ignore signs to see when your child is ready.

These are the best potty tips that would be helpful to successfully train your child with consistent results.

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How to successfully Potty Train 3-year-old boys in 3 days

Here are the tips that work best for potty training boys and most of them could work for girls too.

Do not stress and do not rush potty training

I understand how expensive the diapering years are for parents, training too early can be more stressful for moms.

You may get stressed out even with the thought of potty training your tot. In most cases, the best age to train boys is 2.5 to 3 years. But every child is different; you cannot apply the same rules in every situation.

Don’t stress, you would not see any 20 years old peeing his pants (only if he doesn’t have a medical condition). 

Give your boy some time to be able to understand the concept of pee and poop. I would suggest you wait if you think your child is not ready. 

Are YOU mentally ready to potty train your child?

Feeling ready to start is equally essential at this point. Toilet training your boy is a lot of work. You need to make up your mind about the hard work for at least two weeks. It requires patience, energy, perseverance, and a lot of determination.

Ideally, you should wait for training if you are expecting another child – depending on the circumstances and the configuration of your house, especially if you have a bathroom on another level. You do not want to run around with a toddler all the way up and down.

Is your child ready to be potty trained?

You have to see if your child is ready. Is he able to understand the concept? Do you see progress with every passing day?

If your child is not showing any signs of readiness then wait for another couple more months and try again later. 

From my experience, you will know in a day or two if he is ready or not. If yes, continue, but if your child is not ready, it is better to delay for another couple of weeks.

The most significant sign of your child is not ready, he seems super scared with a toilet seat or flushing sound. 

Also, he is scared of sitting on the seat a fear to fall down. In that case, first, you have to get your child familiar with a toilet seat.

You may notice your child jumps off the couch, bed, or a chair, all of a sudden (where he was sitting) and stay standing for a while, which means it’s a wee time. It also means he now understands the urge to pee.

In addition to that, once you notice, your child is showing one or two signs of being ready for potty training, you should start explaining to him how this process going to work. Try to make up his mind for this whole new adventure for the next couple of months and then start over.

This would help him get hands-on experience with something much awaited. Also, do not forget to motivate him with an exciting reward in the end.

Another most important sign, your child wants to stay clean. If he tells you to change a diaper as soon as he is done with a business, it implies a dirty diaper is bothering him now.

Get him these awesome and super helpful potty training books.

How to start toilet training schedule for boys

What schedule to follow when you are in the process of potty training?

Time bathroom trips at regular intervals in the beginning

When you start with the process, take your child to the toilet every 15 minutes, and gradually increase the time. Have him sit and encourage him to pee. He may have a hard time understanding and not to be doing it for the first time but keep trying. Eventually, he will get it.

Be prepared to spend countless hours in the bathroom waiting for him to pee. Remember, learning a whole new skill takes time.

 If your child successfully pee in the toilet then bring him again in another 15 minutes and so on. 

If he doesn’t wee for the first time, you should try taking him to the potty or toilet after 5 minutes again and then set a timer.  

Gradually increase the time to 20 to 30 minutes and then an hour during the first few days of potty training. 

Stay consistent with this and keep doing this method for 4 to 5 days in the beginning. Once you are confident that he understood this concept, stretch the pee time to 2 hours. 

Mind you, you may have to remind your child to go pee every time and take him along for the next couple of months. 

Sometimes you stop reminding and think he would tell you, in that case, accidents are very likely. 

Always teach him to sit first and then have him learn how to pee while standing. If you would not teach him to sit and pee, there is less chance of him pooping in the toilet. Also, make sure he points his penis down while sitting on the toilet seat.

Learning to poop in the toilet may take time for some kids – sometimes it is just a hit or miss. Always encourage your boy to sit when using the toilet whether it’s pee or poop. Eventually, they will come around.

when you start potty training no big event should be coming up

Start potty training when you do not have any big thing coming up because you need to have a whole two month of time-frame at least, to have your child learn this peeing and pooping skill. 

For instance, if your child is expecting a sibling’s arrival, then it is a good time to wait, or you may want to try attempting, (if he is 3+) there is a chance he would get it depending on his age and understanding level. 

“Keep trying” is the key, you never know when it is your lucky day.

Training a toddler takes up so much energy, time, accidents, and patience. Plan ahead to spare a significant amount of time on the training journey.

Tips for the potty train a toddler girl in three days.

Have your child get familiar with a toilet seat or start directly on a big toilet seat

My son was scared of the toilet seat, and I ordered the small toilet seat for him to have him get familiar with the toilet seat thingy.

He would sit there but would not do ANYTHING. 

If you have a tall toilet seat, you can use this potty training seat with a step ladder. This way your child could get to the seat easily making toilet training easier and faster – without any messy cleanups.

Is the big toilet too scary for your little one? Get this folding seat to have your little one sit comfortably without any fear of falling.

Do not use training pants the whole day except the night time

Put on a diaper at night in the beginning and see if it is wet or dry when he wakes up in the morning. Take it off, like first thing in the morning, and do not put it on till the night. 

You can have him wear easy-to-pull-off shorts during the daytime until he learns it. If you want you can skip underwear or briefs for the whole potty training phase.

Also, use these lightly padded training pants. or pull up diapers for potty training at night.

Tip: If you are starting around 2.5 to 3 years of age do not start with anything that makes him feel dry even after having a pee or poop accident.

Baby diaper blowouts- Tips and tricks on how to prevent diaper mess.

Another super helpful tip: If your child poops in a training pull-up diaper, Just tear or cut the diaper from the sides to avoid mess all over your child’s legs.

Start during a favorable Weather 

You may want to choose the summer season to potty train over the winter season. During the winter season, you cannot have your child stay bare legs, or wear shorts all day long.  Choosing the appropriate weather for your child ensures successful training.

