Little ones on the Potty

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Hey - DD2 is potty trained, and very good about it - a little to good? She goes about every 30-45 minutes all day, every day. Now, I am the one who started the Loosing Weight For Mickey thread, so I need the excercise, but is that normal? I mean, she has bottles throughout the day... like one sometimes two milk bottles in the morning between 5.30 am and 11.30, then one to two juice bottles with lunch and in the afternoon, spaced out pretty well. She is only 2, will be 3 in a few weeks... do all kids go this often? Should I give her less fluids? When I try to slow down her bottle intake, she doesn't take it well! When I tell her to hold it for a minutes with going to the bathroom, she starts yelling that she can't, though if we go out, she has the ability to hold it for hours on end since she totally refuses to go in public restrooms. Tell me what you think!

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[Karel]

She's two, potty trained and still has a bottle?

That sounds like a lot to drink. How about just a glass of milk at meals or snack?

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Sorry, I just call it a bottle, but its not really. Its one of those... I don't know what you call it, it has a cap and a straw pops up. No no no, not a baby bottle at all. I'm trying to do the drink with meals only, but kids get thursty.... maybe I am just over hydrating her, I don't know!

 

[minkydog]

I think I would start substituting some of that juice & milk for water. If she's really thirsty, you'll know. If she just likes to drink her calories you need to put a stop to that. I suspect some of the frequent pottying is due to all the liquids, but if she needs to go she needs to go. Is she having any symptoms of illness? losing weight? eating constantly? having tummy aches? If so,i'd have taht checked out by your ped.

 

[PrincessPAC]

Ummm, I'm not trying to intrude or hijack your thread. But please count yourself lucky! DD is 3 1/2 & refuses to be potty trained. Well, she has a kind of modified potty training schedule that she's designed herself.

She will always "do #2" in the potty, but other than that, she will only occasionally do anything else. Some people say that she just might not be ready, but if you knew her & her stubborn personality, you would know that she is refusing to use the potty b/c she knows its something that she can control & that it's something that drives me nuts! (She is extremely manipulative & is almost brilliant when it comes to "not" doing what you want her to.)

Sometimes, she'll yell for me to come to bathroom & say that she's going to pee, so I'll get all excited & try to encourage her & let her know how proud I am of her, etc., etc. Then she'll stand IN FRONT OF the toilet & pee in her panties!!!! Then she takes off her panties, throws them down & runs off laughing. (Both of my boys were potty trained in a week - no problems at all - except at night, when we used pull ups.)

But, sometimes she'll go all day using the potty, so I don't know.

To address your OP, though, that does sound like a lot of liquid. That's one thing my mom pointed out to me. She thought that maybe she had to go too often b/c she drank so much juice & water. So far, cutting down on liquids hasn't worked extremely well for me (but, at this point I don't know what will....), but it's just something for you to think about.

I just wanted to let you know how jealous I was of you!

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Yeah, I have to say that it is probally the liquids! I really like the idea of no more juice - just make it water. If shes anything like me, she will only drink it if shes dying of thurst, because I HATE water! So I think starting tomorrow, milk in the morning, and water for the rest of the day.
And to address the medical problems... she doesn't have any. Other than the fact that she is eating an awfull lot lately, but I think shes just going though a growth spurt.
Thanks for all the help girls!

 

[Karel]

Sorry, I just call it a bottle, but its not really. Its one of those... I don't know what you call it, it has a cap and a straw pops up. No no no, not a baby bottle at all. I'm trying to do the drink with meals only, but kids get thursty.... maybe I am just over hydrating her, I don't know!

Oh, ok, I know those. Like a sippy cup but with a straw.

My kids were never thirsty kids and never drank a lot. I had two night time bed wetters so drinks were limited, especially after dinner. I'm still in the habit of pouring only half a glass and they are all teenagers!

I would try cutting down between meals and use a open cup at meal time. I know an open cup can get messy but it is good practice. Just pour a little liquid at a time. Then she can have a closed cup between meals if she really is thirsty (so you know she's getting enough).

I wouldn't deny her a drink but wait till she asks. It does sound like a lot of potty time. Is that her way of saying I need attention from Mommy?

When I worked in a 3 year old preschool, we had potty time twice in three hour time span.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Sounds like she is praticing her new skill!!She is proud and likes to go and reasure herself that she can do this. Do not worry. I agree to give her water more than juice or to dilute the juice but I really would not try to limit her drinks too much. Sounds like you did great in training her.

