If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

What did you do? Stick with it? Go back to diapers? Try something else?

My DS is 3.5 so he should definitely be ready. But we started the 3 day on Sunday and he's still having accidents. He basically doesn't tell us if he needs to go. He either pees himself and then tells us or he will go if we put him on the potty, like before nap time or bed time.

I'm really frustrated and not sure where to go from here. We go back to our regular schedule on Monday with him having school, classes etc and I'm not sure how to do all that with him peeing and pooping in underwear several times a day. Any advice?

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I'm In the middle of it now too. So I don't have any advice going forward, but my dd is still doing the same thing. Going on the floor and telling us afterwards. I get frustrated, but she wasn't going on the potty at all before we started so I'm attempting to stick with it.

I had her in underwear and then read that underwear can sometimes feel like a diaper to them, so dd was still peeing and pooping in them. I have since had her naked on the bottom while at home and loose fitting pants if we need to run out. It seems like it helped a bit. I read u should keep them with no underwear for 3 months while at home. Dd goes back to daycare on Monday too, As of now I think I'm going to stick with it and send in a bunch of pants/socks etc but no diaper or underwear. She's only 27 months though, so they are all potty training in her class. Goodluck!

Eta: also they say the 3 day works best with kids under 28 months. he might just be resisting it right now, so I wouldn't give up just yet. At 3.5 he's definitely capable.

Message edited 1/3/2015 1:37:17 PM.

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

The 3 day method did not work for us. I've tried every method under the sun and nothing worked. My son just turned 4 and is back in pull ups. Has no desire to go potty. Sometimes will tell me he has to go but it has to be on his terms. If I ask him if he has to go he says no. If I just take him to the bathroom he throws a huge fit. If I use a little potty in the living room he wants nothing to do with it. I've tried a reward system. Nope, wanted nothing to do with it. I'm going to bring it up at his 4 year old check up but I have pretty much given up. When he's ready he'll be ready and start doing it. Now I'm going to work on my 2 year old and see if I can get him to start. My DD was SO easy.

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

You can't wait for them to tell you. It is also about learning the signs they give us. You have to spend the 3 days learning your child's signs.

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

DS turned 3 in October. I never officially did 3 day bc I didn't have the patience lol it took us a few weeks of accidents but he is pretty much trained now. Stick with it, my son was pretty willful and stubborn about it but it clicked , eventually. I honestly found potty training to be so stressful which is why I put it off lol

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

We're in the same boat. DS will be 3.5 this month and it's become a power struggle at this point. He screams and cries when we put him anywhere near the potty. He will hold it until we put him in underwear, pull up, diaper. My friends with older kids say it'll happen when he's ready and not to stress, but it's frustrating.

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I wait until they we ready and then it just happened

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Just bumping for the weekday crowd to see if there are any other ideas!

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I used the 3 day method. My dd was 4 months shy of turning 3.
Does he see you getting frustrated? It's hard, but I remember reading that you need to stay positive. Even if he has accidents. Also I think it says not to ask them when they have to go. But to remind them. I remember saying to my daughter " don't forget to use the potty" or " don't forget to tell mommy when you need to potty". I think i said it every 10 minutes.

Message edited 1/5/2015 9:32:18 AM.

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

BabyDayz- is your son now telling you that he has to go?

We read the book and followed it exactly. We even stayed home for 6 straight days! We reminded him at least every 5 minutes. But not once during the 6 days did he make it to the potty without going in his underwear first. Is that normal?

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I am PTing DS now. Sometimes he goes on his own but I still always have him try every 30 minutes. We are on day 2. No pull-ups, I took him to the gym with to pairs of trainers on. Potty as soon as we got there and when I took him out which was about 45 minutes. I honestly think going out and explaining that they have to go on the potty helps.

Message edited 1/5/2015 1:17:24 PM.

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Posted by KevinNKristin8-15-08

Posted by DiamondGirl

DS turned 3 in October. I never officially did 3 day bc I didn't have the patience lol it took us a few weeks of accidents but he is pretty much trained now. Stick with it, my son was pretty willful and stubborn about it but it clicked , eventually. I honestly found potty training to be so stressful which is why I put it off lol

I agree. All I did is one day never put her in pull ups again. After a few weeks it clicked. I had to do away with any diapers because I think that's what made it worse for us. My dd was finally trained by 3.5 months. It was torture. Honestly it was horrible. She knew what she had to do but refused for so long. Hugs I know the stress well!

