Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

My boys are now 3 years and a month and still show no real interest in going potty. We talke about it with them, we have put on big boy underware for them (which one of them promptly peed in), DH has gone to the bathroom in front of them (which one of them took off his diaper that night and peed on the floor) and we have put them on the potty with promises of everything under the sun if they go pee pee.

Everytime I think there is a sign that they might do something it's a total let down and now I am looking around at kids there age and almost everyone is potty trained or well on there way. Even at their three year appointment the doctor seemed kind of upset that they were not.

They just have shown no interest in going potty. Does anyone have any books, videos, ideas that worked for them? Anyone's kid took much longer then 3 to be potty trained?

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

DD is going to be 3 end of this month and is not potty trained. We were on the way to sort of pushing our way through and the nursery school teacher put the kabash on the whole thing b/c DD was having a hard time transitioning to nursery school.. she said to leave it alone, that she'd help DD and that when DC #2 is born, she'll more than likely revert back anyway- so to just leave it alone.

Honestly, try not to get crazy over it, your boys won't be in HS wearing diapers- it will happen... just keep trying to mention it to them.

Oh- one thing that helped is that I made a potty surprise box- filled it was cheap-o dollar store toys- if DD went during the day a few times then she was able to pick a surprise at the end of the day- she seemed to respond to that.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

I had a 3 year old in my dance class two years ago that wore a diaper until she was almost 3.5. She was a very smart little girl, would do anything/everything I asked of her, but she would NOT go potty. They one days she just started and that was that.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

Andy is 3 and is giving us a hard time about it. He can do it, but he is stubborn. When he doesn't want to he will sit on the potty for 30 minutes and do nothing and then go in his pants immediately when he gets off.

I just got this book Potty Training Boys the Easy Way: Helping Your Son Learn Quickly--Even If He's a Late Starter which I have to start reading.

ETA: He loves to watch Potty Power DVD and will sing the songs while sitting on the potty doing nothing.

Message edited 10/6/2009 9:28:50 AM.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

Lea was finally potty trained 2 weeks before kindergarden

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

All 3 of my kids were late potty training. Keep them diaper free no matter what & just keep asking them. It will trigger something. With my son it took me telling him I was proud. That word was liquid gold. Everytime he peed he would ask if I was proud.
With the twin girls I used your a big girl now speech. One was trained quicker then the other. If one shows more intrest in it. Keep on them. The other will follow close enough. I promise.

Best of Luck!

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

My DD was nowhere near potty trained when she turned 3. And also showed zero interest. Now that she is almost 3.5 she is pee-pee trained for the most part. Poop is another story. She just won't go in the potty. I still cross my fingers every single day, and with every single outing that she will not have accidents.

We used the following DVDs: Elmo's Potty Time, Potty Power, and 1 other (don't remember the name). We also had 3 books about going potty.

Maybe try putting your DS on the potty every 30mins for about a week. There will be a couple of times that you will time it right, and will get him to go when he is sitting there. At that point, give either M&Ms, or one of the toys from the "Potty Box" mentioned above. Sooner or later, he will get the message. Then you can start to space it out more. I don't know if I'd put underwear on him at that point or not, when first starting, before the "connection" is made in his mind, or else you will end up changing alot of clothes all day long. Also, I don't think I'd try to train both boys at the same time. That has got to be torture. Maybe choose whoever you think is more ready and work on him. The 2nd should be easier then.

HTH. Good luck, I know how frustrating it is and I def. know how you feel with your DC not being trained yet. I was ashamed of both of us. And honestly, if my DD didn't spend a week with my MIL this summer, she probably still wouldn't be trained. My MIL had the time to spend working on it (and it IS WORK). I didn't -- I had a sick newborn.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

Guess what, my son is almost 4 and he goes to school and he isn't potty trained. Its not ideal, but all kids are different, don't beat yourself up.

I refuse to force him into doing anything he isn't interested in doing, and I know all the best kids are late potty trainers ;)

Don't worry too much, all kids do things at different times!

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

dd was 3.7 months when she was fully day, night, poop and pee trained.

ds was 3.5 years to be fully trained.

They will get it. dont worry.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

DS was well past 3 before he was trained, and now DD is 3.5 and not trained. She watches DS go, but shows minimal interest in going herself. She'll let us know she went, but rarely before.

Oh well, when she's in high school, she can change her own diaper....

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

Not a parent but I am a daycare provider and let me tell you 3 is the new 2. A lot of parents don't even begin to train until 3. I've seen 4 1/2 year old not trained. They all do it in their own time.

Message edited 10/6/2009 10:17:59 AM.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

DS is 3.5 and not potty trained. He has no interest at all, so I don't push it. I mention it all the time, and hopefully one day he will just want to do it. He has complete control, it's just a matter of him getting over NOT wanting to do it.

You are not alone!

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

We tried everything with DS and all it did was stress everyone out. I could tell he physically could do it but he was not emotionally ready. So, we'd ask him a few times per day if he wanted to go potty and if he said no, it was no big deal. One morning when he was 3 1/2, he woke up and said "I want to go potty" and that was that. He's been fully potty trained, pee and poop, night and day, from that moment on. No accidents, no crying, no stress, no staying home for a week while he ran around peeing in his underwear, no 30 minute sessions on the potty. When they're ready, they're ready and as far as we are concerned, there was no "training" involved. We showed him how, and we knew he knew how, and when he wanted to, he did it.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

DD turned 3 in September and is not potty trained. I ask her all the time if she wants to use the potty and she says no. I try not to stress over it...I know it will happen eventually

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

My nephew is 3 and he isn't potty trained. But he is delayed in other ways too.

Message edited 10/6/2009 2:11:30 PM.

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?

You guys have made me feel so much better. I remember stressing over the bottle at 12 months and spending 3 months with temper tantrums and crying fits until I finally said I give up. Sure enough a week or two later they both started drinking out of the sippy cup like it was no big deal.

I feel that is going to happen with potty training, but i really get discouraged when I see kids their age pooping and peeing on the potty.

Thanks for all making me feel a wee bit better and the great ideas!

Re: Anyone have (or ever had) a 3 year old that is not potty trained?