Potty training twin boys in 4 days - can it be done?

[speedymama]

Well, it is time that I took plunge (plus I am fed up with spending a fortune on nappies). The boys (29months) quite happily sit on the potty and last week, DT1 pooed in his potty 2 days running. They tell me when they have done a poo or wee-wee so I guess they are ready for the formal training. The problem is that I have only been putting them on the potty first thing in the morning after breakfast. So it is time for a concerted effort on my part.

I will be at home Thursday to Sunday so I want to go for it. My plan is to sit them on the potty every half hour until they do something. Question is, will my strategy work? Also, I'm interested in hearing the experiences of other Mums or Dads of multiples.

Wish me luck!

Well it is now November and the boys are still not fully potty trained, just potty timed! However, they both dutifully sit on the potty when it is presented and they can go between 1.5 to 2 hours without having an accident. So why, did DT2 do a poo on the carpet (whilst standing with no underwear on and playing with his car) despite having been on the potty 1 minute before? Arrrrghhhhhhhh!

On the positive side, I'm saving nearly £20 a week through not having to buy so many nappies.

I have to add that I was following the advice from a book by some obscure person called Nobody which promised that potty training could be done in a week. Yeah, right!

because that is what they do ! DT is nearly 4 - has been potty trained since the summer before this one - and yesterday stood in the bathroom beside the loo and did a poo in his pants.

All you can really hope for is that over time it happens less often - and hopefully the time when it stops completely will not be too far away

Hello Rena,

My two girls were potty trained by 1 and a half, toilet trained around 6 months after this.

I read all the books about training in 5 days, but realistically, with twins, that is one hell of a feat! it took me around 2 months of hassle overall.

Me, my approach was simple, remove the nappies...started in summer and let them run around with nothing on at all in the garden. Yes, they wet and messed in the garden!! Brought the pottys but they hated them. Took them to Mothercare and brought the potty chairs and they loved them. They sat in them for hours. While they were using them as seats, the movements occurred with no stress. I rewarded them by taking them out to buy 'big girl pants'. They chose the pictured ones.

I refused to put them in nappies or pull up pants because as soon as I did they stopped using the potty chairs. Not surprising really, as I was giving them mixed messages...

They had multiple accidents, ones and twos! But because they were in pants, they got upset at the feeling of wet or messy underwear and would ask to have them changed. Oh! and didn't we have some messy ones!!!!

For each pair of pants they spoiled (I would throw them away) and tell them if they continued I would not buy anymore...

Strangely enough, this worked because they hated to see their favorite character pants go in the bin....they would hassle me, well before wetting or messing their pants.

Because the potty chair had a little removable seat, they got used to taking it to the toilet themselves and emptying it...

The chairs are highly recommended. If we went out anywhere, I would put throwaway baby change covers in their car seats and buggies and carried around 10 pairs of pants!

I also would sit them down on their potty chairs about 20 minutes after any food and read books to them. Again, this proved to be fruitful.

However, not to forget all children are different, so it may be a case if you have tried and it has not worked, you are trying too early...the older they are the easier and quicker it is suppose to be..

Nik