Questions!

[JimJamJarmusch]

DD is 2 years 7 months. We are going to give it a go in a fortnight (May bank holiday). What would people recommend:

1. Potty or straight to toilet? Would have gone with potty, but we've had one hanging around for months - she was initially interested but novelty has worn off and she doesn't want to sit on it if offered. We've talked a lot about getting pants and a special toilet seat and she seems more open to this. Just think I that potties might be easier for first few days, so we don't have to stay within 6 feet of the bathroom - and probably also easier when out and about (toilet seat isn't going to be much help in a lay-by)?

1. Sit her on potty regularly or just wait till it looks like she's doing something? I've read about the whole 'Oh Crap' thing and I get that you ultimately want them taking themselves. But the whole thing seems more stressful than sitting them on the loo periodically and allowing them to figure out the difference between going and not going without weeing themselves!

Thoughts?

[sleepismysuperpower1]

i would go with the toilet if she seems more interested in that. put her in the pants, but put her on the toilet every hour, even if she doesn't look like she needs to go. we did it that when she did a wee she got 1 smartie, a poo was 2 smarties and she got to ring a little bell like this. don't let her ring the bell any other time as it makes it more special when she does get to ring it. good luck! (you can buy potty training pants that look like regular pants here, which can hold accidents, so are good for on the go) x

[teaandbiscuitsforme]

Going straight to the toilet is absolutely fine if you're confident she can get up herself. Ikea do a good two step up that's better than their plastic one step box thing.

Don't make a decision about the Oh Crap method from a few postings online without reading the book. The reason you wait for a sign that they're about to wee is that you want them to link the feeling of needing to wee with moving to the toilet. So the child goes from clueless about where they're weeing to realising they have weed, to realising that they are weeing to realising that they need to wee. Putting them periodically on the toilet relies on luck to get a wee, probably based on the fact that it's been about an hour since she last weed (as an example) but ultimately it's still luck.

I'm a big Oh Crap fan. It's not stressful (well no more than other methods I should imagine). The first few days feel a bit intense but you are far more proactive in teaching them where to wee than you are with other methods I read. But then it's absolutely fine. I was a convert after training my DD and then thought maybe it was luck but actually it's been as easy with DS as well. It's worth a read even if you dismiss it IMO.