10 Successful Potty Training Tips for Boys

5 min read

Written by Editorial Team

Editorial Team

As your child grows up, you might miss his baby talk, miss his innocence, miss his unsure steads, miss his naughtiness, and even miss how he used to drive you crazy with his stubbornness. But one this you absolutely won’t miss is cleaning his poop – from his nappy, from his pajamas, from the floor and rarely from the carpet (ouch!)!! The experience can be so unpleasant that most of us want our child to be potty trained as early as possible. So what do we do? We start training them as early as possible, we use positive reinforcement (do it in the potty and I will give you an Oreo), we use negative reinforcement (I will take away your toys if you do it in your nappy) and we try every tip anyone gives us. But potty training is not as easy as you think, you need to give it time, patience, and more importantly wait for your child to be ready.
Tips to potty train boys
If you have a boy baby, then your road ahead might be relatively more difficult than mommies with daughters – that is so because girls get potty trained faster than boys. Kids with older siblings do too! But there is nothing to worry if you have a first-born boy! Given time, and with your and your son’s consistent efforts, you can get him to potty train too.

10 Successful Potty Training Tips For Boys

Potty training is more or less similar for the both sexes, but we have tried to give few that might be more relevant for boys than girls:

    1. Time it right: The most important aspect of potty training is timing. Your son might be physically incapable of holding in his pee when he feels like doing it. There is no point forcing him to ‘hold it in’ till he reaches the toilet, if he cannot do it physically. Similarly, he might be too young to understand the concept of peeing in the toilet. If you try too hard to do it before he is physically and emotionally ready, then you will end up delaying the process. Further, even if he is ready, it is a good idea to delay the training when is not well, or if there has been some major change in his life (e.g. moving houses, changing nannies)
    2. Show by example: Kids love to imitate. So you and your partner need to show your son that you pee in the toilet! Let your boy know when you go to pee, and show him how his daddy stands to pee. He might have seen his mother or sister sitting down while peeing and could be a bit confused about this, but that is alright and no reason to worry about. It is difficult to introduce the anatomy of boys and girls and the ‘stand-to-pee-sit-to-poop’ concept. In case he is more comfortable to sit down and pee in the initial days, let him. He will slowly learn the standing tactic
    3. Buy the right potty: Your son is too small to sit on the adult commode, as you might have noticed. If he is not comfortable, then he will not want to go to toilet. So it is a good idea to invest in a potty made for children and are age specific. You could take your son for shopping so that he can choose a potty with designs that he likes (our bet is on cars ?)
    4. Make sure your boy is comfortable: Next step is to familiarize him with the potty. Put him on it for some time every day. Do not stress on potty training yet. You need to get him comfortable sitting on the potty first. Once he starts perceiving it as a ‘happy’ place to be, then you can slowly urge him to pee in it. This is a slow and a gradual process and will require your keep patience
    5. Make a routine: After timing, routine is the second most important thing in potty training. First, start with nappy-free days. Let him chose an under-pant for himself (again probably one with lots of cars!). Take him every 30 mins or so to the toilet and ask him to pee there. Once he gets used to peeing the toilet, then when he occasionally pees on his underwear (because you did not take him to toilet on time), then he will feel wet immediately, resulting in discomfort. Eventually, he will learn to not wet himself and cause that discomfort

potty training boys

  1. Be consistent: Another important thing to note is consistency. Once you start potty training, do not switch him back to diapers for any reason – such as travelling, busy day or family function. Also, if your son is preschooler, ensure the teachers and helpers in his preschool follow the same routine as you
  2. Use cartoons and story books: Thanks to technology, there are many cartoon videos that you can show to your son that will encourage potty training. There are also books available that you can read to him. However remember to use them in your free time, and not actually when the child is sitting on the potty. This is because boys are much easily distracted and they will focus too much on the songs and stories and forget the business they came to the toilet for!
  3. Reward and appreciate: We always insist on positive reinforcement in the form of rewards and appreciation to encourage positive habits. Every time he does it right, reward him. It could start with him saying he wants to pee, to him learning to pull down his pajamas alone to him learning to him having a dry night. Make it very clear that you think he is a big boy now and potty training is a huge step towards being ‘big’
  4. Be accident ready: Initially there will be many accidents, wet nappies, wet floors, wet sofas and what not! Brace yourself for this. Do not punish or scold him for accidentally wetting himself. Also do not feel the urge to move him back to diapers after looking at your laundry pile. Be patient. Eventually, your boy will understand and get used to the whole concept
  5. Progress to night-time training: Once he starts having totally dry days, then you can graduate to night time training as well. Diaper free nights are just a little effort away! Remember to limit his water intake in the night so that he wouldn’t feel the urge to pee much during his sleep. Also, protect your bed with water absorbent sheets under the bed sheet. Be prepared to take a longer time doing night-time potty training that you did for the day
Why Should You Not Push Potty Training?

Timing is exceptionally crucial for potty training a child – as getting to it too early or too late can make potty training a frustrating journey. Though it is tempting for the parents to start the training as early as possible, but early training can actually inhibit the need to pee and poop freely – which may make your baby hold the urge if a toilet is not found. Proper bladder development in children depends on the freedom to pee and poop anytime – and kids who tend to hold the urge before the age of 2 years can push the chances of bed wetting and urinary tract infections. This also increases the chances of more accidents, and accidents can hamper the training negatively. Moreover, a study has claimed that kids who are toilet trained before the age of 2 were more likely to suffer from constipation than those trained between the ages of 2 and 3 years. Potty trained kids above the age of 3 years experience constipation seven times as often.(1)
Again, delayed toilet training is a cause of concern too. Your child may not learn bladder co-ordination and control of sphincter muscles thus wetting himself frequently. This again increases the risk of infections and can have other psychological effects too. hence, time it when you are certain that your child is ready.
Got a girl? Here are some great potty training tips for girls!. What are the 5 dos and don’ts of potty training that you should know?
Good luck!

...
Editorial Team,

With a rich experience in pregnancy and parenting, our team of experts create insightful, well-curated, and easy-to-read content for our to-be-parents and parents at all stages of parenting.Read more.

Responses (0)

Please check a captcha

Want curated content sharply tailored for your exact stage of parenting?

Discover great local businesses around you for your kids.

Get regular updates, great recommendations and other right stuff at the right time.

cookie

Our site uses cookies to make your experience on this site even better. We hope you think that is sweet.