BTW- She is absolutly adorable!

 

[becca011906]

I agree with diluting it little by little so she will be more open to the water... don't do it cold turkey it's recipe for melt down!!! also how much do thoe cups hold??? A serving size for a 2 year old or 3 year old is only 4-6 oz. of milk 3 times a day and juice only 1 times a day. and the juice can be taken out if the child eats foods with vit C in it that way you get less sugar as well. I work for WIC so often hear a cup and usally it's 8-10 oz. which is an adult serving.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Yeah, they are pretty big cups. I know they hold more than a regular baby bottle, but not exactly sure how much more. I've never given my kids straight juice however - it is always 1/4 juice 3/4 water. They only time they get true juice is over friends houses and they hand out juice boxes. I am prob not going to go "cold turkey" with water, just less juice now, and even more water. She will whine and complain for a day or so, then get over it. We have Dr appts for both my girls in about a week or two, so I'll discuss everything with the dr. then. A lot of it is me just being lazy - I have to go up 1.5 flight of stairs every time she wants to go!!!

 

[GoinToDisney]

I wouldn't cut back on her fluids either. My dd gets about 4-6 oz of juice per day mixed with mostly water and about 16 oz of milk. If she has eaten well and wants a little extra milk one day, I won't make a fuss over it. Then at night she can have water in her bed. We do not do drinks only at meals. I drink water all day, so how can I take it away from her? I am going to have to limit at bedtime, but I feel bad saying you can't drink as much as you want. It's more healthy to sip on fluids all day anyhow.

My dd was the same way as your's at first, and I can say it's a passing phase. She now goes much longer. However, if she happens to drink 6 or so ounces right down relatively quickly, you can bet that she will have to go soon. I didn't eve have stairs to worry about, and I couldn't wait until she learned to hold it longer. It took a few months, but she eventually learned.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

So yesterday I only gave her one milk bottle in the morning, a juice bottle with lunch and a bottle after dinner and she went to the bathroom the most of any day!!! I swear, it was like every 30-45 minutes! I mean, each time she goes its a pretty good amount, and almost every time she did a little poopie (sorry if TMI) every time as well, but it seemed like an awful lot to me. Can't wait for that Drs appointment! I don't think its anything medical, but a little frustrating.

 

[TheRatPack]

Our youngest son was potty trained at 2 and he went all the TIME! Our first trip to Disney with him potty trained was sooo hectic LOL You want them to use the potty, but why oh why do you have to get up each and every meal, get out of line at rides...etc to go to the potty. He's actually gotten so much better though as time has went on. He goes atleast 2 hours now...sometimes more without going. He just turned 3 in December 07, so give it some time

Oh and he drinks all day too. I fill up a straw sippy with ice water every morning after breakfast (he drinks milk at breakfast) and he sips on it till lunch. Then for lunch he'll have water and then sip on more till dinner and then again he'll have more at dinner. Rarely do they get juice, because we eat a lot of fruit so adding juice = diarrhea

Oh and everytime he goes he poops a little too...LOL I guess he thinks while he's sitting there he might as well push.

 

[bumbershoot]

When she was in dipes, did she go little bits all day long, too? I figure you used disposable diapers (or you would have mentioned the cloth, LOL), and I know it's really hard to tell with those, but it might just be the way she is.

As for drinking all day long...my guy still nurses, and when he was 2 he had milky snacks all day long. I figure, if it's normal for a nursing toddler to do that, it's certainly not abnormal for a non-nursing toddler to do that! In fact I think it's pretty normal for them to want that sort of food-and-drink (in the same mouthful!). And when you're drinking a lot, you're going to get rid of it a lot.

She probably won't get any bladder infections, since she's not hurting herself by holding it, so that's good.

Now, when she goes does she go all the way to a bathroom (you mentioned getting exercise)? When we had two stories in our house we had two of those baby bjorn little potties, one for each story. So there were the toilets and the potties; the potties were out in more public spaces like the living room, and right next to the family bed so I didn't have to go very far.

It also helped him become really independent with the potty, b/c he knew I was right there in case of trouble!

My friend thought I was nuts, that he'd end up ONLY being able to pee in the living room, but it didn't cause that at all. In fact he'll use any restroom as long as its clean (made for problems at my dad's b/c their bathroom is naaaasty, and we had to carry DS in there kicking and screaming embarrassing things).

