Potty training and Disney

[buckler]

You're a genius! My youngest is sometimes afraid to use public restrooms because of those darn auto flush toilets. She's had them flush on her a couple times and then she'd jump off the toilet and refuse to finish.

While I like to think of myself as a genius, I can't take credit for this tip. I learned it on the Disboards! If you use the big Post-It's rip them in half (top to bottom so both halves have a sticky piece at the top) to get more use out of them. I use the tiniest sized ones and hand one to each kid as they enter the stall. They are way past potty training age but still like the Post-It trick.

 

[brymolmom]

Just want to add that I do not agree with the 'they'll train when they're ready, not when you're ready' approach.

I whole-heartedly think that almost all (I'm sure that there are some with special considerations that would fall outside of this) kids can be TRAINED when they are still young enough to be more easily trained. As in, you've been going in your diaper for over a year - but now Mommy/Daddy want you to do something different - and this is what it is.

But, if you wait too long until they get too many ideas of their own and realize the power they can have over you - THEN you likely do have to wait until they are ready.

Just in case anyone has an 18 month old who is reading this - wanted to let you know that if you really want to TRAIN your child (not just wait for them to go potty by themselves but actually train them on this whole new process) - start now!!! We waited way too long with ds even though he was ready and I wish I had someone tell me this when he was 18 months old.

 

[flipflop]

Thank You all a bunch!! You don't know how much I appreciate all the helpful tips. Today has been a good day with potty training. DS told me when he had to go potty and I took and he did a #1 but for some reason I have never been able to get him to do a #2. I guess thats going to be the hardest part. I'm still hopeful that by september he won't be 100% potty trained but at least 85-90%, I'm keeping my fingers crossed! But if not, then just like you all said, don't push it too hard. He'll get it when he get's it.

It's just so hard not to get discouraged with myself. I've tried the sticker chart and that worked for a little while but now he's just not that into. I started today to offer him hot wheel cars as prizes for going potty. So far they have been working. I never thought about offereing tattoo's. He really likes those, maybe I will try that if the cars thingy doesn't work out. Did any of you just go from diapers to underware? I use the pull ups but I think DS is thinking they are more like a diaper. So he is less inclined to try and not have an accident in them.

Yes, we did. I think if you reread some of the earlier posts you will see others have done the same. Kids know that pull-ups are another form of diapers. We have put the kids in pull-ups on long car rides post potty training - just in case and they have never gone in them but I wouldn't have used them during training. I think it sends a mixed message.

Just want to add that I do not agree with the 'they'll train when they're ready, not when you're ready' approach.

I whole-heartedly think that almost all (I'm sure that there are some with special considerations that would fall outside of this) kids can be TRAINED when they are still young enough to be more easily trained. As in, you've been going in your diaper for over a year - but now Mommy/Daddy want you to do something different - and this is what it is.

But, if you wait too long until they get too many ideas of their own and realize the power they can have over you - THEN you likely do have to wait until they are ready.

Just in case anyone has an 18 month old who is reading this - wanted to let you know that if you really want to TRAIN your child (not just wait for them to go potty by themselves but actually train them on this whole new process) - start now!!! We waited way too long with ds even though he was ready and I wish I had someone tell me this when he was 18 months old.

ITA with you.

 

[vettechick99]

When she came out she proceeded to tell everyone in earshot how she had pooped and it really smelled and she was sorry!

hilarious!

Also some good advice, thanks!

 

[GraysMom]

First off, I will say we were extremely lucky with DS. I had him sit on his little potty about once a month once he turned 2. While he was sitting there I would read book after book, just to get him used to sitting on it. We also read The Potty Book for Boys frequently. He had no interest whatsoever in actually going on the potty.

Fast forward to the week before we leave for WDW (his first trip). DS is now 2y3m. He announces he wants to wear underwear. I told him that means you have to use the potty ALL the time. He says "OK". Now, I really don't want to start training him the week before vacation, so I told him we would look for big boy undies at WDW and when we came back we would start training (meanwhile I'm holding my breath that he doesn't change his mind in the next two weeks).

During the week we were at Disney, he used the potty at OKW about 3x a day (standing or being held on the seat). We searched everywhere for toddler undies but found nothing (they hadn't come out with the MMC undies yet or I would have packed them as a backup). The closest thing we found were boys size small undies at WoD (they probably won't fit him till he's 5 or 6). So be warned if you go looking for toddler undies at WDW!

Anyway, we returned home and put him in training undies the next day (thicker white cotton), but he didn't want to use his little potty. He wanted to use the regular one like mommy and daddy. So we held him on the seat until I could get out to get one of the seats that fits inside the regular toilet seat. And that was it. He was trained the minute he put undies on. He had a handful of accidents the first week, but that was it.

We used pull-ups at night only, but he was usually dry so we just switched him to undies for nighttime too. I will say that there was no way he was going back to diapers. His tushie was a little sore the one night and I told him we needed to put diaper cream on it. He had a huge meltdown (which was unusual for him) and we couldn't figure out why. Finally I asked him if he thought he was going to have to wear a diaper if he got diaper cream on, and he said yes. I felt so bad, so we had to explain it didn't mean he had to wear a diaper, and then he was fine.

BTW, I put the little potty in a garbage bag and stuck it in my trunk (with grocery bags for liners) so when we had to go out we could use the "travel potty" in an emergency. That is the only way he will use it. I truly think if I had made him use the little potty he would have been really resisted. So if you have a little potty, you might want to invest in the small toilet seat insert to have on hand.

Oh, and for long car rides/outings, I would put his undies on w/a pull-up over the top. That way he still felt like he needed to keep the undies dry, but there was a backup in case he couldn't.

Good luck everyone .

 

[cajunrose]

I haven't read the responses yet, but let me tell you our experience. We took our almost potty trained 2.5 year old dd to disney. The automatic flushing toilets TERRIFIED her. They set us back months. We couldn't even try to work with her for 6 months after that. My DD...at almost 5 now...is still deathly terrified of 'magic toilets' (we gave it that name to gloss over the scarey part) and won't go by herself if there is one somewhere.

Just wanted to tell you what happened with that us.

Good luck