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Half Term potty training

88 replies

GeorginaA · 21/10/2006 07:42

Am I the only one using half term to potty train?

Day 1... no accidents yet, but already getting stroppy about sitting on the potty - doesn't bode well.

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Original poster
GeorginaA · 23/10/2006 18:48

That's excellent Twig Well done mini-twiglett! (Yes, I'm wondering about the training them out of the choccy button too... ds1 has come to expect a chocolate treat every time his younger brother performs too ... sigh.

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karenmarie · 23/10/2006 19:06

Its not half term here so my daughter is in nursery, would have loved to join thou. She is a nightmare and will NOT wee on toilet or potty. Holds wee for up to 6 hours before wetting herself and doesnt care aout wet pants! Health visitor involved as she is 4 and no answers as yet. tried bribary of every description, tried eing sympathetic, cross, indifferent, no joy.!

flowerfairy · 23/10/2006 19:12

Well today has been changeable.

Nothing at all until 1.30pm and ds did head straight for potty bare bottomed mind. Then 2 further accidents, when wearing shorts. No poo, though I'm sure he wanted to after tea.

Am sure he is becoming more aware of needing the toilet. But just not sure that he is going to get wearing pants by the end of the week. Have decided that if no significant progress by Friday will leave it. Though will have to suffer the disgruntled look of MIL, who has ds 2 mornings a week after half term.

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flowerfairy · 23/10/2006 19:15

Sounds llike everyone else is doing well and making good progress.

At the end of yesterday felt positive and today am feeling at a loss.

TwigTwoolett · 23/10/2006 19:30

karenmarie have you tried putting her back in baby's nappies

really

it might work

DS regressed once potty trained for a few months .. he was coming up to 3 and suddenly started pooing in his pants .. I tried everything .. sticker charts, cojoling, ignoring, shouting everything

finally took 1 day put him back in nappies started taking him to the toilet every 30 minutes and when he went in the loo he got chocolate again

2 days later he was clean and clear again

karenmarie · 23/10/2006 19:36

I have done that, makes no difference, she likes wearing a nappy. She doesnt care if it is wet or dirty either. Put her in pull ups today for nursery coz it cant be good for her little bladder! I cant hold wee for that long, especially all the drinks i am giving her. I havent come across anyone with our problem and am at my wits end with her. She is a twin and her sister was so easy, took about 3 days and she has een dry ever since (apart from at night)

Original poster
GeorginaA · 23/10/2006 19:47

flowerfairy: what day are you on? I remember ds1 taking a good week before it finally clicked - as you say, best way is to see what the lay of the land is by Friday Hope you're pleasantly surprised!

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flowerfairy · 23/10/2006 20:09

GeorginaA it's the end of day 3. Ds will still not allow us to put him on the potty every 30 mins or so, so I just have to keep my eye on him. Then he will surprise me and just sit on by himself and perform. So I think ooh great some progress and then the next time it's gushing all over the settee. He gets quite upset when he has wet himself.

Have to see how tomorrow goes. Though if the wet carpets don't get to me then cbeebies might!

TwigTwoolett · 24/10/2006 07:50

FF .. DD won't let me put her on a potty .. so all I do is say to her every so often "Do you want a wee-wee or a poo-poo?" ... "Where do you do wee-wees and poo-poos?"

so that its a constant reminder

I think some children have such a sense of their own identities that they will not be forced into something

I have also found that DD likes a bit of privacy so we have even better results if I'm not watching / not even in the room

HTH

I still strongly recommend these feel 'n' learn nappies (especially for trips out) .. but only if your child doesn't like being wet

TwigTwoolett · 24/10/2006 07:53

Karenmarie .. have you thought about the nappies where she can feel herself wetting

also consider, if she's a factual child (DS was) .. getting a child's book on digestion and explaining to her all about food and drink and where it goes .. we have a simple one with diagrams .. so with DS we spent a while talking about where the food goes when it goes in your mouth (tube to stomach, intestines to rectum) where the goodness goes and then whatever's left over you need to get rid of so it comes out as poo and wee

With DS (although this wouldn't work with every child I don't think) it helped when he understood the mechanics

fuzzlepelts · 24/10/2006 08:13

Morning Ladies - can I join too??
We started training dd (2.9) about 2 weeks ago after a failed attempt in April
We have gone cold turkey (not at night obviously)and have good days and bad days - about 4 dry days in total and this morning she said "uh-oh I done a wee wee - only a little one Daddy" and dh put her on the loo and she produced a lake. I guess that is good as she managed to stop herself (?) On average she seems to get about half in the toilet/potty. I think it's a concentration thing with her, as she has less accidents at home as it's more boring than nursery. I think most of her accidents there are when they are in the garden or doing an activity and she doesn't want to stop .
I have to confess that I thought it would be easier than this and am so fed up with washing and ironing and cleaning shoes!
I will persevere (for the time being

flowerfairy · 24/10/2006 13:45

Well touch wood, this morning has seen progress. ds has got pants on and has let me sit him on the potty every hour. only 1 accident so far and been initiating own trips thaks TT at least i know my ds isn't the only one. Just a quick does it maatter if he doesn't perform when i put him on the potty

maggiethemoo · 24/10/2006 17:43

Have read all your messages with interest and desperation and a little .
DS is 2.5 and we did a week of potty training and watching Bob the Builder with great results - asking to be put on the potty and even taking himself sometimes. At the end of that first week we were having very few accidents.
Since then it has been a disaster - he never asks now and just tells me when it is too late and doesn't really care if he is wet. DH thinks he has better results when he is in charge so maybe it is just me DS plays up with.

