Page 2 | To ask what age, method and how long it took to potty train please?!

potttty · 2024-04-11T06:02:47+00:00

Dd 18 months ish. Not sure when to start? She’s my first and I’m a single parent if that’s relevant to how best to do this!

voxnihili · 11/04/2024 08:03

Tried with DD at 2.5 but was hopeless so waited until she was just turned 3 and she was dry within 48 hours. Took until 5.5 to master poos though and still has minor accidents at nearly 6. Mostly dry over night but not enough to remove the pull ups yet.

Ahwig · 11/04/2024 08:05

My son went to a child minder and she had 2 other toddlers all around the age of 2 .She talked to all of the parents and agreed a suitable date. She sat all 3 kids on the potty and read them a story. At home we did similar but no story as my son had always been interested in 4 little brass ornaments that my Nan had owned previously. He wasn't allowed to play with them and they were kept on the fireplace behind a fire guard but he was allowed to play with them when he was sitting in the potty ( as he wasn't running around) . I also bribed him with 1 smartie for a wee and 2 for a poo. Over one weekend it clicked for him and as the other parents had also done the same ( minus the brass ornaments obviously 😀) by Monday all 3 toddlers were out of nappies. Night time was a bit longer.

Londonrach1 · 11/04/2024 08:07

Don't bother. I waited till my dd told me just before 3 she wanted to wear pants. No accidents. Dry from that day and dry at night too. I had several friends who pushed too early and had severe problems including holding poo. Wait till child tells you. As long as potty trained before going to school. .

Goldx2 · 11/04/2024 08:11

Start now! All 3 of mine were clean by that age. I started very early. I bought a fake poo. I used to put dolly/teddy on the potty and either put water or the fake poo in it to show them. I then used to make a huge fuss of the toy, cheering etc. I also left their nappies off at night so they were clean at night too.? Good luck!

Needanewname42 · 11/04/2024 08:13

Did both over long weekends DS1 was 2 & 4mths did it over a sunny weekend in the garden. Accidents on grass are less stressful than in the house.
DS2 was 2 & 9 mths had completed refused to sit on the potty before then. First day was torture we'd had a rotten summer so was potty training in the house but I kept going.

Both were out of night nappies within a month of their potty training weekend.

EveryoneJapan · 11/04/2024 08:14

She was 2.

We started it over a long weekend when we were off work and not going anywhere and it was a total disaster, she was weeing herself constantly, on the floor, everywhere. We persisted and by the end of the week we ready to give up as her not being ready. Then she suddenly seemed to get it, and progressed from there, with the odd accident.

Seeline · 11/04/2024 08:14

Mine are both at uni now - I don't think we had methods when mine were trained. You stuck them on a potty and hoped.
Tried ds at 2.5, but he just wasn't ready. Had DD in the meantime so didn't get round to trying again until 3.5 and he mastered it over 4 days with no future accidents. Nighttime took another year.
DD told me she wasn't wearing nappies anymore at about 2.4. Never had an accident. And I forgot to put her nappy on for bedtime - she was dry at night at the same time.
DS liked those ink stamps on his hand as reward, DD was a Smarties girl 😁

Devilsmommy · 11/04/2024 08:19

WhiteLeopard · 11/04/2024 07:05

I have three DC and they were all age 2 (varying between 2y2m and 2y7m). I did cold turkey- nappy came off and never put back on (except at night time). And this was the only time in my parenting when I think that chocolate bribery is completely acceptable!

🤣🤣 I love all the parents who don't give their kids chocolate always use the button bribe for potty training. Cadburys would make a fortune if they marketed toilet training bribe buttons😆

Fizbosshoes · 11/04/2024 08:22

DD was just over 2, DS was nearly 3, it took about 5 days - a week.
It was summer time both times, DS didnt seem as ready as DD at a similar age and his speech was delayed which i think makes a difference. If they're going to wear pants you'll need way more than you think! 🤣

Neither were dry at night til at least age 6.

