How do I potty train my son?!

[Rachell1]

Sorry, I know there are loads of these threads and I know you can buy books on it etc but I just to understand simply how I get started!

My son is nearly 2 but seems ready, he knows what the toilet is for and seems keen to get out of his nappy.

My questions are…

1. I have a potty but how do I start? Do I just pop some pants on him and hope for the best?! I presume not! How will he know to start suddenly using it?
2. Is it best to get a training seat for the actual toilet and forget the potty all together?
3. What happens when you are out and about… I am a germ freak and would never want him to sit on a public toilet and he is too short to stand?
4. He did one wee in his potty about a month ago (we then moved house and potty training has had to be pushed back) but the wee went over the potty! His willy needs holding down whilst weeing.. i think?

Thank you in advance!!

Not sure about the rest of the questions as my DD was much older when she trained but for out and about I had a potette. Probably not the most environmentally friendly as it uses plastic bags but I have bad OCD and it was the best solution. We had a normal potty for at home but used the potette when out and about.

If you try too early it'll take forever, ie, won't work. You have to wait until they're 3 in my experience, when they're ready it won't take long at all.

Unless your child is actively 'ready' at that age I really wouldn't even try. Best advice I was ever given as a new mum was to wait until they are ready. Night dryness is especially unlikely at that age and that can't be 'trained' as such it's a hormonal development that happens when their body produces the required hormone and when their bladder has capacity enough to not need to empty quite so frequently.

Most people (not all, some do train that young) who claim their children are toilet trained under age 2 actually have children that wear pants but have frequent accidents. That's not trained.

Mine were just under and just over 3 and at that age it was honestly easy. I tried with my eldest at a younger age, and despite being very verbal and her completely understanding what she needed to do it just didn't happen. Waited until she was ready (just over 3 for eldest) and she cracked it in 48 hours with just two wee accidents. Youngest was 2y 9m I think, and again, only took a day or two with very minimal wee accidents. Neither ever had a poo accident.

What I did was:

• No potty. Straight to toilet with a toddler step and seat. Why train twice?
• Straight to pants, none of this bare bum stuff. Let them choose some pants that they like
• Explain it clearly to them, and then gave a reward (chocolate button, one for a wee two for a poo!) when they used the toilet. No telling off if they have an accident, just praise for when they get it right
• Bought and read to them frequently a few weeks before the Princess Polly on the Potty book (they do a Pirate Pete one too) and got them to press the cheer button when they'd have their chocolate button. Changed wording from potty to toilet for is, they couldn't read then so it didn't matter!

Night dryness followed for both of mine naturally within a few weeks. Didn't do anything with that at all, just left pull ups on at night until they'd been consistently dry for a week/ten days then took them off. Always even now (at 4 and 6) I insist on them trying for a wee before bed even if they say they don't need one (they nearly always do!).

Also I have girls so not sure on the 'holding' thing but isn't it better for little boys to sit down and tuck in until they're tall enough to stand up and wee at the toilet? Much less mess for you, especially for morning wees when things don't always stay in the direction that you'd like!!

Mine were all out of nappies between 2-21/2 during the day. It's not hard and it took maybe 3-4 days until they got it. No pants at first just bare bottoms. I planned my week so we were at home. I personally would not want a 3 year old in nappies but each to their own.

I use the book "who gives a crap potty training" and it was amazing. Tells you everything you need to know when works like a charm.

I’d get the Oh Crap book and read that before starting. And the proper book, not just a google summary. It’s not the only method out there but I thought it’s very good especially for early than average trainers.

However you really need to get over the public bathroom fear if you want to successful. He will need to sit on the loo for poos and until he’s big enough to do standing wees. I used a portable folding toilet seat and always had a pack of antibac wipes to hand. Portable potty is fine for initially if you’d rather but you can’t use that in the middle of a cafe, for example, you’d still have to go into the loo. And they can’t still be using that when they’re 4- it’ll have to be the loo! You don’t want to give him weird issues about it either.

I have a boy and a girl, with the boy the aiming issue is fine when using the big toilet with the ikea seat. The small potty is a bit more problematic!

I disagree that you should wait until some magic moment when they're ready - it used to be common to potty train at 18 months or 2, or even younger, when not being potty trained involved terry nappies. Basically modern nappies are so cheap and convenient that people put it off longer but it is possible earlier.

We used the oh crap book, you start with a potty and bare bum in the house and sit them on whenever they start weeing, once they get themselves to the potty then you let them wear loose trousers and still help them on, when they've got the hang of that you add pants, then you start going out for short journeys.

I found potty training surprisingly emotional, it's the first time you are handing over responsibility for managing a body function to your child and it's an important step towards independence.

You will need to get over your thing about public loos. Being overly clean is also bad for kids' immune systems and linked to allergies, we're not meant to grow up in sterile environments.

If you're going to find it hard to deal with leaks and spills then I'd leave it a bit later, there's a fair bit of mopping up in the early days!

Potties only last until they're a certain size, then loo seats are better but they need to be able to get there in time, and if you only have one loo in your house then a potty is a useful back up as they might not be able to wait until the other person finishes.

Wait until summer! It is so much easier. If you have a garden you can just let them run around naked and turn the potty into a game. I tried in winter and it was just a bit of a nightmare when out on walks and multiple layers of clothing. Stopped after two days and waited until it warmed up. So much easier.