OT: potty training

[inloveindisney]

When did you start potty training? this is one area that everyone I have talked to seems to differ on. I'm not sure when to start.

 

[Nanu57v]

Now's a good time to gauge your child. I started asking DD to go potty when she turned two, but she was never really interested in it until now. (She's 2 years 4 months). She's only "gone" about 4 times for real, but pretended tons. If your dc isn't interested, try again later.


ETA:LOL, I thought your ticker said 2 years, not two months! I'd wait a while, then.

 

[GraysMom]

We lucked out and DS2 decided he was ready to start using the potty at 2y 3m. I had him try sitting on the potty occasionaly (1 or 2 times a week) when he turned 2, but he would just sit there reading a magazine (wonder where he learned that from ).

So exactly one week before we left for Disney, he decided he wanted to wear big boy undies and use the potty. Nice timing huh? Needless to say, we didn't start with undies until after we got back (I told him we'd look for undies at Disney-easier said then done) and he's only had 5 or so accidents since starting (on Mother's Day). He did go potty whenever we were in the hotel room-I think he liked using a different bathroom (now he has to go check out everyone's bathroom when we go somewhere ). He still wears a pull up at night because he doesn't wake up then, but he's in undies all day, including naptime.

Like I said, we were really lucky he decided to do it on his own. None of his friends (his age through about 9 months older) are trained yet, so I think he was kind of abnormal.

 

[Tam1067]

This varies so much depending on the child.

With all of my kids, when they were a little over 2, I started suggesting that when they were ready and got big enough, they could use the potty. I had a small potty in the bathroom for them.

My oldest wanted no part of potty training until he was close to 3. I mentioned it, suggested it, and encouraged--but no dice. He finally figured it all out after he turned 3.

My middle son was about 2 and a half on a Friday evening when he told me he would wear underwear and go in the potty--and he did. By Monday, he was totally trained.

My daughter was about the same but she was about 2 and 3 or 4 months. Again, she just told me she wanted to wear panties and that was it.

So I'd say when your little one is about 2, buy some cute underwear and talk about it but do not stress or pressure. That will make it harder. And don't listen to anyone who tells you their child was potty trained at a year or 18 months or whatever--and people will tell you all sorts of things like that! Just smile and ignore them.

 

[carissanboys]

We tried with our oldest when he was 2 1/2, but he wasn't ready. I waited until he was about 3 years 3 months and it was a cinch. It went the same way with my middle son (minus the trying at 2 1/2). My youngest is now 3 years and 3 months so I'll be attempting this week.

My oldest was immediately trained day and night from the beginning. My middle son just stopped wearing a pull up at night (he just turned 5). We'll see how the youngest does.

In my opinion, it's easier to wait until they're really ready.

 

[Tikicampers]

This varies so much depending on the child.

With all of my kids, when they were a little over 2, I started suggesting that when they were ready and got big enough, they could use the potty. I had a small potty in the bathroom for them.

My oldest wanted no part of potty training until he was close to 3. I mentioned it, suggested it, and encouraged--but no dice. He finally figured it all out after he turned 3.

My middle son was about 2 and a half on a Friday evening when he told me he would wear underwear and go in the potty--and he did. By Monday, he was totally trained.

My daughter was about the same but she was about 2 and 3 or 4 months. Again, she just told me she wanted to wear panties and that was it.

So I'd say when your little one is about 2, buy some cute underwear and talk about it but do not stress or pressure. That will make it harder. And don't listen to anyone who tells you their child was potty trained at a year or 18 months or whatever--and people will tell you all sorts of things like that! Just smile and ignore them.

I agree with the above. And when you hear about a one year old or 18 month old who is trained, know that it is the parent who is trained, not the child. This is something you can't rush. The best advice I got while pregnant was this, "Don't sweat the potty training thing, your child will not go to college in diapers." I now apply this to anything DS (or DD for that matter) hasn't done yet. And for the record, I teach Kindergarten, and I have yet to get a student that was not potty trained.

I noticed your child is two months old, and the fact that you are already thinking about potty training makes me wonder if, like me, you live in an area where everyone is an expert on all things child related, and they love to tell you all about how advanced little whoever is. If that's the case, try not to get sucked into it. DS's first three years have flown by. In some areas he was first, in others he was last. He didn't talk until well after his second birthday and now everyone comments on how verbal he is. You just never know with kids, and I've learned to enjoy every stage, because before you know it, your child has moved on.

