How did you potty train?

Started my son at 2.5 around September last year, kept a potty in the living room for a good few months before that.

Started by putting him on it once a day, in the morning when he got up. After a week or so he started to do a wee. He was waking up with a dry nappy though.

Gradually increased to getting him to go on it every few hours. Then he started doing poos too. Rewarded him with stickers, chocolate and Santa left him some big boy pants under the tree.

He's been in pants and nappy free in the day since the start of the year. I put him in a nappy at night but it's always dry in the morning.

You’ll get very conflicting advice on here as well as all the other things you read! I trained both of mine around the age of 3 as that was when they were ready. I dressed myself out when my first was 2 and a bit because of the pressure from outsiders to get it done and I wished I had ignored them as he was not ready. When I did try again it took 3 days and he was done and we’ve never looked back. I had a potty downstairs and then used a kids toilet seat for out and about. As soon as they cracked the potty I got them on a normal toilet. I was very fortunate with both of mine that as soon as they started day time training, they were both dry at night as well.
Potty training gets built up into this massive thing but really you need to just wait until your child is ready and it won’t be that hard. The ones that struggle tend to be ones who start so early and it goes on for weeks and weeks. Sometimes you do go backwards for a day, my second child had a really good first day and then the next one was a disaster and I nearly gave up but the third day he cracked it. Lots of sticker charts and praise. Good luck!

Completely agree with this. The beauty being that if the first time you try they don’t quite get it, there will be a different method you can follow. All kids are different and you know your child better than anyone. Potty trained before 2? That’s cool. Didn’t get the hang of it until 3.5? Also cool. I couldn’t even tell you what age I was 😂

I think a huge take away from this thread is that there is no "one size fits all" method and that you will find a way that works for your DC once you start doing it.

My daughter had a very distinctive expression when she was getting reading to fill her nappy so I got into the habit of just whipping off the nappy and sitting her on the pot from about 7 months. She started to object at about 15 months so I didn't insist, but the pot was easier to clean than the alternative. Actual potty training happened when she was just past two - during the hot period of early lockdown so we had plenty of time on our hands, but it all seemed to happen without too much fuss.

My top tip: have multiple potties. We had one upstairs and one down.

start now! little cotton pants (lots of) and M&Ms /smartie treats. Provide several potties. Doable within a week but best to be done in a half term or similar and when you're not going anywhere

Katherine Ryan (comedian) trained her daughter Violet at 9mths old!!

Didn’t bother having a potty. Had the plonk on toilet seat things and would sit them on occasionally cheering what big boys and girls they were (to their confusion initially).

Then the summer before they went to nursery I had them in the garden and around the house with no pants. Luckily if they weed in the garden it was no biggie. And if they did anything on the loo it was huge celebrations and praise. They all took around 3-4 days for it to click. Dry day and night.

You have no idea how much I needed this!

https://visiblechild.com/2015/09/20/toilet-training-in-one-simple-step/

@onlyhereforthefood You might find this a reassuring read.

Pullups and made going to the potty a part of the routine. Regular every 2h. Big fuss and chocolate buttons for every success.

Did that for a few months but it wasn’t a big deal. Pullups meant no wee or poo to clean up and getting used to undressing etc.

Then when they were consistently dry snapped them into pants and done.

Another fan of Oh Crap. The author maintains that they are ready to train if they can recite the alphabet.
I bought a multipack of Fruit Shoots (usually banned) and found going frequently was a useful way to reinforce. My 2 yr took a little bit longer to train at night (hindered by being in a cot as a bed didn’t actually fit in her room). The only comment I would make is that those I know who are still not trained (aged 3) have parents who talk a lot about waiting for signs that they “are ready” without specifying what…..

It’s not a “revolting” thing for parents not to potty train by 3 obviously, but imo it is revolting as a parent/carer to have to change a 3yos nappies.

Obviously we all love our kids and do what we have to do, but changing a large pooey nappy when they are that age is pretty gross. Not to mention bad for the environment. Personally I was very glad to say goodbye to the nappy changing as early as I possibly could.

There is another thread running now where someone has literally said it is ‘revolting’ if a child isn’t potty trained before 3. What a load of rubbish. Please done beat yourself up for this, I am certain your child is happy and healthy and if this is the worst thing you’ve done as a parent, then I think you’re doing very well indeed x

We did it on a sunny May bank holiday just before they turned 2. They hadn’t shown any signs, but we wanted to take advantage of having the time off work. I was dreading it, but it was really easy. Outside, no pants, lots to drink and a potty. They had the hang of it by the end of day 1 and were all set by Tuesday for nursery.

