Potty training.

[callie]

Iam going to try and potty train my dd who is 21mths.
Would love some advice or tips.
Did you put yours straight in pants and put them on the pot every hr or so??

Ems, I have a potette and found it fabulous. DD seems to love the novelty of it! I think you get used to the fiddliness of the bags, and I have found the trick is to put three on top of each other, so always prepared! Thought at first that 'it' would leak through to the bag underneath, but 'it' doesn't!

Hope that all made sense!

What I forgot to say is that poo stays in the top part and could become a bit of a messy job I suppose, so you would have to take something with you to deal with that problem (pooper scooper kit?) should it arise. The seat part also has quite a shallow potty so you have to make sure that the child is sat properly or they could end up with wet cheeks and dribbles!

Thanks you two, arent we all having fun at the mo!!

Just so you all fel better. My dd is 3 and 3 months and finally after a YEAR of potty training we have finally cracked it!

We went through up to 7 accidents a day, a power struggle period and a plain defiant time. It has only been the last week that we have cracked poos! So for all you outthere who reckon on a week...you may need to revise that a bit!

All I can say is that as soon as number 2 is potty trained I am buying new sofas, carpets, chairs and duvets. I dread to think whats in them!

I am not going to give any advice as on here there is loads, even me saying about 6 months ago that I thought we were there. We had two weeks of dry days, but when the sweets stopped, the wees came back!

One last thing is that I have never bought a travel potty, as funnily enough the accidents didn't happen when we were out and about, and I know where every loo in the vicinity is, as well as soon grass verges!

YAY crunchie!!! Congrats definitely to dd too!

I've read the whole thread... looking for one snippet of information -- when do they tend to become dry at night?

Collating the answers, I've got
2 x 18m
2 x 2y 4m
3 x 3y 2m ("just over three" )
1 x 4y 9m
1 x 5y 6m

Anyone else want to say when their kids became night dry?

MIL goes on about DH being dry at night very early, so I had my hopes for DS. But it's been harder work than I wanted just getting the day time cracked (resorted to chocolate). Thing is, DS is sometimes dry in the morning, and I wonder if I should push that simultaneously now, too. Bad idea?

zebra -

DS1 dry days - 2yr 10m, nights - 3yr 3m

DS2 dry days - 3yr 2m, nights - 5yr 10m

DD now 3yr 1m and still trying (very trying!)

We had lots of accidents with DS2 and I thought we were never going to have dry nights, he used to get terribly sore from lying in a wet bed because he just never woke up. He occasionally wakes in a mad panic, doesn't know where he is and doesn't quite make it to the toilet.

We're still working on the daytime bit with DD.

Zebra,
dd1 dry during day at 2, night same but with occasional "accudent" till 3.
dd2 dry during day at 18 months, night 20 months with no "accidents" to date (she's now 5).
As this thread shows it varies a lot between individual children.

Zebra, dd1 was dry in the day at 2y 5ms, dry at night 3 weeks after that. Dd2 dry in day at 2y 1m and dry at night 2y 2m, gone w/out a nappy for the last 3 nights! But has had "empty" nappies for the last 2 weeks at least. She has the major incentive of wanting to be just like her sister. I think nightime dryness just happens when their ready. All I did is when it starts, keep a record for a while,2-3 weeks and when it became the norm to be dry leave the nappy off. Both my dds didn't want their nappies anymore. Dd1 was a little older so she chose a new pair of PJ's in "honour" of the 1st nappyless night. But dd2 is younger and was just really happy we weren't having the usual nappy fight! When you do do the nights though be prepared with bedding etc!!!

ds1 dry in day & night at 2 yr 9 mth

Can anyone give me any advice. My daughter is 2 and a half, and we have sorted potty training - as long as she has a bare bottom. But as soon as I put pants on her she forgets and wets. Its as if she equates having a covered bum with having a nappy on. Any ideas about how to teach her to pull down her pants?? TIA xxx

Have you tried letting her choose her own "new" Knickers in a shop? And at first just try to make it a routine to wear them when out if the house, maybe with shorts/ trousers. So once their on she may forget about them IYKWIM! Then move on to making them part of the getting dressed routine. Good Luck.

