Please share your potty training tips

[MrsR]

I have 3 yr old twin girls who go on the potty on and off. I can't seem to get them to be consistent and would love to have them trained by September for Disney.
They have no interest most times.
I told them no diapers are allowed "at Mickey's House". They don't seem to care though!
Help!

 

[boardom]

My little guy is just turning 3 and I have completely abandoned the idea that he could be PT'd by our trip in October. So I'm happy to hear any tips too...and tips from anybody who's done WDW with a kid in the middle of PT'g.

 

[funhouse8]

Do your girls wake up dry in the AM. If not then I say they are not ready. If so then they held their bladder all night so that is a great sign. My next advice is toss the pull ups. They only make it easier for accidents to go unnoticed. Buy those thick training underpants so when they have an accident they know it and it is uncomfortable for them. Have them help with the clean-ups and be consistent . Good luck.

 

[MrsR]

Do your girls wake up dry in the AM. If not then I say they are not ready. If so then they held their bladder all night so that is a great sign. My next advice is toss the pull ups. They only make it easier for accidents to go unnoticed. Buy those thick training underpants so when they have an accident they know it and it is uncomfortable for them. Have them help with the clean-ups and be consistent . Good luck.

No they wake up soaked.
Where do I get the training pants though?
Thanks!

 

[vcgirl925]

I don't agree that waking up dry is a sign of readiness. Kids don't usually night train until much later than they day train.

Like i've said in other posts i'm a believer in following your kids cues. Do they ask to use the potty, are they uncomfortable being wet/dirty, do they go to a special "spot" to go in their diaper....etc. Honestly when pt'ing my kids we don't do pullups or diapers during the day. We just take them off and just wear long shirts. If they had a diaper on they'd pee in 'em if they didn't they'd use the potty. With my son he was pt'd in two weeks. My dd is a little more difficult and won't poop on the potty. But she pees all day in the potty.

I say if they don't seem ready, don't force it. If they are showing signs encourage it.

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

The only tip that I have is wait until they are ready. It will save you a lot of stress and frustration and less accidents to clean up.

 

[mamaLori05]

This is the way that me and several of my friends have had success at age 2.5. Pick a weekend that you don't have anything going and ditch the diapers!! Get your carpet cleaner all ready to go. Put them in underwear, and make them try every hour. Expect a ton of accidents the first day, and everytime they have an accident act a little disapointed. No yelling, just a little disapointed. If they go in the potty, be super excited and tell them how proud you are of them. By the end of the first day my dd was making the connection....she would say she had to go as she was going in her pants. The 2nd morning started out where we left off, and by the end of the second day she was going in the potty. By day 3 (monday) she was completely trained. Same thing happened to four of my friends kids that followed the same technique.

We all have done a simlar technique for night time as well and have all had success. About a month before my dd's 3rd b-day we took away the night time diapers. We limited her drinks after dinner (to one cup...nothing an hour and a half before bed time except a small sip), have them go potty before bed, and they'll be fine.

 

[mom~of~2]

The only tip that I have is wait until they are ready. It will save you a lot of stress and frustration and less accidents to clean up.

I completely agree with this! In my case, DD was fully trained for #1 soon after she turned 3 but wouldn't do #2 on the toilet until right before her 4th birthday (that's a whole other story ). I started potty training earlier than I should have (I gave into peer pressure) which led to much "unnecessary" frustration and stress.

I tried a lot of different approaches that family/friends swore by (1) bucket of wrapped toys as potty presents, (2) sticker charts, (3) candy (1 M&M for pee and 2 M&Ms for poops), (4) bare-bottom weekends... the list goes on. I tried every incentive under the sun. But, when it came to my sweet (but very strong-willed) DD, no incentive in the world was going to work until she decided she was ready.

FYI, I bought training paints at Target (by Gerber - in the baby section right next to the underwear). We hardly used them (didn't use pull-ups either). Every child is different - what works for some doesn't work for others.

Good luck with your training!

 

[workinmomof2]

My youngest finished day training about a month ago. Night training he is getting there, but not so worried about it. It will come.

