The Best Tips for Potty Training Boys

Last Updated on January 28, 2021

Legend has it that potty training boys is a much bigger struggle than it is with girls. Let’s face it! It’s a known fact that generally, girls tend to finish their potty training at least three months earlier than boys. True as this may be don’t feel discouraged by feeling that you may be setting up your little man for failure. Most boys learn this developmental skill fast and within the set time, just like many girls may battle and take longer to adjust to this new skill. The hurdle you need to pass here is the factor of their readiness and personality, gender difference has no bearing when it comes to potty training.

Preparation Is Vital

Here are some useful tips to help you take your little man on his new journey of independence;

• Timing Is Everything: The biggest key to potty training boys is dependent on a number of factors. Firstly you need to understand that each boy is different from the other, which then means that their training experience will be different too. Some tots learn these skills fast whilst others may take a bit longer. What is vital, is that you follow a pattern that will work well for you and your boy.
• Try to Manage Your Own Expectations: Generally potty training a child takes up to eight months, and even then some kids can take even longer. Always remember that this is a two-way street. Your child’s success is as much dependent on your support for him.
• Draw up Potty Training Checklist: If all the boxes are ticked then you and your boy are ready to kick-start your new journey.

 These Are Some Simple Steps to Ensure You And Your Kiddo Are Ready;

• Start-ups: Let your kid first practice a few toilet tasks alone, such as undressing his pants, sitting on his potty, wiping, and flushing. You can use Huggies pull-ups* training pants for starters to practice undress pants, this will help your kid get the feeling of being in charge of this whole new journey.
• Make Your Bathroom Open to Him: Allow your tot to come into your bathroom just to observe you or dad using the toilet, because kids’ best way to learn is by seeing and doing.
• Always Ensure Safety: Check that his step stool is well balanced enough for him to climb up the toilet on his own. Doing this will make him more comfortable as he will feel more in control of the entire process.
• Keep A Potty Training Pack Always: A pack of pull-ups training pants and other pair of trousers in your baby carry bag is vital to have with you at all times in your car or even at grandma’s house should you make a stop over there!
• You and Your Potty Partners Should Always BE INSYNC: Your potty partners such as babysitters, grandparents, and any other caregivers should always know what your family potty training plan is so everyone is on the same page to avoid overloading the young one with too much information thus causing confusion.
• Tell Your Tot About Other Potties: Be sure to Point out all the potties in other places e.g at Grandpa’s house, or any other place where you have placed them because Many kids aren’t cognizant of the fact that their home isn’t the only place in the universe with a potty!
• Be Sure To Stock Up On More Training Pants: Always stock up on pull-ups*training pants that have your son’s favorite cartoon characters as a way to motivate him to use them.

Simple Tips to Apply For Potty Training Boys

• Teach Him to Use the Potty in a Sitting Down Position: Help your little man make potty progress by showing him how to pee sitting down. Standing and aim for the bowl is a skill he can learn at a later stage.
• Allow Him Make the Potty Training His Own Experience: You are his mother and understand and know your tot’s character better than anyone out there. Have him take his favorite toys into the bathroom whenever he goes to the potty so he may enjoy the process a little better.
• Give Him Ownership: Let him personalize his potty with fun stickers. This will make him take his own training experience and make it a little more fun for him too.
• Add Another Potty in His Play Area For Convenience: If the bathroom is a bit further from his play area then assist him by adding another potty closer so he can reach whenever he feels the urge to go.

 Here are 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Potty Training Boys

• Trap # 1; Starting Before He is Ready: Never give in to peer pressure from friends. Just because her 2year old daughter (Child Prodigy) has mastered the potty training skills doesn’t mean you should be pressured into trying to achieve the same with your boy. Don’t do that to yourself! Science has given us an estimate that only 40 to 60 percent of children complete toilet training by 36 months. So try not to dwell so much on your toddler’s age, but focus on readiness. To Help You Along with this Here are some good questions to ask; 

1. Is he very keen on what you do (or daddy) does?
2. Is he showing an interest in how the toilet works, his potty, or wearing ‘’big boys’’ underwear?
3. Is he able to follow simple instructions?
4. Is his bowel movements regular?
5. Is he telling you whenever he is about to make a poop or when he has done it already?
6. Is he showing that his soiled diaper irritates him by tugging and pulling it?
7. Is he able to pull his own pants up and down?
8. Can he wake up dry after his nap?
9. Is he able to walk to and from the bathroom unaided?

