There seems to be a view that boys are more difficult to potty train than girls and that they need more assistance. No doubt if you have boys then you will have heard your friends talk about how their daughters just seemed to train themselves! While in many instances it doesn't help to generalize about children, it is true that girls often seem to be more motivated to use the potty and stop wearing diapers. Whether that is because they are more aware of what they wear than boys or they are more in tune with their own bodies is unclear. Both probably play some part in getting them on the potty track and sooner. But for every mother of a girl that says it was easy, there are other mothers of girls who say it wasn't. The bottom line is that there are no guarantees either way and rather than looking across at envy at your friends whose children have leapt the potty training divide, you just need to deal with the situation in front of you.

To begin with try looking at potty training from your son's perspective. A child will decide in their own sweet time when they are ready to potty train and there isn't much point in pushing them into it if they really don't want to. If you try to force it, you will probably just cause more problems in the long run. As I'm sure you already know toddlers can be very stubborn especially if they know that you really want them to do something and may decide to dig their heels in and not do whatever it is you want them to do. The secret is to work with your child's personality and motivate them in a way that works for them.

To help with potty training a boy, manufacturers have marketed many devices over the years. One idea to help in potty training a boy is floatable targets. These basically are circles, or targets, usually made of paper that you can put into the toilet. They will float on the surface of the water, and your son can aim at them so that he will know exactly where he is supposed to go to the bathroom.

Cheerios can be used to help with potty training your son. Basically you can use Cheerios as a cheaper version of the purchased floating targets. Drop a Cheerio in your toilet and have your child aim at it. Although they are smaller than the special floating targets, you're much more likely to have Cheerios around on a daily basis.

You can also use torn up pieces of toilet paper. This is a good substitute for those times when you are away from home.

The other thing that works well is to let him go to the toilet with his father and then emphasize to him that that is how grown up boys go to the toilet.

Potty training a boy doesn't have to be difficult. Begin training your son when he shows some interest in using the toilet.