Keeping 5-YO's Pants Up at the Urinal....PLEASE HELP! (punishment, teaching, parent)

[jbar]

O.K., this may seem silly...but, has anyone else had issues with getting a little boy to stand at a urinal without pulling his pants down???

Our almost 5-year-old has gone to the same preschool since he was 3 and they have urinals in the boys' restroom for the "big boys", which he is now considered to be. He is very proud of this new status and is very used to how that whole "process" works. He likes to go in the urinal...doesn't want to use the boring regular little kid toilet when this more intriguing grown-up alternative is now available to him.

However, his teacher has been telling us for a while that he has a bad habit of pulling his pants and underwear down almost to his knees while he's standing there. Sooo..basically, "everything's-a-showin while he's-a-goin."

We've worked on it...actually practiced at home over the summer...like potty training again...and he seems to do fine with it at the home toilet when he knows his urinal skills are being tested. But, he just goes right back to the old habit when the real deal's in front of him. I've asked him why he feels like he has to do it that way and he just says "I don't know"...isn't worried about it at all.

He went in a restroom with me at a restaurant a few weeks back and dropped em like that. I just pulled the backside of his shorts back up when I noticed and gently explained to him (AGAIN) that everything except the required part was supposed to stay covered up. He said "o.k." in a carefree way...but, now here we are with another note from the pre-k teacher this year and I think she believes we are ignoring the issue. We're not ignoring it, we're just stuck!

I've considered making him use the regular toilet when i'm with him out somewhere and let him know that he can use the urinal again when he's big enough to keep his pants up. But, that sounds like a punishment and I don't want to give the kid a complex or make him feel like i'm being mean. I just want to get this corrected before K-5 and "big school" starts next year. That approach wouldn't help at his pre-school when i'm not there anyway.

I read another thread on here a while back about teaching a kid to use the urinal....but that's not the issue here. He can make it happen...just not with his clothes on

As always, thanks for the advice all!

[wilsonmom3]

my 5 year olds do the same drop the pants thing....I've really never even thought about it before....gosh..one more thing to worry about !

[jbar]

Originally Posted by wilsonmom3

my 5 year olds do the same drop the pants thing....I've really never even thought about it before....gosh..one more thing to worry about !

Actually, it's as cute as can be.....and, it's probably not always a tough training issue to get past when the time comes. But in our case, the little fella just seems to have decided that this is the way he is going to do it...period.

It will become a bigger school issue when he enters K-5, but in the meantime I really don't like him showing his fanny to the whole men's room at IHOP either

It's quite the puzzle... I never knew how many little issues there were to constantly solve as a parent...hahaha. I love it though...every day's an adventure!

[TouchOfWhimsy]

My son naturally outgrew this around age 5 or 6... really, in the grand scheme of things, this is not worth worrying about. I find it odd that the teacher even said anything about it. I assumed most little boys did this until they grew out of it. *shrug*

[Jaggy001]

Relax .... do you know many kids who are still doing this at 13 or 14? He will grow out of it naturally and/or peer example will play a much stronger role than you can. I would be more concerned at why the teacher is watching them in the restroom.

[crazyma]

Maybe you could get him pants with a belt, then he will use his little trap door instead of taking time to undo the belt & pull down??

[glass_of_merlot]

Originally Posted by jbar

O.K., this may seem silly...but, has anyone else had issues with getting a little boy to stand at a urinal without pulling his pants down???

Our almost 5-year-old has gone to the same preschool since he was 3 and they have urinals in the boys' restroom for the "big boys", which he is now considered to be. He is very proud of this new status and is very used to how that whole "process" works. He likes to go in the urinal...doesn't want to use the boring regular little kid toilet when this more intriguing grown-up alternative is now available to him.

However, his teacher has been telling us for a while that he has a bad habit of pulling his pants and underwear down almost to his knees while he's standing there. Sooo..basically, "everything's-a-showin while he's-a-goin."

We've worked on it...actually practiced at home over the summer...like potty training again...and he seems to do fine with it at the home toilet when he knows his urinal skills are being tested. But, he just goes right back to the old habit when the real deal's in front of him. I've asked him why he feels like he has to do it that way and he just says "I don't know"...isn't worried about it at all.

He went in a restroom with me at a restaurant a few weeks back and dropped em like that. I just pulled the backside of his shorts back up when I noticed and gently explained to him (AGAIN) that everything except the required part was supposed to stay covered up. He said "o.k." in a carefree way...but, now here we are with another note from the pre-k teacher this year and I think she believes we are ignoring the issue. We're not ignoring it, we're just stuck!

I've considered making him use the regular toilet when i'm with him out somewhere and let him know that he can use the urinal again when he's big enough to keep his pants up. But, that sounds like a punishment and I don't want to give the kid a complex or make him feel like i'm being mean. I just want to get this corrected before K-5 and "big school" starts next year. That approach wouldn't help at his pre-school when i'm not there anyway.

I read another thread on here a while back about teaching a kid to use the urinal....but that's not the issue here. He can make it happen...just not with his clothes on

As always, thanks for the advice all!

So silly of you teacher to mention to you. Like there is nothing else to worry about. And why do schools have urinals for small children? And why does his teacher watch the kids pee? And why...never mind. Too many questions. I think it is just odd.

[Severs]

got a story to beat this one, during an school open house that my mother dragged both me and my brothers to, she made me take my younger brother to the bathroom, he was about 4 at the time, and pulled down his pants, and attempted to sit on the urinal like it was a regular toilet, looking back on it i chuckle about it, but back then i rushed him into one of the stalls hoping no one would come in at the time

[jbar]

Originally Posted by Jaggy001

Relax .... do you know many kids who are still doing this at 13 or 14? He will grow out of it naturally and/or peer example will play a much stronger role than you can. I would be more concerned at why the teacher is watching them in the restroom.

13 or 14?...man, I didn't!...I didn't even like to pull mine down at the doctor's office

I think the teacher has to go in there to keep law and order occasionally, and this is when she sees em going. She's a grandmotherly type who has been in the biz for many, many years. Actually, she worked in the church pre-school when I was going there! I don't think there's an issue in that department....but, it's a reasonable question this day in age for sure.

Glad to hear that the majority of your boys have gone through this though...I don't remember if I did as a kid or not. I don't know why his teacher is particularly concerned...it must be something she discourages them from doing and our boy just isn't changing his ways. I'll talk to her in detail about it...maybe there's more to the story that she isn't stating in detail.

[jbar]

Originally Posted by Severs

got a story to beat this one, during an school open house that my mother dragged both me and my brothers to, she made me take my younger brother to the bathroom, he was about 4 at the time, and pulled down his pants, and attempted to sit on the urinal like it was a regular toilet, looking back on it i chuckle about it, but back then i rushed him into one of the stalls hoping no one would come in at the time

Hilarious Luckily, the little urinals in their restroom go to the floor, so sitting down would be awkward