I, too, told him he had to be potty trained by Disney. I gave an incentive. Each time he told us he had to go potty and went, he got a sticker. We kept a calendar in his room at his height. I found some small bug stickers. Everytime he told us he had to go potty and he did, he got a sticker. He got to put it on the calendar. He could see how well he was doing each day. Each sticker was worth money to buy Disney dollars that he could spend at Disney. I did a quarter a sticker. We were given our kids some spending money anyway. But he did not know that. He was always excited to get a "buggie" sticker and put it on his calendar.

But I think it is important to note, that if he had to poopy, we would sit in there with him and read a book so he could take his time and not feel rushed. We had no problem helping him through the process. Now he will go the bathroom on his own. He just yells when he is done so that we can make sure he did a good job wiping. I think it is important to show patience while they are in the bathroom. Example, he liked to have his underwear and pants completely off. It can take time to remove such items since he wants to do it himself. He wants to put the seat on the toilet. When he is done, he wants to flush the toilet. He wants to wash his own hands etc. Going to the bathroom can take 10-15 minutes. To me, it is time worth spent.

I don't believe in waiting until they are ready. Around here to get into preschool, they have to be potty trained. I have talked to parents with kids who were not allowed in. Plus, diapers are expensive, especially the pull ups. I am sure I will be bashed for that belief. So be it.

He and my older son are still wanting to earn stickers for Disney, so if they do their chores like keeping their room clean, picking up their toys and putting their plates in the sink when they are doing eating (without being told), they can continue to get stickers.

Good Luck. Find something that motivates them. For mine it was getting to know they could purchase what they wanted at Disney (in their price range) that mom and dad could not say no too. We already knew they wanted to build a light saber, get legos, buy lots of good snacks etc.

 

[tazdev3225]

If your child isn't ready you are asking for a lot of fights and battles of wills. My DGD was 3 when I got her trained for my DD. She still has issues with bowel movements and has periods where she will not use the toilet for them. I just remind her that she is not a baby and threaten her with her brothers diapers. She had serious constipation problems though so that is still an issue. DGS is 2 and is nowhere near ready. I will wait until next spring after their new sibling is here and see what signals he sends. When the child is ready it takes no time at all. I agree with the training pants by Gerber. PullUps are just like a diaper. When DGD wet her training pants she knew right away and let me know, with the PullUps she had no unpleasant sensation. They were used for bedtime only.

 

[DisneyTiger]

I started training my DD at the beginning of June. She'll be 3 in September - right in the middle of our trip! I did the bare bottom thing. First I set the timer for every 30 minutes. She had an accident before then. Then I set it to 20, then 15, then 8! Every 8 minutes I took her to the potty. She finally got it. The thing with her is that she never gave me "signs". She never cared when she was wet or dirty. It was only until recently that she gets upset when she has an accident. And pooping, will have none of it. I usually put a diaper on her when she naps and she knows that's pooping time. I figure I will just do this until she gets upset about being dirty. Lots of kids are scared to poop on the potty.

As for WDW, I plan on taking her to the potty often. I'm not going to wait for her to tell me when she needs to go. One of the best tips that I've found out there is to bring sticky notes with you to the parks. One mom reported that her DD in the middle of potty training was severly traumatized by the auto flushing toilets! Put a sticky note over the sensor while they are pottying to avoid it flushing while they're on the toilet. As for pooping, I'm just going to keep with the diaper thing until she says something. We have scheduled a break at our hotel every day so that's when the diaper will go on. I don't know what I'm doing here but it seems to work for us. Guess the moral of the story is to not wait until they tell you they have to go. I don't want to be in line for Peter Pan and have to leave for a potty emergency. My itinerary just won't allow for that

Also, we used skittles as a reward. I had a bowl of them sitting in the bathroom. My DD would do anything for a skittle!

Good luck!

 

[foltzy]

My 3 year old refuses to potty train, she has shown intrest in the potty since she was 18 months old. She doesn't care if she's wet or dry and won't stop in the middle of anything she's doing to go to the potty. However, she has to be potty trained by the end of August since she's off to preschool and they won't let her go if she isn't potty trained, same with ballerina school that she wants to do. We've tried everything and we're going back to the underwear and hope this time it works.

