At what age did you suceed at Potty Training and do you wish you had ....

[tryingtobemarrypoppins2]

done it earlier or left it later??

I think they are ready when they want to do it ie talk about how their friends use a potty/the toilet, how grown up they are, enjoy washing their hands, and really liking their special knickers too.

Interesting thread - my DS is only 8 months and I'm already being asked if I'm starting potty training him yet and know others with children of the same age who are starting already. I'd thought 2yrs+ was the norm, not under a year. Any thoughts on this??

Interested in the pros and cons though I confess I'm still leaning towards the more old fashioned / older age approach as I feel there are enough hurdles (for us both!) at this age as it is.

Scatty, may I ask what you have tried to get her to stop that? I probably dont need to tell you how frustrated it is, especially when they are awake and doing it. If you like you can contact me on yahoo messenger kneedeepwith1 and I would love to get to know you better. Thank you everyone else for all your help and would love to hear more suggestions.

Bonnie

I couldn't wait on DS telling me he needs the potty - he needs several prompts to sit on it during the day and he is 3.1yo. We have been at this for about 5 or 6 wks now. He is happy to sit on the potty, but just needs the encouragement and we do plonk him on it. If we waited on him telling us when he needed, we'd be waiting a LONG time.
He is really proud of himself when he pees and poos in the potty and knows we are proud of him too. I'm surprised no one else has had a similar experience - surely there are others who take more than one day to get the message of staying dry during the day???

Has anybody answered 34 yet ?

To the lady with the 7 year old still wetting at night, we took our DC aged 7 to the clinic because i'd had enough of the laundry and basically they said it's hormonal, there is nothing that can be done.
Our options were drugs, but the moment you stop them she'd start wetting again, an alarm for £100 that would wake her to tell her she was weeing or wait for her to grow out of it which apparently most do by the time they are 16
We just bought a great mattress protector from the white company and get on with it.
Restricting fluids though isn't the answer makes matters worse.

Mamatomany, I am the one with the 7 year old. I too got the same answers...there is not much they can do and to let her outgrow it. Easy for them to say, they dont have to wash every morning. I really dont feel comfortable putting her on drugs if they would of offered me that option. I do have a mattress cover which helps the mattress but does nothing for the sheets and or smell. As I mentioned before, if you would like to chat, you can add me on yahoo messenger and we can chat there. My id there is kneedeepwith1. I hope to hear back from you soon.

Bonnie

kneedeep - I haven't really taken any action as such. I think there is a combination of factors (some of which she can control, some she can't): she is very small for her age and was very late to walk (30 mnths) so I feel there may be some physical developmental delay, she is a bit fussy about toilets, she doesn't like the toilets at school, so puts off going (TSK), at Rainbows she couldn't reach the door handle to go to the toilet herself and was too shy to ask (they now keep the door open for her), when she is busy she either doesn't notice that she needs a wee or puts off going, later in the day when she is tired she is worse.
I started trying to be firmer with her stressing the importance of not wetting her knickers (she didn't seem to think it was a problem), but eased off as I think she was becoming anxious about telling people she needed the toilet (in case she got told off).
I am firm about insisting she goes to the toilet before we go out etc whether she feel she wants to or not.

Night time is totally out of our control as she sleeps right through it all, waking up with soaking PJs (and gets a rash from that).

We plod on.

Both my dd's were trained between 3-3.5.
I did introduce the idea from about 2.5 but never really pushed the point, it gets too stressy if you do. Let them get there in their own time.

Both my dd's were trained between 3-3.5.
I did introduce the idea from about 2.5 but never really pushed the point, it gets too stressy if you do. Let them get there in their own time.

both my eldest DS were 2.9. we tried earlier but they just weren't ready.
They cracked day and noght in one go. so glad we left it even though i got a lot of frowns from mums because they were in nappies for so long.
DS3 can do it in his own time as well

kneedeep, DS1 was 6.5 before he stopped wetting at night, so I do understand how it is. We didn't go for a medical answer, we just waited and had 'bedding solutions' to make our lives easier. I didn't want to use the alarm thing because I thought it might give him more anxiety about it.

He did just gradually get better with the occasional accident, then stopped finally.

It is much more common than people realise. We used a number of plasticised fitted terry sheets on the bed. We had about three in layers, with a flannel fitted sheet over each one. This meant we could just strip off a layer of flannel sheet and the waterproof one, and not have to faff about putting another sheet on the bed at night.