Well then if you responded YES to most of these questions, then your son is most probably ready to start the process.

• Trap #2 Having Extremely High Expectations; This is a gradual process so don’t expect your tiny tot to master it all in one go! Take time to sensitize on in all by firstly making him comfortable with the toilet seat. Once he’s ok with the potty or toilet then you can go on and wake him up a few times for a potty go. If he adjusts comfortably to this new normal you can then set a timer to help him go even more regularly. 

• Trap #3 Not Involving Daddy Coz You Think He Won’t Be a Team Player; all toddler boys are highly influenced by their dads, so allow dad to use his superhero status by allowing him to take center stage. Get DAD to show your little guy a thing or two, this will encourage him more and make him enjoy the entire process even more. 

• Trap #4 Not Being Forthright With The Rewards; In-game of potty training, rewarding is King! Keep your little one highly motivated by showering him with good praise or even a reward after every successful potty time.

 These could be a few ideas on how to reward your tot for being a star at potty time!

• Trap #5 Not thinking that Big Boy Underwear is Important; Always the briefs with your boy’s favorite characters and watch him as he suddenly becomes highly motivated to give that potty a try! 

 Underwear Ideas That Will Be That Motivation Factor;

• Trap #6 Not Being consistent; You can get some potty chairs and potty books, rewards and undies, but if you can’t keep the routine of the potty straight then you have lost the game. Because routine gives a sense of security to all toddlers as they thrive on routine and knowing the predictable.

Check Out These 4 Ways To Be Consistent with Your Little One:

1. Never Back Down; Once you get rid of the diaper try not to go back to it no matter the temptations, because YO-YOing gives a sense that a diaper is always an option in times of failure.
2. Always Set A Timer For Potty Times; This will help your tiny tot to always remember his potty times.
3. Keep The Team Informed; Be sure to always engage your other potty partners of any milestones or problems you may encounter along the way so you are all on the way same.
4. Always, Train On The Go; venturing out into public can be hard when you are potty training boys, but you can do it!

Here are a few tips to ensure successful boy potty training in public:

1. Prepare your child for the unknown and reassure him: Let him know whenever you will be leaving the comfort of your home but do reassure him that where you will be going there will be potties for him to use.
2. Make sure to have him use his potty at home before leaving
3. Have an extra potty in the car to avoid any accidents
4. Always ensure you have packed an extra pair of pants and some pull-ups too.

• Trap #7 Don’t Get Frazzled; Always remember that this is just a passing phase, in no time all shall flow swimmingly. Accidents will happen but try not to get too upset with your little man. Always try to remain positive and encouraging, as this is also a learning curve for him too of which he needs to slowly ease into! Stressing him out won’t help the process, He needs you to remain calm for him to adapt to the changes in his world as well. You both need each other to transition well into this new developmental skill, always use words of encouragement to help him appreciate when he has done well, and exercise patience for those not so great days. Remember it’s not his age that will help with the transition but the readiness and encouragement from your mom!

All the Best On this journey!

 There are so many methods to help guide parents with toilet/ potty training for their children. So let us get rid of any myths out there that may cloud our judgment and aim for proper science to help out!

Potty Training Myths

There are a lot of myths behind toilet training/ potty training, let’s explore a few of these;

Myth 1:  All You Should Do Is Just Put Your Baby On The Potty Early and He’ll Learn How It Works, simple as ABC…

This is one of the most common deceptive stories that we have heard over and over, that if you put your child on the toilet he will just magically understand how the toilet works. Kids need support all throughout this big milestone because for them, it’s all like venturing out into the wilderness alone, they need that familiar face that will walk them through and help them out with their fears, etc.

Myth 2: Age is A Game Factor, Your Child Should Be Trained By Age x

Do not fall for this, it a hoax! Toilet Training is another developmental skill, like walking and talking and all these are not determined by age. So if your child is 2years old and has not reached out for the potty this is quite ok, he is perfectly normal. All this means is that he is just not yet ready and you need to give him time, but do not pressure him.

Myth 3: They say That Once You Start Toilet Training, There’s No Going Back, forward always…

This is not true at all, all it is is just emphasizing the importance of being consistent at all times. There may be times during toilet training where they will be disturbed by either sick days or your child may suddenly feel that he doesn’t like this whole process and end up resisting everything. You will need to give him a little breather and then come back and start the entire process, say maybe after 8 weeks.

