Please share your potty training advice (before and while at Dis)

[Hannathy]

I would ask day care if he was trained would they deal with it and not expect them to train. I mention this because my DD was trained at 19 mos and started a daycare they didn't work with the kids in her room but since she "was completely trained" they would let her into the other room to use the bathroom but wouldn't spend time training her. I would hate to deal with diapers longer than I had to, let alone discourage a kid who was that close to being trained. He is well on his way if he recognizes when he need to go and announces it.

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

I am curious about one thing what do your kids say, the ones that are over three when you say why did you poop in your pants? when the potty is right here. I can't imagine them having a good answer. Not flaming just really curious.

Hannathy- My son trained late (3yrs 9 mo) and the last time he wet himself was the day I asked him why he did it. He said "I don't know." So I told him it was not allowed and he could not do it again. He simply said "Ok." That was it, he has been dry and clean since that day.

Yes some of it is because he was old enough (almost too late to train), but some of it was from wishy-washy messages from us (his parents.) Use the potty- here's your diaper. Wear underwear and don't pee- but there's no potty here. Awww you're wet- that's ok. When we let him clearly know what we expected he was able to understand no problem at all.

anyone-
(don't bother flaming me- I'm talking about my son not every child)

 

[lauritagoddess]

I am curious about one thing what do your kids say, the ones that are over three when you say why did you poop in your pants? when the potty is right here. I can't imagine them having a good answer. Not flaming just really curious.

My son used to say "It's too, too hard" (i.e., to poop in the potty). I think he was just truly very scared to do it. The method I used to get him pooping on the toilet was to get him first pooping in the bathroom. He could still poop in the pull-up (he was fully wearing underwear at this point and would ask for the pull-up just to poop in it) but had to do it in the bathroom. He screamed and cried the first day but then did it and he was fine. We did that for a week. The next step was to let him still poop in the pull-up, but sitting on the toilet while he did it. He did that for a week. The next step was pooping without the pull-up (or if he'd freaked with the pull-up but with a hole cut out for the poop to fall in the toilet). He did and was so, so proud of himself. But for some kids it's really a tough thing for them to get the point where they can do it.

 

[RuthLS]

Talk to your peditrician. Ours was very helpful at about 3 1/2. Your peditrician can evaluate if there is actually a physical issue, if your son is developmentally ready, if its become a power issue, or if regression has occurred that should be addressed.

Our pedi has a child of similar age who won't potty train so when I asked about it at our 3 yr he just laughed and said "ask my son." He was pretty laid back about it, said we could offer him the potty, but if he doesn't want to-no big deal. That he will go when he is ready.

Which is what I kind of thought. But then the grandparents are asking, and I read about all these kids training at before two and I get worried. I don't want to push him. But I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing the boat.

I think when we come back from Dis in May we'll see where we are at and ask him more regularly if he wants to use the potty.

 

[KimberlyC]

I would ask day care if he was trained would they deal with it and not expect them to train. I mention this because my DD was trained at 19 mos and started a daycare they didn't work with the kids in her room but since she "was completely trained" they would let her into the other room to use the bathroom but wouldn't spend time training her. I would hate to deal with diapers longer than I had to, let alone discourage a kid who was that close to being trained. He is well on his way if he recognizes when he need to go and announces it.

They probably would if he were already completely trained but I don't think I can get him completely trained without their help. I work 50+ hours a week. He's at daycare 10 hours a day, 4 days a week and at grandma and grandpa's one day. I just don't think having him try to use the toilet 3 days a week will be effective if he doesn't have assistance the other 4 days a week. Its frustrating. If more kids trained earlier the policies and procedures would be geared toward allowing younger ones to train but apparently most of the kids don't start until 2.5 - 3. I've already talked to the director and she knows that I want him moved as soon as there is space but in no event later than his 2nd b-day. They usually try to accomodate because they aren't the only place in town and their prices are higher than most.

 

[Cinderella2006]

I thought it was interesting how this differs from the US to the UK. I am a nursery nurse in the UK and we can’t except any children into pre-school (ages 3) unless they are potty trained. This isn’t just the nursery I work in, this is a requirement. I started to familiarise my son with the potty in February, he will be two next month. He will sit and go on the potty, no problem but I haven’t 'pushed' him into doing it; each child will progress at their own speed. He is not fully potty trained as I don’t want to rush him but I would expect him to be in the next couple of months. There isnt a set age but i dont see a problem 'introducing' potty training from 20 months.

 

[crisi]

I thought it was interesting how this differs from the US to the UK. I am a nursery nurse in the UK and we can’t except any children into pre-school (ages 3) unless they are potty trained. This isn’t just the nursery I work in, this is a requirement. I started to familiarise my son with the potty in February, he will be two next month. He will sit and go on the potty, no problem but I haven’t 'pushed' him into doing it; each child will progress at their own speed. He is not fully potty trained as I don’t want to rush him but I would expect him to be in the next couple of months. There isnt a set age but i dont see a problem 'introducing' potty training from 20 months.

