Gina Ford's 'Potty Training in a week'

LadyP · 2003-10-20T09:41:48+00:00

Has anyone used this book and has it actually worked in a week? Tx

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

motherinferior · 20/10/2003 11:37

I haven't used it, but dd1 did train, recently, in a week or less - we just jettisoned the daytime nappies (or rather cravenly agreed to childminder's instructions to do so!). Trick was to leave it till she was really rather old, 2.8 months...

pupuce · 20/10/2003 11:44

I haven't read that book.... she tends to have good advice but to be honest potty training is easy if you dedicate yourself to it for 3 or 4 days - and that is what she suggests in her other boos where it is mentioned.
How old is your child ?

katierocket · 20/10/2003 12:14

I've got it but not tried it as DS (2 yrs) is clearly not ready and I just thought I'd wait until he is more interested. It's quite useful and has a list at the beginning of '7 signs your child is ready to be trained' - (unless they have every sign she reckons there's not point in even trying).

from friends who've recently potty trained it does seem to be a) wait until they are really ready rather than trying to do it too early
and b) like pupuce says, dedicate yourself to it for good few days

Original poster

LadyP · 20/10/2003 13:21

Thanks all. DS is has just turned two.

Am currently off work for a week so am dedicating some of those days (the last two and today so far) to the aim of potty training.

He gets the wee bit, but not the poo bit and there is a little confusion with the pants thing(see other thread).

But I shall persevere!

OP posts:

sugarplumfairy · 20/10/2003 18:34

My DD2 was trained in 2 days, and nights after 2 weeks, she was 2.7yo so quite old as well but it was really easy. First day she weed everywhere then the next day she just got the hang of it but then girls are "supposed" to be easier to train.

tamum · 20/10/2003 18:59

Absolutely the same as motherinferior and sugarplumfairy here, with both dd and ds- left it until quite late and then trained within a couple of days, grand total of 1 accident (ds) and 2 accidents (dd), and dry at night all in one go. Sooo much easier if they're really ready!

motherinferior · 20/10/2003 22:02

Oh, and we went straight to looseat, which removes many many horrors including how to cope while out

pupuce · 20/10/2003 22:06

PERSEVERE Lady P.

waterbaby · 20/10/2003 22:10

Katierocket (or any others with the book), can you tell us briefly what her 7 signs are? Many Thanks

katierocket · 20/10/2003 22:38

over 18 months of age
nappy frequently gry when you get him up from his lunchtime nap
aware he/she is doing a poo
can understand and follow simple instructions
eager to participate in taking off his own clothes
can point to different parts of his body when you name them
has the ability to sit still and occupy himself or concentrate for 5-10 mins with toy, book or video

alas, I think even if they get all 7 there is maybe more too it (or I should say, they may meet these criteria but still not be 'ready'

pupuce · 20/10/2003 22:45

Neither of mine were :
" has the ability to sit still and occupy himself or concentrate for 5-10 mins with toy, book or video "
but they were keen to be clean... and were potty train in less than a week at 27 and 24 months of age.
It did need perseverence in that week but you could see it progressing.

BTW - they were both dry day and night simultaneoulsy.... which was an added bonus I have to say.

GeorginaA · 21/10/2003 11:43

ds is 29 mths and we've just bought him his "big boy pants" this morning ready for half term week. I think he meets all those criteria, although sometimes it's hard to tell about whether he's aware of pooing (he tends to lie and say he isn't so he doesn't have to go for a nappy change).

He's really excited about his big boy pants though, has got them all out of the packets and is most upset he can't wear them until Saturday. That's a good sign, isn't it? Please say yes!!

I'm also hoping that at 29 months it should be a quick process... or am I being overly optimistic?

bloss · 21/10/2003 11:45

Message withdrawn

marthamoo · 21/10/2003 13:19

DS1 was three and had it sussed within a week. I did it in the summer and just let him wander around in a T-shirt and "big boy's pants" til he weed then we'd scramble for the potty. He particularly liked having his own personal loo roll and made a big thing out of wiping his bum - in fact, would often produce a drop of wee just to do the loo roll thing.

zebra · 21/10/2003 14:56

Of the 7 signs katierocket/Gina lists, my son only had 2 of them (sometimes followed instructions, and knowing some parts of his body, not that I think his willie was one of them), when he toilet trained, relatively easily. The sitting still bit is a hoot. Can any boy 2-3yo sit still for 5 whole minutes????

kmg1 · 21/10/2003 19:06

SNAP Zebra - my two boys were both trained very quickly (within a week) at 24 months, but neither would have passed Gina's "ready" test ... in particular they couldn't do the sitting still bit, OR the nappy frequently dry after a nap.

