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Come on toddler mums - - -share your potty training secrets!!!

61 replies

WhipMeIndiana · 17/06/2008 20:12

dd is 2 on sunday...going to stick her in pants tomorrow

any tips?
what should I expect?
any big no no's?

OP posts:
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Stargazing · 19/06/2008 20:58

I'm on Day 3 of toilet training my 22mo and it's going well... today we had 5 hits and only 1 miss. Here's what I did:

I've been sitting her on the loo since she was 5 months, so that she wouldn't be frightened by the sensation of the empty space under her bottom. She has been pooing on the loo pretty consistently since 14 months or so.

In the weeks leading up to now, when I was getting dressed, I drew attention to my 'big girl knickers' and told her that she could have some soon.

Left dh and little bro at home the other day and took her on a special shopping trip to buy her choice of 'big girl knickers'. Let her faff about in ELC with the toys (didn't get impatient or try to hurry her along) and then took her to buy a chocolate ice cream, chatting all the while about her pants and the toilet etc etc

The night before we started, I made a chart and put it on the toilet wall for her to discover the following morning. I printed a picture of a kid on the loo off the internet and stuck it on so that she would get the connection between what she was doing and why she was getting the stickers (she points at it every time and says "bubba on loo like me!!")

Let her choose which undies to wear on first morning.

Gave lots of praise, didn't make a big deal about any messes - BUT cleared up the wee before changing her pants, so that she'd have a few minutes of that wet sensation .. not to be mean, but just so that she'd get the cause and effect thing.

So - so far so good!

MabelMay · 19/06/2008 21:18

I'd say this: if it's not easy, they're not ready.
So if you're struggling after a day or two, leave it, and try again in a month or two.
We potty-trained our ds at 2.3 years and it was a complete breeze. Done within 2 days with no accidents. Tried 2 months earlier and gave up after 36 hours and two pairs of poo-filled trousers.
MM.

ItsNotOnlyTheGoodBits · 19/06/2008 21:36

Baby GoodBits is 23 months and we have completed a week and two days of being nappy-free.

First two days we stayed at home and it was horrible. Third day we had to go out and no accidents. Since then we have had very few accidents. If he does need to go and I can't get to the loo fast enough then he will let a little go and do the rest when I can sit him down.

He has been doing his poos in the toilet since 13 months though. This last week I wanted to crack the wees.

Buy lots of pants. I just bought them, didn't make a big deal about 'big boy pants'. I did talk to him alot about it the evening before though and in the morning.

Give your child time to sort it out, then go back to nappies if you need to. I gave my son six days, and he was fine by the third.

However seeing as he is used telling me he needs to do a poo he will only say 'poo' when he needs to go, so I never know what I'm going to get!

i would also suggest getting a trainer seat for the toilet, as Baby GB hated sitting on the potty. Was used to seeing mummy sit on the toilet so was better. You can also get a fold away toilet seat for when out and about.

RubyRioja · 19/06/2008 21:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dottoressa · 19/06/2008 21:51

Portable potties are a good idea, too (on more than one occasion in the early days of toilet training, we had to drop our shopping basket and dash behind the back of Somerfield with the portable potty...)

I gather they can also be useful for adults at Glastonbury.

Acinonyx · 19/06/2008 22:53

Could I pilfer some advice too please?

I'm feeling very dispirited trying to potty train dd who is very nearly 3. She likes to sit on the potty and wear knickers and is eager to get a jelly bean for a poo or sticker for a wee. Unfortunately she seems to be totally unable to tell whether she is going to perform either of these functions. She keeps looking in the potty, disappointed that it's empty. Occaisionally the timing is right. But most often she just wets or poos and doesn't even seem to know or care that she's done it.

Everything else is on track - motor skills, language etc. I just don't know what to do. Also, I can only go at it for 4 days at a time as she is with a CM for the other 3 days. (She occaisionally sits on the potty there but with no better success.)

Any ideas????

Dottoressa · 20/06/2008 12:27

Acinonyx - I know it's a crime on MN to admit to anything other than negative feelings about Gina Ford, but have you looked at her "Potty Training in a Week" book? I used the basic gist of it for DS and DD (though didn't bother with the preparatory stuff - I felt that they were ready anyway, but it all sounded useful). It's very clear, and has a big troubleshooting section at the back, if I remember rightly. Is there any way you could get yourself a whole week when you could focus on potty training?
Good luck, anyway!

