Poll: 4 year-old male 100% potty trained?

[Luxuriate]

I have posted before. Previously, we took a cruise with our little boy only two weeks after turning three years-old. He definitely was not 100% potty trained and could not use the kid's program. I would like to know, from experienced parents with BOYS, if being 4 years and 2 months I can expect NO ACCIDENTS?

 

We are booked in January 2009 on the Celebrity Constellation for a 10 night cruise and I would REALLY like to have my son utilize the kid's program. What do you think my chances are? Be brutal. I can take it. If you don't think it is going to work ( I mean 100% potty trained) please let me know. I will make different plans. Now is the time to tell me the truth.

 

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

[Baxter]

I have a step-son who was not 100% trained by 4. All feedback received, solicited and otherwise, was that he was an anomolie and should have been fully trained by then. So I'd say there's definite hope!

[Nebr.cruiser]

I think it's very likely that MOST 4 year old boys will be completely potty trained during the day. At night is not so certain, but that wouldn't keep him out of the kid's club anyway.

 

My two sons and three grandsons were completely trained at 4; one had nighttime wetting problems for several years. One of the boys trained very late, at 3 years and 3 months, but never had an accident after he was trained.

 

Good luck! You should be good to go.

[bnsheegirl]

Ok, brutally honest, I don't think anyone can expect a child that age, boy or girl to have 100% no accidents.

 

My son, who is 14 now, was fully potty trained by the time he was 3 years old, but when he was excited, or distracted, etc. he would occasionally have accidents up until he was 5 years old, same with my daughter and that's just just normal for a kid who is too busy having fun and doesn't want to go to the bathroom and maybe miss out something or maybe they wait too long to make it.

 

I think you chances are good for using the kids program. Most boys, in my experience are potty trained by that age with limited accidents. I would think that the Camp Carnival staff are used to the occasional accident.

 

Good luck!

[RCCLismyfav1]

I have a son who is now older and he was potty trained by 20 months. He would have night time accidents it seemed when the seasons changed. :confused:

As long as I stayed on top of it and always took him to the restroom all was fine but there were times when he was busy playing that he would forget and not make it in time.

Just keep reminding him and adn don't wait until he tells you as some don't until it's too late. I think if you stay with it, monitor what he drinks and you should be fine. My, what I would'nt give to have those worries again:) , time does fly by so enjoy these days with your little one...They are so precious! :p

[shellie100]

Different food, crazy schedule, strange bathrooms...you just never know when you travel. Coincidentally, my nephews are over for the evening and my 4-1/2 yr old son just had an accident! He was so excited and having fun playing that he just didn't break away from playing to make it to the toilet in time. And he's been potty trained for two years. So, 100%, no. But I think your boy will probably be fine on your proposed cruise. He'll get one strike and then he's out. I would probably take the chance. Fortunately, if he was stuck with you for a couple of evenings he'd be old enough to probably be fine watching a show or whatever. But if you're not OK with the small possibility that he gets kicked out (or refuses to go), don't book it.

[medianeh]

My son (who will be 4 in April), has been fully potty trained since he was 3 yrs and 4 mo. He has never had one accident - ever. Not even at night. Geez, maybe I'm just lucky, BUT I say it CAN be done!! :D

[Paleochick]

I have posted before. Previously, we took a cruise with our little boy only two weeks after turning three years-old. He definitely was not 100% potty trained and could not use the kid's program. I would like to know, from experienced parents with BOYS, if being 4 years and 2 months I can expect NO ACCIDENTS?

 

We are booked in January 2009 on the Celebrity Constellation for a 10 night cruise and I would REALLY like to have my son utilize the kid's program. What do you think my chances are? Be brutal. I can take it. If you don't think it is going to work ( I mean 100% potty trained) please let me know. I will make different plans. Now is the time to tell me the truth.

 

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

 

My ds will be 4 in less than 2 months. He's completely potty trained, day and night.

[tricialee]

We cruised when DS was 3 yrs 9 months. He was potty trained except for at night (wore a pull up). He never had an accident at AO for the whole week. He was not having daytime accidents at home anymore either.

 

OTOH, we were seated in the dining room with a family that had a 4.5 yr old boy. He had been fully trained for over 1 year. He had 3 accidents at AO and was subsequently asked not to return.

 

You just never know.

[6rugrats]

There is no way in the world someone can definatively answer this question for you! Some kids will never have an accident, boys or girls, and some kids will.

 

You will just have to wait and find out.

[Angel59920]

I can't really help you there, my son was fully potty trained before he was 2 years old. He never had any accidents or wet the bed. My friends son was 4 yrs old and he still didn't even use the potty. Good luck to you with that.

