How to potty train boys, this is probably a key question most boy moms ask, when their little prince reaches this important milestone. Potty training can be challenging and exciting at the same time. Parents are excited because it is another milestone that indicates that their little prince is growing and of course diapers will soon be scratched out of the family budget. I remember the great financial relief I used to feel after successfully training each of my children. The young man might also be excited at the thought of independence and imitating adults in his life. In this article, I intend to ease the challenges that come with potty training boys.
When to Start
There are different opinions on exactly when is the right time to start. The opinions differ based on culture, preferences, science, some backed with evidence, and some not. Despite the differences, the most recommended period is around 18 months of age, some kids might be ready at this time and some might not be ready. Which makes the child readiness an ideal and the best time to start the training.
Signs of Readiness
He refuses to wear wet diapers.
He is interested in the process
He is willing to cooperate
He can walk
He is interested in the adult’s visits to the bathroom
He can easily imitate what adults do in the bathroom
He can execute simple instructions
He can express the need for the bathroom
He can pull down the pants
The child does not have to have all these signs at a time. Having few of these signs can indicate that he is ready.
The child’s readiness is the primary hint that now is the right time but adults must also be ready. Adults must start the training when they are mentally ready with ample time allocated to the process, mainly because the process will require patience, politeness, perseverance, consistency, and more.
How to Prepare for a Start
As mentioned above, take time to get mentally ready. Read books and talk to other parents. Do your research, compare methods, and settle for what suits you and your family best.
Secondly get all the involved adults ready i.e the nanny, the kindergarten teachers if the child goes to kindergarten, both parents must be involved, we need all hands on the deck for a speedy and smooth process.
Before doing the actual training prepare the child mentally first :
You can start by teaching him the words you will be using for poo and pee. Sometimes when you change the diaper with the poo verbalize the name and get him to say it, the, same applies to pee. When he accompanies you to the bathroom, let him know what you are going to do. let the chosen names and sounds be comfortably used by all involved,
If he can comprehend, read to him potty training books, sing potty training songs, and play potty training games. I always say PLAY is kid’s primary language if you need to communicate anything to them, you must do so in a playful manner.
Keep the potty at least weeks before you embark on the training, let him familiarise himself with it before the actual training start.
What do you Need to Start
Potty off course
Travel potty with disposable liners that can be easily thrown off
Underwear with their favorite characters
Potty training seat magic sticker for extra fun
Portable Child Potty Urinal
Potty Training Seat with Step Stool Ladder,
Flushable toilet targets for boys
Potty Training Chart for Toddlers
Potty watch
His cooperation and interest
Patience and perseverance
Amazon Got you Covered – All you Need For a Stress Free Potty Training
How to potty train
We now believe that the little prince and all adults involved are ready to resume the process. You are now faced with the decision to switch from diapers to underpants or disposable training pants, there is no science to this decision, it should be based on what suits your family best. Underwear are highly recommended because the child can feel when he gets wet.
Teach the boy to sit for both poo and pee. Let him master the sitting before you attempt to teach him to pee while standing unless you are ready to do a lot of cleaning
Use the potty training watch
Consider taking him to the potty every 20- 30 minutes. You can use the potty watch for this exercise, the purpose of the watch is to remind him that it is time to go to the potty. The watch is programmable, you can set it to 20 to 30 minutes intervals. The watch brings all the fun on board.Potty training watches have music and light up with different colors to distract kids from whatever they are doing and direct their attention to the potty
Have a good reward system
You can use the potty training reward chart. The chart allows you to fill a specific row with stickers or you can also use check marks to celebrate every time the child successfully used the potty. After a row is filled up, you reward a child with a snack, a toy, time out, or a favorite show. Make this celebration a big deal for him so that he can always look forward to a filled up row. Check this article for some cool toddler toys you can use as rewards
Use potty training games
Potty training games range from :
Singing a song – Explore different potty songs and choose his favorites for the training
Use stickers that change color when peed on.
Color in the potty – Put some food coloring in the potty, let the little prince observe his pee turning into different colors because of a pinch of food colouring you have put in his potty.
Potty Scavenger hunt. Learn more about the game here
Potty training race – Put his potty in any room or bathroom, make him aware of the location of the potty. When the potty training watch alert you that now is time for the potty, you both run to the potty and whoever gets to the potty first is the winner.
Blow the bubbles– This game is fun for all kids but not only that it enables him to poop easily. Blowing the bubbles simultaneously stimulates the abdominal muscles needed to poop.
Favorite scent – Expose him to soaps and lotions with different scent. Establish which one is his favorite, then use the particular scent as his reward after successfully using the potty.