And the other two - one was 3.2 and youngest is probably almost ready at 2.10 but I've left the potty and the kids toilet seat in the downstairs loo and will wait until he decides to take his nappy off and go by himself - which he does sometimes, but hasn't 'produced' yet...

My experience of the others, as everyone else has said, is that 'training' usually has the opposite effect.

With DS1 he was 2.4 - I just knew he was ready and he was.

With DS2 he was 3.2 - I had tried twice before this and he just didn't get it atall, I was frustrated because I assumed that he should be potty trained before 3. However, as others have said by leaving it later he very quickly made the transition to toilet not just potty and we have only ever had about 2 accidents while out and about.

My DD is almost 7 and until recently had never had a dry night. We were waiting for an appointment at the enuresis clinic but for the past two weeks she has become dry! She is delighted as am I! One thing we did (which I know is against advice) was to keep her in pull ups - she wanted this too. It took the stress off both of us which I think helped a lot.

themothershipcalling it sounds as though your DD is progressing nicely and getting used to the idea of using a potty or toilet. Soon she will start to do actual pees and poos in the toilet, then it is a case of progressing at your DD's comfort. A friend of mine would place the poops from the nappy in the toilet/ potty and flush them away to show her son where they went and that seemed to help them.

Good luck, I'm sure it will go really well.

When DD was ready, around 2ish, but once she used the "big" toilet she refused to use the potty and it went from there, now I'm just trying to teach her how to wipe herself and pull up her pants for when she starts school and I'm not around.

Lovechoc my dd 3.2 is in the same position as your DS. If i waited for dd to take her own initiative we would be waiting till next summer or longer. We have been training for a bit more than a month and she is making good progress, is dry for most of the day, i have to take her to the toilet every 1.5 hours and is really proud when she does a wee in the toilet/potty and flushes it away and gets a chocci button. Just being relaxed about it all, and the good weather means that she can run around with as minimum clothing and it drys easily outside. Nex

Ds1 was 2 yrs 10 months and was dry in a day. Ds2 is 20 months and I plan to do the same again (unless I feel he is ready sooner.)

Whats the rush???? They all get there in the end - both my nephews were well over 3 before they were dry in the day. Its not like you see teenagers still in nappies, is it? They will do it when they are physically and emotionally and mentally ready to.

everyone else's children seem to be dry before they are three years old (during the day). we are truly lagging behind but not fussing too much.

pigletmania yes it seems we are in the same boat. DS is happy to use the potty but sometimes he is so engrossed in play that he forgets then he has an accident. Does this happen with your DD?

Yes I agree, if we waited on the CHILD to initiate potty training we'd be waiting for eternity and beyond. This is what I don't get from others on this thread, does your child one day suddenly just start sitting on the potty never to have an accident again?? DS knows what he has to do, but sometimes he just forgets. We poos regularly in the potty, just forgets to pee in it if he isn't prompted regularly enough throughout the day.

I've had him in real pants but end up doing loads of washing which I haven't the energy to deal with right now, am nearly 35 wks pg so am struggling as it is with everything else. He is back in pull-ups for the forseeable future, it's more convenient for me when I'm on my own (DH works loads just now so am on my own most of the time).

dd1 - 2yrs 2 months, dry night and day within a week or so
ds1 - 2yrs 7 months but still daytime only. Not too sure how I am going to tackle night time tbh!

I just want to thank you all for sharing. My first Grandson is 2.11, and shows no interest in giving up nappies yet.

My three were all out of nappies earlier than this (but it is 20 years since) and I was wondering.

I think the nappies are so much more comfortable, these days, that there is less incentive to move on to big boy's pants. My first two were in terries all the way - you'd laugh if you saw what was available then in the disposable line.

Think of a hospital sanitary towel, slotted into a pocket in nasty scratchy plastic pants

oh Yes lovechoc, I need to take dd to the toilet at the moment or she will go in her clothes, she can tell me that she needs to go but refuses to say. She does know when she needs to go, but goes away and hides if i am not quick enough. we went for a meal today and she told me she needed the toilet which has good. It will come. I would prefer my dd 3.2 to do it now than wait until she is at school to do it. Dont think they allow nappies at school. I know she is ready, she is just a bit lazy tbh

awww bless lovechoc hope all goes well with you. If I was in your position I would do the same, and would be if i did not have the m/c. I was dreading pt when i would have been 7 months pg. Now I dont have that issue so I have the energy to do it all. We would like to ttc soon so want it out of the way asap