 

[macmahony]

It depends on the kid, but remember girls are usually easier. All three of my girls were trained between 18 and 22 months. And believe me for those of you who say it was I that was trained, it was them, day and night trained within days of starting. My first had the most accidents, but no more than one a day for a week or so, the two younger ones had maybe one accident ever. I swear by naked potty training, and personally think it works much much faster.
So, yes my 18 month old was in undies, and I was not running to the potty every 10 minutes, she did it on her own, and wanted to go (never like to be wet or dirty).
It truly depends on the kid, and there temperment.

 

[thepeach80]

We started right before 2.5yo w/ AJ and he was doing well, but then winter came and everyone was sick and it just had to stop. We tried again and it all finally sank in the week before he turned 3. We're working on it now w/ Evan and he's 31 mos old. He only wears undies at home, but he only wet one pair today and it was barely, he finished in the potty! I think it's easier for him b/c he has AJ to watch and help him.

 

[allyphoe]

DD trained herself cold-turkey for preschool, so a few days before she turned 3. I'd told her she needed to be potty-trained for preschool (even though I'd enrolled her for the summer in the wing where the teachers would still change diapers), and she believed it. She went to school having peed in the potty maybe 10 times in her entire life, and never having pooped in the potty, and came back completely trained.

Two months later, she went to a sleepover at school, and her teacher forgot to put her in a diaper to sleep in. She came home night-trained, having had 4 wet diapers between bedtime and morning the previous day.

(My DD is very, very stubborn. She'd been wearing underwear, both at home and away from home, for hours on end for a couple of months before she trained. She'd ask for a diaper when she needed to pee, or I'd put one on her if I was getting nervous. We probably could have pushed the issue, but knowing my kid, it would have made things worse.)

 

[grlpwrd]

All of my kids were different...

My now-16yo dd was about a year old before she started and then was fully potty trained when she was about 16 mo. She was always different like that - still is.

My 12yo and 9yo dd's were about 2 yo.

My almost 4 yo son started at around 2yo, too, but he took longer to get fully trained. The naked potty training worked plus using a toddler urinal made it easier for him. (He is the only boy in our family.)

My youngest (2yo dd) is just starting out.

I will say they used cloth diapers when they were little which helped a lot. Kids can't feel as much wetness when they use disposables which is understandable because it's designed that way.

GL!

 

[grlpwrd]

I agree with the above. And when you hear about a one year old or 18 month old who is trained, know that it is the parent who is trained, not the child. This is something you can't rush. The best advice I got while pregnant was this, "Don't sweat the potty training thing, your child will not go to college in diapers." I now apply this to anything DS (or DD for that matter) hasn't done yet. And for the record, I teach Kindergarten, and I have yet to get a student that was not potty trained.

I noticed your child is two months old, and the fact that you are already thinking about potty training makes me wonder if, like me, you live in an area where everyone is an expert on all things child related, and they love to tell you all about how advanced little whoever is. If that's the case, try not to get sucked into it. DS's first three years have flown by. In some areas he was first, in others he was last. He didn't talk until well after his second birthday and now everyone comments on how verbal he is. You just never know with kids, and I've learned to enjoy every stage, because before you know it, your child has moved on.

Was that a dig?

Many children in other countries are out of diapers way before they reach toddlerhood. Most out of necessity because they don't have access to disposables or because of the clean factor. I do not practice Elimination Communication or infant potty training which I know is extreme and quite popular nowadays, but I do know there are people like me in the world who has a child who started earlier than most.

I think we are one of the few countries in the world who is actually accustomed or basically comfortable with our children (babies) sitting in their own waste because of disposables. I just read a book explaining how disposables are numbing their bottoms. If you think about it, that is what they are designed to do and that is why many parents have difficulty teaching their kids to use the toilet. Kids cannot feel it.... Pull Ups are the worst!

I didn't help my kids along because I wanted to push them. I just didn't want them to sit in their waste. lol

 

[Hannathy]

And when you hear about a one year old or 18 month old who is trained, know that it is the parent who is trained, not the child. This is something you can't rush.

Oh I strongly disagree with you there. I have 3 that were trained well before 2 and no we weren't trained! they were. My DD was night and day before 18 mos. She spoke in sentences by 1 yr and was perfectly capable of telling us when she needed to go to the bathroom.

