I have a 2 1/2 year old son and I'm currently in the process of trying to potty train him. I need some help. He will tell me he has to go to the bathroom but when I put him on the toilet he just sits there. He won't go, but as soon as I put the pull up back on him he goes. I've tried bribing him with treats and everything. What can I do?

Let him do it in his own time. Remember that they don't go to kindergarten in diapers. I have potty trained 4 times.

Pull ups, ah, good idea, but not with potty training. They are basically diapers without the tapes. You see with pull ups, even the newer wetter feeling ones, they still have the security of a diaper. They are good when you are not home and out and about. But actually defeat the purpose.

Many boys are harder to train than girls.

Have you tried fruit loops in the toilet and having him "aim" for them?

If he is not ready, don't force him. Just let him do it when he is ready.

I'll try the fruit loops thing, that's a good idea! As for the pull ups, they're the cold alert ones. Apparently when they get a little wet they get really cold or something. Are those any help?

Nope, didn't make a lick of a difference to Johnny if they were the cold alert ones or not.

Look he is only 2 1/2, this is not something that they learn over night. You see learning to control your bowels and bladder is one of the hardest things to master. But he will master it, give him time. Johnny did not even begin to want to train until his 3rd birthday. When he was ready he was trained in less than a week.

We want to rush our kids through so many developmental tasks that we forget what is important. Just loving them and nurturing them unconditionally is the most important thing we can do. All other tasks will come when our children are ready, not when WE are ready.

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for all of your help :)

I have a 2 1/2 year old son and i'm currently in the process of trying to potty train him. I need some help. He will tell me he has to go to the bathroom but when i put him on the toilet he just sits there. He wont go, but as soon as I put the pull up back on him he goes. I've tried bribing him with treats and everything. What can i do?
Hi,

I have a two and a half year old boy also, and I potty trained him when he was about 18 months, What I did was to put him on the potty immediately after he woke up in the morning, or after he'd been dry for a couple hours (when I knew he had to go). And at first, nothing happened, he just didn't know how to get the pee out. So, I'd turn on the faucet in the sink, and give him a little poke in the bladder. That did the trick. And then I'd mae a huge deal about it, jump up and down and clap my hands, lots of hugs and kisses and a reward of m&ms. Then, we'd do it again an hour later before he could have an accident. At the same time we said goodbye to diapers and pull ups completely and put him in underwear. Now, at two and a half he's been fully potty trained for several months, and he only wears a pull-up at night. Worked great for us, and almost overnight. Good-luck!

I have a 2 1/2 year old son and i'm currently in the process of trying to potty train him. I need some help. He will tell me he has to go to the bathroom but when i put him on the toilet he just sits there. He wont go, but as soon as I put the pull up back on him he goes. I've tried bribing him with treats and everything. What can i do?
I played sink the cheerios as a game to get my son having fun with it. It may work for you too.

Mine is almost 4 and he is just now going all the time. We found that it was easier on him to have him stand and bought a little stool for him to pull up to the toilet. Cheerieos didn't work for us, so we went to "rewards" he started getting a sticker or sucker each time, then once he had the hang of it we made it where if he went all week he could pick out hot wheels. It worked well. Now the pooping is another matter, we just got that under control, but my son has issues in that department that most kids don't. But boys are much harder to train. I suggest having him go to the store and pick out his cool new big boy underwear... its a BIG deal. Then also get some of those rubber underwear things, so you don't have such a mess... good luck! And be patient with him

Since it is summer, can you let him run around "free"? We did this with my daughter - we put a long skirt on so she wouldn't be showing all. She was trained in no time. I have heard that boys are harder to train than girls. The biggest thing to remember is that kids will get this when they are ready. Not when we are ready.
Good Luck.

Boys are harder than girls, my son was almost 4 before he was fully potty trained and my daughter was 2. All those Pull Ups are fine for at night or when you are going out but they made my son lazy and he would just say he had to go and then put one of those on and go to the bathroom in them.
I just put him on his potty seat in front of the TV with his favorite shows on and a juice cup and eventually after a while he would go potty.
I wouldn't rush it, he will go when he is ready :)

I have two sons, both finally decided at the age of 3 (both within a week's time) to get with the program. Before that, nothing worked. Use training pants, not pull-ups. You want HIM to be trained, not you, so let him figure it out. If nothing seems to be working, forget it for a while and try again a couple of weeks.

Potty training is a readiness thing. If he's not ready, nothing will make him be ready. If anything, YOU will be trained, not him. You want to do this right. You don't want an anxious kid who will later wet the bed when he gets mad at you.