Toilet Training for Boys

Nathan only managed to stay dry in the day shortly after his third birthday (about 38 months old). By that, I mean that there were no more accidents, and I did not need to constantly ask him if he needed to pee, or to bring him to the toilet at regular intervals. He told me when he needed to go, and there was sufficient time to walk to the toilet before he let it all out. He figured out the poo poo business earlier... way before he finally got the hang of the pee pee business. Going by typical milestones, I think he's behind... I'm just glad that I can finally save on diapers now.

These are somethings that I found useful as we worked on toilet training Nathan. So you might find them useful if you're also treading down the toilet training path.

1) Books. The National Library has several of these and Nathan particularly enjoyed these two:

It's Potty Time by Ron Berry. This one comes with a button for kids to push. They'll hear the sound of an automatic flush when they push the button.

It's Potty Time by Tracey Corderoy

2) Potty Training DVD. Nathan's a big fan of Sesame Street and he really enjoyed watching Elmo's Potty Time. It was useful in introducing the concept of using the big boy toilet to him, but did nothing more than that.

3) Pull-Up Diapers and Training Pants. We used pull-up diapers when we were going out and training pants when we were at home. I do feel that the pull-up diapers delay toilet training. They are so well made that kids do not know when they've wet their pants. With training pants, at least they realise that they've wet themselves, and that realisation is important. Training pants we've used and loved are from Bambino Mio and Charlie Banana. Bambino Mio is cheaper but is not able to hold an accident. The Charlie Banana 2-in-1 swim diaper & training pants is pretty absorbent, and is capable of holding an accident without Nathan's outer pants getting wet. It can be used as a swim diaper and comes in many cute prints and colours.

4) Bed protectors. I was getting tired of changing Nathan's bedsheets each time his diaper leaked and was so glad when I discovered BrollySheets. These sheets fit OVER the bedsheets, has a waterproof layer on the underside, and a soft-to-touch topside. Now, I just need to remove the BrollySheets to wash without changing his bedsheets every.single.time. That said, he is still on diapers at night even though it is mostly dry when he wakes up in the morning. For afternoon naps, I stuff a muslin square into his regular underwear to absorb accidents (if any), but most times, he wakes up dry.

I was practically pulling my hair out when potty training Nathan just because he didn't seem to be getting it, and most of his friends were already toilet trained when he was still in diapers. Oh well... thankfully he's finally got it!