OT: Potty training girls

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thought I posted and did a search and no thread...so I'll start again!

I need to potty train my soon-to-be 3yo and wanted to do it "boot camp" style--meaning...done in a weekend and finished (for the most part!).

I did some "tried and true worked for you" tips!

I'm open to bribes, an endless supply of sugar, a Disney toon fest marathon! Anything!

Please help!

 

[prplcrzy]

We went through this a year ago and what worked was to put him in underwear. I had him in pull-ups the week before so he would get used to pulling down his pants.

Once D-day came, he wore underwear and I took him to the bathroom every 1/2 hour - hour. He did pretty well, but I was still doing the work. That lasted two days and then day three he was having accident after accident. I didn't think he was going to "get" it. Day 4 I heard the most wonderful words, "Mommy, gotta go potty" and he went running to the bathroom. Something had clicked and he never looked back.

I used M&Ms with him, he got a few if he went on the potty. Just sitting there didn't win him anything.

Good luck and don't worry, she'll get the hang of things. They are definitely on their own time table, sometimes we just help a little in the process.

Nancy

 

[adisneymama]

I put DD potty chair on a towel in our den. I stripped her from the waist down and any time she went potty she got a sticker. She was completely trained in 4 days at age 27 mos. For DD the stickers were the trick. If your DD likes something else then use that. Whatever is truely a reward for her. Good Luck!

 

[chris7]

Both of my girls were very resistant to potty training. My oldest was a full
3 1/2. Her preschool teacher told us "I know parents are told that kids will do it when they're ready, but some kids never are ready and you have to force the issue". So one evening we gave her a lot of water and put her on the toilet and told her she would be there until she pee'd. Many hours later what finally worked was cutting the crotch out of a diaper and letting her pee through that on the toilet. Turns out for her it was the psychological aspect of needing to feel like she had on a diaper because she had never pee'd without one before. Each day I cut the diaper back a little bit until it was completely gone. I gave her about a week before I made her poop on the potty. But that was not such a big deal. My youngest was 3 and 3 months when we forced the issue. For her pee pee treats and poopy treats did the trick pretty well.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

What's funny is we got her to pee in the potty....I just didn't keep it up. She was refusing liquids LOL!

Okay--good bribes and a potty chair. Perhaps we will make it a movie day on the potty seat!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

One more question--we have church on Sunday....so we are starting on Friday...but did you guys stay in the house for 4-days....I would imagine you'd have to go somewhere. How did you handle that?

 

[staceylmc]

what worked for my dd was just letting her play in a dress all day, no underwear. she didn't like the feeling of anything running down her leg and very quickly got the idea to use the bathroom. i don't remember how long it took for her to be trained, (not long) we spent our days outside during this time(less to cleanup, if necessary). bridery works well too, my mom always tells the story that when she trained me she said she'd buy me a pair of "shiney shoes", hence, she created a "shoehound". good luck!

 

[pixelpixie]

Once D-day came, he wore underwear and I took him to the bathroom every 1/2 hour - hour. He did pretty well, but I was still doing the work. That lasted two days and then day three he was having accident after accident. I didn't think he was going to "get" it. Day 4 I heard the most wonderful words, "Mommy, gotta go potty" and he went running to the bathroom. Something had clicked and he never looked back.

This is essentially the method that worked for us. Our dd wore panties (so she could "feel" any accidents) and we took her to the potty every 45 minutes for about 3 days. She had very few accidents after that. Stickers make a nice reward. I worried she would be too hyped up on sugar to be able to concentrate on the task at hand.
Good luck to you!

 

[spotncleo]

How do you get them to poop in the potty? Our DD is 2.5, she is great when it comes to peeing, she will tell us or will just go herself. When it is time for #2, totally different story. I need some different ideas because what we are doing is not working! Any help would be appreciatted!

Laura
Disney Magic Dec 17-24

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I dont have any suggestions sorry. My oldest DD potty trained herself at 18 months....I am not lying....she had older girls with her at the sitters and she just decided she wanted undies and that was it...I know it sounds like I am lying but it is true. This new little one...well she started telling us she wanted to use the potty 2 weeks before Disney World and I just kept telling her to go in her diaper becuase I didnt want the "hassle" of her going to the bathroom in the parks ......saying she had to go and then waiting ....waiting in line etc. Now we are home and she has no interest in the potty. I think I missed my window of opportunity. I think I am going to regret the decision. Oh ,she was 2 the end of June so maybe the window will "re-open" itself again........I am praying......

 

[tn_disney_addict]

I dont have any suggestions sorry. My oldest DD potty trained herself at 18 months....I am not lying....she had older girls with her at the sitters and she just decided she wanted undies and that was it...I know it sounds like I am lying but it is true. This new little one...well she started telling us she wanted to use the potty 2 weeks before Disney World and I just kept telling her to go in her diaper becuase I didnt want the "hassle" of her going to the bathroom in the parks ......saying she had to go and then waiting ....waiting in line etc. Now we are home and she has no interest in the potty. I think I missed my window of opportunity. I think I am going to regret the decision. Oh ,she was 2 the end of June so maybe the window will "re-open" itself again........I am praying......

Oh I believe you!! My DD was approaching 2 when she went into her room, got a diaper, brought it into the living room and spread it out on the floor. She proceeded to take off the wet diaper (throw it in the trash!!) and sit down on the "new" diaper and "strapped" herself in it. It was pretty clear to me that if the child could CHANGE her own diaper...she could start using the potty .

We had a trip planned for a couple months away so I chuckled and said - "you want to put on panties and start to use the potty?" If you do that, we will go to Disney and see Mickey Mouse...that was the end of diapers at our house !!