[cruisead]

Our boys were completely trained by the age of two, with no accidents day or night. Our pediatrician has said that he feels the worst thing for potty training is disposible diapers and pull ups. They keep the kids so dry feeling that there's no incentive to get out of the diapers because they don't have that nasty wet feeling. I don't know how I feel about that, but I guess it makes some sense. But our guys were ready to leave the "baby stuff" when they were 2. Since they were so close in age, I know I didn't want to be changing diapers on all of them at age 3 or 4.

[clansac]

My son is 4 1/2, has been day trained since he was 2 and hasn't had an accident since the day he put on underwear (if he was awake). At the rate we're going, he won't be night trained until he's 6 or 7. He sleeps like a rock.

 

It totally depends on the kid, how long they've been trained and how good they are at interrupting what they're doing to go to the bathroom. My son would be mortally embarassed if he had an accident- he hates to get water on his pants in case someone thinks he peed. So it's a huge priority for him. other kids, not so much.

[Yungs]

OTOH, we were seated in the dining room with a family that had a 4.5 yr old boy. He had been fully trained for over 1 year. He had 3 accidents at AO and was subsequently asked not to return.

 

That seems a little bit mean - I didn't realize that they would do that! I have a 3 yr old boy who is still having accidents, does anyone know what our chances of being evicted from Princess Pelicans are? Do they allow the use of Huggies Pull-ups?

[EditorMom]

It's impossible for anyone other than a parent to know whether a given child is truly potty-trained or not. Certainly, I thought my son would be potty trained by 4.

 

Then he turned out to be autistic. Now he's 4 1/2 and, after 2 years of hard work on everyone's part, is still nowhere close, at least when it comes to staying "clean." (Staying dry, for some reason, is quite easy for him).

 

One odd thing to me is how many cruise lines require that children be completely able to handle all aspects of going to the bathroom -- including the handwashing -- without supervision. In my opinion, no one should EVER trust ANY child under about age 7 to adequately wash his/her hands. By refusing to supervise this, the cruise lines are actually INCREASING the risk of norovirus or other viral or bacterial outbreaks. Someone really wasn't thinking that one through!

[shellie100]

That seems a little bit mean - I didn't realize that they would do that! I have a 3 yr old boy who is still having accidents, does anyone know what our chances of being evicted from Princess Pelicans are? Do they allow the use of Huggies Pull-ups?

 

 

If your 3-yr-old is having accidents he will probably be kicked out of the kids club. I don't know how many chances you will get on Princess. I'm not sure about Princess but I can tell you that neither Royal Caribbean or Celebrity allowed pull-ups, even during the late night babysitting.

[Fogfog]

I have posted before. Previously, we took a cruise with our little boy only two weeks after turning three years-old. He definitely was not 100% potty trained and could not use the kid's program. I would like to know, from experienced parents with BOYS, if being 4 years and 2 months I can expect NO ACCIDENTS?

 

We are booked in January 2009 on the Celebrity Constellation for a 10 night cruise and I would REALLY like to have my son utilize the kid's program. What do you think my chances are? Be brutal. I can take it. If you don't think it is going to work ( I mean 100% potty trained) please let me know. I will make different plans. Now is the time to tell me the truth.

 

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

 

 

Yes -- You can pretty much expect no accidents.

 

Our boys stopped having accidents after about 3 yrs/2ms

(We have boys--now ages 11 and 14)

 

One waited until he was a month shy of 3 (2yrs/11mos) and was fully trained in about 2 weeks...day and night. No accidents.

 

One was 3 yrs 2 mos and was fullly trained. No accidents.

 

4 is a very reasonable expectation...

[s318830]

I have no idea whether or not your child will be 100% potty trained by the cruise. All I can answer is your question... is it possible? Yes.

 

My son is 3.5 and we're working on the last stages of being 100% potty trained right now. He goes by himself without a problem. The "last stages" are wiping himself and putting his pants back on after pooping. He's doing really well with it, and I don't anticipate any problems. He does occasionally forget to hold his shirt up, so he occasionally pees on it, but that's rare. So I expect to be able to put him in the kids' program with little problem.

 

Good luck!

[Dr_DNA]

We cruised when our son was 3 1/2. He had had very few accidents before our cruise (maybe 3 or 4) and we considered him to be 100% potty trained because he told us when he needed to go and did so. The one thing that we were very surprised to learn was that the staff could not help him in any way whatsoever, including snapping his pants. We were a bit surprised about that so we made adjustments. We dressed him in clothes that were easy to pull up (no snaps), requested a beeper and left instructions that if he needed to poop, then they should beep us so that we could help him out. That worked out OK (but wouldn't on port days) but a couple of times he came back with his underware on in a weird bunch. We're working some of the extra's of potty training now (like properly pulling up underware) so that there won't be any problems on our next cruise (when he is just over 4). However, I think that kids need help with their bum until they are quite old so I don't know exactly how we'll prepare for that. I'd say plan on readjusting your schedule a bit to include bathroom visits and have fun. That is better than not going in my opinion. Good Luck!