I agree with the poster who said our country is very late and getting later. 30 yrs ago it was average for kids to be trained at 2 and 50 yrs ago even earlier, so what changed? the human body and physiology hasn't, but diapers have! Disposable has lead to it being much less work to have a kid in diapers. when every diaper had to rinsed in the toilet and washed and kids had to be changed a whole lot more then they got trained earlier.
so for the question I would start around 18 months and commit, get rid of the diapers go right to underwear or cotton training pants.

 

[chipndales]

When did you start potty training? this is one area that everyone I have talked to seems to differ on. I'm not sure when to start.

I'm a daycare teacher and I can tell you that it does definitely depend on the child. We really lucked out with our group of 2 year olds this year. We started in May and by Mid-June they were all trained. The youngest was 2 yrs 5 months and the oldest was 2 yrs 10 months. My own DD potty trained at 2 yrs 9 months completely.

 

[mla2177]

The only advice I can give you is to not make sure they are ready and never put the diaper on once you take it off. All of my family members and myself did this with our kids, and they were PT within a month. I never used pull ups. The key is to make sure they are ready. I think every child is different. My son was a month shy of 2 when he was completely trained. He was just very advanced for his age. I know some kids who are 2 1/2 and still don't tell their parents when they are hungry and thirsty. My grandmother always used to say if they can tell you when they are hungry and thirsty, then they can tell you when they have to go to the bathroom. I do have to say that it is the harder way to train in the short term. I didn't leave the house for a week, but in the long run I think it's easier. I am so glad I only had the uncertainty for a month with training than opposed to months or years!!!! Plus, it was nice to not have to keep buying diapers and pull ups! Good luck

 

[Tikicampers]

I'm sorry if any of you felt what I said about the parent being trained was meant to put you down. It is based on the people I know who have trained their children early. One of my friends even said, "At this point it's really me who's trained, not him." There may be a few kids who are able to train early. I agree that using cloth diapers will speed up the process. The majority of kids though, are not ready at 12-18 months, and more often it is just that the parents take them to the bathroom constantly. As with anything in life, there will be some exceptions.

 

[bluejaygirl]

Both of my DD's were close to three before they felt ready. I had tried with my first DD at age 2 and she would just cry and resist. I decided I did not want to do the whole " make them sit on the potty every hour" thing.. so I tended to leave it up to them, and they both trained cold turkey without fuss. Went into panties, tossed the diapers, and both had no more than 2 daytime accidents.

I work in a preschool, and there is a wide range of readiness and a wide range of parenting styles. I abhor Pull-Ups in most cases, but they are very helpful for some of the children with special needs that make training a bit trickier.

 

[inloveindisney]

Wow! Thanks so much. I know I have lots of time to go, but this came up recently at (as you may have suspected) a trip to visit the family. Sounds like sometime around 2 is when I should expect it.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I think that you will see like all children are different, everyone's experiences are different too. Many people believe that children under two are too young to train but some children really are trained by that age. A good friend of mine had both of her BOYS trained by 15 months. And yes they really were able to tell her when they need to go and then go themselves. She had however used 100% cloth diapers with them. Some people tend to find that their boys were harder to train than girls, but in my circle of friends this has just not been true.Most of our boys were easier than the girls. With my DS I started two weeks before he was two, (he was also a 24 weeker so that really made him well under two) and he was trained completly in two weeks. He was quite verbal and a very easy going, try to please mommy child.

I think the biggest things to remember is that not only does that child need to be ready, but so do you. You have to be ready to commit 100% and realize it takes work. When you are really ready, get rid of the diapers and pull ups and be willing to give it your all.

One other piece of advice seeing that your little one is two months is do not look too far ahead. ENJOY every minute of the stage you are in right now. Listen to advice from others but follow what your heart says is the right time for your child.

Enjoy your new little one.

MsSandra

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

I introduced the concept, got the potty, and started reading books around 20 months old. I got serious about it and she was trained in a week at 26 months. I plan on trying closer to age 24 months with my son assuming his verbal ability is there (my DD was a chatterbox, still is!) so I knew she understood since she could communicate. I'm a sooner rather than later kind of gal in that department.

 

[DVCMama]

When did you start potty training? this is one area that everyone I have talked to seems to differ on. I'm not sure when to start.

In my experience it doesn't matter when you are ready, only when the CHILD is ready. My son would not 'get' the whole potty thing until he was 4 and struggled to be 100% for another 4 mos or so. My second daughter basically figured it all out within a 2 day period when she was 2.5. My current 'baby' is 20 months and shows no interest yet.