IABU to post on here about potty training but noone answers on the other forums! Need advice pleeeeeease

[degroote78]

I am planning to potty train my 2.5 year old over easter and would like some advice please. How long do we need to stay at home? Should I leave her naked for the first few days from the waist down or get her use to pulling pants up and down? Knickers or training pants or pull ups???? How long after getting the hang of the potty should I try her on the loo with a toddler seat? When we eventually do go out do I need to take a travel potty or try her on toilets if she needs a wee? My friend lets her child wee on the road if she is desperate is this acceptable????! If we are travelling on the tube for an hour or so should I stick a nappy on her just in case or just leave nappies off for good (apart from at bedtime)?

Sorry, lots of questions but I want to try to get it right and not stress her out smile

I am not really a Gina Ford fan over all but the 'Potty training in one week' book was a god-send!

If your child is desperate I would let them wee anywhere (if it is the early days of training when they can't hold on and within reason of course) but I would try to avoid this where possible of course as once my MIL let DS2 wee on the stones on the beach so he then would go out into our garden to the shingle and just wee on it, I wouldn't venture out too far though in teh first week. Definitely NO nappies at all other than bedtime and NO pull ups as they are just nappies.

Get loads of pants so you don't get stressed washing them!

I would highly recommend the book, I trained both my boys using it (DS1 at 22months DS2 at just 2) and it does work.

Don't get disheartened, the first wee DS2 managed on the potty at all was day 3 but it all clicked into place after that (ish).

There is a potty training board and I am sure you would get an answer. If you do a search I a sure you will find answers to your questions.

There are loads of ways of tackling potty training and whether you use knickers or pullups is personal perference.

In my PERSONAL opinon pullups are a bad idea as most children treat them as nappies. However I know plenty of people who have used pull ups sucessfully. I had both my children bare bottomed for the first couple of days.

I think the Gina Ford potty training book might help you get started, but there are no guarenteed methods. It would certainly help you know if your lo is ready.

I think the most important thing needed for potty training is unconditional love and patience!

Hi I stayed home for a week when I potty trained my son I left him naked from the waist and the potty in the bathroom, to begin with I took him every hour to 2 hours. I never used pull ups and put him
In ordinary pants which I let him choose. I never carried a travel potty he had to wait until I found a loo or if we were in the car I would stop and he could pee in the hedge. I think this is ok occasionally but not every time. He trained In a week at 2.7 but he was very ready and often told me he was about to wee/ had peed I think them being ready is key. After a week I felt confident enough to take him out we had a few accidents but not many. I know I have friends where reward charts worked very well. Hope any of that helps

Do people stay in especially when potty training? I'm sorry I can't remember much about potty training but I do remember never staying in for it. I also remember DD not really being keen on the potty, I popped her straight on the toilet, she was tall I think that had something to do with it, seeing her on the potty looked most uncomfortable! I also remember just plonking her on the loo every so often, a bit like training a dog, they do't tell you when they want to go (well, not always) so I just put them on every so often and it all worked out fine!

All my DCs were different, so there is no one clear cut answer. That said, I never used pullups after my pfb because he just thought of them as a nappy, and made no attempt to use the potty when he was wearing them. Then they leak all over as they're only meant to catch a little accident and aren't actually nappies iyswim. I think they're just a marketing gimmick tbh, and not worth it, although we did use them on long car journeys when it wouldn't be practical to stop and go through the potty rigmarole. We called them "car pants" or something equally inane, and explained about them being just in case and there not being a toilet on our way to wherever it was we were going. You need your DC to be able to know they've wet or pooed and then to not want to be wet/dirty. Then they learn the actual control over the muscles they need to be able to hold on until they reach the potty or toilet. It is a learned thing, so there will always be little accidents at first. You just have to accept they will happen and be prepared, and endlessly patient. Sometimes it turns out to be too soon too, and there's nothing wrong with waiting a while and having another try in a few weeks time.
I always started out with just pants on their bottom half, mainly to save on washing, and bought at least a dozen pairs, and was prepared to use them all in the first couple of days. Then just persevere
"Do you want a wee?" "Will you sit on your po for a while and see if you can do a wee?" for a sweeties/biscuit/other unsuitable bribe and practice your Victory Dance for when they finally perform

Yes. YABU.

Both of mine always wore pants and trousers right from the start of potty training - they soak up any accidents and save your carpets!

Hi degroote, have only a moment before my youngest totally loses patience, but I'll just give you my experience.

We potty trained DD1 during summer hols so she was (by her own choice) naked a lot during that time. I didn't use pull-up pants personally as I think they can be confusing. I reasoned that if she had an accident (which is inevitable) she should be aware of this (though not that she should feel ashamed, obviously)

We bought some books for DD1 and she was geared up for the idea. We made a fuss of the big girl pants, and she got to choose which ones she wore. She was already able to sit and produce a wee on her potty, having done this in the evenings before bathtime with success for about 6 months before we went onto full scale potty training (personal situation, moving house, moving country, starting new nursery meant we didn't follow up on this sooner).

We made a huge deal of the successes, barely mentioned the accidents and luckily all around us did too. Grandparents were very tolerant of receiving random phone calls saying 'I did a wee!' and neighbours were often greeted with stories of her progress. She felt very grown-up and proud

On the advice of Gina Ford (not that we have done everything GF with the kids, but this made sense) we accepted that we would have to put some things on hold in the first two weeks and only did very short trips out, taking plenty of changes of clothes with us and being prepared for accidents in the car seat (which luckily never happened!). We gradually built up and up on this but whenever DD said she needed to, we basically stopped everything so that she could go asap. And that has meant some weeing by the roadside, though she is now able to hold it if she needs to.

Good luck!