[BethCarp]

You know all of us here could say with 100% certainty that our kids were all potty trained by then, but that doesn't mean yours will. It's very very likely that he will though. My first was potty trained completely (day and night) at 3years and 2 months. Not one accident since. My younger son was completely day trained by 3 years. He's almost 3-1/2 and is mostly night trained now. He had no accidents on our cruise, but he did just have one over the weekend (right in front of the toilet, just couldn't make it on time).

 

Even though he was potty trained, he still refused to go to the kids clubs thoguh. At least he got to enjoy the pools. OP, I really wouldn't worry about it. By 4 he should be ready. Other things could still prevent his use of the clubs. You just will never know. I wouldn't really worry about it now.

[TropicalSnowflake]

It is very likely that he will be trained, but accident-free? That really can not be answered at any age. I peed my pants frequently during my last pregnancy :D. But, seriously, a stressful or unfamiliar situation could cause an accident for any "100%-trained" child.

 

I would off this advice...if he seems ready and trained, go ahead and book your cruise. Just expect the unexpected and keep his bathroom visits frequent and ask often how he is doing. Don't ignore his "I have to go potty" body signals, like pacing or hopping around urgently. Stay tuned to him--not just with bathroom visits, but with every aspect of the cruise.

 

And have a backup plan and sense of humor if he does get kicked out of the kids club for accidents. Don't feel like you are a bad parent or he's a delinquent for being asked to not return. They have strict rules for a reason that favors the cruise line not getting sued--not the guest trying to have a relaxing moment without their child..

 

Always remember that YOU know what is best for your kid.

[Eclipsepearl]

I think it's a safe bet that he'll be ready. I agree with the other pp's, there are no guarentees in life but I think your bets are well-placed by then.

 

I had a late-trained boy myself so I know what it feels like. Boys tend to wake up one day trained. Diapers one day, underware the next. With my two girls, it was a longer, albeit earlier project.

 

What I wanted to add was that we were also on Celebrity last summer, the Galaxy. My very-trained dd had an accident one of the first days, her first in months and months. They could see that she was just hesitant to use the toilet, not sure where it was, etc. They actually told me that everything was fine and there was no talk of her not coming back. They made it clear that they were aware that it was a one-off incident and that they knew that she is normally trained.

 

She went to the club every day for the rest of our 10 day cruise and never had another accident. I have to also add that this was high-season summer when the club was full. They could have used it as an excuse to lessen their numbers but they didn't. In January, he'll have a lot more individual attention and the staff will be less stressed. Good timing!

 

When you first arrive in the kids' club, do what I wish I had done. Take him yourself. Show him where it is and how to use it. Just make sure he's clear about this and I'm sure you wont have any accidents.

 

So relax. They don't go by 100% either, even if they say they do. They can tell a "truly" trained child from one who's pushing it.

[pms4104]

You have over a year to work on toilet training your son before your next cruise. Guessing if you and he were to focuse on the issue, he'd be fully trained within the next couple of months at the outside. Has your pediatrician indicated whether there's any reason, physical or otherwise, that precludes full toilet training in the immediate future?

 

The OP asked for candid opinions, brutal or otherwise ... so please don't flame me for wondering why a child 4+ years wouldn't be fully trained. After that cruise, it's only some 7 months til kindergarten, and I'm guessing toilet training would be a pre-requisite for enrollment for all but challenged children.

[BethCarp]

 

The OP asked for candid opinions, brutal or otherwise ... so please don't flame me for wondering why a child 4+ years wouldn't be fully trained. After that cruise, it's only some 7 months til kindergarten, and I'm guessing toilet training would be a pre-requisite for enrollment for all but challenged children.

 

I think the OP is just thinking in terms of worst possible scenario. That age isn't even close to borderline for potty training age, so I don't think she has anything to worry about. Odds are in her favor.

[merela]

You can avoid all potty problems by limiting liquid intake before he enters the kids' club and/or by taking him to the bathroom before he enters the kids club. Boys that age need to be reminded to go to the bathroom. Most of the accident happens because they don't make it to the bathroom in time.

 

At 4, usually the accident happens at night. My son can make it through the night if 1) I don't give him anything to drink 1 hour before bed time, and 2) I make sure he goes to the potty before he goes to bed. Some parents would take the kids to the bathroom just before they go to bed, usually 2-3 hours after the kids hit the sack.

 

If you are worrying about poopy stuff, the kids are pretty regular. Just make sure they do their #2 before you send them off to the kids club, when you think it's time for him to do #2. Most boys at 4 aren't very good at wiping themselves yet.

 

Also, very important to show your son where the potty is and how to use it. Remind him not to wait until last minute to look for the bathroom. 4YO boys are more like 3YOs, so they are really not responsible for their actions.

 

Since the kids' club is only in session every 3 hours (9-12, 2-5, 7-10), most kids will be fine potty-wise.