Melly · 21/10/2003 22:32

I've got the book, bought it because I've used the CLBB for both dd and ds and am a great fan of her routines etc.....but although I found some parts of the book on potty training useful, I didn't follow the book when I trained dd. She was nearly 26 months when I potty trained her, I took advice from my auntie who is a childminder and has potty trained many children over the last 15 years or so. She advised me to take dd with me when I went for a wee rather than making her sit on the potty every 15 minutes or whatever. DD was clean and dry within 3 days (and i drank loads of water!!). I certainly didn't limit activities to one room and didn't stay around the house, I just basically carried on as normal. Gina says she never saw the need for a travel potty, personally I think they are great, dd will go anywhere, any time.....roadside verges, Safeway carpark, even perched up on the potty on the back seat of the car inbetween her's and ds's car seats....we did this one rainy afternoon on the way back from visiting my dad! I never had to use a "special" cushion in her car seat or pushchair, but maybe I was lucky.

bloss · 22/10/2003 00:36

Message withdrawn

stoo · 22/10/2003 13:49

My little one is only 20 months but will use the potty every time for a wee if she has a naked bottom half.
I took last week off work to try to potty train and we got somewhere but the pants are still a struggle. She doesn't realise that knickers aren't nappies so just wees anyway! I know it's early but does anyone have any ideas on how to get to the next stage. (She does have all the 7 signs!)

stoo · 22/10/2003 13:49

My little one is only 20 months but will use the potty every time for a wee if she has a naked bottom half.
I took last week off work to try to potty train and we got somewhere but the pants are still a struggle. She doesn't realise that knickers aren't nappies so just wees anyway! I know it's early but does anyone have any ideas on how to get to the next stage. (She does have all the 7 signs!)

Utka · 22/10/2003 15:01

Really echo the point about waiting until they're ready - almost until they're too old, if you know what I mean. What's the point of rushing it - it's not as though someone is going to report you to social services if they're not potty trained by 'x' months.

We also waited until we had a clear few weeks to devote to it - not too many appointments or need to rush around. I made a big thing of talking up the idea of using the potty / toilet with DD (who was 2.5 when we started trying). Then we went out and bought some really pretty 'big girls pants' (pink, with bows on!).

To start with though, I left her pants off, and just put her in shorts / trousers. The pants were actually quite confusing, as she thought they were just prettier versions of pull up nappies. She couldn't understand why they got wet. However, maybe this was what helped get the message across.

I kept one potty upstairs and one downstairs, and reminded her every so often. I have also always let her see me going to the loo - right from day one - as I think it's very hard to expect them to know what to do if they've never seen it before!

We had loads of accidents to start off with, then, within a few days, she'd got it. We still have the odd accident if she's tired, or preoccupied with playing with something. But nothing awful

We also (selfishly) delayed things until we'd got new hard floors downstairs, rather than the carpet! Makes cleaning up accidents much easier.

Angeliz · 22/10/2003 15:09

haven't read all this thread so sorry if i'm repeating anyone! My dd went straight on to the "big toilet" (we got a nice pretty loo seat and a kids seat for her! I found i spent the first few days in with old trousers and shorts on her but luckily she was really easy and within days we were out and about nappyless! This was just before her second birthday. The portable potty from Mothercare is fantastic and i still have it in my bag! It means she can go for a wee anywhere without having to worry about her sitting on a filthy loo seat!....good luck LadyP!

Enid · 22/10/2003 15:13

I waited until dd1 was ready - tried at 2.5 but she didnt take to it, when I tried again at 2.9 she was dry after a couple of days. She also would never have passed Ginas 'test' - nappy always seemed sodden for one thing.

LIZS · 22/10/2003 15:31

dd has had all the GF signs for about 5 months or more (25 months). Although she will usually poo on a potty or toilet if bare and will sometimes ask to go in advance when dressed she does not seem to be able to voluntarily wee. It got to the point where she thought she needed to go, sat on potty, nothing came and within minutes there would be a puddle. Now she refuses to go if prompted, and I can often foresee it from her behaviour, so very frustrating. I vowed not to force it with her partly because she seemed to be more aware than ds from an earlier age and partly because I felt it was counterproductive for him in the longterm.

Was going to try again at half term but things didn't work out so next clear time will be Christmas. Now wondering whether to leave it until the spring as we are about to hit snowsuits and other winter paraphenalia which won't make it any easier. She is just starting playgroup so may learn from copying the others so would it be best to await her cue ?

kmg1 · 22/10/2003 18:10

LIZS - Waiting until spring will definitely make it easier for everyone - easier for her with fewer/lighter clothes and also generally more to drink as it is warmer - and easier for you to do the laundry!

I don't have dds, so this is just a hunch - but is there a physiological difference? My ds's always 'felt the urge', dashed to the potty or whatever, and performed instantaneously ... or sometimes at first didn't quite make it in time. In time they learned to 'hang on'. But I have noticed that several dds of friends have needed to sit on the potty or toilet for quite a while, waiting patiently for a wee to come. And often, as you described, got fed up of waiting and then were wet shortly afterwards. This is not something that ever happened with my boys.

So come on all you mums of girls, or even mums of both, is there a difference?