Read more

Super effective remedies on how to treat diaper rash.

Should I completely take off training pants for potty training my child?

When a child wears pull-up training pants, he may not be able to understand if he pees his pants or having an accident. Training underwear that is leak-proof enough to hold his pee inside and should not be giving them a dry feel. If he pees his pants, he should know that he had an accident. That way your child will understand better and sooner.

Having said that, ditching the diapers altogether is the fastest way to successful potty training.

When to remove nighttime diapers once you start potty training

When you think your child has got the pee and poop concept pretty well, and he is waking up with dry diapers, you may want to remove it altogether. 

You may want to take him to pee in the middle of the night once he learns how to pee while standing. Also, take him to go pee, first thing in the morning without any delay.

Learning this skill takes time but kids understand this eventually. We all do!

Protect your bed and sofas to prevent mess

For nighttime, use waterproof mattress pads for kids to protect your bed from accidents. However, you should take your child to the toilet for a wee in the middle of the night to avoid accidents.

If you are co-sleeping, you need a waterproof mattress pad for your bed too.

Protect your sofas with waterproof sofa covers

Read more

How you can transition from co-sleeping to a toddler bed.

Monitoring facial expressions and staying on top of his bowel schedule 

You really have to be on top of your toddler’s pee schedule. You have to remind every half an hour to two hours.  Gradually increase the time interval depending on how your toddler is responding to this new thing. 

Keep an eye on your child’s facial expressions to understand when and what action is required.

Not going back to diapers once you start toilet training

Once your child is diaper-free for a couple of weeks and doing well, do not go back to diapers for your own convenience, like in travel or change of place. Unless you do not have access to any bathroom or public restrooms. 

If your child is old enough to understand the concept, bringing back diapers would confuse him even more. However, this does not mean that you keep him diaper-free in extreme cases when he should not be. Be your own judge and decide what you think is your child’s best interest.

Instead of using diapers, you can use these lightly padded training pants.

Ditch diapers altogether

As a general rule, If you are starting potty training when your child is above 3 years old, I would advise you to ditch diapers altogether except for the nights. 

However, once your child gets trained, involve him in ditching the diapers altogether. Have him donate it to someone, a friend’s younger child, and do not forget to celebrate this big achievement with him.

Since diapers give kids a dry and clean feel all the time, a couple of accidents are helpful to understand the concept of being wet.

If he is not getting it, be patient and try again after a few weeks

When your child is in the process of learning this new skill, be considerate, and patient, and do not get upset even if it ends up with an accident. 

It takes time to learn a new skill of peeing and pooping. Learning to hold on to pee and poop takes a lot of time and understanding. Once your child gets this, you are almost successful. 🙂

Training your toddler boy in a fun way, you should install boys’ urinals in the bathroom.

What to do when you are going outside  – Explore different bathrooms 

I would recommend that you should start going to places like malls, and restaurants when you are in the potty training phase. Clearly, when you notice progress in going diaper-free. This will help him understand toilet training and how to use public bathrooms in a better way.

When boys are on this potty training journey, they might want to see toilets everywhere they go, not to pee just for fun. If your child says, “I need to go pee,” take him. Otherwise, you should distract him with something else – only if you know, he has no urgency (using the bathroom before leaving).

Liquid intake more or less

Should I be giving less liquid to my child during the potty training phase?

Well, this whole potty training thing varies as per your child’s liquid intake. If your child drinks plenty of water, expect more frequent bathroom trips and more chances of a wet bed at night.

You can control moderate liquids intake (more or less) during this potty training phase.

Just a tip: If you start around summertime, eating watermelon may end up in a pee accident as they are super watery. If your child eats watermelon and he is newly trained, have him visit the bathroom more often.

Pooping in the toilet could be challenging

Some boys may take more time to start pooping in the toilet. They just want to have a diaper on for poop. No matter what, they would not want to use the potty.

In that case, you may want to wait for your child to feel ready to poop in the big potty.

Even if that seems impossible, just give your child some time, and he would get it sooner than later. Moreover, you have to encourage him first to sit down and then pee. Chances are he may not be able to resist a bowel movement any longer.

What to do if my child poops in his pants instead of a toilet?

Some stubborn boys happen to poop in their pants instead of a potty. In that case, use training underwear all the time, so you should not end up cleaning poop explosions everywhere. It might take a little longer for your child to understand pooping in a toilet. Hang in there, they will get it eventually.

Kids love water, you can use a hand-held bidet or a watering can to clean their bottom instead of wiping it with toilet paper. Trust me, this will be so exciting and they would be willing to use the toilet more often.

Lots of appreciation or Reward system

Appreciate your child extravagantly when he pees or poops for the first time and every proceeding episode. This will help him feel encouraged and create a willingness to learn faster.

Potty training Regression

Potty training regression gets real when your child may get back to diapers after being fully trained and have frequent accidents during the day. There are a number of factors that lead to potty training regression.

  • Change of place – you may have moved on to a new place lately.
  • New sibling- your child feels he is getting less attention due to a new baby in the family.
  • Guests around- if there are some guests in your house and somehow your child feels strange about it.
  • Traveling – Sometimes due to traveling, potty training does not seem to be working the way it used to.
  • School: Starting school and dealing with a new environment could be one of the reasons for this potty training regression.

If your child goes to school or is expected to start school any time soon, you must be aware of the signs of anxiety, which is known to be a common behavior among preschool-aged kids. Here is what you need to know about frequent urination after being fully potty trained.

Are you struggling with bed transition for your kids? Check out these 19 tips to make the transition easy from co-sleeping to a toddler bed.

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Comment and share your tips for potty training that worked for you.

Potty training boys

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