I think its actually very similar. We started with both our kids about the same age....but I had late trainers. Both my kids were the latest in their preschool rooms to train. I know kids who trained as late as 4. But most kids train about 2 1/2. There are lots of preschools who require kids to be potty trained, but daycares that take kids from infants generally don't.

 

[KimberlyC]

I thought it was interesting how this differs from the US to the UK. I am a nursery nurse in the UK and we can’t except any children into pre-school (ages 3) unless they are potty trained. This isn’t just the nursery I work in, this is a requirement. I started to familiarise my son with the potty in February, he will be two next month. He will sit and go on the potty, no problem but I haven’t 'pushed' him into doing it; each child will progress at their own speed. He is not fully potty trained as I don’t want to rush him but I would expect him to be in the next couple of months. There isnt a set age but i dont see a problem 'introducing' potty training from 20 months.

Crisi is correct. Daycare is different from preschool where I live, but some daycare facilities (DS's included) also provide preschool services. DS's daycare accepts babies at 6 weeks old. I was fortunate to stay home with him until he was 7 mths old, but then returned to work full time. Still they've taken care of him since he was an infant and most of the kids there started as infants. There are some kids who only come for half-day pre-school starting at age 3. But the majority are full time daycare children, who, when they are old enough will attend the pre-school classes during part of the day. I find it ironic that 75% of the kids at DS's daycare academy can read by the time they START Kindergarten at age 5 (because that is a priority) but most weren't PT until 3 and older.

Still, overall the pros of DS's daycare far outweigh the PT issue so I'm not looking to switch him. He really likes his "school", his friends and his teachers and unlike a lot of daycare facilities in our area this one focuses a lot on learning, arts, crafts, phonics, reading, etc as opposed to just "babysitting". Its still frustrating though.

 

[mask_w03]

Ok some of you just took this post as i wanted to starting potty training her now that she is 1. That is not what I was asking and nor was I saying just cuz she likes to flush the toilet I want to start. I am not going to start until she shows she understands more. I was also asking more for when she is 18-20months when we go to Dis INCASE she is ready to train before then.

Thank you to the few moms who actually answered my question. I know some don't train till they are older like 3. But she has also been placed on the big potty a few times a day from an early age since we believed in that and she has shown some understanding. She doesn't have many words but when she wants something she knows how to communicate it to us be signs or a few signs language signs she knows.

*Do not flame*

I totaly understand waiting till they are 3 if they don't care about staying in their dirty diaper or show any interest in going on the potty. I am not saying my DD is ready at the age of 1 to potty train, I was asking IF she shows more interest around 18months if it would be worth training then with us going to Dis for 2 weeks when she is 20months old.
But thank you to the moms who said you know your child best and when they are ready and not ready for something. My DD has only started this past week showing interest in the potty when we are going.

But I will just take it from here and if she is ready before we go we will start and if not we will wait til she is after the trip sometime. When she tells us/shows us she is ready to start.

 

[snickerboo]

You have the right idea, Mask. Good luck. Some potty train early and easy-hope that happens for your little angel.

 

[crisi]

If she is ready, here are some tips. I wasn't flaming you - just amused that you'd start worrying about this now (because I did the same thing and really wished I'd just not have worried about potty training - I had four years of constant "training" because my kids are so close in age and took so long to train, and I wasted a lot of worry cycles over it.)

The child centers have smaller potties - but are often a long way away.

A lot of parents use pull ups even if they child is pretty close to trained. You decide if you want to carry extra clothes or change pull ups. Other parents think pull ups will encourage regression so they carry extra clothes

Bring post it notes to cover the sensor on the autoflush toilets - they scare a lot of kids.

Check the park maps and figure out where all the bathrooms are.

Remember that lines are often long and its easy to get distracted at Disney. A lot of people handle this by scheduling bathroom breaks.

My son (at 3 1/2) trained the week we came back from Disney. He wanted to the week before, but we (he and I) discussed it and agreed he'd wear pullups at Disney. I wasn't willing to carry around a change of clothes.

 

[laluna]

Hi. Not going to go into the 'are they ready aren't they' debate but my daughter was 3
1/2 when we first visited Disney having been reliable with potty training from about the age of 2yrs 11 months. In the UK we have a Tomy travel potty (you must have it in the US too) and it was a God send, particulary when roaring down the runway at Gatwick airport!! It has a plastic ring with pop up legs and disposable liners. Really useful and easy to use in those awkward situations!

 

[SueM in MN]

A lot of parents use pull ups even if they child is pretty close to trained. You decide if you want to carry extra clothes or change pull ups. Other parents think pull ups will encourage regression so they carry extra clothes

For those who are worried about pullups causing regression....
you can still put underwear on your child and put the pullup on top of the underwear. That way, if the child does wet, they will still feel the wet underwear. But, the pullup will keep their clothes dry and keep the attraction seats or stroller seat from getting wet.

 

[kayebee]

I don't think anyone meant to flame the OP, but we all have horror stories to tell about potty training (either they happened to us, or someone we know) that we like to share to scare new parents .