SpinyNorma · 11/04/2024 08:23

Dd 18 months using the Oh Crap method took two days.

DS 2.5 took six effing months.

Fizbosshoes · 11/04/2024 08:25

Just to add you can't really "train " for night time dryness it's not the same, so that might take a bit longer

Heckythump1 · 11/04/2024 08:27

2 DD's here - Oh Crap didn't work for either, we just went straight to pants.

DD1 2.5, done in about 3 days, after 2 weeks never had an accident again.
DD2 started at 2.7 and wasn't 100% reliable until 3.4

varies massively by child!

WarningOfGails · 11/04/2024 08:27

Definitely read Oh Crap and start now OP!

I did DC1 and DC2 when they had just turned 2, for some reason I thought you couldn’t train before 2. But came across Oh Crap for DC3 and trained him at 18m ish.

NatalieH2220 · 11/04/2024 08:29

Both of mine were just over 2.5. It took the weekend.

We did day 1 no pants (gave extra juice to give them more practise)
Day 2 pants only
Day 3 back to nursery fully dressed

We did sticker chart over the weekend and LOTS of praise after every wee.

Didn't use pull ups after that when out or in the car at all, just had a portable potty nearby at all times and extra clothes for any accidents.

Ineedanewsofa · 11/04/2024 08:31

potttty · 11/04/2024 07:11

Thanks! What happens if they’re at nursery? Do you ask them to follow your method?

@potttty we talked to nursery before starting, they lined DC up with other kids who were also starting so there was a small group all doing it together. Worked really well! We all started over a weekend and nursery continued on the Monday. All the kids in the training “team” were between 2 and 3. Took about 3 weeks for DC to be reliably daytime dry (between 7am and 7pm) took until age of 5 to be night dry!
Good luck!

Familiaritybreedscontemptso · 11/04/2024 08:33

DD was 2y3m, she told me she wanted to wear knickers one day so that’s what we did. Apart from reminding / taking her to the loo regularly, we didn’t do anything special, stay in the house or anything.

DS I noticed was dry at night at around 20 months (which I think is fairly unusual) so I figured we might as well give it a go and he got it straight away.

I got very lucky on the potty training front!

Singleandproud · 11/04/2024 08:33

Lots of my friends started when their DC were about 18 months, I tried as thought that was what you were meant to do. Quickly realized it wasn't for us. Kept potty around and had one attached on the toilet that had steps that I'd pop heron for a few minutes before and after her bath just to get her used to it. At 2.5 years DD declared herself too big for nappies and that was it literally overnight.

The friends that had potty trained their children really weren't potty trained until about the same age,the parents just happened to put them on the potty a the right time the child couldn't sense it themselves and still had lots of accidents

TigersTea · 11/04/2024 08:37

I tried at 2.5 she showed all the classical "signs" but it didn't work, lots of accidents and she started to get upset so we stopped. For lots of reasons (house move and bereavement) I never got round to formally trying again. 2 days after her third birthday she refused to put a nappy on and declared she was going to use the toilet like a big girl and was dry that day. I'm a firm believer they will do it when they're ready.

Disturbia81 · 11/04/2024 09:53

I just left it until they were ready, both around 3.. meant no stress, no accidents, skipped the potty.

Coffeeandcrocs · 11/04/2024 10:43

Dd was 2.5, showed signs of readiness and was fry withing about 3 days.

Ds was 3.5. He showed 0 signs,wouldn't even look at the toilet or potty and then one day he told me he was going to wear big boy pants like x friend at nursery and he was dry within half a day, using the toilet/potty/wild wees outside. Dry at night within 1 month of being dry in the day. Again, self led ( mummy I don't want to wear bedtime nappies)

BookArt · 11/04/2024 12:29

A book called 'oh crap, Potty training' was recommended to me by so many people and it was great.

aintnospringchicken · 11/04/2024 13:17

DD was 21 months.Took her nappy off in the house and gave lots of praise when she sat on the potty and did a wee or a poo.She was potty trained within a couple of days.Took a couple of months longer to be dry at night.DS was a bit older at 2yrs 4 months and used the same method and again was dry during the day within a couple of days.

