Question
I trained my 16mo old daughter using toilet training without tantrums and it was a huge success. She caught on very quickly despite being non verbal at the time. I was expecting a similar experience with my son (who is 18mo next week) but we are on day 8 of training with almost no progress and I am getting discouraged.
He only has 1-2 accidents a day, which is not a result of potty training (he only wet diapers about that much prior to training). I have tried to get him to drink more so more urine is produced and there are more opportunities for teaching but alas, you can't force a kid to drink who isn't thirsty. Anyway, I have been using the potty bell, but I am unable to get him to sit on the potty for more than 5 seconds without providing some sort of entertainment (which I know is a big no-no). He is not mature enough to understand the concept of the doctor and I'm afraid he wouldn't understand the gate either ("you're stuck in here until you pee or poop on the potty"). I also wonder how the gate can be used without making potty training a battle. It seems like it would just increase anxiety/frustration in both of us!
Any other suggestions for getting him to sit on the potty long enough to actually pee?
And at what point would you give up and say "let's try this again in a few months!"? My mom is convinced based on her experiences that potty training shouldn't take more than a week or two and if it does, it's better to wait a few months because the work/reward ratio is off. I'm having twins in 2-3mo and I really wanted him trained by then though!
