Will not TELL me when he has to potty

[Dreamalittledream]

2.5 year old DCB has been relatively accident free for 2 months now. As long as I ask him if he has to go pee (he gets 'the look'). However, there have been 2 times where I have been distracted and missed it...and it wasn't just a warning accident (I totally understand when they dribble a tiny bit and realize oops I have to go!), it was full on go to a corner and pee...soaking himself and my carpet!!!! He refuses to go on a big toilet (here or at home); they keep the potty handy at all times at home...he never asks there, he just goes. Here, I cannot keep the potty out (can't imagine one of the babies playing/chewing away on it...no matter how much I disinfect after each use). So, it is in immediate view, inside a gated area just off our playroom. He just has to go to it and point or come tell me...but he has NEVER done this. Suggestions? Mom did send him in pull-ups for 3 months (meanwhile he was totally trained at home) & he just went in those all the time and never bothered with the potty here. Would the thick training underwear hold in a full on pee if I request them?

[michellesmunchkins]

I have one like that here too only she's 3.5 (will be 4 in August). If I ask her if she has to go she says no, never ever asks to use the potty just pees her pants all day. She is trained at home they tell me. She has to keep coming in pull ups here because I'm not cleaning that up all day long. I know she is peeing in her pants because she smells like urine most of the day (yuck) I have tried everything that I can think of and she just refuses...

[Wonderwiper]

Hi! No useful advice but just wanted to warn you that the thick undies will NOT hold a pee....they just hold a bit more than regular undies so they recognize being wet and hold the rest in and run to the toilet. My daughter wears them everyday.

[mimi]

No pottys here. Everyone training goes on the toilet with the kids toilet seat on. If they don't tell me they have to go, then they go on scheduled toilet visits.

[Momof4]

I think 2 1/2 is still very young to be pushed into toilet training but all children are different. It's just my experience that the more you push them the more they will fight you. But at my daycare they stay in pullups and containment until age 4 if necessary.

My method is to change the babies and then call out "Babies are changed. Potty time for big kids". That is for my 2 & 3 year old dckids. It makes them feel important and they never say no, they just head toward the bathroom.

[mom-in-alberta]

My own opinion is that if he cannot verbalize (or communicate in another manner) his need to go, and he just pees in a potty in the living room, he is NOT potty trained. He would not be wearing undies at my house. I am personally not a huge fan of the little potty, and try not to use it. I would rather put a seat on the big toilet and use a stepstool under the feet.
In any case, I would ask that Mom and Dad work further with him at home to get him to go in the bathroom, and be able to express his need to go. Until that is happening, he would be wearing a PullUp and going to the potty at designated times otherwise.

[torontokids]

Sometimes if a child is "trained at home" that just means "the parents are trained", not the child. They just take him regularly and have a routine in place so he goes for them. If he's not telling you then he may not be ready.

[playfelt]

I like to remind parents too that when a child at home says they have to pee that the parent drops whatever they are doing and gives the child their undivided attention.Life stops and waits for them to come back. At daycare if a child says they have to pee they are often put on the potty and then I walk out of the room to go back and check on other kids who continue to play on while pottying chid is gone - we don't just stop and wait. So going potty is like missing out. Although we do have a rule that the child gets the same toy saved for them till they come back it isn't the same in that they can hear but not participate from the bathroom.

[Dreamalittledream]

Yahoo! I found a solution. My playroom is down 6 or so stairs from the next level (where the closest bathroom is); so I've placed the potty at the top of these stairs (back a bit for safety, of course)...this way the babies can't get at it and he doesn't have to come get me to access the gated area. This has been working fantastic, the last 2 days no accidents at all, he just runs up the stairs when he has to go (just like my other trained ones who run up the stairs to that closest bathroom).

[Momof4]

That's great Dream! Sometimes the answer is right in front of us if we think logically or creatively. You did that!

[Robyn]

To avoid the accident issue I tell/take the child to the bathroom at predetermined times. This just became part of our routine I also change all bums at the same time (unless we get a poopy one earlier!)