Hi my 4yo ds toilet trained for wees no problem and and has never had an accident at night, however poohs are a nightmare. i thought we'd cracked it two months ago as he had a couple of weeks with no accidents and then two days before we went on holidays he reverted to doing it in his jocks. Part of the problem is he rarely seems to have a normal pooh, they are always seem to be extremely loose. We have tried excluding various foods from his diet, and he doesn't have dairy products. All to no avial. we sent off three stool samples all normal. He does seem to be extremely sensitive to fruit, esp plums and sweetcorn , so now I peel all fruit and make sure he doesn't eat too much because otherwise we could have up to 6 accidents in a day. But I don't want to stop fruit entirely as he loves it. But I would love some sdvice on where to go from here, as my health visitor and doctor both say he will grow out of it, easy for them to say.

Unfortunately a lot of people who have a milk intolerance also have difficulty with other foods and fruit acids can be a particular problem. Have a look at www.dairyfree.org.uk which is a site for people who cannot consume milk, the lady who runs the site, Lan (Leanne), also suffers milk and fruit intolerances so she might be able to help you. She is quite happy IME to receive and reply to direct emails. Inside Story is a support group and magazine for food allergy sufferers and can provide advice and recipes to suit your DS or point you in the right direction to find help in diagnosing his problems (if they are indeed problems). Their address is www.inside-story.com

Ds has been potty training for a week now. He is more than happy to use the potty for a wee when instructed ( we try about every half hour) and has had very few accidents. He seems to be happy in his pants. The thing is he won't do a poo. He constipated himself (is that possible?!!) for the first few days and now he's waiting until he gets his bedtime nappy to make that dirty. Is it just a case of waiting and assuming he will overcome his anxiety? When should I expect he might ask for his potty rather than taking the lead from me?

Pluto, give him time, even if it seems to you that there is no progress from day to day. Ds did really well with wees straightaway but would not do poos and also got himself constipated, to the extent that he was soiling several pairs of pants a day. It was very distressing for him and revolting for us as nursery sent all the pants home having been sealed in a plastic bag all day...and I have been fairly unwell with pregnancy nausea.
BUT - the good news is that after a couple of occasions where he just had to go and we caught him in time with the potty, he just seemed to accept it and get the hang of it. He asked to climb out of the bath last night to do a poo, I was very proud.
One thing we did find: that he preferred to be left on his own with the potty and not fussed. We were so keen to encourage him that we hung around, cheerleading and offering stories etc, and I think like 99% of the population he just wanted a bit of privacy...

Pluto, my dd2 did a similar thing. She'd had a bug so hadn't eaten much and when she did go it hurt alot. After that she'd fight the urge with all her might. In the end though nature won, and like Marina, I managed to catch a couple, then did much praise for it being in the potty, she would come to wave bye-bye when it was flushed etc! It took quite a few poos on potty with me holding/ cuddling her and plenty of fruit/ fluids to relieve constipation but now it's fine.
It is quite common for kids to get constipated during potty training. Just try to keep on top of it if you can. One last thing, when my dd was quite badly constipated she would often begin to go in the bath, then I'd get her out to finish on the potty. I know it's revolting, but if it helps, who cares. Needless to say our bath has never been so clean!

My son turns 3 next week and I really thought I?d have him potty trained by now. However he isn?t even interested. I tried at 2.5 on and off for a couple of months but gave up as I had a baby when he was 2.9. Now nearly 12 weeks later I think things have settled down enough to try.

My questions are:

Have I left long enough for him to adjust to the new baby? He seems very happy with her and there are very few behavioural problems associated with her.

How can I even start when he won?t even sit on the potty? With him being older would incentives work? A star chart? Sweets (or is this really bad!?)

