Mamas of toddler boys, question for you...

[aliceinwonderland]

I am embarrased to ask, but I cannot find out otherwise, so here it goes (blush).

Are you teaching your boys to potty train peeing standing or sitting?? I thought, sitting, right? But here things get unexpectedly complicated: We are on our 2nd potty, and they are just not very comfortable it seems to sit on! He voluntarily sits at the edge of it (saying "Pipi!!" out loud), but most of what counts is hanging out and any eventual pipi would end up on the floor anyway! When I lift him up and sit him so there is a chance of the whole thing working, he gets uncomfortable and walks away...

So, my second questin is, have you found a comfy potty your babe sits comfortably in?? Right now we are using the Parents magazine one, (bought at Target).

Who thought this would be so complicated?!

Thanks in advance.

[dogmom]

My son never really fit on the potty I bought, and he was only 28 months. Of course we didn't a realy attempt to train him until he was almost three. We bought a cheep, padded seat that goes on the regular toilet seat which has handles on the side. (I got it at Target for about $7.) I found that an a good stool is all he needs. It doesn't make him feel so cramped, and because there is no backrest on the potty he can sit back farther. He starting peeing sitting down, making sure his penis was pointed down. (It takes some verbal reminders.)

He sometimes wants to go standing up, on a stool. He does OK with that. Now, this is when you have to get Dad involved. My DH made every attempt to pee sitting down when my DS was hanging around. If he only sees dad peeing standing up that's all he's going to want to do. The truth is potty training really requires moms to get over any embarassment issues dealing with the male genitalia.

My DS uncircumsized, so with potty training came a whole new discovery of the foreskin since we were spending 60% of the day in the bathroom with our pants off. "It's broken!" he would shout. "No, honey, it's not broken, you just need to pull it back to where it was." "Oh," he would say. Then there would be several minutes of narration about his new found discovery, "In/Out, In/Out, In/Out" Finally, I'd be, "Honey, could you just pee so Mommy could go finish her coffee?" Luckily that phase only lasted one day.

Of course almost two decades of nursing just makes this seem like another day at work for me. ;)

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey
1/16/03
& Eve
EDC 6/18/06

[smallestangel]

My son goes standing up. I kind of let him lead the way on that one, and standing was clearly how he wanted to do it (he'll sit down to go "poo poo"). That's most likely because DH takes him into the bathroom with him (#1 only) often. He's actually done that for a while now, just to give him an idea of what's what. Although he also catches glimpses of everything. Hence his need for reading material before he'll even consider sitting down.

He needs to work on his aim though. A lot of the time, it ends up on the side of the pot,lol. They sell potty targets. I've seen them at Target, they're little foam shapes (the alphabet, animals) that are flushable. Not sure if I think it's a good idea or a waste.

As far as a comfy pot. We have the baby bjorn, and it's not working out as great as I'd hope. It has a splash guard that I thought was a good idea. But, it comes up so high that it's kind of awkward for him to sit on. He sort of backs up onto it, then I help him scoot back. Sorry I'm no help on that front. I'm probably going to start looking for a different one myself.

Amanda

[aliceinwonderland]

Ack. DS is uncirc., too. So there's lifting and pulling invovled? This is far more work that I signed up for, LOL.

I tried putting this thing (the potty cover) on the actual toilet (He follows us to the bathroom each time, so I figured he'd not mind that), but again, I think it's uncomfortable. Hmm.

[jamsmu]

Yeah, it took a while for Carson to get comfy on his Baby Bjorn potty. He is now, but he certainly wasn't before he was 2.

We also have a cushioned seat that sits on top of the toilet. This makes the seat small enough that he won't fall in, and he feels like mommy and daddy when he's on the toilet. for this one, it wasn't until recently that his legs weren't sticking straight ahead because he couldn't bend his knees.

Obviously, he's learning sitting down. He's too short to pee standing up in the real toilet, and we've tried in the baby bjorn, but he sits for a long time to read, so this was a problem.

Also, Carson likes to go, then stop, even though he's not finished. When he's sitting, its easier to control this than when he's standing.

[daisymommy]

The books I read, and the way I was taught when I worked in preschools was to have them sit, since it's complicated enough to get kids to do all that's neccessary to use the potty, without having to teach them to "aim" as well.

So, we have Joshua sit, and it has worked out well so far. We have the Graco Soft-seat potty. Nice and cushy for little bottoms :) I have realized that the little splash-gaurds do no good, they justget in the way, so we tossed it out. Our mantra around here is: "Point it down!" ;) Just show him how to use his hand to point his penis downward so the urine doesn't spray all over the floor. But also until you are sure he has the hang of it, remove all bathroom rugs LOL!

Since he was comfortable with the whole sitting-down to go process I tried to teach him to stand up, but he won't do it. Nor will he allow me to put the removeable soft potty seat onto the big toilet and sit there ("it's too big for me!"). Oh well, it's only been 2 months since he's been at this, so no big deal to me. Well get there someday.

[muskiesusan]

Sitting!!! It is much neater than trying to get him to aim. Nick is well trained to keep it pointed down the whole time, even when doing #2. Oh, and he likes to retract his foreskin quite a bit to pass the time (only awkward when he tells me he is making his penis bigger!).

Alex likes to sit on the potty, but he, um, doesn't seem as endowed as Nick and has a little trouble pointing it down, but we are working on it.

We really like the Baby Bjorn potty insert for our toilet. Neither got comfortable in with the potty chairs and the inserts make it easier to just sit all of them over the whole, kwim?


Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[brittone2]

Definitely sitting. We've only been at this for about a week and I'm not sure how far we'll get with it, but DS is going about 1-2x a day in the potty (pee only) but only if it is his idea. If I suggest it, he asks for "fresh diapie" and doesn't want to sit on it.

We bought a super cheap-o potty at Target (Bebe JouJou is the name, it comes in a bright green, a sky blue and a salmony red color, we found it on an end cap at the store and it was 6.99). It is small enough that he gets on/off easily and it is all one piece. Looking around online it looked similar to one of the styles of Bjorn potties that is about 9.99.

Anyway, he gets on/off of it easier if I have it next to a wall, and he then uses his hand against the wall for balance so climb on/off better.

We also bought a padded seat insert for the big toilet but he doesn't actually ever seem to pee when I sit him on there. With the small potty he likes being in control of the whole thing and I pretty much pretend I don't care if he goes. If I let him run around diaper-less after his nap or when he wakes up in the morning he'll sit on it of his own accord, otherwise it is a no-go ;)

He has no problem keeping himself aimed okay in this potty even though I haven't really "taught" him anything, so the pommel on the front must keep things from spraying out. BTW since my son is intact too, I should mention there isn't any "extra step" at this point unless your DS is already retractable on his own. My DS pees without retracting anything just as he would in his diaper. I think the PP's son must be retractable already (not very common) so he may just have discovered all of that since he has more "access" without a dipe on...but I'm just assuming that's what she meant.

Fun having a boy, huh?? :)

[aliceinwonderland]

Hmm, I think we should get the Bjorn or something similar then. Only because I read these posts and realize our problem is not just "aim", it is that he sits (at most) half-assed (to be quite frank) on the thing...

[almostamom]

Okay, first my disclaimer: I have not done this yet!

I have a friend who trained her sons (and just about everyone else's we know) by sitting facing the tank instead of the normal way. She had them with their legs spread on the sides of the toilet so the could lean in toward the tank and therefore point "south". Again, I have never tried this, just thought I'd throw another option out there.

Good luck,
~Linda~
DS 11/9/04