how much can/should a nanny help with potty training?

[kissmummy]

Our wonderful nanny seems very half hearted about it. i had a go at training DS myself a few months ago. i followed an intensive potty training programme (Gina Ford) and it was a disaster. DS wasn't ready, and after a day of misery, i thought it best to leave it for a while. i think he is ready now.
DS is a very, very energetic little boy and staying indoors for a couple of days will be really hard on everyone. I need back up from our nanny, who we love and is fantastic in every other way, and am not sure how to approach the issue. I have tried to encourage her to be proactive about it before and she has said she doesn't think we should "force it". (i agree, but i don't think having a proper attempt is forcing it.) Is it reasonable for me to ask her to do a day or two of intensive training? (meaning staying indoors?) it seems like she is going to need a lot of encouragement to really roll her sleeves up on this one. does anyone have any thoughts/advice?

How old is your ds?

hi
DS was 2years and 8mths and i followed gina - he was trained by the end of the 2nd day.
we've had about 2 accidents in the 9 months since, and this has been due to excitement of playing with friends.
i found her list of what to check for was most useful ie walking up stairs using both legs and not just leading with one.....
i also wanted to be really sure he was ready as we had only just moved house and only just brought home a new sister ....... didn't want him to deal with any more change if he wasn't ready
hope this is of some use - good luck
oh yes, i did it for 1st 2 days before passing on to nanny as well

I am a nanny and have pt lots of children, it is possible but, in my experience, unlikely to be fully potty trained in ten days.

If you decide not to pt before his op it might be worth considering pull ups as they are often a bit snugger than nappies and may sit better at the top of his leg.

While saying that I must say that pull ups are a complete waste of time for actually helping to pt.

Our nanny has been very enthusiastic about potty training our son at a younger age than yours and at 2.5 I don't think its unreasonable to expect her to give it a go. My son is 2.3 and has been potty trained for a while. We started young and our nanny was enthusiastic about it even though I wasn't sure he was ready. She had more determination and patience than me with the result that he was out of nappies and pretty reliable about using the potty by his second birthday. I would ask your nanny what experience she has with potty training and get her to talk about it asking open ended questions so that she will reveal more about her experience. I suspect she doesn't have lots of experience at doing it otherwise she would probably welcome it as a challenge. Several of our nannies friends are looking after children around the same age as my son and they all started potty training them quite early - both boys and girls and had success. By early I mean before the age of two. Also a mum friend of mine has a boy the same age as my son and she potty trained around the same time as me with success. I think it is perfectly possible to potty train early but it takes more patience. 2.5 isn't particularly early in my view (although others will say different) and should be perfectly possible with a little patience if your son is already showing some (not necessarily all) signs of readiness. There's a current fashion for waiting until children are very self sufficient to potty train - able to dress/undress, talk well etc but not long ago it was the norm to have toddlers out of nappies at 18 months. So I would certainly expect your nanny to prepared to have an enthusiastic attempt at potty training with you and for her to take the mess in her stride. Unfortunately if her heart isn't in it she may quickly make you feel it is too early when in reality it isn't so I would also make your own judgement about how your son is doing.

PS - sorry I noticed that your son has an op scheduled for 10 days time. In that case I would probably hold off on potty training until he is recovering from that as he won't be fully potty trained in 10 days and the operation will probably make him regress a bit. I think it is best to potty train without the pressure of a deadline and without too much expectation, just taking it in your stride and accepting accidents. If an accident would sting his scar then it could make the whole thing unpleasant for him and possibly even create a phobia about weeing. Could you perhaps investigate some alternative nappies that will be less uncomfortable on the scar?