God I can sense we're nearly at potty training age...

[Maria2007loveshersleep]

Hi, my DS is 2 early august & I have a sinking feeling that we're near potty training age. I just dread the whole thing to be honest, lazy mum that I am . I haven't got any books yet, any tips about good recommendations welcome (I'm a bookwork & love my parenting books, even though I end up using only 10% of the advice on offer!)

DS is already speaking short sentences, has a good understanding of the whole toilet process (follows me around in the toilet, flushes) has longish spells where I find his nappy dry, tells us when he's pooed & asks to be changed etc. So I imagine that any time soon we should embark on the 'mission' (god).

Not sure when to start though as in september we're expecting a bit of disruption in his everyday routine & also end of august we're going on holiday for 3 weeks. Shall I wait until october/november so that things are more settled? Or should I push & go ahead now in july (I'm not working atm so have plenty of time). How long does the whole dreaded thing take?

You can tell that even if DS is ready I'm hardly ready . DP has told me he's thinking of taking a month-long trip when we potty train .

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

If your DS is ready, training can take just a couple of days. Give it a go now, you can always put him back in nappies/pull-ups if he's not really ready.

[MrsJamin]

I'd definitely wait until you're ready. 2 is very early and unless it's actually upsetting him to be in nappies any longer, a few weeks won't make any difference. It can take a lot longer than a couple of days - its a bit like weaning in that its an ongoing process rather than something that you can just change.

[jooseyfruit]

in exactly the same place as you.

ds is 2.5 and has been showing most of the classic signs. Has wee'd in his potty/washing basket/cat bowl several times, tells us he needs a wee/poo etc etc.

I just can't be bothered at the moment which is so stupid as the weather is good and I have loads of time off coming up.

Am considering starting next week.

dh has just bought 40 nappies though.

oh gawd.

[jooseyfruit]

one of cods boot camp threads

[alarkaspree]

I remember dreading potty training dd too. I thought it would be an utter nightmare. It wasn't, she was dry in 3 days and pooed in her pants for another 3 days probably. Ds was even easier possibly. If your ds wants to stop wearing nappies, I'd go for it. If you see no progress within a week, stop and go back to nappies.

I wouldn't worry too much about the life events coming up. If things go well nappies could well seem like a distant memory by September.

[Maria2007loveshersleep]

Read cod's bootcamp thread. Gulp! Am trying to take deep breath & think 'this too shall pass', no one's not toilet trained age 7. Am reluctant though to start now because we may possibly have change in childcare situation in September (not sure yet but likely) plus we have booked holiday end of aug / beginning sep for 3 weeks. So basically I have 1 month before upheaval & ds will only turn 2 in early aug. Could potentially wait until oct/nov? It's just I do think he's kind of ready now...

[jooseyfruit]

if he's showing signs then it could be cracked in a few days

I've been and bought portable potty (on sale in mothercare) some potette liners and pampers bed mats.

it's happening on thursday.

[sapphireblue]

I would really recommend waiting until he decides to do it for himself (i.e tells you he doesn't want to wear nappies any more). My DD took her own nappy off one morning 3 weeks ago and that was that. She had a few acidents and pooed in her pants every day for the first week, but has been fine since.

[akrbmum]

You have all made me feel so much better, and I've been chuckling reading these posts!! My DS is 2.5 and I fear ready but I have been putting the whole thing off to be honest and beating myself up a bit (guilt is now my middle name since becoming a mother!!!).

We relocate to London in 3 weeks and things will start to get a bit hectic, so I'm starting tomorrow arghhh!!! Not saying I'll crack it in 3 weeks as he and I are pretty lazy, but got loads of times on my hands at mo. Really dreading it!!

Best of luck to everyone in the same boat.

[Snuppeline]

My dd, 22 months, is on potty training day 3. So far she's not had one successful wee in the potty and seems to hold her poo for when she gets her evening nappy poor thing. I'm not stressed yet as she does have all of the classic signs (tells me she's doing a poo (she uses the word poo for both wee and poo), asks to be changed etc) but seem slightly offended by the potty which is cold and got a whole in it (cries/tantrums if she is asked to sit on it for more than 2 seconds). Anyway, she did run for the potty last evening (day 2) and said "poo" before she started weeing. Really quite funny as she was sort of tugging the potty and clearly trying to get the wee into it somehow (without actually sitting on it). We've got lots of books for potty training, reward charts and all the rest and she loves the concept of not wearing nappies I think, but she's simply not keen on sitting on the potty. Not sure how I am going to get her to overcome her reluctance. I'm going to give her a full week as suggested here and then I'll just go back to nappies if she's still refusing the potty. I guess I'm hoping that she too will decide that weeing on oneself is much less desirable when one can use a potty and stay dry. Well, that is what I am hoping for anyway... Anyone with experience of potty reluctance please tell me what you did!