I?ve been putting him in pull-ups (washable) in the morning but he just pees in them and is quite happy to sit in the wet. I?ve tried without pants at all but he pees on the floor and again doesn?t appear to even notice. I can only assume he has very little bladder control but surely he should have by this age? My DH says just put him on the potty every 10 mins but this is just exhausting and I don?t see how it is going to work unless he actually wants to use it.

Eulalia, have you tried your ds on the big loo? Dd never took to the potty but is very keen on the big loo, she's got a special seat that fits in it. She gets a star every time she does a wee or a poo on it, and boy, does she force them out when she wants a star! She also wets her pants, but has just started saying she needs a wee, so I can see some progress. She, like your son, never seemed in the slightest bit concerned about being wet, so I did lay it on a bit thick about 'nice dry nic-nacs and yukky wet nic-nacs' and it seemed to work. Spent 2 tiring days with her in knickers and both of us traipsing upstairs every 20 minutes but it did move things along. We aren't there yet, but thats due to me being crap and not persevering (and putting her in pull-ups when I feel that we both need a break).

Whenever I go to the loo she comes and has to go first (which can be a bit wearing when you're 27 wks pg and need the loo desperately )

I haven't read all the replies so I may be repeating someones answer.

All I would say, don't force the potty training issue if dd is not ready.
DS was nearly 3 when he was ready, I didn't push it I waiting until he was ready - as a consequence he was dry day and night within 2 days - it was fantastically easy.

Eulalia - definately leave him and don't panic.
I think I posted before that my ds no. 3 was well over three years old before he came out of nappies ( terries even!). Once his speech was better he could start to say if he needed the toilet then we tried pants. He was dry very quickly day ( first week) and night ( 2 or 3 weeks later).
Don't harass yourself or him with a potty every 10 mins. He will be big enough to sit on the 'real' toilet now. Chill

Thanks Bootyful, Enid and mears. Yes Enid I have one of those seats but it is not very good as it doesnt fit well and tends to slide about in the loo lid. Also his willy doesn't stick downwards so he'd likely pee out of the loo. I am reluctant to buy another thinking maybe he'll use the potty. Oh well we'll see how it goes.

Eulalia, so pleased to see someonelse has the same problem. My almost three ds is completely oblivious to the need to go to the loo. He is quite happy to sit on his "special seat" but he does nothing and five minutes later there is ANOTHER puddle on the floor. I am sure he is not being obstinate it is just that he does not recognise THAT feeling until its too late! Dd and I simply agreed that when my son was born she would stop wearing nappies and she did - might have known I wouldnt be so amazingly lucky twice!

Eulalia - echoing what others have said, I wouldn't worry too much about it. We used a big 'star chart', too, which worked a treat for getting her interested in sitting on the potty/loo. Now interested, the stars have been forgotten, and things are progressing. Putting her in knickers alone helped (lots of puddles), but, like Enid, we use pull-ups when out/tired and I do think it's made the process slower. If you feel like continuing with training, then at least in sunny weather knickers can be worn outside, just to give them ideas about what happens when they go (am sure mine hadn't got a clue when we started)- and I tended, when starting, to be primed with a potty nearby, catch some, and then immediately bring out the star chart.

(Enid - Don't you reckon, though, that being pg has advantages? I think I must be one of few Mum's that, when in town and having wee's requested every 20 mins I reply 'Finding a loo? What a totally Fantastic idea darling!'.

Hi you guys - another potty training dilemma....! I've finally got ds wee wee trained in the day (he's 3yrs 4months)... BUT he WON'T do a poopoo anywhere but in a nappy! He won't use a potty, a throne potty, a toilet seat, or even the soft seat that you put in/on the loo seat. He insists on grabbing a nappy and goes - as he puts it - 'hiding' to do the poo. He starts a new nursery in September and he's got to be fully toilet-trained - or ELSE? Anyone else been here? And what did you do to 'ease' his way out of the nappy - ( I daren't even think about being dry at night yet !!!!)