Is a potty essential for potty training?

[abigboydidit]

Just that really. I really don't like pottys and my only (very limited) experience of potty training has been using children's seats over the loo. However, I need to accept that the most tried and tested method is likely to be the most effective, so thought I would do a quick poll!

[Sleepstarved]

Slightly off track but DD (2.5) cries when we tried bit potty and kiddy seat on loo.
When we first bought potty she sat on it happily with her clothes still on but naked she freaks out, I think it may be the plastic sticking to her bum, but loo no better.
She has been delayed in gross motor so not very coordinated and in speech but can talk about her potty training book, just won't do it herself.
Don't know what else to try.

[Yodeleeiay]

I agree you really don't need to use a potty. My DM was pushing me to use one, but it was great without - no emptying, no fear because they don't know any different. If you get a toddler loo seat with handles they can push against those to get out their poos, and maybe a tall step they can push against with their feet too.
And for out and about our fold-up loo seat has been a godsend. It even works in those retchy French loos with no actual toilet seat. Ours is called a toodle-loo but there is another make I've seen in Boots. They fold up into quarters and slot into a little plastic bag the size of a hardback book.
And... I love this Japanese cartoon for its jolly inspiration when getting started or suffering setbacks. As you can see they don't start toilet training till about 4 in Japan, and no potties to be seen.

[MissRainbow]

Sorry didn't read the whole thread, just popping on quickly before OH gets in lol!!!

We just went for it... Get stuck in and keep them interested. DD1 was on the potty for a while and we used one of those ones that you can get the disposable bags for... Don't know if they still sell them anymore... DD2 was on the potty for about 2 months and then she decided she wanted to use the 'big girl potty' like her sister... We haven't had many accidents either.

I will admit I got really lucky

My advice would be

Find something to keep them on there at first... A favorite book or crayons and a colouring book, something like that... My Nan used to put my mum in front of the washing machine when it was on!!

Strip them off or minimal clothing... If you're going out try the Dry Like Me pads you can get from Asda or other supermarkets... they are great!!

If I remember anything else will come back, now off for a and Bake Off!!

Good Luck

[PetiteRaleuse]

I waited til dd1 was 2, then brought the potty out and talked about it, a lot. After a month i started training her. I tried on the loo but the seat wobbled and she freaked out. Now, six months later, she goes on the loo with no baby seat or on her potty depending on her mood right then.

Having a potty does annoy me but i guess it just depends on the child. Mine needed one.

[MissRainbow]

Oh forgot to say Something like this we found really helpful for helping them learn to go on their own... DD2 was so much easier to train because she practically went straight from nappies to toilet... If you do want to go straight to toilet, I would also buy a basic potty for emergencies if they cant get to the loo quick enough....

[cannotfuckingbelievethis]

Tried a potty with DS at around 2 and he wasn't interested, we had major issues with him as he started to hold his poo in for days on end (had a particularly bad case of the runs with a tummy bug and I think it really scared him) When he was ready we tried again with the loo.

With DD we just got a pink sparkly kid's seat to put on the loo. Oh and about 200 Moshi Monster stickers. Every time she did a pee she got to stick one on the loo. For a poo she got 2 ! My toilet is still covered in them....don't think we'll ever take them down.

Our nursery don't use potties so I thought it would confuse the kids if we had one thing at home but another at nursery. We're also pretty clumsy in our house and I didn't fancy constantly wiping up pee and jobbies from the carpet

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

dd2 pretty much went straight for the loo, with no special seat either
she's tall with good balance though - I think whatever you go for, they need to be able to manage as independently as possible.

[girliefriend]

I had a potty for dd but she refused to sit on it as found it too uncomfortable (tbf they do look uncomfortable) got her a kids seat for the toilet and she went straight to that with no problems.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

DS1 didn't need a potty as he pt at 3y2m when tall enough to use a normal loo without a seat or a step really.

DS2 uses the potty as he started pt at 2y4m and nowhere near tall nor wide enough to use the loo.

They are useful to have in the car though, yes. Many's the poo that's been taken by the side of an A road when they absolutely couldn't make it another ten minutes to plumbed facilities.

[emmyloo2]

Just toilet trained my DS a few weeks ago. My first tip would be don't rush it. Really, really wait until they are ready. We waited until my DS was 2yrs and 10 months. The magic age according to my DSIL who has 6 kids. We tried half heartedly a few times by getting him to wear undies and having a potty there for wees but he didn't get it. We stopped and then tried again when he hit 2 years and 10 months and it took two days. Honestly, it was really easy and we were so lazy about it. Just one day he decided he wanted to wear undies and then do his wees and poos on the potty. The potty is easier for him but he will use the toilet sometimes and uses the normal toilet when we are out. I don't think the transition to just the toilet will be that hard. I will just wait until he is a bit bigger and then tell him the potty has gone.

I was really geared up for toilet training to be this monstrous disaster and my taking the lazy approach - i.e. just letting him wait until he was ready, it was the easiest thing yet.