I potty trained my 2 DSs when they were 2.5 and in each case it took less than 2 days for them to be trained. Since then we've had only a handful of accidents. I used this book:

www.amazon.co.uk/Toilet-Training-Less-Than-Day/dp/0671693808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332236109&sr=8-1

It's v old fashioned, but the key points are:

1. use a wetting doll to show your DC what to do
2. use big pants & encourage the child to do it all independently
3. reward dry pants (not producing something on the potty or the amount of time spent on the potty)

Good luck!

I found if helpful in the summer - I let her wander around with no bottoms on outdoors and pee whenever she wanted. She then associated the feeling with the action. Then she learned to anticipate she was going to pee, and I let her tell me and do it in the gutter, on the grass potty.

Have some handy for those trying moments. Potty team jng is worse than childbirth IMHO.

I my dh trained my twins last Easter when they were 2.5. Dd was very compliant and sat on potty whenever asked her to, and generally did something. Ds2 did nothing at all for 4 days in the potty, wees everywhere. Finally he got it, and after that, not one accident. Dd however, just didn't seem to get that she needed to go, and needed to have a little bit of time to get to the toilet etc. We gave up after a month and she went back in pull ups, though she would poo on the toilet and we tried again at the end of the summer. She still has a lot of accidents, a year later. I have to remember to put her on the loo before we go out, as I know she will not cope, or think that 5 mins after a drink we need to be close to a toilet. Ds2 has been absolutely fine and was dry at night within a couple of weeks too. Dd still has pull ups at night (she is 3.5), as we have kept trying but she just wees in the bed every night. Just to say, we did it the same way with 2 kids of exactly the same age, but they do learn differently. So just see how it goes. Be patient. I think a week is good, but if they're not getting it then don't push it.

I certainly didn't venture far for the first week or so with my two but did go to the shops and the park. I used to take a change of clothes and some baby wipes so if there was an accident you could quickly deal with it and carry on with the outing (remember socks too as they get wet!).

Pee whereever they need initially as they really can't hold on for long. I had to get off a bus and let one of the DS wee between parked cars when they were learning - I praised them for hanging on and not weeing on the bus (less of two evils )

My key advice is
If you are going out take you DC to the loo before you leave even if they say they don't need a wee, unless they have had a wee shortly before. Otherwise you will be 5 mins into your journey when they announce that they do, in fact, need a wee.

I am struggling with getting my DD (2.4) to communicate when she needs to go. She uses the potty and the toilet fine when she feels like it, but a lot of time U ask if she needs to go and she says no, then wees on the floor!

She wears pants at home a lot of the time and we have built up to travelling from Gran's in the car (about 10 mins all in) and once to the shop quickly.

Any advice on the communication? Will it just eventually click? Or should I just go for broke and put her in pants, keep her off CM for a week or so?

OP - sorry for hi jacking!

My DS 2.8 had been potty trained for a week or two and we bravely took him into John Lewis. He loudly announced a poo was on the way and he couldn't make it to the toilet. DH quickly whipped a new potty from the shelf and hid him from view (thank god it was midweek) behind a large cot in the nursery department to do his business!

The offending poo was killed with babywipes and the whole potty put in a carrier bag in the bottom of DD's pram until we could dispose of the contents. DH calmly paid for a new (unused!) potty at the till.

Improvisation is the key in the early days!!! Dreading Toilet training DD in the next few weeks, not my favourite parental duty. GF book is very good though.

Chaz - I still follow the 'always try to pee before you go out even if you think you don't need to' advise now.. and I'm the wrong side of 30.

I'm taking notes... we're going to try DS when it's warmer (he already thinks it hilarious when he pees with his nappy off, and strains to try again... just need to harness that enthusiasm)

When you go out you need two plastic carrier bags,a kitchen roll and a pack of wipes-and a potty of course. When DC needs to go put folded kitchen roll in potty. When DC is finished use wipes on DC and KR on potty. Put dirty wipes and KR in one carrier bag and dispose appropriately. Put potty in other carrier in case it is needed again. With dgs I used this method everywhere and it is discreet and simple.

ReallyTired that's where I posted and no answer

Thank you for all your advice. I will avoid the pull ups and get the books suggested. You are all life savers with your advice as I know it's important to try and get it right

My DSis swears by the portable potty - it folds up, and when there's a wee emergency you put a bag and a pad in it to catch the damage. DNs could still be taken out and about while training, so DN1 didn't have to stay at home while DN2 was learning, if that makes sense.

My thoughts are as follows :

• The Gina F book has a great many useful tips
• buy pants with a favourite character on them because you LO will not want to get Lola/Thomas/Peppa etc wet or messy
• set aside a week where you don't do massive trips
• pottette travel potties can be great to have in your bag
• you will need a bucket load of patience in order to laugh off the accidents so no one gets stressed out

Good luck!

They are all different, I waited for signs they are ready and bribed them with sweets (one per wee, found mini eggs good, I also did it at Easter), you will know when you feel confident enough to go 'out' depending on the child.

You can always go out in the pram with a towel under them just try and get them to go before you go out.

I didn't do naked just easy to get off and on clothes and prepared myself to wash a lot but it wasn't that as bad as I thought it was going to be (either time). I also did night time within two weeks of daytime but lifted at 10pm and didn't give them too many liquids before bed.

With two of mine, I resorted to chocolate buttons. although this did result in many tiny weeks and much red faced straining on the potty

My third child was a dream to potty train- each child is different but remember a wee choc button at the right time can work wonders.

Wees not weeks -damn you autocorrect

you could get a book for her too - there are loads around.
a popular one recently is Princess Polly's potty book - the girl version of the pirate Pete one Chris Evans recommended.
it's got a press button that cheers when you get it right.
available in your local bookshop :)

Princess Polly's potty was very popular round here. DD1 still likes to read it occasionally