Acinonyx · 20/06/2008 16:36

Actually I do have it - I just haven't looked at it for a while. I have at least 3 different books on PT (heavy sigh). At 3, I think you may be right about just dedicating a week to it. I'm just really (really, really, really) desperate for time over the next few months. I've just moved house and can't find anything but I'll see if I can dig it out. Thanks.

bealcain · 20/06/2008 16:48

my only 'secret' was to let ds lead it. We had a potty around from when he was 18months sat him on it occassionally but to no avail. I never forced it, just let him tell me when he was ready, there were signs to read but it was well worth, one day he told me he needed a wee the next he was in pants day and night with very few accidents. I may have just been lucky but think i owe it all to him for deciding when he wanted to do it. i dont think age has anything to do with or whether they're a boy or a girl. Ds is 2.5 but he has friends who are 3.5 and still not done.

LolaLadybird · 20/06/2008 19:11

I also found the GF potty training book useful. Lots of good basic advice to get you started.

desperatehousewifetoo · 20/06/2008 19:44

I used gf book too. Again, just the gist of it.

Both you and your dc have to be 'ready' and have a clear week, I'd say. i.e. not when you about to/just had baby, moving house, either of you is poorly, when your mum is telling you to do it .

Start by getting them to sit on the potty every 20min or so and read a book. They get a choc button for that (and two for mummy). Once they have the idea of sitting on potty when you ask them to, you tell them that they will have a choc button next when they do a wee/poo on the potty. Lots of clapping, praise, phoning daddy when they do.

THEN, start asking them if need to sit on potty. Only sit on potty when they say. i.e. 'do you need a wee?'. Choc button, claps, etc when they perform.

THEN, tell them they need to tell you when they need a wee. 'don't forget to tell me when you need a wee'. Choc button, claps, praise, etc when they have told you they want to go.

Don't worry about accidents, just re-iterate that they need to wee on potty. Keep potty in same room as you and dc, move it around with you. Then once completed all above steps, move potty further away from where you and dc are, towards loo so that gradually have to hold on for longer.

Potty traing a success once your dc can TELL you when they need to go and hold on till get there.

Another tip, use trousers and pants that are slightly too big as easier for them to pull up and down and t-shirts that are too small as don't need lifting up.

Job done

Acinonyx · 20/06/2008 19:57

Trousers are never too big for my pork pie! She has an impressive belly.

What happens when you stop giving choc buttons? Dd is very chunky and I don't give her sweets. I'm way desperate enough to do it for PT though - and her passion is jelly beans. But when do you stop - and do they protest (shudders at vision of princess rolling around wailing for jelly beans).

The hardest thing will be getting a clear week. I can only do that once - I'm so desperate for work time (must submit PhD this year...). It's got to work. I can just picture my explanation to supervisor 'Well you see, I took the first week off for PT but it didn't really work so then I took another one......'.

desperatehousewifetoo · 20/06/2008 20:51

My dd sounds similar! Has had to learn what 'breath in' means to do up some of her clothes.

Once both of mine started telling me fairly regularly that they needed to go, I just kind of 'forgot' the choc bit (you could break them in half or think of something else that would still motivate). If they asked I would prob say 'oh you have been so good, you have eaten them all up and vaguely say we should buy some more.

I think we very quickly became more blase about their achievments and dh def became less amused at phone calls!

Re the week thing. I reckon we went through all the stages in 2-3 days but last few were just confidence builders. With dd, we still had to do the school run - just took potty too.

Acinonyx · 21/06/2008 15:38

Lol at the phone calls. Dd has only once ever pooed in the potty and it was dh who called for me to get up and come downstairs to admire it. And much admired it was. And how genuinely excited I would be to admire another like it....

SlightlyMadSweet · 21/06/2008 15:42

My biggest peice of advice is

Don't do it just because she is 2. It is actually quite challenging for many 2yos.

Do it because she is ready to move on from Nappies.

MrsMattie · 21/06/2008 15:44

Don't start before they're ready.
Don't push it if they're not interested.

I have a friend who has been 'potty training' her son since he apparently showed the signs of being ready aged 2 yrs old. He is nearly 4 and still not using the toilet, and has sevre issues around poo-ing after nearly two years of relewntless 'training'.
I followed the advice of a very experienced mum of 3 who lived next door to me and left my son until he was nearly 3 yrs old - never pushed it, never really showed I was that bothered either way (not sticker charts or song and dances just said 'why don't we try sittign on the potty today?' etc)) and he was dry day and night within a fortnight. Not being smug, but it worked a bloody treat!

