27 month old DS potty training

[disneygeek]

TIA to the moderators for allowing non Disney parenting questions. Thanks also for the very helpful responses that I always get here.

27 mo old DS has TTed in the potty about 3 times until he got a bad diaper rash. He had a bad rash and had to go around the house with no diaper. He then will ask to TT in potty. But if you put the diaper back on he no longer asks.

Do I do pullups, underwear or what? Do we still wear diapers in public?

Thanks

 

[robinb]

I made the mistake of using Pull Ups. All they do is make kids feel like they are big, but that it's OK for them to continue to go potty in their underwear . I should have used cotton training pants instead. They are soft cotton on the outside and plastic on the outside and they can be washed. You can also go to the store and let him pick out some regular undies and save the training pants for going out.

Potty training my DD was terrible! She wasn't daytime dry until almost 3 1/2 and at 4 she is not night-time dry every night. {sigh}

 

[crisi]

I am LAZY. I don't like washing those darn training pants. And pull ups - while a good inbetween from diapers to training pants - are not helpful for training. (We used them, but not for training. We used them because the kids could change themselves by about 2 1/2.)

If you are pretty certain he is ready (and both my kids could pee in the potty no problem by two - and didn't get themselves into underwear in the day until 3 1/2 - it can be instant - and it can be a LONG process), try underwear at home and training pants out. I did this SEVERAL times in the year and a half, and always gave up after cleaning up the mess left kids not yet ready in underwear after a week or so.

 

[mco-missy]

I worked in daycare for years and had the terrific two year olds! That was the class that meant potty training- at our daycare they had to be in underwear before moving into the three year old class. This all lead up to my opinion (and that's all it is!).

I always asked the parents to bring cloth underpants for their chilren. I found that pullups felt the same to them as diapers. After a few "accidents" in real underwear and feeling the wetness- they usually caught on. Of course, it did help that in the class they saw all the other kids using the potty (early peer pressure). Also helpful was that I would take each kid to the potty about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours- really didn't have a chance to have an accident. I know this is not practical at home always.

Anyway, good luck. I say keep those pullups for nap time and night time use.

 

[44disney]

I potty trained both of my kids (both at 30 months -- one boy, one girl) by telling them when I was using the last diaper and that from now on it was underwear (but I did use pullups at night ONLY, which lasted 6 mos. for my son until he was night trained and 1 mo. for my daughter). They clearly understood that diapers were no longer an option (not even at nap time) because we didn't have any more. It took one day to potty train my son and 2 to potty train my daughter, and they had only a few accidents after that.

All of my friends told me how "lucky" I was while they struggled with potty training issues, all the while either using pullups or switching back and for between underwear and pullups or diapers. Out of the group of 6 moms who I see regularly, only one did not have potty training problems, and she also did the underwear only approach.

I need to add that I tried to potty train my daughter at 24 mos but was unsuccessful because she could not figure out the mechanics of how to pee on the potty. When we tried again 6 months later that was no longer a problem.

 

[dijid]

I'm also a big fan of underpants. When we felt DD was ready (about 27 mos) we put her in underpants one weekend and after peeing on herself for a day, she got the idea. But, she recently turned 4 and is still in pull ups at night. She is an extremely sound sleeper and would pee in her bed and never wake up. Our ped said over 25% of kids still aren't night trained at 4. I really wish she wasn't in the majority...

Our DS is another story. At 24 months he clearly knew how to go potty. He can "pee on demand" and for a week even told us he had to go. But he won't do it anymore! I now believe everyone who told me boys were harder. He has his own special problems (due to some GI issues it is unlikely he will have bowel continence until 3 or 4 years of age), but I'd still like to get his trained as much as possible.

Good luck!

 

[crisi]

I don't know if boys are harder (though statistically, they do train later - but my peditrician says that the really late trainers - the power struggle kids - are often girls). My daughter was much harder than my son - in part because it became a power struggle with her that it never was with him. And in part because my daughter is a daydreamer - she was often halfway done going before she realized she had started - even standing in the middle of the living room floor naked. And she never minded being wet or soiled.

He trained late, but he is a kid who requires mastery before he does something. So he needed to be sure he wouldn't have accidents before he started.

My son goes to daycare with a girl who did not stop having regular accidents (i.e. she wasn't potty trained), until after four and a half. They had put her in underwear at three and just spent eighteen months cleaning up after her. Sometimes she did it, sometimes she didn't.

My cousin has three lovely children. The oldest (a boy) trained at two. The next (a girl) trained at eighteen months. She was an expert at this - and was certain that she had the training technique down pat. The youngest was four when she got out of diapers. None of the things that worked for the first two worked for the third - who, to top it off, was one of those that liked to smear the contents on the walls. Potty training can be a humbling experience as you realize that children do not always behave how you would like, and do not always respond the way you hoped.

