potty training

Finally, a dad has invented a stand-up child-size urinal for toilet training little boys. The inventor, Scott Rote, is a dad who easily toilet trained two little girls but was hesitant about the upcoming battle he might go through with his third child – a boy.

We started our potty-training adventure when our son was just 13-mos-old. For the first two months, he was quite the trooper, or shall I say pooper. Then, without warning, he refused to sit on the kiddie-sized toilet. When I say he refused...he really refused. He would say, "No." When we replied with, "let's just sit for a minute," he would arch his back and scream, "NO!"

Our pediatrician was of the mind that we should not force him. The books say the same thing.

When we began our potty-training journey a few weeks back, my son and I started with the adult-sized toilet. For those of you who are about to begin this journey...don't start with this toilet. We had some success, however, despite his screams as I placed his bottom on the cold, white seat. My mom suggested that I purchase a kiddy toilet, intimating that he might be afraid of the larger one. I stepped back, looked at the giant and realized that our super flusher toilet is rather ominous. It's tall, contains water that briefly disappears and sometimes smells. Hmmm. Okay.

As a stay-at-home dad, I have a few hours each day when I can jump online and connect with the world. One of my favorite spots, including this site, is AtHomeDad.org. Here I am able to discuss issues relavent to parenting (e.g., dynamics of play dates, eating (or not)), or issues relevant to stay-at-home dads. Well, I happened to come across a posting last week entitled, "distress on the changing table." Essentially, dad was having a hard time with a rambunctious child. Many of us chimed in with advice; yet, one post struck me the most.

Are you looking for a reliable source of information about your family's health?

The American Academy of Family Physicians publishes a helpful website called familydoctor.org.

Specialists agree that very few children are completely potty trained when starting before the age of three; and kids trained before age two usually regress sometimes before the age of five. Many experts define complete potty training as the ability for child to go to bed in regular cloth underwear and wake up dry eight hours later.