Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Child Behavior  (Expert Forum)
 | 
potty training a 4 year old
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development

potty training a 4 year old

by moose4me, Sep 12, 2009 02:11PM
I have a 4.5 year old boy.  He is my third child.  At 3 he went into underwear with interest in using the toilet but inconsistent success, perfectly acceptable and normal.  It took him about 6 months to master peeing on the toilet with accidents only when access to a bathroom was difficult and he really had to go.  It took about 15 months for him to master getting to the toilet for pooping, we crossed that hurdle this past summer.  Now that we are comfortable that he knows how to use the toilet, feels comfortable with a toilet and he knows when he has to go we are back to frequent urine accidents.  The two typical scenarios are:  1.  The pee starts and then he runs to the bathroom leaving enough pee in his clothes that he needs to change.  2.  He is holding/putting off pooping such that he can't hold the urine, too.  The first scenario obviously occurs when he is engrossed in something else, playing, a tv show, etc.  We have done rewards, punishments, charts, prizes, etc for 18 months - he just doesn't seem motivated, if we didn't say anything he could care less that his pants are wet.  He will be back at preschool next week - how do we get past this hurdle?  It is so frustrating and exhausting.  Help  :0

by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Sep 12, 2009 08:23PM
At this point he is clearly ready to complete the toilet training process. Make some favored daily pursuit contingent on his using the bathroom. It's OK now to set firm limits on this.
Continue discussion
RSS Expert Activity
Snoring As Your Internal Smoke Alar...
Nov 22 by Steven Y Park, MD
Raw Pet Food Diets: Common Sense
Nov 21 by Arnold L Goldman, D.V.M.
Long-term Nasal Saline Irrigation: ...
Nov 20 by Steven Y Park, MD