 

[Ava83]

We are going through this right now...I took Ava out and we bought underwear and we explained who uses the potty. Then we just started keeping her in underwear and she actually does pretty good. We have not really had an accident in a few days. I also use a seat that fits over the regular toliet, rather then a potty seat (I figured it would be easier in the long run) (although we do use one of those also) KMART I think has a disney princess one. We just have a graco that I can take apart with a lid.

And traveling out of the house, that is my big worry. I have a special seat I got at babies r us that I cart around that you can put on a seat wherever. I carry that with me , wipes and a change of clothes.


I am not kidding when I say this, she also had me tell her Ready set go! and then she went potty. She thought she was funny.

 

[Laura66]

I just went thru this in April - my daughter turned 3 in January.
Took all the diapers and threw them away - got a Green Machine for any accidents. There will be accidents.
She did cry a little about her diapers being gone the first night.
I told her every time she peed or pooped on the potty she would get a marble to put in a jar. On the jar was a picture of the Playhouse she wanted. When she filled the jar up with marbles we would go to the store and get the playhouse.
When she did have an accident - I made her help me clean herself and the mess up.
I did give her a pull-up for night time the first two weeks.
She had two accidents the first day and one the next and then that was it. She also had a few accidents when she would play outside - not wanting to leave all the fun and come in to go.
When she does have an accident - make sure you don't make a big deal about it. I would just say Uh Oh - accident - time for us to clean it up.
I think when you still have the diapers around you send them mixed signals. And I do like the pull-ups for night time - but those send mixed signals too.
I made sure I put a waterproof pad on the car seat or what not and an extra outfit in the car - just in case.
I have 3 kids - and I waited until they were 3. They probably would have waited longer!
Anyway - by 3 days - she got the picture and it was done.

Laura

 

[jckdisneybound]

Personally Potty Training isn't hard. If the CHILD is READY for it, it's a breeze....if she isn't ready it's not going to work IMO.

 

[twinz]

I work in a daycare with 2 1/2 - 4 year olds, and I have "helped" potty train many children. I find underwear works best, and also taking them very frequently. FORGET Pull-ups, they are WAY too much like diapers. I also feel making a BIG DEAL over an accident is not a good idea, I mean hey it happens! Rewards can work for some kids, but not all. Good luck, you should have no problems, just keep at it, it may take longer then you expect.

 

[Lady Cluck]

Dr Phils Potty Train your child in a day

Might be worth a try...

 

[Mac and Us]

Our DD was a few weeks past her 2nd birthday when she asked to use the potty (peer pressure from other kids in daycare--not us).

I figured if she did it fine and if not I'll wait.

I waited for a weekend when we could stay home all weekend. She did well if she didn't have anything on. I refused to use pull-ups -- they are a diaper and they don't feel the wetness.

As soon as I'd put underpants on she'd have an accident. I got sick of cleaning up (thanfully we have hardwood). However, she didn't want to put a diaper back on. She wanted to wear big girl pants. I was glad to hear this but I really don't think she was physically ready.

I went to kmart and bought the largest rubber pants I could. I put them on over the underpants. That way when she had an accident she felt it but I didn't have to change everything and clean up. It was especially nice for traveling in the car. I used them the first couple of months. The girls at the daycare especially liked them.

We rode it out and over time the accidents were less and less. I'd say after 4 months we didn't have regular accidents. The accidents usually happened when she got busy and didn't want to stop what she was doing.

I think for children 2 up to 3 y/o they are in the "let's please mommy & daddy mode". However, physically they don't have the control that a 3 year has. At age 3 and up they have the physical ability but may not be willing mentally. Just my opinion.

 

[Tammi67]

I'm with the others who think pull-ups are a waste of time. Put them in underwear so they can feel the wetness. Also after a while they like the feel of underwear vs. a big padded diaper. And once you start, don't stop and revert back. Accidents are going to happen, you are going to have messes to clean up. Don't stop. We used an egg timer with both our kids, starting out with 15 mins. If they pee'd then I would increase the time. If not, another 15 mins. until they went. After a few times of doing this, when they heard the "ding" they knew it was time to "try". Both of my kids were trained in about 3-4 days. Of couse we did wait until they were "ready" and not push it. They were both about 2.5. Good luck.

 

[funcinderella]

Honestly, my kids decided when they were ready. My Mom babysits, and would occasionally ask them, do yo want to try the potty? She waited until they answered yes. (I have 4 year old twins.) My daughter trained first, around 2 yrs 9-10 months old. My son waited longer, probably about 3 yrs and 4-5 months old. But once they did, they DID it. Only one or 2 accidents. We went from diapers straight to underwear. It was the easiest thing (although I have to give my Mom most of the credit.) To me, it was worth changing diapers for the extra few months until they were ready and willing, rather than pushing them and having a lot of accidents to clean up. I had really worried about this aspect of parenting, but it was very simple in the end!

 

[Torontogal]

When I potty trained my now 5 year old son - I read a book called "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" - by Azrin/Foxx.
We used the reward system - lots of positive reinforcement. We let him choose his potty seat, clapped like crazy and did the happy dance when he used it. Sounds silly but it worked. We also got a doll to show him that the "dolly" used the potty and what a great job he did. Also, bought a potty training story for him. I can tell you it did not take 1 day.
I do not think it is a good idea to rush them. Kids have to be ready not only emotionally but physically as well. My son had to wear pull ups at night until his body was used to holding his bladder.
I do not think you should rush your child as it could back fire. Also, I would not try to train them while on a trip with all the new things they have to experience as it is.
I am trying to train my 2 1/2 yr. old now and he is not interested at all. I put the potty away and will try again in a few months.
The book has some good ideas. Good luck!