How to Potty Train a Resistant Child

No, you're not alone when you see your child looking helplessly up at you while he's standing in the middle of the grocery store in a puddle of urine. Most moms have experienced this more than once. However, if your child seems to refuse to be potty trained, there may be an underlying cause.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Determine if your child is ready for potty training. If he's too young, he may refuse to use the potty. If this happens, give him a few more months, and start over.
2. Offer him a small potty chair. The adult toilet may seem intimidating for a small child.
3. Turn the responsibility of using the potty over to your child. Maybe if he has nothing to resist, he'll stop fighting you.
4. Replace his transitional diapers with cloth underwear of his choosing. This can be messy, but he'll be less likely to poop or pee on his favorite superhero.
5. Allow him to decide when he needs to go potty, and stop reminding him constantly. He knows what the urge to go to the bathroom feels like.
6. Give him positive feedback when he does use the potty, and reward him for not going in his pants for a day.

Tips & Warnings

• A healthy child older than 30 months who hasn't responded to toilet training may be resisting it and perhaps challenging you to a power struggle.
• It is perfectly normal for a child who is potty trained by day to have accidents at night for a while. You may need to use pull-ups until your child can make it through the night dry.
• Lecturing your child too much could cause him to resist using the potty.
• Don't punish your child for doing a bowel movement in his pants.
• Your child may become constipated if he holds back his bowel movements.
• If your child still resists potty training after three months, talk to his doctor about possible physical problems.
• Don't put the child back in diapers after he's in underwear if he's over 2 years old, this may confuse him.