 

[AMaloy314]

I don't want to be the downer on this thread, but if it continues, I would absolutely mention it to your pediatrician. If there is a history of diabetes in your families, I would call now. Often thirst and frequent urination is the only symptom that a parent will notice before a child is diagnosed with diabetes. I agree that it is probably just normal behavior for a newly potty trained little one, but keep an eye on it just the same.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I would also suggest mentioning it to the pedi as it could (rare but could be) symptoms of diabetes. We only let DD drink with meals (unless we are outside in the heat and then it's water). We never let her have juice unless it's a treat (like a juice box at a bday party). If you start cutting her back to drinks only a meal times and no juice...you might notice a difference.

 

[logansmummy]

OK this takes it all. 2 years ago my DS(now 4) was then 2 and we were potty training him, and let me tell you it was BRUTAL!! He got the pee thing from the beginning, however the #2 thing was taking forever and he just refused to go in the potty. We were really desperate to make sure this would be over before our trip to the lovely WDW however, it didn't happen... Well on our landing at the Orlando Airport, my husband was begging "Buddy please go on the potty" "Do you got to go potty?" NO DADDY!!!! Well we went to the hotel and dropped the bags, and went straight to the MK. We went in rented our stroller and got drinks and a snack and wanted to just go for a walk and take it all in....... It was time to ask the dreaded question, "Buddy do you have to go potty?" "I think I might go pee mumma" Well we went into the potty and he said get out mumma I go myself??????? I said well I have to stand outside the stall I am not leaving you in the potty by yourself, mommies don't do that. He said ok, I left the stall and he sat on the potty(completely scrubbed w/ clorox wipe and 1/2 roll of TP, anyway I stood outside the door, by now everyone knows what is going on, and you see other mommies totally understanding and well all of a sudden I Hear MUMMA I POOPED I POOPED!!!!!!!! My WISH came true, I run in and he is so happy, we get him all cleaned up and rush to tell DH. He is so excited to... Well DS says lets go tell Mickey right now, I pooped for Mickey!!! Needless to say everyone at Disney basically knew my son finally pooped at WDW.

 

[MRYPPNS]

though if we go out, she has the ability to hold it for hours on end since she totally refuses to go in public restrooms. Tell me what you think!

I'm thinking that maybe she is doing it out of habit at this point (maybe boredom?) since you say that she can hold it when she needs to. I also think you can "train" your bladder to either go all the time or hold it for a long time. You may want to test her on it. Refuse to take her to the bathroom a couple time so she is only going once in a 2 hour block of time. You could set a timer and tell her that you'll take her to the bathroom when it goes off. She may have an accident but she might surprise you and be able to hold it.

Good Luck.

 

[fluffernutter]

I had this with my oldest daughter. she is now 3 1/2 but up until about 8 or 9 months ago she was going so,so ,so often it was ridiculous. I di have the dr check it out,and it was the amount of fluids he was taking in. What we might think isnt alot of fluid is REALLY ALOT for a little bladder. I also only gave her juice mixed with water to drink during the day,and when we had her urine tested for the dr -her urine was clear,the dr said it was so diluted that her urine was almost the same ph as water.that shows how much she really was drinking,lol and I didnt have her potty trained ,this was while she was in diapers,I swear I was changing the kid every 30 min,people laughed at me,but it was a full diaper each time.

long story short,we totally cut back her liquids to 16 oz the most for the day,see she also ate lots of fruit and veggies and theyre composed of mostly water as well,so she really was taking in alot of fluid.
anyway,it finally did the trick,we got her potty trained in less than a month,and its been a breeze for the most part since....

BUT NOW......
my little one just turned 2 in dec. ,is showing an interest in the potty and has gone at least 1x a day in it for the past 2 weeks now,but she only wants the big toilet,not the potty,and of course she wants to go on every time my oldest one says she has to go,and she take forever just sitting there.I wait,and wait,am patient because I dont want to rush her,sometimes in there for 20 min at a time,she still doesnt go,says no,comes off,and BAM,pees in her diaper not a minute later,AAAAHHHHHH
so I am in this bathroom for most of the day.
Im glad she only wants the big toilet,lets me skip a step but I cant leave her alone on it like I would for a few minutes if it was the one of the floor,know what I mean

anyway,didnt mean to go on and on about it,but she finally went in for a nap,and Im finally out of the bathroom for the moment,lol
I would put a tv in there if I could to at least entertain myself while she is sitting there but then they would never want to come out,

 

[MRYPPNS]

so I am in this bathroom for most of the day.

Do you have a laptop? You could at least DIS