[abigboydidit]

Wow. Thanks everyone. I think what this thread is telling me is tha he's not ready and I am just doing exactly what I said I wouldn't do and caving to pressure from MIL

[Amber76]

My daughter is 2 and 6 months - I think she has zero concept of using the toilet. She's completely happy in a wet or dirty nappy - doesn't bother her at all. Am dreading training her, but think i'll just leave it another few months.

[LapinDeBois]

Nope, no need for potty. Don't need a kids' loo seat for very long, either, so don't spend too much! DS2 is 3.2, ditched the nappies 3 months ago (no potty), and ditched the loo seat a couple of weeks ago. He was just too big for the little seat and tended to get the wee on the floor (or down the inside of the padded seat where it's really hard to clean - big yuk). Ignore your MIL!

[VinegarDrinker]

The seat does depend on the age/size of your child. DS is a skinny 2y7m, he trained himself 3 months ago & will need a step & toilet seat for a good few months yet (unless he relies on me taking him/lifting him on/holding him which isn't really the point of toilet training which imo is to make my life easier!).

We have an all in one step/seat like the one a PP linked to, it was £15 and means he has been independent in toileting from day 1.

[gourd]

Ous didn't want to use a potty at all, but had no problem with toilet - needed help on/off seat at first but after a few weeks was just about tall enough to reach by herelf, using her step. Day one: all wees were on floor, day two: held it all in for 8 hours then small/half wee on floor then begged for nappy to be put on to have a wee in, day three: all wees went in the toilet. No accidents since then - except twice after naps in the first week. Poos took about a month to get them 100% in the toilet though! Night time dryness came by itself about two weeks after initial toilet use (nappy-free in daytime) started, so we stopped putting her in a nappy for nights then as well.

[duvetheaven]

haven't read the rest of the thread but my one piece of advice is DO NOT USE PULL UPS - just a marketing gimmick and how confusing for the child

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

abigboydidit Don't cave under pressure. Stick to your guns. You'll know when he's ready!

We've just come out the other side of potty training and it was soooo much easier than I'd thought it would be. I was dreading it but DS was ready so we only had a few accidents and now he's almost ready for nights too. If in doubt, wait.

Good luck when you do decide to do it. We didn't use anything other than pick'n'mix sweets as rewards and a chart for poos. He is excited to be a big boy.

[sophe29]

With DD I decided it was time a few months after her 2nd birthday. It was a nightmare. She didn't want the potty or the toilet and had many, many accidents and it went on for months. I subscribed to the theory that once they were out of nappies, don't go back, but clearly I had done this too early for her. I bowed to pressure from my friends with kids the same age all trying to do it as well as my mum telling me I was trained by 18m.

With DS it really couldn't be bothered to do it and he had several big life events happening in the months after his 2nd birthday (new nursery, sister off to school etc) that I wasn't planning on even trying till he was nearly 3. His sister generally used the toilet but the potty had been left out in the bathroom should he ever fancy it but I seriously didn't expect him to for ages. Especially as he was a boy!

However, one day soon after his 2nd birthday, he found some boys pants Id idly bought one day and put in the back of his drawer. He immediately put them on and refused to use a nappy again. He pretty much trained himself in a week (I think because I was so reluctant to let him as I wasn't ready for the hassle we went through with his sister. Nothing spurs a toddler on than a parent who doesn't want him to do something) and he was almost immediately dry at night as well.

[Varya]

I physically demonstrated using a potty so my children knew what it was for. Within two weeks they got the hang of it and were 'dry at night' Result!

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

There should be some kind of special parenting award for that Varya. It is way beyond the call of duty, kudos to you and your obviously very small pert behind

[VinegarDrinker]

Agree sophe - I was planning on waiting a while to tackle it with DS, as DD was born when he was 2y4m. However, the day my DH went back to work after paternity leave, my first day with 2 kids when DD was 2 weeks old, was the day DS decided he didn't want nappies.....

Luckily it was pretty stress free with minimal accidents, but still!

[sleeplessbunny]

DD is 2y3m and uses the potty and toilet (with mini-seat) fairly interchangeably. We don't have a downstairs toilet so I keep the potty downstairs. It is important to be superquick when she announces she needs a wee, I reckon about 10 seconds max. It's also useful to take in the car for day trips with unreliable toilet stops.

I do try to make sure she poos in the toilet though, less cleaning.

She started to potty train when a group of her friends at the childminders were starting. I think that really helped, she had a lot of interest. She now refuses to wear a nappy.

[emmyloo2]

and agree with poster who said don't use pull-ups. We tried them. Waste of money. He just treated them like a nappy. Go straight to undies. When they are ready, it will happen and it will be much much easier than trying to force it.

[VinegarDrinker]

We used pull ups overnight for a couple of months, to be sure he was ready to be dry at night too (used pull ups rather than nappies so he could get it off in the morning himself to use his potty). But I agree don't use them instead of nappies and expect the child to "get it".