We did no pants and loose trousers for a few weeks before adding pants in. Nursery were fine with it. It worked really well, a few accidents when adding the pants but I think you’ll always get a few accidents - especially when they’re excited about something and don’t want to stop what they’re doing to go to the loo!

MN is awful about children who are late to potty train. It did have an adverse effect on me and I forced my child to wear pants and went through an incredible amount of stress. At about three and nine months he got it. He’s now just turned four and never has accidents. I can honestly say it’s one of the worst things I’ve done as a parent and I’ll never forgive myself for it.

My girl is 3 years and 4 months and not trained. We've tried everything but all the bribes and bare bum time in the world will not make her wee on the potty: she knows when she needs to go, hates being in a wet nappy and will happily sit on toilets or the potty with a nappy on but would rather dehydrate and sit all day with a full bladder than release a wee in one.

Current record is 7 hours no wee without a nappy on. But also 7 hours refusing to drink.

I'll get called lazy, but I don't know what else we can do right now other than wait for her to be ok with it. She talks about it all the time and knows she can't wear nappies forever but just can't seem to let go.

Read Oh Crap. Follow it to the letter. Yes it’s an intense few days at the start but absolutely worth it. Child will be potty trained if you follow the approach properly.

People who struggle seem to do so because they can’t be bothered to put the effort in. They’re incensed that it means taking a week off to focus on teaching their child. They believe someone else (usually nursery) should do this for them. They can’t face a week without staring at their phone so get distracted then frustrated when they miss their child’s cues.

We trained quite late, when he was about 3, he just absolutely wasn’t interested or showing any signs of readiness early than that. We tried it before and he just did not want to know. Multiple accidents etc. it was tricky with us both full time and him being looked after by family.

The upside for us is that he was dry day and night pretty much the same time. I can count the total number of accidents on one hand since we did it properly.

lots will say it was too late (like my mother) but it worked for us.

I have a boy which I think does make some difference as from what I hear, they tend to take longer.

We needed up taking in to account the time of year. So we started trying as soon as he turned 3 but it was the middle of winter and so he often had more layers of clothing on. The nursery he went to was one that had them outdoors in all weathers so he was often wearing waterproof trousers over his jeans etc. The first time he had an accident I couldn’t get all his clothes off in time - he told me he needed to go but by the time we got him to his potty (we were out and it was in the car) and started getting his trousers off it was too late. He was quite upset about it bless him, even though I told him it was my fault! I didn’t want to knock his confidence any further so we stopped and waited another 6 months. He got it within a week that time.

As I understand it, 3.5 is late for potty training by MN standards but it worked for us and he was certainly fine when he started school!

Started around this age introducing the toilet just before bath time . I had a little toilet seat and while the bath was running would pop him on for a couple of mins. Got him Used to toilet in non scary way so when went for toilet training fully he got the whole idea of a toilet. All of mine trained very quickly

2 years 9 months I started as that was when she had the physical strength to be able to pull up / push down her clothes, had good communication skills and understanding, was showing signs of knowing she was pooing by leaving the room to poo and asking for a nappy change after.

Used the "Oh Crap" method. Biggest thing I can recommend is taking time off work to really focus on it - it should be the sole focus of your days when you start. You don't want to be distracted by other things. Day 1 was pretty rough with quite a few wee accidents, but on the morning of day 2 she understood straight away and did most of her wees in the potty and I think by day 3 or 4 she was completely dry in the daytime, and also completely dry at night coincidentally.

Poos took a bit longer but no more than probably...2 weeks. I used to take her out into the garden after a meal with no pants on, put a potty behind the tree and when she had that panicked "I'm going to poo" face I just shouted and pointed "In the potty over there! go go!" and she ran off and did it eventually after a few poos on the grass. Queue lots of praise and excitement / congratulations from me.

You can't night train, it's hormonal. You can encourage good habits like having a wee before turning in but remaining dry overnight is reliant on sufficient amounts of anti-diuretic hormones. Levels of these vary by individual but, for the most part, increase with age so allowing time to pass is all you need for nighttime dryness. Levels vary souch that it's not considered a medical issue until the age of 8 and even then the initial management plan will be "let's give it 6-12 months and see what happens".