I think my issue is with definition of "shows interest"--children are naturally curious and if they don't "show interest" in everything, I'd be worried. As soon as my daughter could sit up she "showed interest" in our car--she liked to sit in the front seat and turn the wheel, but that doesn't mean I handed her the keys and said "Let's go!"

Instead of looking for her to "show interest" these are the signs I would look for before I started potty training: the child recognizes when they are wet or soiled and/or asks to be changed, the child has the physical dexterity to be able to remove clothing and the child has the ability to "hold it" until they reach the restroom.

There's more to this than just the intellectual understanding that a toilet is where you relieve yourself--there's also a lot of physical skills that must be mastered before you are ready to potty train.

Karen

 

[mjh8955]

We traveled with our 4-year-nephew this past fall. He was fully potty trained but the small bathroom on the plane was a problem. The movement of the plane and it being so different just freaked him out and he couldn't go. We didn't think to prepare him for that.

 

[crisi]

Oh, another hint, get some advice on the fold up potty seats. One of the reasons my kids waited to train so long is that they both got pinched by the fold up seats - which made going anywhere but a potty chair or a child's toilet difficult until they reached the age where they could perch. Neither had any interest in a potty chair, since that wasn't where mommy and daddy went.

 

[happypooh]

Just wanted to chip in and let you know our experiences. Our DS is 15 months old and started sitting on the potty at 12 months..before you think I'm crazy this is quite commonplace in Asia and so I thought I'd give it a try (hey a couple million chinese babies do it on that side of the world - why not here?!) So I was real surprised when one morning after waking up and putting him on the little potty by baby bjorn (love that potty!) he did use it and was real chuffed with himself! We do sign language and so we taught him how to sign when he needs to go potty and he does most of the time (only misses if we are too busy to actually notice him trying to tell us that he needs to go!) It really took a very short amount of time for him to figure out what to do on the potty. We just got back from a trip to Toronto and the Blue Mountains (used DVC points at Club Intrawest - real nice but thats OT!) and he used the potty for all number twos and most number ones (but we told him he had to go in his diaper when we were driving and he didn't seem to mind at all.)
My cousin started her kid on the potty at 5 months and was completely potty trained by 12 months during the day.....so I think it is possible to do it younger than 3 if you have the patience for it. Actually dare I say its been kind of fun training our DS and I like that I don't have to clean up his bottom so much and we don't need to use any diaper cream at all now and we also don't use up as many diapers...so a few dollars saved - good thing since I just got 7 day park hoppers for our trip! I don't say he is potty trained yet as he can't pull his pants off and on that well and we still use diapers and yet for the most part the fact that he can tell me when he needs to go, will walk towards the potty, will do his stuff and then get off the potty when he is done, pick out his diaper (I help put it on of course!) and then go wash hands is pretty cool. He does sometimes go on the regular toilet (we have a sesame padded seat) and so I'm letting him tell me when he wants to use that one. (he signs potty-that one-yes) No coercion here! We also have the cushie traveller, the suitcase potty (which is a tad too big for him and would fit a girl better I think) and the potty plastic ring with fold down legs (which he does not like). I do hope that we can get him to use the regular toilet soon with just the cushie traveller otherwise we'll be the family with the potty hanging from the stroller at Epcot's flower festival!

 

[WantToGoNow]

I have actually heard of a few mothers having their babies potty trained by their first birthday. Apparently, you watch your child for signs that they are about to go and put them on the potty. They are so busy learning other skills - sitting, crawling, walking, that using the potty falls right in with everything else. A lady at our church had a little girl that was finished by 15 months -- the only words she said ever was pee or poop -- but she knew when she needed to go. They didn't keep diapers or pull-ups on her either -- she was in panties.

I was not quite so brave with any of my children. My older dd(who is now 22) pulled her potty from the bathroom, put it in front of the TV, pulled down her pants and that was that. She never again went in her pants -- that was a week before her 2nd birthday. My ds(who is now almost 5) started training at 22 months. He started a new daycare right after his 2nd birthday and they requested that I send him in underwear -- no pull-ups. He was completely trained within 2 weeks - he could not stand pee to run down his legs. When he was 3 he started having a few bm accidents. I took him to the pediatrician and it was because he was constipated and would hold his bm's until he literally couldn't hold them any longer. He was put on a laxative and we've never had another issue. My "baby" (28 months) also started at 22 months. On her 2nd birthday, we bought her panties. She had a few accidents in the beginning but I can't even remember the last time her clothes had to be changed because she peed/pooped in them.

All of this to say this, children can be trained earlier if they are interested. You can't make a child use the toilet if they don't want to, but I think a little bit of encouragement can go a long way.

 

[MyZoeJane]

My advice? Forget potty training. At that age it'll only add stress to your trip. Kids really do potty train themselves for the most part at around 2.5-3 years of age. Sure, you CAN potty train them before that but *usually* it just makes it a lot harder. (Not always, but it's typical.)

Just have fun... if your dear child wants to use the potty, let them... but don't push it. My DD showed interest at that age, too, but it was short lived. My guess is you're thinking about it now for no reason. THe interest will likely pass.