Potty Training Experts needed!

[remyandhollandsmommy]

Ok first how old was your tot when you began to potty train? Holly (22m now) will bring me a diaper when she is wet/etc and is showing interest in the toilet. It has been a long time since I dealt w/ potty training since the girls are over 5y apart and I need some help! What do I need, what are the new help aids out there and what are your potty training techniques and words of wisdom. Any help would be appreciated. TIA!!

I have to go for now...Holly needs a bath after taking her "not so pretty" diaper off before I could change her, but I will check in later LOL.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Do not use pull ups. JMHO

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Do not use pull ups. JMHO

Yep, agreed. We used cotton training pants when at home so the kids could "feel" when they were wet. Also every time I had to go to the bathroom, the kids came with me and sat on their potty. Sometimes they had to go, sometimes they didn't but it did get them used to going. Praise her when she does tell you she has to go! Sounds like she is ready!

 

[funhouse8]

Do not use pull ups. JMHO

This was what I was going to say also. Even though it's been some time since mine were potty trained I also work in a nursery school that takes children who aren't trained yet. The pull ups feel just like diapers to them and they just go like they would in the diaper. If you use those extra thick training underpants, they feel wet and gross and don't like it and makes it easier to train. My other advice would be to wait till they wake up dry. This is a good sign that they are ready. Whatever you decide, Good luck.

 

[mickeyboat]

Do not use pull ups. JMHO

Wish someone had given me that advice when my girls were learning - especially at night!

Good luck to you.

Denae

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

Anyone else? Do I just get a potty and the cloth trainers and she'll just "do it" LOL?

 

[4greatboys]

Well Im not an expert but here goes, lol. All of my boys were 3 when we potty trained. The last 2 didnt want to go potty for anything. i just had to make them. Once they saw it was gonna happen it went pretty quickly. We took diapers away competely. Even at night I let them fall asleep in their underwear then put on a diaper over it just incase then took it off quickly in the am.
Good luck, have lots of patience and make MANY trips to the potty daily.

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

DD was about 2.5 when she trained, and I thought that was early. LOL! She had been wearing pull ups before that, but we hadn't had any serious "training". I bought this book, followed it to the letter and after a harrowing 7 hours, DD was toilet trained. She had maybe 3 accidents since that day. She even slept through the night immediately.

Good luck!

 

[mom2of2]

naked $50 worked for me as well as taking the potty chair into whatever room they were playing in

good luck

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Anyone else? Do I just get a potty and the cloth trainers and she'll just "do it" LOL?

What does she say?

My girls all told me they would do it when they were ready. They did but both were over 3.

 

[Aneille]

Oldest trained at 3, the next who is 20 months apart was trained before her 2nd b-day. She told us she didn't want her diaper anymore, I really did nothing but let her use the toilet.

With both when they showed interest I just let them go whenever they asked or when someone else was going, I asked if they wanted to try.

We never used a potty chair but we did buy one for the car for emergency stops.

And I agree don't use pull-ups. I used it with them with my oldest and that really set her back. She was good during the day at around 2 1/2 but would always wet at night in her pull-up which was the only time she wore them. About 2 weeks before her 3rd b-day I took the pull-ups off. She had a couple of accidents but soon learned that she needed to get up and go. I just bought a cheap plastic sheet at Walmart for the clean up's.

 

[Rachie0507]

I would jump on it while she is showing interest. My DS went through a period of being interested right after he turned 2 and even though he completely regressed, when he did potty train one month before he turned 3 it went smoothly because he had the routine down. I agree with the other posters to NOT use pull-ups. I never did with DD but did try them with DS because it seemed easier. When DD potty trained, we just stayed home all the time until I was confident that she wouldn't have an accident. When DS potty trained, we had to go out to bring his sister back and forth to preschool. So I stuck pull-ups on him. I think that was the reason he regressed. I did use the Gerber cotton training pants with both my kids and loved them. DS still wears them sometimes if I think he will be distracted and might start to pee without thinking. Maybe that is a boy thing though, DD never did that. Good luck and I hope it goes well!!!!

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

What does she say?

My girls all told me they would do it when they were ready. They did but both were over 3.

Holly doesn't talk yet, just says words. When she has a dirty diaper she will come to me with a clean one and say, "yuck". Sometimes she won't have a wet diaper until after she does it (I just caught on to this recently). I am going to get her a potty chair, but wasn't sure if any old one would do or is there a "good" model. A friend of mine kept swearing by some kind of potty music video and chair set, but I have NO clue what she was talking about. I can't remember how we trained Remy, but I know she was barely 2 so I don't think Holly is too young to start training.

Thanks for all the advice so far and feel free anyone to add to it LOL.

