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What? Age three is okay for boys? THANK YOU! My son turns three early next month and we just started training in earnest. One problem is that he's a late talker (which according to some stuff I've read, often goes along with late potty training, I guess that's no surprise) but he does seem to be getting the idea.

And all you people who are tempted to post a reply that your son was trained by nineteen months, and it's all nonsense, boys can be trained by age one-- please don't! I don't want to hear it! :)

My two girls were trained at three and a half and three and a quarter. They also walked at a minimum of 14 months. No problems with them now. I guess it's just got to do with small motor control. There is a process that occurs to the nerves beginning at birth called myelination that covers the nerves with the Myelin sheath and allows the nerve impulses to travel along the nerves to their destination. If the sheath isn't there, the signal gets lost on the way. The nerves get myelinated from the brain outward which is why babies take so long to develop small motor control. There is speculation (by Drs. Moore and Moore, a husband/wife team of educators) that this is some of the "problem" with dyslexia. The optic nerve is among the last to be myelinated. That being said, it's just possible that the variation in kids being potty trained may simply be the result of the physical process of myelination and literally beyond their control. The book by Drs. Moore and Moore is called "Better Late than Early." Excellent reading for anyone interested in their childs' learning process.

Indeed, age 3 is OK for boys...it took both my boys till age 3 to be fully potty trained(bowel trained at about 2 1/2, and pee trained by 3...sorry for being so explicit, but at least with my boys, this is how it was)

There was a thread bout potty training on FR, more than a year ago, and when I explained when my boys were potty trained, and that it was more or less the time when they were ready, not when I was ready...I was promptly called a lot of nasty names from a bunch of pursed-lip, nosy parker, types, who thought their way of potty training was sent from God himself from Bible, straight to their ears...

Common sense should be the rule when potty training...when a child is ready, he is ready...for some that is earlier than others, the same as it is for sitting up, crawling, walking etc...all little ones have their own individual times when they are ready for a new skill, and when they are ready to master it, they will..(not saying that a 4 or 5 yr old still in diapers is acceptable, that probably indicates some real problem)...but it is hardly worth an argument to try to make the case that potty training being fully accomplished by age 18 months or 2 yrs or 3 yrs of age, is of some great consequence in a childs life...

I am on my 3rd boy! He is 2.5, and a VERY late talker, so I am not in a hurry to train him. All I do now is expose him to how other family members use the bathroom and I ask him if he will go on the potty too "when he is big." He always says yes.

My first was trickier with his "differences" (highly functioning autism) but was trained by 3.5. My second was trained AFTER his third birthday at some point.

You are doing just fine! Try the tinkle targets (baby catalogs like One Stap Ahead probably have them, or ball up some colored TP!), very fun, and after he watches Daddy do it he will want to try!

What I will never do is use pullups in the day on a regular basis. They can become a crutch. I know some kids need them at night for a while, and I can see it for long airline flights so you don't have to take too many clothing changes. But on normal days, once out of diapers, I'd use regular underpants. Good luck!!