 

[DisneyTiger]

My 3 year old refuses to potty train, she has shown intrest in the potty since she was 18 months old. She doesn't care if she's wet or dry and won't stop in the middle of anything she's doing to go to the potty. However, she has to be potty trained by the end of August since she's off to preschool and they won't let her go if she isn't potty trained, same with ballerina school that she wants to do. We've tried everything and we're going back to the underwear and hope this time it works.

Wow, end of August? That's a lot of pressure! Good luck - I feel your potty pain

 

[tonilea]

Ditch the pullups. (assuming you use them) Pullups were invented by diaper companies to keep you buying their product longer!

 

[mjantz]

Speaking as a preschool teacher I've seen it all. The most important thing is to relax. I had a professor in college that told me 2 things that have stuck with me about potty-training:

1. A lot of child abuse happens during potty training. Putting children in very hot water, beatings, leaving them in soiled underwear, etc. I am in no way saying that you or anyone else would hurt your child because of potty training. But for me, that thought puts it in perspective.

2. It is an incredibly rare child that starts kindergarten not potty trained & usually in those situations there are other factors at play.

I will say that I've found positive peer pressure in a daily care situation to be a very good thing. When other kids see teachers saying 'Wow! You went potty! You're such a big boy/girl!' they want that too & that is a powerful motivator.

 

[mamaLori05]

My 3 year old refuses to potty train, she has shown intrest in the potty since she was 18 months old. She doesn't care if she's wet or dry and won't stop in the middle of anything she's doing to go to the potty. However, she has to be potty trained by the end of August since she's off to preschool and they won't let her go if she isn't potty trained, same with ballerina school that she wants to do. We've tried everything and we're going back to the underwear and hope this time it works.

It will work, just be consistant. Taking your child to the potty every half hour to hour. When you switch back to the underwear, what ever you do, do not go back to diapers/pullups!!!! EVEN IF YOU ARE GOING OUT IN PUBLIC, and EVEN FOR NAPS!!!!! Going back and forth will only drag out the process. Yes that first day or two is very frustrating and makes you want to give up, but don't. Keep going, and it will be rewarding for both of you!!!!

 

[mjkacmom]

Nakey butt seems to work great for about 98% of the population. I did traditional with my first 2 (underpants, times potty times, etc.), and it took months! Did nakey butt with the next 3, it took a few days. No pants, potty in room, do not make them sit. If they're ready, they won't have more than one or two accidents before being consistant with the potty. Once they've mastered that, pants or shorts - no underwear (feels too much like a diaper). I did use pullups for outings in the beginning, but they rarely wet.

I can't imagine doing it any other way - this was SO easy, and I know of dozens of others it worked for.

 

[mjkacmom]

Do your girls wake up dry in the AM. If not then I say they are not ready. If so then they held their bladder all night so that is a great sign. My next advice is toss the pull ups. They only make it easier for accidents to go unnoticed. Buy those thick training underpants so when they have an accident they know it and it is uncomfortable for them. Have them help with the clean-ups and be consistent . Good luck.

Ds5 has never woken up dry, and he's been completely PT'd since he was 2 1/2. Day and night are 2 different issues.

 

[MouseLover]

My daughter asked to go potty at age 22 months. We were on a camping trip and she had seen various family members going into the bathroom in the camp trailer, so that is apparently what interested her. I set her on the toilet and she did pee. I was so excited -- I thought Yes! She is going to be trained soon. WRONG! I tried a lot for the next couple of weeks, but she just wasn't interested. Not until she was nearly 3 did she start bringing me diapers for a dry change. She would go every now and then, but it was a novelty for her.

Then I noticed when I took her grocery shopping, she always wanted me to buy PINK TOILET PAPER. I finally bought a pack just for her. She went straight home, peed, used that pink toilet paper, and that was it. She was trained, because SHE decided it was time. I did keep pull-ups on her at night for a while, but she never had an accident. (well, until a year later, when she was too "busy" at the McDonald's playplace to go pee -- yuck!)

I don't think I've seen any colored toilet paper in a few years, but that did the trick for us.

 

[momma2minnie]

Just a little advice to share that I originally found on this board while planning for Dec '07 trip with DD (3 at the time and potty trained for appx 1 1/2 yrs)

Bring post its to cover the auto flush sensor on the toilets....they are LOUD and SCARY to the little ones.

I forgot them in the room the 1st day and the 1st potty break the toilet flushed befoe she was finished