doppelganger2 · 11/04/2024 13:21

DD1 has complex needs and it took ages. Loads of reinforcement, was hard work so I decided to take it easy with DD2 (no delays) and not to train her early. She came to me a week after her 2nd birthday and told me she doesn't need nappies anymore and wants to use the toilet. And so she did. An announcement. Very few accidents afters. Not sure how common this is but at 18 months I would still wait unless there are obvious signs of being ready.

sexnotgenders · 11/04/2024 13:32

HelenHywater · 11/04/2024 07:36

I didn't use any method with mine- I just took the lazy way with each of them. I waited until they asked to be out of nappies and made it very clear they wanted to use the toilet. I didn't use potties. I didn't use pull ups. I then did it over a few days when I knew I was going to be at home. They were dry day and night at the same time and it took days with each. I have several children and it varied from age just 2 to 3.5. It's hard when they are older and you feel the pressure from other people/parents at nursery etc, but honestly, waiting until they were clearly ready was just so easy .

Absolutely this. I've never understood why people rush it like it's some kind of testament to their prowess at parenting. Just do nothing, sit back and wait until they are ready and willing. That way there's no accidents and no need for books, methods, potties, time off/time stuck in the house, rewards etc. Just remove the nappy and straight to using the toilet. Job done. Whatever age that happens to be

Notmyuser · 11/04/2024 13:40

DrJoanAllenby · 11/04/2024 07:28

My son (now and adult) was an August baby so in the summer leading up to him turning 2 he was naked in the garden and home as much as possible so he was as more aware of the sensation of wanting to go to the toilet. I used washable nappies which are kinder to the skin than disposable ones which trap the urine so the infant/child is less aware of their bodily functions.

Potty in the garden and the home. Potty was a novelty one in the shape of a turtle which made it more appealing to sit on!

Step in front of each toilet in the home.

I am very fussy and never wanted to cope with a mattress that had been wee-ed on and the plastic sheets were unappealing so I made sure he never wet the bed by making sure last drink of the evening was around 7.30pm and then lifting him out of bed at 11.30pm and sitting him on the toilet so he would have a wee. This was completely successful and he never wet the bed.

When we were out and about I could see when he had ate and drank and would time it to take him behind a tree or large bush etc and aim for a wee and that avoided any accidents in public.

By the time he was 2 in the August he was completely potty trained..

When it came to his younger sister she was absolutely determined that anything he could do, she could do, so she had a string Kinsey to use the toilet like he did. He was almost three years older and by the time she was ready to be potty trained he was no longer using a potty and using the toilet.

The potty was a thing of disgust for her and she didn't want to use it, she wanted to be held and sat on the toilet.

She was 2 in the May of that year and again we started toilet training in the warmer months. I removed the washable nappy in the garden and indoors but she was adamant she would not use the potty and would march to the toilet.

In the early days she made a song and dance about getting on the toilet herself and not wanting to be held until she fell in bottom first! The water touching her bottom upset her so she then agreed to be held and I purchased infant toilet seats to go on top of the toilets in our home.

Her sheer bloody mindedness to be like her brother meant her toilet training was done very quickly and by the end of the summer she was also fully toilet trained.

My children's peers were toilet trained either in the same year or the year after but I have noticed in recent years that children are often older when toilet trained. I don't know why but I imagine it must be much harder for mums to have to cope with nappies for a long period of time.

So your children were trained by 2, back then their peers were in the same year (age 2) or the year after (age 3) but you think there are many 4 year olds untrained now?

That’s simply not true. Pretty much every child I know without some sort of developmental need is trained by the time they are 3.

My eldest was just over 2.5, which I considered fairly late - but she did have a bowel issue which contributed to this. My son is 2 now and has only just developed the language required to toilet train, but doesn’t like sitting on the toilet so isn’t ready yet.

It’s also harder when both parents work full time.