It isn't a race / competition. Don't get hung up on people who say 'Little Johnny was dry by the age of 2' etc. Who cares? They'll do it in their own time.

desperatehousewifetoo · 21/06/2008 21:45

OMG, potty training for two years. Can you imagine? Something's going wrong there!

I left it till two and half with ds, just to make sure he was ready - because once I started, I didn't want to give in. dd was a little younger but not much

LolaLadybird · 21/06/2008 22:33

A tip from a friend to move away from giving a sweet/treat after every wee once they get more proficient is to give a treat for every accident-free day.

I think it's great if you can manage to PT without any extrinsic reward but I know DD needed some form of motivation. She was v capable of potty training (probably had been for a while) but just a bit of a stubborn monkey. With her, it was the excitement over the sticker chart that finally got her interested.

StressTeddy · 21/06/2008 22:34

Leave it as late as possible. IMO the later age wise that you leave it the quicker and easier it is
Good luck

Dottoressa · 22/06/2008 18:47

StressTeddy - I'm not sure if that's true in all cases. I think some children, if left, would simply get so used to using a nappy that they couldn't be bothered using a potty.

I'd have thought that some will be ready early, and others will be ready later. Like everything else, they just have to be "caught" at the right moment.

I found that mine didn't need rewards other than excessive clapping (which was soon phased out as they - and we!! - became blase about their new skill). If DD had thought there was an edible reward in it, she'd have taken root on the potty!!

My experience is that consistency, patience and time devoted to nothing but toileting are the key things. It's worth a very dull week to achieve a totally nappy-free life!!

VillageWife · 23/06/2008 20:22

Have tried to potty train DD 2.3yrs for the past week, and gave up today: she went backwards for the whole week - started with three wees in the potty and for the last four days just had accidents. Really wanted to get it done this summer before going back to work in Aug (DS 6mo), but I guess it's not to be.

WhipMeIndiana · 25/06/2008 20:06

Ive given up too after two days of HELL!! Iam 36wks pg and all the bending down wiping up wee is killing me. Dh came home today to find us both very glum and reckons we should do pull-ups for a bit, still talking about the potty lots, and see what happens.

on the first day she willingly sat on the potty in the afternoon and weed, but even though I praised her etc, today she has weed everywhere else. Including on her new baby trampoline. 'jump jump jump....oh wet!'

OP posts:
Psychomum5 · 25/06/2008 20:10

y one and only tip, and it has worked for me with all my five, plus the kiddies I nannied for.....

wait for them to ask for pants/knickers.

and it takes two days...... maybe a week, at most.

DS2 was one week after his 2nd b/day, asked to wear pants, I put them on, within 2days, he was dry.

he is not dry completely at night yet, and he is nearly 6 now, but I am not as fussed about nights, especially as he has a bowle condition......but, the main thing was waiting for him to be ready and that is all I can say worked.

Ghostdoll · 11/10/2011 15:14

I have been trying to potty train my 3 and a half yr old daughter for over 7 months now! My first daughter was potty trained in 2 weeks and dry at night within a couple of months. My second daughter doesn't respond to anything much. It was easy to train her to get her to use the potty or toilet when I put her on it and I do this many times a day and it is always successful (with wees) but in the whole 6 months she has never once told me she needs a wee or poo or in fact taken herself off to do one on her own. Obviously the poos are much harder to anticipate for me so she usually poos her pants once a day. We've tried sticker charts, rewards, the whole shebang but I just don't think she cares! I am gradually being worn down by the while expereince and am absolutely desparate for some advice. anyone had a similar experience?!!!

babyjane67 · 12/10/2011 15:54

hi
i dont have any real advice for you im afraid as im sort of in the same position!
didnt want to leave you unaswered though
tried to pt dd whos3 few months ago but although shes fine with wees&will still wee on potty,shes absolutely terrified of poos!!
screams cries really panics&holds on to me for dear life!!!stops herself from going.wasnt constipated though as got her checked out by dr but just was getting herself in right state bless her!
so weve left it&see if/when shes ready to try again
tried all advice from hv at the time but nothing worked
so you're not alone ghostdoll :)