OT--Potty Training Tips

[chrisw127]

I'm completely clueless on the potty training front. My older child trained himself but my twins, who just turned 3, seem indifferent. I, however, would really like to stop paying $100 a month in diapers. They will sit on the potty and use it, especially before their baths, but otherwise they just don't seem to care.

Tips and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Fall1]

Ahhhhhhhhh - this is me and my 2.9 month old twins!! I'm subbing and hoping for some good responses!!

 

[waltskids]

I am sure you will get alot of advice on this topic but here is what worked for DS. He was 2.5 when he was fully trained but we started at 28 months. We started with pullups but realized very quickly that he knew these were still diapers so we went right to underwear. Stayed in on a weekend and kept using the potty every 30 minutes or so. If he had an accident, we told him to try to use the potty and would change his clothes. We only put a pullup over the underwear when we knew we would be out of the house for many hours. He knew not to pee in his underwear and actually did better when out of the house. Using underwear and not pullups were the key to his success. We will try the same for DD when she gets older.

I should also add that we decided when we would start with DS. My sister in law is waiting until her daughter shows interest but is 2.5 already and could care less. If we let DS decide, he could still be in diapers today lol!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

It really depends on the personalities of your children. I have really laid back kids, so control was never an issue. We just set a date and went for it
100%. Literally, woke up one morning and said..."you don't wear diapers anymore." Put panties on her and off we went. It was a mess....literally...for one day. I did put a pullup on her that first night but she woke up dry and we repeted the same thing. It took her just that one day to realize that wet clothes were not good. DS took a few more days but he got with the program. I never really understood the purpose of pullups either. All it took with my children was for them to realize that it was in their own best interest to go to the potty. Wet pants are not fun.

I do concede that this will not work with alot of children......definitely don't want it to become a control issue. A pissing contest, if you will

 

[mjkacmom]

I did traditional underwear with my 2 oldest, it took months. Did nakey butt with the next 3, and it took a week. I started at 2 1/2, put potty in the room, nakey butt, Once Upon a Potty DVD, and that was that. Ds7 failed the nakey butt test the first time (2 accidents), so he went back in diapers for 3 months. He passed the next time, and actually trained in a couple of days, and decided he liked the toilet better than the potty!

After 100% nakey trained, pants without underwear, then go on to big underwear (since regular underwear feels like a diaper). NB seems to work SO much better than underwear! BTW, not one of my children ever expressed any interest in PTing.

 

[MusiqChic99]

It really depends on the personalities of your children. I have really laid back kids, so control was never an issue. We just set a date and went for it
100%. Literally, woke up one morning and said..."you don't wear diapers anymore." Put panties on her and off we went. It was a mess....literally...for one day. I did put a pullup on her that first night but she woke up dry and we repeted the same thing. It took her just that one day to realize that wet clothes were not good. DS took a few more days but he got with the program. I never really understood the purpose of pullups either. All it took with my children was for them to realize that it was in their own best interest to go to the potty. Wet pants are not fun.

I do concede that this will not work with alot of children......definitely don't want it to become a control issue. A pissing contest, if you will

I hate pull ups!

My son just thinks they are diapers anyway and does his business as soon as I put one on. If I put underwear on him, he does so much better. And if he does have an accident he comes to me and tells me because he does not like wet pants!

It's still a struggle for me with him but he's getting better. He is 3 and we started a couple of weeks ago. My main thing is his babysitters. He goes to my grandmas in the morning and then to my mom's. Both of them put pull ups on him and then say " he never uses the potty for us". Um...that's why I send underwear! I think they are afraid of accidents. It's only confusing to him because he has to wear underwear at home. It's so frustrating and I think that is what is holding him back.

 

[frtchr]

Just went through this with DD3! She seemed totally indifferent to the process. We made a big deal about her picking out her own big girl underwear. She had a hard time choosing what she wanted, so I let her get them all! She now has about 40 pairs. Anyway, we had a schedule and made her go sit on the potty about every 30 minutes to get used to it. I had books sitting by her little potty in the bathroom to keep her in there a while. The first few days were terrible, and I was about to throw in the towel and let her wear diapers until college. By the fourth day, something clicked inside her head, and it has been going well since then (about a month or so.) We didn't use any rewards because she didn't seem moved by any of them. Every once in a while she has an accident, but I have noticed that it's when she's really busy playing. I have to remember to remind her during those times to at least try to go. Some kids really like rewards, though, like stickers, M&M's, toys, etc., so that may be an option for you. DD is doing so well now that she insists on using the big potty and having privacy. I'm thankful for the fact that she's on the big potty now so I don't have to carry around our little foldable seat when we go places. Hang in there!