As of today have reverted to the chocolate bribery to see if that brings back the initial good results.

Am so disheartened - does anyone have any suggestions for such regression?

flowerfairy · 24/10/2006 19:35

Ooh Maggiethemoo, I wish i had some suggestions. But only on day 4. And a really good day.
Ds managed 1 accident, 4 wees in potty and even asked for potty at bathtime for a poo. He still needs a bit of assistance with clothing, as he now will wear pants and trousers. But felt very disheartened yesterday and now feeling alot more positive, that maybe we can crack it and even venture out at the weekend. I'm afraid i'm from the school of not using pull ups any suggestions for protecting car seats?

How has everyone else been getting on?

Original poster
GeorginaA · 24/10/2006 20:28

Not too bad today, a couple of accidents, but fairly consistent sitting and weeing on the potty and with me only taking him every hour now. Fully clothed which is also good progress.

Maggie: something similar happened with ds1 - are you still taking him regularly or are you just asking if he needs to go? We reverted back to taking him regularly (work out a reasonable interval - if previously without accidents, probably 1.5 - 2 hr gaps?) which seemed to reduce the number of accidents substantially. Often, they just don't want to interrupt their play, especially when the novelty has worn off.

flowerfairy: that sounds great progress For the car seat how about using a pampers care mat or similar between him and the seat? Even a doubled up towel with a carrier underneath at a push would give some protection I would have thought?

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maggiethemoo · 25/10/2006 09:11

Today we are trying the potty pinger routine . We are setting the cooking timer to 45min intervals and when it pings we are going to have great excitement at sitting on the potty.

Flowerfairy - I don't beleive in pull ups and so far with both DDs and DS have never had an accident in the car even up to 1.5 hour drives. Just have your potty ready as soon as you arrive!

Original poster
GeorginaA · 25/10/2006 10:12

LOL maggie - we do that. I swear ds2 has a pavlovian response to the kitchen timer... maybe I should take the kitchen timer to nursery next week

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fuzzlepelts · 25/10/2006 10:50

Well yesterday was a dry day (yahoo!!)Apparently she asked to go several times at nursery. We'll see how today goes as I learnt last week a good day is usually followed by a bad one!

Original poster
GeorginaA · 25/10/2006 12:24

ARGH! Well we're having a bad one. We've had two accidents this morning and nothing at all on the potty.

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TwigTwoolett · 25/10/2006 12:28

Yesterday

wee in pants
followed within 10 mins by poo in pants although luckily managed to get 2nd half on the loo

but DS had a friend round which I think was occupying her

Today .. 2 x wees in potty (potty requested)
.. 10 mins later shouting 'potty, potty' and had done half her poo in pants

can't be arsed

flowerfairy · 25/10/2006 20:21

OOh just reading your tales have cheered me up after a rotten day. 4 wet accidents through day. Then 6.10pm hooray we had a poo on potty on own initiative, no hesitation. Yesterday was obviously too good to be true. Dh thinks ds maybe confusing wee and poo, as at 6.10am "mummy done a poo", but no poo. One of accidents of the day, "mummy done a poo" but just a wee. Does this mean he's not really ready? Should I battle on or give up?

Original poster
GeorginaA · 25/10/2006 20:36

We had NOTHING on the potty all day

He wanted to try sitting on the big toilet but didn't really relax enough to do proper wees (both times he managed to do a small wee and then had an accident about 5 mins later).

Can't decide what to do tomorrow - whether to encourage use of the big toilet or try and get him using the potty more consistently first.

If the big toilet - I have three choices:

  • encourage him to balance on a normal seat (he will do this occasionally, but doesn't relax enough to wee - slightly counter productive).

  • use the inner child seat which doesn't have a splash guard (easier as less to clean, but messy if he doesn't sit in the exact right position, leaning forward)

  • dig out the splash guard seats which are an utter pain and I hated them with a fiery passion last time around.

Feeling a bit disheartened today, quite honestly.

OP posts:
flowerfairy · 25/10/2006 21:03

GeorginaA i've consoled myself with a trip to Tesco for a magazine (not a parenting one need adult interests) and a bar of chocolate.

BTW the magazine is not in anyway of THAT adult kind

karenmarie · 26/10/2006 15:57

TwigToolett - I have tried putting a pair of normal pants in her nappy so she feels wet - she doesnt care! We are now being referred to a child psychologist about it, cant do any harm! But with a 6month waiting list I am hoping we have had some progress by then!
karen

TwigTwoolett · 26/10/2006 15:59

Good luck KM .. I don't know whether I'd just give up and put her back in nappies to break the cycle you've got in ... I did that with DS when he regressed ... I assume if you put her back in nappies for a month or so you could start again with a clean slate?

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