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Original poster

Potty Training in a Week by Gina Ford

14 replies

speedymama · 02/08/2006 09:29

I have another thread on the multiple birth section about my future endeavour to potty train my 2.6 yo twins in 4 days, starting tomorrow (gulp). I have bought this book by Gina Ford and plan to read it tonight. Has anyone had any success using her method?

Thanks

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Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 13:56

I started her stage 1 back in jan when ds1 was 22 months, we carried on doing stage 1 until last week when we finally switched the nappies for the pants, day 1 we had 3 accidents, day 2 we had 2, day 3 we had 2 but by day 3 he was going almost all day without being reminded. Her routine is very good and I think the thinking behind it makes sense eg no pullups etc etc

Ds is doing really well considering were on day 9 now and we had 2 days out and 3 small outings.

I also bought a poody pad off ebay for the buggy and carseat for ds to sit on incase there was an accident in the car or whatever, he loves his special cushion.

all in all its worked, but his behaviour is anougher thing altogether...!

He is 2.6 too BTW

nogoes · 02/08/2006 14:00

I am just about to start it with ds (nearly 2). Fingers crossed it works for all of us.

Chandra · 02/08/2006 14:05

I had the book but as the famous GF thread had just take place I put the book away and decided to follow other advice more regularly recommended.

It didn't work at all, DS ended up refusing to get near to the potty. So we stoped. Tried again a few weeks later following GF's book. It may be that he wasn't ready the first time, it may be that GF method suited him better but he was clean and dry in just 3 days.

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Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 14:07

My advice is though, to do stage one for as long as you feel is needed, lke gina says, its not just about the right time for the child, but also the right time for the whole family(we were going to have a go back in jan at stage 2 as he was so into it, but then decided to hold off as ds2 was only 2 months and I knew id have weaning etc round the corner and didnt want to put myself under additional stress)

also,if after starting stage 1 they start playing around with the potty/using it as a toy/becoming less willing to sit on it-its def a good idea to put it away out of sight for a month and bring it back out when you feel it may be worth starting again

CMac · 02/08/2006 14:27

Just building up to potty training DD (2.5). Haven't heard of the gina ford method - what is it and in what way is it different to other methods (i.e. go straight to pants and 'offer' potty or toilet every half hour or so until they get the hang of it - maybe in conjunction with a reward system...}

donnie · 02/08/2006 14:53

I though her name wasn't allowed to be mentioned on Mn any more. Watch out fro the lawyers!

Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 15:00

basically GF stage 1 is to offer the potty 3 times a day, say, before breakfast, before nap and before bath, this gives you some idea as to wether child is ready or totally not, then she lists a checklist of is he/she ready Q's, to which all must be ticked before moving onto stage 2, stage 2 is then completly ditching the nappies for pants. It seems loical but the stage one is (i found) very beneficial to start introducing the child to the potty and gaging wether or not they are ready to start actual potty training ie giving up nappies for pants.
I have heard so many people who have just suddenly replaced nappies for pants without any/much introduction and child has ended up not being ready having many accidents and parent then feels very stressed and unsure of what to do next.
by doing stage 1, you get a better idea if your child is ready, so then if you have checked all the boxes and child is doing something on the potty 9/10 times, then theyre ready to move onto stage 2, if theyre not, or initially they are and then they regress, its best to stick with stage 1 for longer until you are happy and they are very comfortable and willing to go on it every time

Nemo1977 · 02/08/2006 15:03

speedymama..do it the cod way..did it with ds who was 2.2 at the time at 2.9yrs he is sorted day and night.

Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 15:04

BTW I cant understand why GF is so hated on here, Ive never followed her(or anyone elses) parenting advice up until now, but I have heard of so many people with PT problems(for instance my friends ds 4yrs who will not poo unless they put a nappy on him) I didnt want to risk anything going wrong so thats why i took the step of buying her book.

I think it makes a whole lot of sense and its a good book in the way it has numerous case studies of different ages and different problems and how to go about resolving them.

hmm, I dont care what anyone else says, Im a follower of her potty training in 1 week

Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 15:13

Ps not being rude but whats so great about cods way? its the same as GF+many others but without the stage 1 introduction
I find cod very hard to understand(again not being rude, just that her typing makes my head spin after reading it for a while)

zippitippitoes · 02/08/2006 15:17

it's potty training in a week plus however many months of stage one??

isn't that just very longwinded?

wouldn't it be less stressful just to wait until they were ready to come out of nappies without checking three times a day?

CMac · 02/08/2006 17:42

Thanks alexsmummy. She has been showing all the signs for a few months now and uses the toilet at nursery quite often so i think we'll just bite the bullet and go straight to pants. The only reason I've hung off is that I also have a 9 week ds so was waiting for him to settle down a bit before adding another stress to our lives. Stage system seems quite sensible though...

Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 19:23

zippi-but why just guess and chuck a child into pants who perhaps isnt ready and end up with numerous accidents and still not potty trained after X amount of months, and a parent who doesnt know wether to continue or (dare i say it) put them back into nappies because the child just isnt ready = much stress for both parent and child

Its like the fact Ive a few older generation friends who say theyre ds/dd was trained by 18 months or whatever, maybe, but they had 6months(for example) of accidents and stress before they hit that point.

I prefer to be 99.9% sure my child is ready for it, and boy has it worked, as i said by day 3 he was going without even having to be prompted.

Busyalexsmummy · 02/08/2006 19:25

cmac-GF says though that some children will only need a week on stage 1 before moving onto stage 2, especially if they are nearer 3 yrs

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