 

[tinaluis]

My oldest DD was TT by 2 1/2 but still used pull-ups at night. I had no problem with the transition from pull-ups to underwear. My middle DD was a month and a half short of 3 (and we'd been trying for about 9 months) when I had my youngest DD. She came to visit the new baby in the hospital and boldly announced to me that she would no longer wear diapers because we now had a new baby to wear them. She didn't need pull-ups at night and has only had 1 accident in 2 1/2 years. My youngest DD is now 26 mos. and we're going to wait until she is about 28 mos. before we start trying because we have a trip to WDW scheduled in October and I want to wait until after that unless she really seems ready. Good luck to you all!

 

[Narcoossee]

I am still in this process myself with my 28 month old DD. But I do have one word of advise. Be sure your child is physically capable of being potty trained. Some children have slower development of their bladder tone and muscle control. This may not be fully developed until age 3 or more in some children. I have been very frustrated because my DD has given me every indication for many months that she understands and is willing to use the potty. Her bowel movements are all on the potty. But I have not been able to keep her dry. I have tried the jump from pull ups and toughing out the wet underwear/training pants. I finally figured out she physically is not yet capable of controlling her bladder ( and this is quite normal). So we are doing pull-ups with regular opportunities to pee on the potty ( she does go when I put her on) until she gives me some physical indications that she is able to control her bladder better. I am watching for longer periods of time with a dry pull up and/or waking up dry from naps and night time sleep. Right now she could be totally soaked and placed in dry underwear and within 20 minutes ( or less) she is damp again. There is no sense in pushing something that is impossible.

 

[catherines_mama]

As you said, when DS is in a diaper he will not ask to go TT. So.. I say.. Cotton undies! Take him and let him pick out his favorite character so he is a big boy. DD had 2 accidents in her cotton undies and that was the end of that. She hated messing up her undies (they aren't that bad to wash either), and was pretty trained from there. Her BD is 4/6/01, and she is still a diaper kid at bedtime, although she will survive a nap in undies. I only use pull-ups if we are doing a trip out in public where potties are scarce (ie parades or fairs where they only have port-a-potties) or long car trips (you never know how far til the next decent restroom).

We JUST got to where she will BM in the potty. For weeks I was cleaning -yunk- dirty panties. But, she figured it out and we are all undies when awake.

Just go with the flow and DS will be trained in no time. JMHO.. anything absorbant is a waste of $$.

Good luck!

 

[The Disney Bunch]

Our girls were on their way to being TT, then we went on vacation to WDW - For being a place with alot of children - ir is not that kid-friendly. It was a struggle to have them try to use the big toilets - the tiny kid sized toilets were only to be found in the baby centers which seem to only be located at the entrance of each park - Why can't there be more baby centers throughout he park and at least one kid sized toilet in each of the rest areas? It would be so much easier! well - that is my vent for the day! Thanks!

 

[wuv tigger]

robinB: Do we have the same DD? Sure sounds like my DD1.

We don't use pull ups in the house. My DD will wet in them every time. We used them for car travel > 1 hour & will plan on using them for the trip to a family reunion this weekend.

BUT she will be in panties for the time at the park.

Not sure what we will do while flying in 3+ weeks to WDW.

Any tips?

{Edited to correct spelling errors)

 

[swilphil]

Disney Geek--

That's great that your son will tell you when he has to go. That is a major hurdle that my 3 yo hasn't quite gotten over. Here is a link to a board on potty training:

http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-pppotty?redirCnt=1

I've seen several posts there and other places about using a timer and naked training for a while where the kids run around naked. That helps them feel when they have to go, like your son did.

Good luck!!

 

[TampaDeDe]

We don't use pull ups in the house. My DD will wet in them every time. We used them for car travel > 1 hour & will plan on using them for the trip to a family reunion this weekend.

BUT she will be in panties for the time at the park.

Not sure what we will do while flying in 3+ weeks to WDW.

Any tips?


We go often with our 3 year old DGS. We went through the whole potty training visiting the parks often. I can offer a few tips:

The bathrooms are large, LOUD, and scary to little ones

1.Look for "Mickey's Private Bathrooms". Also known as Companion Bathrooms. Private and quiet. These are handicapped bathrooms so don't abuse this and only use them if necessary.

2. Also look for the smaller bathrooms in out of the way places. There are often small bathrooms in smaller resturants. Two good ones are the Yakatori House in EPCOT and the Columbia Harbor House in MK.

3. Ask a CM where the manual flush toliets are. Many kids are VERY scared by the autoflush. Our DGS hates them!

4. Take them to the potty OFTEN even if they say they don't have to go. They get too excited and you will end up having to leave a line or having an accident.

5.We carry our DGS potty seat with us in a two gallon zip lock bag. It adds a comfort level for him. We clean it with disinfecting wipes after use.

Enjoy your trip!