Potty Training = Not so Good

I never, ever, ever thought that we would not be done potty training Little Bear by now. He 3 years and 3 months old, and he started showing an interest right around age 2. That's over a year we've been at this thing. Every time I sit him on the potty, he's ready to get right back down because he's bored. I make him sit there for a while, but he won't go. Then, of course, he goes in his diaper, pull-up, underwear (I've tried them all) right after that. He really doesn't care if he walks around in a wet or dirty diaper, pull-up, or underwear. He doesn't tell mommy before or after he goes, even though he knows he's going to get in trouble. The cold shower thing – miserable during the experience, but he forgets all too quickly the next time. I've read everything, asked everybody, and tried all of it, but nothing's working.

You know what's sad? After a year of this, I finally realized that this is not something I have prayed about. God knows what it is that will help Little Bear “get it”. But I haven't asked Him for wisdom. I haven't asked him to help Little Bear understand and be willing to stop playing long enough to tell mommy he needs to go potty.

That's going to change. This will be on my prayer list now, and I will wait for answers from the Lord.

Update: Jan. 2018.  After many more years of experience on this topic, I wrote a post called “What to do when potty training is not working.”

I could have saved myself a lot of stress if I had known then what I know now.