Do everything in your power to associate the potty with comfort and fun and at all costs disassociate it from pressure and pain. This speaks to your reaction after accidents. Expect the accidents and respond in an encouraging rather than a condemning way.
Let him teach his toys to use the potty – Teaching what you have learned or what your learning its the best way to learn.This is the opportunity to rehearse what mommy and daddy has been teaching him
Give him water to drink frequently
Giving them water frequently will create the need to go to the potty frequently. When he uses the potty time and again the process gets engraved and automated.
Keep the diapers for night and underwears for day
Mothers and experts differ in opinions on this one. My recommendation is to keep the diapers for the night unlike totally taking him off the diapers from the word go. Minimize water or liquid intake towards bedtime, then celebrate and reward dry nappies in the morning. Getting him to master the night potty is a totally different milestone.
When he has mastered going to the potty during the day, he is familiar with the name and sounds you use for peeing, you can then put him on the potty once or twice during the night, without even waking him up. Just pull the pull up down, put him on the potty, and trigger the peeing with that familiar word or sound, This will work best if it’s done at the same time every night. By so doing you will have plenty of dry mornings and a lot to celebrate.
Final Thoughts
Potty training the little one is a great milestone for the entire family. As challenging as it is, it must be approached with positivity and excitement. As mentioned above stock up on patience and perseverance, expect accidents, and respond to them lovingly. Understand that children are not the same so do not compare this child with your firstborn or his peers. It is a unique and one time journey, be fully present, and enjoy the ride.
It is always difficult to potty train children and it becomes a hassle when they need to ease themselves without the use of diapers. To prevent a mess around the house I would recommend this informative and insightful article to parents as you have comprehensively explained how to go about a stress free potty training. Thank you for sharing this.
Hey Beesean
Thank you for stopping by.
Yes , lets spread the word, Go ahead and share with others.
When my child was 17 months ancient, I begun putting him on the potty each evening whereas I ran his shower. The sound of the running water appeared to energize him, and inside many evenings we had victory. I kept up the schedule at that same time each evening. Gradually, we begun including more trips to the potty all through the day. I utilized this strategy effectively with all three of my kids. Awesome article! Do you think with the progression of innovation and fake insights potty preparing can be digitized? Potty training can be interesting when having a smart child that quickly learns.
Hey Ezra
Thank you for a visit.Your strategy is interesting. I like the fact that there was consistency to it. Huuu not sure about the digitization of potty training, that will make great research
You have a good informational post here for teaching boys to be potty trained. Always use positive reinforcement techniques. I have my niche in dogs, and it’s surprising how much potty training the child is the same as potty training a puppy. I thought potty training was more like two years, but I must be wrong. Besides 18 months is enough time for a child to not be potty trained. It’s a good idea to sit down when going pee. I would argue for males to do it permanently, as it greatly reduces messes around the toilet bowl.
Hey Anthony
You cracked me, I concur though it will help big time if males can be advised to maintain the sitting position.
Thank you for stopping by
Hello Bogadi, I really enjoyed your post about potty training. I have worked with very young children and it included potty training. Once I worked at a home-based child-minding practice where there were several babies of potty training age, and what worked with them were the potty training songs and frequent praise. However, in your article there were also some lovely new ideas that I would definitely love to try out with little kids, such as using the sticker that changes colours after being peed on. I think that’s genius! 🙂 Also, blowing bubbles is a interesting, playful idea. Thanks a lot for such a nice, informative article – I’ll remember your tips and recommend them to mums who are about to introduce potty training to their little ones. PS I really love your tagline ‘Tomorrow’s incredible man!”
I am glad you understand me from experience. Potty training songs works magic. Would appreciating your sharing of the article. Go ahead and spread the word.
These are some great ideas! Although my boys have all been potty trained many years ago, I’ll be passing this one to my daughter as my grandson is approaching the training age.
Some of these ideas have been around for a long time. But I never thought of some, such as having him teach a stuffed animal to use the potty. That certainly might have helped!
Thanks for the useful article. I’ll be sharing with my community, as well as my daughters.
Hello Bogadi, it’s nice that you have been helping with such articles as to how to take care of ones kids and it’s been really helpful dealing with mine and I like it. I have not seen these signs in my little girl and I hope to make use of these good you’ve given to check on them to see if they are ready. Thanks
Hey Justin
Thank you for visiting the Incredible Boy. All the best with your little girl.
This article on potty training was very interesting to read. I especially noted the points about using toys to encourage good potty training habits. And also the pointers that show that a child is ready to use a potty.
For my own son, I made sure that he looked in the loo after he had gone to the potty so that he knew what was coming out of him. He then associated going to the loo with potty and knew what was expected to be in his potty.
So that by the time it came to using a potty, he was not surprised at any brown stuff.