 

[LoveWDW]

I waited until the boys were dry at night. Then I spent a weekend on training. It worked well for both boys. They were both about 3 years at the time. On Saturday morning I put them in cloth training pants. Then every half hour I took them to the bathroom. The first day we had about 6 or so wet training pants. The next day two, and after that none. It was a matter of making them conscious of what it felt like when they had something to go. By Sunday they needed very little prompting- I'd say I'd ask them every hour or two if they needed to use the bathroom. The reward was praise, not food or candy. It worked for both boys, who were 3 years apart. I recommend not going back to diapers ever once training pants are started.

 

[Miller1412]

Going buck naked worked wonders for my son. He didn't have the "security" of underwear to pee in, so he would be more aware of getting to the potty. He also started to get a little lazy after he got the idea, so I had him strip his wet clothes off and carry them up to the laundry basket. That stopped it really quickly!

Maybe you can make a big deal out of how Remy does it on the potty and then Holly will want to copy her big sis???

 

[lbgraves]

It wasn't worth the stress of cleaning up the messes for me to use the cloth trainers. I tried it & DD just threw out the pants & put another one on. No big deal...she just refused to use the potty. I stopped even asking about it & a few months later when she was in the 4 year PS class I told her that the teachers told me that the kids have to wear underwear now. She had to stay dry a day before being able to go to class...her choice. I picked a week with 4 days of school. The first day she had an accident...sorry! No school tomorrow. Tears & determination set in. She was dry from then on...age 4 years 2 months. DS was 3 1/2 when he trained...dry all day from the first day he decided that he was ready...nights too.

 

[justhat]

Madison has a musical potty chair, and she seems to like it. We're not really potty training her yet, but I let her sit on the potty when I go to the bathroom if she wants to. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. The best time, IMO anyway, is when she 1st wakes up. She is generally dry during the night and then pees within 15 minutes of waking up, so if I can get her on the potty before then she usually pees in it. It plays a little song when she actually potties, which I guess reinforces them using the potty. Of course, her bottom is so tiny that it kinda hanges in the hole so sometimes it plays music just cause her butt is in front of the little sensor. I can't say it's been successful yet since we're not actively trying to train, but she does seem to like hearing the music.

 

[bdcp]

My boys, now 19 and 21 were trained at 28 months. We had no battles over it and no "discussions". It wasn't up for discussion. I recently read an article by a doctor that says there is no reason to wait to train a child. That a 1 year old is ready to learn and totally capable of being trained if you expect it, and that our society has changed how they raise children over the years because we have less children. I was trained at 13 months and it didn't adversely affect me. As a result, both of my boys went to preschool a couple of days a week at 3 because they were dry and there were plenty of other kids in their classes also dry.

Also, any child who is dry all night is past ready to be out of diapers.

 

[Aneille]

Your daughter isn't too young to train.

First pick a word to use in your house for going to the bathroom and start using it. Let your daughter go into the bathroom with you and her older sister and use the word of choice. You daughter may know she's about to go but doesn't have the word yet to tell you.

Also watch for her cues. She may be telling you non-verbally that she is about to go. She may get quiet all of a sudden, or stop playing and go off by herself for a little while.

You can also let her go naked for a day and try to watch her that way and also catch her and get her on the toilet.

As someone else said when she wakes up would be a good time or maybe before bath while the water is running just try putting her on the toilet.

If you don't do the potty chair you can buy a potty ring with "Blue's Clues" on it or some other character that will fit right on your seat.

And get a stool. Even if they can get themselves on the toilet its much easier with a stool as well as getting down.

If your daughter doesn't stay on the toilet long enough to actually go, or is too excited to let it happen, give her a toy or book and just hang out with her on the toilet.

I would also make a big deal out of her big sister going.

Also once my youngest started going a few times on the toilet I brought her to Walmart to pick out some character panties. She really wanted some since her sister had them. She would wear them over her diaper. She figured out all on her own that they didn't belong over the diaper and she would ask to wear them without it. I would allow her to, but I told her that she needed to keep "Dora" dry. It seemed to work.

Its tough, with my oldest I did train her and she finished just about her 3rd bday. With my youngest she trained me and was dry day and night just before she was 2. She was ready all on her own and I have been trying to figure out what I did differently. And all I can come up with is that her sister was being trained and newly trained pretty much her whole life and therefor she grew up with all the lingo. They are only 20 months apart. I put off training my youngest because I felt like I just finished with the oldest but I guess the no pressure technique worked.

So my biggest advice is to be patient and just go with the flow. She'll get it.

 

[daisyduck123]

When I thought my daughter was ready, I bought Pull Ups. Big mistake. She thought it was a diaper & went right in it. One nite, I just put her in underwear & told her that was what she was going to wear from now on. Well, she wet it & hated the feeling of being all wet. From that moment on, she was trained..totally dry the next day & forever more.

I was very lucky. My son took a little longer. My girlfriends & I formed a "Potty Training Support Group". 5 years later we still laugh about it.