 

[nmmom95]

I have to agree with pp's who said no pull-ups. My DS's were 26 months and 24 months when they were trained. I put them in underwear and brought them to the bathroom at least once an hour. Accidents in underwear make a huge impression on them. I also trained them on the toilet, not a potty. I had each of them done in about a week. It's messy at first, but it worked for us.

 

[crispychicky]

.... Did nakey butt with the next 3, and it took a week....

So how exactly does nakey butt training work? I've heard others refer to it and seem to swear by it. My DD's 25 months and I'm trying to psych myself up for PT'ing.

 

[WendyinNC]

I love the term 'nakey butt'. That's exactly what I did with all 4 of my children. When I knew they were ready (between 2 1/2 and 3) we stayed home for a weekend and let them run around naked. They went from diapers on Friday to underwear on Monday. Sure I paked a few extra changes of clothes, but for the most part they were very successful. The key was finding when they were ready. Try 'nakey butt' and if it's not going well try again in a month. Good luck!

 

[Disneychix]

I've been doing 'nakey butt' usually in the evenings when we are home and my DS has never had an accident while naked. BUT, like a pervious poster said the grandparents aren't really into it and they watch him 3 days/week. My mom says "he'll be too cold" and my dad really just can't be bothered I think.

I've tried videos, stickers, m&m's, reward system and even told him if he wants to see Mickey again he'll need to be wearing underwear! He says he wants to go in the potty but will never tell us unless he's "nakey butt".

Sometimes diapers are just easier. I wish I could figure out sooner than later what approach will work with him!

 

[mamaLori05]

We did our version of what is called the 3 day potty training method. We put our kiddo's in underwear, ditch the diapers (except for at NIGHT only), and have them try every 30 minutes. The first day expect a ton of accidents. The second day starts out with lots of accidents, but then they start to realize what is going on. By the third day they are making it to the potty with very few accidents. Worked with both of my kids. DD4 was trained at 2.5 both #1 and #2, and DS2 was trained 1 month after his 2nd birthday with both #1 and #2. The key is patience patience patience, because it will definately test your patience. Whenever they had an accident I would just say "Oh no, this is really sad, big boys/girls use the potty." It worked like a charm for both kids. I also never made a big deal about #2. Did the same thing as #1 accidents. Both of my kids actually picked up on #2's before #1's. As for nap times, I would have them use the potty before nap, and then put them down in their underwear. they did just fine. Oh, and I also let them have a dumdum sucker everytime they made it to the potty. By the third day when they had the hang of it, I reduced the sucker to once a day if they stayed dry all day. After about a week or two, we did away with the suckers. Worked great as well. Good luck!!

 

[brockash]

I'm completely clueless on the potty training front. My older child trained himself but my twins, who just turned 3, seem indifferent. I, however, would really like to stop paying $100 a month in diapers. They will sit on the potty and use it, especially before their baths, but otherwise they just don't seem to care.

Tips and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Here's what worked for us. When we got back from Disney last Sept., I decided that my dd (26 months at the time,) was ready to be potty trained. I was a SAHM at the time, so the first day my dd just ran around in a shirt all day and I just had to keep a close eye on her, and when she would start to go to the bathroom, I sat her on her potty (and yes we had the potty in whichever room we in at the time.) After the first day, I had her wear big girl underwear and a shirt and she'd go to her potty whenever she had to go. We took the potty everywhere for a few weeks, including the car, and she stayed in pull ups at night for about a month, but after the first couple of days we really didn't have any accidents, and she even took a 8 hr. rode trip by week 3 without an accident. When my ds was potty training, I worked full time, and it took a lot longer and he was older, but even if you just have a long weekend or something, I think it should work pretty well. Good luck!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I've been doing 'nakey butt' usually in the evenings when we are home and my DS has never had an accident while naked. BUT, like a pervious poster said the grandparents aren't really into it and they watch him 3 days/week. My mom says "he'll be too cold" and my dad really just can't be bothered I think.

I've tried videos, stickers, m&m's, reward system and even told him if he wants to see Mickey again he'll need to be wearing underwear! He says he wants to go in the potty but will never tell us unless he's "nakey butt".