Myth 4: It’s All Just A Matter Of Discipline, You are in control!

This is a big danger in this myth because it now suggests that toilet training can easily turn into a power struggle between parent and child.  This is when Parents in their desperate bid to get their kids to comply will then offer bribes to their kids or even lie to them by saying ‘Oh, all the stores have stopped manufacturing diapers so buddy you need to shape up soonest or else I’ll be forced to use the belt on you, so, see that I mean what I mean’, which is wrong as it may cause unnecessary tension and anxiety for the child!

Myth 5:All Kids Need Us, To Model Exactly How To Use The Toilet and the rest will be History…

Although boys may take to everything that their fathers do and may want to emulate everything that their superheroes do, this then may pose a problem for single mothers out there without those father figures in their lives to help with these life’s problems. Having said that, not everyone is comfortable with giving their kids front row sits to their elimination processes!

Myth 6: Good Things such as Star Charts, Stickers, and Celebrations Are The Best Strategies, Not So True…

Celebrating our children’s successes is no doubt a good thing. But obsessing over rewards and prizes for toileting can actually promote pressure and anxiety. Nerves can increase than decrease, causing the children to regress in their training process. It is always wise and far more effective to be patient and calm, whilst supporting our children’s autonomy rather than rely on bribes to keep them motivated to succeed. Then when the children experiences success we can all be excited with them and rejoice and be merry.

Myth 7: My Child Should Be Toilet Trained At Night And Day ( Together)

Night-time toilet training occurs at a different time to daytime training. Your baby is not yet very cognisant at distinguishing these two and is therefore not fully equipped to deal with these differences. It is mostly just a matter of recognizing the urges which is what drives us all to wake up at night to attend to nature’s call.  This, therefore, means that night time training is more related to hormones and urine production. So for starters limiting the number of liquids you give to your child in the night can help out a lot, because It may be quite a lot of months or even years after daytime training is fully finalized before nights are dry. This is very normal and children should not be made to feel guilty or concerned about it. In due course, they too may master the skill that comes with being potty trained.

This all then just cements how patience and calmness and supportiveness are all that is really required to fully and successfully execute the best potty training experience for your baby boy!

When Your Toddler Just Refuses to Be Potty Trained, Tips That May Help

Toddlers refusing to go on the potty is a very common thing, so don’t feel bad or even think that something is wrong with your little one if they refuse to go potty. Your child will begin his potty training journey when he is fully ready, because no two children are the same, each child has their own time frame for mastering any developmental skill.

A Few Tips That May Help The Process Along;

It’s Key To Stay Positive At All Times: No matter how you decide to execute your training plan, your child will be the one driving the entire process, how quick he masters the training, etc, so your major task here to help the process along is to behave in a very positive manner, and turn the experience into a pleasurable one for both you and your tot. which means you will have to shift into positive reinforcement gear, shower him with hugs, praise and toys just to add a bit of fun during potty time.

Try To Stay On Course: Treat every diaper change in a business-like manner, remember, before, diaper changing time was all about connecting and cuddling! It’s time to switch it up, after every change always drops his poop into the toilet as a way to show him that’s where he should be doing his business and not on the diaper. Take your child into the bathroom with you so he may associate and acquaint himself more with the toilet and forego the diaper.

Try To Ease Away His Fears: using the potty for the first time may be a bit scary for your toddler because it’s a new experience. Curb this fear by showing him that he is in no danger at all, put his favorite teddy bear on the potty first just to demonstrate to him that no harm will come his way if he uses the potty. This will build his confidence and show him he has nothing to fear.

Always Keep Things Easygoing: most times the fear of pooping on the potty stems from the fact that your toddler has never had to pass a stool in a sitting position before, so it may be a little difficult to get the hang of this new habit. Help his system, keep things flowing by providing him with a nutritious diet filled with fruits, veggies, and lots of liquids. This will definitely make the bathroom act far easier. Always monitor your child’s pooping patterns, if you notice a change of pattern then be sure to contact your pediatrician to discuss constipation problems. The doctor may want to check on your child to rule out any underlying issues. This would then mean taking a bit of time off the training plan because the potty training stress could be what is making your toddler hold back a little.

With time you will get to understand your toddler’s personality a bit more during your potty training sessions with him. This can help you or guide you through any other challenges that may arise when potty training boys.