Message edited 1/5/2015 1:20:06 PM.

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Just a thought, but DD had no problem peeing in underwear, but for some reason when she was naked she didn't want to pee herself. We went through like 30 pairs of underwear in a weekend, but as soon as we let her run around nude she started telling us. It may not work for anyone else but us, but it's something to try maybe.

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Posted by KevinNKristin8-15-08

Posted by DiamondGirl

DS turned 3 in October. I never officially did 3 day bc I didn't have the patience lol it took us a few weeks of accidents but he is pretty much trained now. Stick with it, my son was pretty willful and stubborn about it but it clicked , eventually. I honestly found potty training to be so stressful which is why I put it off lol

I agree. All I did is one day never put her in pull ups again. After a few weeks it clicked. I had to do away with any diapers because I think that's what made it worse for us. My dd was finally trained by 3.5 months. It was torture. Honestly it was horrible. She knew what she had to do but refused for so long. Hugs I know the stress well!

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

Thank you everyone! It's comforting to hear that others have had trouble. I feel like everyone I talk to IRL is like, oh, it took 2 seconds and they were trained day, night, and naptime. I thought there was something wrong with us!

I guess I just need to be consistent keeping him in undies and trying to catch his accidents better. I feel like I keep missing them even though we are in the same room.

Not sure I'm ready for the naked approach yet...

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

The 3 day did not work for us. I knew he could do it, but he was stubborn and only wanted to do it when he was ready. So, every morning when he woke up and every night before bed, we'd ask if he wanted to go potty and he'd say no, so we'd say okay maybe later, maybe tomorrow. Didn't want to make a big deal out of it because stress doesn't help. And as our ped said, you don't see kids in college in diapers -he'll do it when he's ready. One morning, he woke up and said I want to go potty and he did. Since then, no accidents, no issues with pooping on the potty - kid can hold it forever! It really was the easiest, stress-free way to do it. I don't really believe in "training". He knew what to do but just wasn't mentally ready and when he was, it was simple. Good luck!

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

We didn't do the 3 day potty training. We waited until they were ready and willing to do it. If you are sticking to the 3 day method don't be so quick to change him out of the wet undies. Let him get the uncomfortable feel and he may not like it so much and then start to equate not to pee in his pants. In addition I wouldn't ask every 5 minutes that would be annoying for both of you. Give it more timed intervals.

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I don't have any personal experience with the method, BUT it is supposed to be most effective with children under 28 months so maybe that is why you are struggling more ?

If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I wouldn't stress too much, people IRL always make it sound better than it prob is! LOL If we ask DS he will always say NO I don't have to go and put up a fight, so we just keep telling him to tell us when he has to go (like every 5 mins) and I think hes using the potty because hes annoyed with us reminding him haha. Every kid has a different thing that works for them, you will find it. I wouldn't give up just yet, hes old enough where it should be ok

Re: If 3 day potty training did NOT work for you

I honesty didn't deal with Potty Training - at all. It was just one of those things I didn't see the point in forcing or stressing over ...... I let them do it when they were ready, it worked out for us fabulously.

I put the potty out there at 2 years old for both of them. - They knew it was there, knew what it was for.
At 2.5 I tried - Fail, at 3 I tried - Fail
And they were both in daycare so I figured they'd follow suit when the others started early - Nope - Stubborn.

Both of my boys were 3.5 when they decided they were ready to ditch the diapers.
They both went from diapers to underwear cold turkey - No in between, no 'pull up for the car, pull up for bed, pull up for the mall -Pee trained but not Poop trained" none of that ......

My older son I DID put a pull up at night for a few weeks just for my own peace of mind - but he never went in it -

I can count on 1 hand the number of accidents both of them have had ........

I'm serious when I tell youi that b/c they were ready to do it they both went from wearing a Diaper on Monday, to wearing Underwear on Tuesday - and that was the end of it. I'm not exaggerating.

They were both 3.5 though - they weren't 2 or anything. But honestly? It's one of those things that I just don't CARE how old the kid is when they get it ........WHO CARES if your kid can read at 3 years old? As long as they can read when they need to KWIM?
I didn't care when they were trained, as long as it was done when it was necessary re: school etc.

But that's JMO ..........I personally just don't think it's worth the stress, frustration and yelling/crying etc - Good Luck !!