Not sure how to Potty Train DS

[anonomom]

DS is 2.5 and the preschool he starts in August (days after he turns 3) requires that he be potty trained. He's showing signs of readiness -- he wants to wear underwear, pees on the potty with no trouble, tells me when he has a dirty diaper, etc. He can (and has) stayed dry for hours when naked, but will poop within a few minutes of me putting underwear on him. He doesn't seem to know the difference between poop and pee and when he's doing which, no matter how many times we talk about it.

With DDs, this all seemed easier. DD1 decided she wanted to wear undies at 2y3m, and was dry within days. For poop, she spent about six months bringing me a diaper when she had to go, which was just fine by me. I honestly can't recall how DD2 did with poop (in my defense, she trained like a month after DS was born), but I don't think there were any issues.

I don't need DS trained today, or this month, or even this season. I don't even need him completely trained by August -- If I could just get DS to stay dry for 4 hours and tell me when he has to poop so I can put him in a diaper, I'd be fine. But I don't know how to help him learn when he needs to poop and to come to me instead of going in his undies. Any ideas?

[mikala]

Does he poop randomly when he's naked? I'd try some naked bottom time at home near a potty and watch him like a hawk to direct him to the potty whenever he shows the signs. Reward like crazy for poops in the potty and hopefully it will click quickly since he has the other pieces together.

The training method we used introduced underwear around a month with the idea that for some kids underwear feels too much like a diaper. Plus it's easier for them to just pull down pants vs both pants and underwear in that stage where every second counts.

[JBaxter]

We did naked potty training. Summer is coming go from no undies to shorts only ( soft type loosed and easy to pull down no fussy clothes) I got like 2 seconds notice sometimes with mine. YES on the paying for potty poop! We did hershey kisses or mini candy bars. Push the liquids Lots of water & juice to make them want to pee more Have more than one potty chair. I kept one in the living room. Timers work well too Every hour we "tried" Sit them on the potty read a little book etc. If no pee then try again 30 min later and YES 2.5 yr old boys can be potty trained I did it 4 times.

[indigo99]

I'm waiting for the warm weather to really PT so we can do underwear only. DS2 does get rewarded for going on the potty now though. We have a paper on the fridge where we write when he poops or pees first thing in the morning since I think those are the most difficult things for them to get. He gets a few MnMs each time and will get to go to Build a Bear once he has done it 12x. Today he pooped in the potty 4 different times, but we only counted it once. He just goes in and takes his diaper off and then yells when he's done. He's gone to hide somewhere before pooping for a while though so he knows how to recognize when he needs to go. DS1 was the opposite and still needed diapers to poop for several months after being completely pee trained.

I think you need different tactics with different kids. With DS1 it was a control thing, and he wanted to feel in control. I couldn't make him go and try regularly, but I would repeatedly say "go in the bathroom when you need to pee" or "tell mommy when you need to go potty so you can get a reward" to keep it on his mind. He did get one MnM for just trying and three for actually going and then washing his hands (no candy if he refused to wash his hands afterward so he always did it).