It is also a good idea to use songs to calm a child down if he doesn’t like going to the toilet. There are no children I have come across that do not like going to the potty. Meaning that all in all, most children find the experience a pleasant one.
Hey Stella
Thank you for visiting the Incredible Boy and thank you for sharing your potty training experiences. Music especially potty training songs are a very useful tool in getting them interested in the using the potty
When it comes to potty training, the child will show you signs of interest when he/she is ready and starting the process beforehand can make things much more difficult. Boys are a bit harder than girls and the real problem is getting them to go at the right time rather than just as it happens. The hard bit is getting them to go the potty once they do something then they can get the idea what it’s all about but until then it’s just an uncomfortable seat . This takes persistent attention on your part (you probably know this!).
Hey Daniel
Thank you for stopping by.
Hi,
Nice review article, potty train can be challenging and exiting at the same time. Some signs of readiness are mentioned in your topic and it is very important to know how to petty train boys. Then the aspect of teaching him the word to be using for poo and pee is fine because that’s the beginning of the whole training.
Thank you.
Aluko.
Hey Aluko
Thank you for stopping by The Incredible Boy
As an individual And an upcoming parent, I believe potty training babies is one of the the great milestone for the entire family, although it might be quite challenging, which must be approached with positivity and excitement, you have to be very patience and perseverance, you should always expect accidents and approach them lovingly , I’m really glad I came across this amazing article, i would really recommend it to anyone.
Thank you Jack for stopping by The Incredible Boy.Hope you will enjoy potty training your babies with love patience and perseverance
Such an informative post, Rammuki! Reall glad to stumble on a post talking about potty train. Just to share even though I still dont have kids but I did this on my niece, is that when they were younger, I was the actually the who is in charged to change their diaper. Then when I heard about potty trains, I really urged my mom to buy one so that we wont rely too much on diapers. And up til now, I never regret that decision. I actually do the potty reward system, wherein everytime my niece succesfully takes an “off”, I usually give him candy or let him watch the television. In all, potty training has been a great milestone for a developing child indeed.
Thank you for stopping by The Incredible Boy.
I am glad you found value and have an experience on the topic. It sounds like you did well with your niece. And yes potty training is a great milestone in the development of every child.
These are great potty training tips! I remember training my son, although it has been several years now. It was such a nightmare. He would go pee just fine, but when it came time to poop, he just wasn’t having it. We started training at 2 and I bet it must have taken a whole year, because I remember him finally coming out of diapers at 3. I wish I had a helpful article like this back then!
Hey Jennifer
Thank you for stopping by The Incredible Boy .I am glad you found some value . Potty training can be a nightmare, though it differs from child to child. I happy you finally go it right anyway, that is what matters,
Thank you Bogadi for this really helpful advice on how to potty train boys. I wish I had seen this advice when my son was a baby. We would have saved a fortune in nappies/diapers, not to mention helping the environment more. I am now well equipped for advising when the grandchildren arrive. The signs of readiness are a terrific check list to help parents/grandparents. I have saved your URL (seriously!) On another subject, do you have any advice on how to prevent bed wetting? And specifically weaning a baby off of nappies?
Hi Trevor
Thank you for stopping by The Incredible Boy. It sounds like someone is ready to be a grandfather. I am glad you survived potty training your sons, you won and have some experience to pass on.
As far as bedwetting is concerned my old time recipe has been to make sure that I take them to a potty before they sleep, and once or twice during the night. You can experiment with the little one and find your rhythm
Thank you for sharing your great tips for Potty training boys. I have 2 years old and not yet showing any sign of readyness for potty training. I do make him sit on his potty. He pees fine but still hesitant to poo. I like your idea of potty scavenger hunt game. This game might interest him and encourage him to do his business. I hope!!!
Thank you for the tips!!
Hey Pranali thank you for stopping by The Incredible Boy and for engaging me on tips for Stress Free Potty Training.
Wishing you all the best with your baby and yes potty scavenger hunt game is the real deal.
Great input Bogadi,
I was babysitting my nephew and I’m having a hard time keeping up with the diaper changes, glad that I can now just do potty train for him! I find the reward part very interesting, it’s a great method to help train minds to get used to something but I have no idea what things to give as a reward. Do you think giving show time as a reward actually helps?
Hey Riaz
Happy to see that you have stopped by The Incredible Boy.
Just from your observations what does she like most, use that as a reward .
Potty training can sound simple but it is not as simple as it sounds. With my first son, I had little or no information, it was difficult we did not understand the signs when he was ready. When my second boy came I had to get a book to understand the signs and how to seamlessly walk him through the process.
Hey Parameter
Thank you for stopping by The Incredible Boy
I am glad you eventually got it right. You are an amazing father.