Sometimes diapers are just easier. I wish I could figure out sooner than later what approach will work with him!

I sit for a friends 3yr old on Mondays. He's been training for a while and being stubborn about it. His big brother trained very young and fast, so I think Mom is a bit stumped. Anyway, this Monday he was doing so good....I made sure to really praise him....he looked at me and said "so we're going to Disney World now?" I said " I wish! " Then he wanted to know if he could at least have a candy??? He's such a cute little guy!!

For those doing nakey butt, I have a cautionary tale. My friend decided to to let her dd train outside barebutt during the summer. Nature baby all the way!! It worked great except at her bday party in the yard right after labor day. I looked over to see the beautiful little bday girl taking a poop on the lawn right next to the hired clown making balloon animals She was just a little too comfortable in the grass.

 

[princessmom29]

I honestly think that the key to being sucessful is to go for it all they way and never turn back. No more diapers, pullups or anything else but undies. This is what finally worked with DD after fighting waht I called the "pullup war" with daycare. They refused to take her out of them so I took a long weekend and completely trained her. I refused to send anymore pullups to daycare, and she didn't have accidents!

 

[starsweeper]

I'm completely clueless on the potty training front. My older child trained himself but my twins, who just turned 3, seem indifferent. I, however, would really like to stop paying $100 a month in diapers. They will sit on the potty and use it, especially before their baths, but otherwise they just don't seem to care.

Tips and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

You pretty much described my DS (42 months) and DD (39 months). They had no interest except for pottying before showers or before bed. We had a snow storm right after New Years and were home for 4 days. I placed them in thick training underwear with plastic covers (both bought at Babies R Us) and placed them on the potty every 40-60 minutes. My DD was trained when she went back to preschool the following Monday. My DS has been more resistant, but I'm told this is common with boys.

Since my DD trained so well, I bought her some cute underwear from Gymboree. DS was motivated by moving from "baby underwear" to "big boy underwear" (Gymboree underwear with cool designs he likes). He rarely has a pee accident and does fine at preschool, but will still poop in his underwear some evenings before bedtime. Whenever he does that, we throw away his "big boy underwear" and put him back in "baby underwear." He thinks about it more, and it is happening much less. We also promised a trip to see Mickey in January whenever they use the potty exclusively, and he brings that up every time he has a success. We planned a trip for early May, when I think he should have pottying mastered, or close enough to qualify for earning the trip.

Good luck! It's not easy but you can do it.

 

[mpbest]

I also did the "nakey butt" thing, but we went outside as soon as it warmed up. I really didn't want to worry about accidents in the house and we also have a fenced in back yard. Within a week he was pretty much trained. I would put undies on him and make a quick trip to Walmart or the grocery store, then right back home to go potty. Gradually I would increase the time spent out, until I comfortable to go to the mall. We live about 30 minutes outside of Nashville, so I wanted to make sure we could stay gone for a while. I also bought a small potty to keep in the back of the SUV, along with old bottles of water to clean the potty out, trash bags, toilet paper and hand sanitzer. Yes, I know how odd it sounds, but public restrooms are nasty. Eventually we graduated to using public restrooms and got rid of the potty, but it was a lifesaver on several occassions/trips!

 

[mjkacmom]

So how exactly does nakey butt training work? I've heard others refer to it and seem to swear by it. My DD's 25 months and I'm trying to psych myself up for PT'ing.

It's pretty simple - potty in room, no pants or underwear. I never even had to make them sit - just told them to use the potty when needed. My 2 girls maybe had one pee accident before they were 100% nakey trained, but ds7 had 3, so we decided to wait a few months, and then he was just as easy as my girls. It really forces the connection between the feeling of having to go, and going, when it ends up on the floor, instead of in underwear.

Again, I've tried to just switch over to underwear, make them sit, etc., and yes, those kids trained eventually, but it took much longer than nakey butt, with way more accidents. I also think I waited too long with my 2 older kids (they were almost 3), and my 2 1/2 year old trained faster.

 

[Fall1]

OP: I hope you don't think I'm hijacking your thread

For all others, when is it ok to 'force' it and just go for it? Is 2.8years ok? Even if they don't have tons of interest? Thanks!

 

[eeyorefan74]

Question for all the nakey butt and big boy/girl panties people. How do you avoid accidents on the furniture? Do they have to sit on a towel or something to watch TV or read a book? Just trying to figure all this out, as we've been using Pullups and I'm ready to move to the next step to see if that will do the trick.