Potty training - how?!

[Fangtasticks]

I work four days a week and DD is at nursery. EOWE and all holidays we have my delightful but chaotic SC. When should I aim to do potty training?!

Depends how old your child is. Are they showing signs of readiness? If yes then you could possibly knock it out in a couple of days. If no then you’re setting yourself both up for stress and failure

We just did a half-term, I booked it off work and it was our only priority to get it done. Luckily worked out for us; I will say there probably isn’t a perfect time- pick a weekend and give it a go?

When DD is ready 🤷🏻‍♀️ it’s not that hard, how do you think the rest of us with older (and younger) kids do it?
In fact I found it easier with DS as he was at nursery and they were excellent help. With the others it was all on me.

One of the upcoming bank holiday weekends (and maybe take the Tues/Weds off work as well to give a bit of extra time).

I took a few days off for a long weekend at home. Summer days are best, playing in the garden with loads of spare shorts.

You just have to crack on with it. I did all my kids around age 2 which seemed the normal age to potty train back then. Yes, there were accidents but it's part of the process and one of them was a bit trickier than the others, but hey ho. They soon get the hang of it.

She’s just turned two and according to nursery is showing signs of readiness. I was thinking summer would be better so we could mostly be in the garden. But hadn’t thought about how long I’d need to book off and stay home?

I was surprised to read online that it’s recommended to start from 18 months too, I thought 2.5 was on the early side

You don't need to book time off work. Start first thing on a Saturday morning, focus on it all weekend. Send her to nursery on Monday morning in pants with lots of changes. If she hasn't got it after a few days, give up and try again in a few months. They either get it quickly or it's not going to happen.

And buy a pair of crocs - fake or otherwise. Nothing worse than soggy, urine-soaked shoes. You can rinse the crocs under the tap and dry them.

You’ll need time off OP. Saying that though if nursery are telling you she’s ready can they start her? With my DS his first two days were at nursery. First day (Thursday) they’d used 4 changes of clothes by lunchtime but by the afternoon it started clicking. I then had off work the following mon-wed and he returned to nursery afterwards dry. He was a little older though at 2y8m. DD on the other hand I tried at 2y9m and she was not interested at all. After 2 days the nappies were back on. Tried again a week after her 3rd birthday and she was dry within 3 days.

Start now, in the evening as part of bedtime routine. After bath, nappy off in bedroom with potty available. Make it part of the routine to sit on potty for a short while.
If they pee or poo in the potty, give lots of praise, don't make a fuss if they don't manage it.
When they manage to use the potty consistently, take a week of work and go nappy free, ideally be in the garden a lot if you can.

Speak to nursery about supporting you with it. With my DD, they said to us when she was 2.5, we think she’s ready, she’s showing great interest in the other children using the toilet. One of the girls was covering as her key worker for the week whilst her usual worker was on leave and she asked if I’d mind if she tried it with her for the week. I sent in lots of knickers, we mirrored exactly what nursery did that week, and she’d smashed it by the Friday.

The nursery workers are involved in potty training pretty much every day so you might find their support helpful.

Start Saturday morning, carry on Sunday, prep nursery for Monday etc.

Build it into her routine too.

2 is the perfect age, you'll be so glad to be nappy free!

read oh crap potty training as it’s great!

Once you commit to it, give up the nappies completely other than at night.

bottomless is best so cracking it at home is vital

I don’t want to offload the responsibility on nursery really, they do enough!

It seems she might be able to crack it in a week of warm weather and staying at home?

I started my eldest aged 2 and a half on a Saturday and on Monday morning took her to nursery with a bag for life full of spare knickers and leggings and they cracked on with it. She was accident free by the Friday of that week. My son has SEN but started him in the summer when he had just turned 4 and while it took a bit longer than his sister, it wasn’t as long as expected and his preschool teachers were great at getting him to use the toilet there.

Btw, whoever suggested crocs, good shout, going to remember that when I start potty training the next one.

You're not offloading, you're getting them to support with something you've started at home. If you work 4 days, do you have 3 consecutive days off? That's enough to get going.

We did it at just turned 2. Childminder had a week off so I did too. We'd pretty much done it by the end of the week. I wouldn't want to do it while also working.

Another thing is our house is carpeted almost everywhere! Has anyone tried doing it on holiday? Somewhere warm enough with tiled floors?

Crocs are a great idea.

Warm weekend and spend time outside.

Watch like a hawk and potty sit on a routine and you shouldn't get many mega accidents.

This. Honestly, I can't believe people are booking time off work for potty training? If they don't get it in a weekend they're not ready and just try a few months later

We had a week off work, grandparents helped the second week, and it was sorted. The first week there were so many accidents until he suddenly linked together needing a wee - getting to the potty - doing the wee on the potty.

DC was just over 2.5. I would not have left him in nappies beyond the age of 3. He was already getting a bit shy about doing a poo when with childminder and having his nappy changed.

It's not offloading it though. If she's getting it, she'll be well on her way by Monday.

I would say just two is early TBH. I know years ago children were toilet trained from 18 months but nowadays closer to 3 is more the norm. I tried my DD at just 2 and she didn't get it at all, despite nursery and my mother insisting she was ready. She got how to hold it but would hold it for hours on end and then wet herself. Tried again a few months later and it was fine. Waited with my DS until just 3 and he got it in 2 days.

Honestly 2.5 sounds about right. I would take a week off for sure.
Oh it can “click” in just two or three days…. But then the behavioral, boundary pushing resistance and general toddler f*ckery starts. That’s the bit that takes months and months of ups and downs and regressions and thinking you’re finally there and then getting a bag of poopy clothes back at nursery pick up seemingly out of no where. But the initial bit is pretty easy… enjoy 😉

With both mine I took a week off and kept them off nursery. The week was entirely dedicated to potty training, and we didn’t try to go anywhere else or put pressure on ourselves in that week. Just a quiet week at home with them being able to wander around without a nappy on, and encouraging them to sit on the potty as much as possible. Within a few days they had cracked it and rarely had any accidents after that. They were both about 2 years and 2 months old. Neither had shown “signs of being ready” other than being able to understand instructions as well as any 26 month old child can.