potty training: did you go cold turkey and just stop using nappies?

[gloworm]

When you started potty training did you go cold turkey and just stop using nappies? (apart from when they're asleep)

or did you have nappy on for part of day and pants on for part of day (so they could get used to it)

we were going to go cold turkey but he never seems to stop peeing on the floor so we end up putting nappy on at lunchtime, dinnertime, etc or we'd neber have time to eat!
We also put nappy on again in the evening because he wont poo otherwise, and the last thing we need is constipation!

all thoughts and comments, positive and negative, welcome

Basically went cold turkey UNLESS we were going out somewhere (like to a restaurant) where an accident would be too much trouble to deal with. But yes, cold turkey, WHEN THE CHILD IS CLEARLY READY, is what worked best for me. If the child isn't ready, it's likely to be accident after accident, so I found. I think I gave it 3 separate tries. Once at around 2 yrs, once at 2yrs 6 months, and finally at 2 yrs 8 months.

Other mumsnetters have said the same about their kids not wanting to poo anywhere but in a nappy. Maybe one of them can give some advice on that.

I did it without reading or seeking advice first, so probably did it all wrong! WE started by keeping nappies off when we were at home, so that DS got confidence up about being able to use the potty/toilet without many accidents. We used a nappy for trips out for quite a while, then abandoned them once DS was more reliaable. He's now really good with a travel potty or bushes or available nearby tpilet if we're out. But I still put him in a nappy when we went on a plane a couple of weeks ago. I would have put a nappy on if he didn't want to poo in a potty or toilet, too. I think that's quite common.

Incidentally, DS found 'pull-ups' completely confusing, and we had no success at all with them.

thanks expatkat, not convinced he is totally ready...he is 2yr 3mth...has only been 2 days...will stick with it for another few days and see how it goes.

blu, we tried one pack of pull-ups...useless IMO...he just thought it was a nappy that went on in a different way! (and they seem to need changing more often)

Exactly...and you have to take trousers off to get the damn things on. Useless.

Anyway, DS seemed to learn by having accidents. it isn't very comfy, having wet pants, and he tried to avoid it, but we did wait until he had taken his own initiative to wee in the potty, and managed it twice running. He was about 2yrs 6 months, and it has taken two months to get really relaiable, even when distracted by friends etc.

at the moment ds doesnt seem to bothered by having wet pants

he hates being dirty and loves washing his hands...but he probably just thinks its water on his pants IUKWIM

we went cold turkey (DS is 2.7) only time he has nappy is sleep time but he seems to poo just before he wakes up so we've not really had to deal with that. he has had quite few accidents but mainly I think through lazyness when can't be bothered to go to loo/potty.

Went cold turkey with DS and DD1 - DS took three attempts (never tried for longer than a week - too stressful) then DD1 after four goes.

touch wood, we are doing it now with dd1 at 2 yrs 9 months... and it's going great... we've waited till we thought she was really ready... started on saturday with about 3 accidents but lots of wees in toilet (skipped the potty stage too, went straight to soft toilet seat!), then Sunday we were out in the garden a lot, so she just ran around in her knicks and thought it was great that she could just pull her knicks off and wee in a designated area of the garden! one accident and lots of wees and a poo in the toilet!!!, then monday she went to nursery where there was just the one accident... and today at nursery no accidents at all!!! (so far!) so touch wood it's going great at the moment... but i will be more confident after a whole week like this as i've heard that some do great to begin with and then it all goes to pot!

We just left the nappy off (except for nap time!) and that's it!...

i really do think you have to wait till they're ready otherwise it will seem an age until it's done!!!

good luck!... and wish us luck!

The flip side of having to take trousers off to get pullups on is that you do in genral have to take the trousers off the get them off too. Which is actually an advantage when your child discovers that he can undo nappies and remove them at any inopportune moment

good luck bea, sounds like you're getting on really well!

gloworm, I've been following your progress with interest. Ds1 is almost 2 and a half and we have been on 'nappies off' for a couple of weeks now. However for several months before this we have had regular potty times (after breakfast, after nap time and after tea) where he has sat on the potty and we read a book together. He would generally produce something (usually wee and poo!) at each sitting. Then more recently I started teaching him to pull his trousers down himself. Then FINALLY we took the nappies off. I've only put a nappy back on for nap time, bedtime and on long car journeys. By doign it this way (which wasn't really a plan btw it just happened) I was confident that he COULD use the potty for wees and poos, the only missing link is him avoiding weeing in his pants.
Anyway so far he has done pretty well. The first day was mostly accidents (but only about four or so, he doesn't need to wee constantly, only about every 1-2 hours) but after that we have had mostly successes (out of about 18 days we've had about 4 really bad days, a couple of one accident days and the rest perfect) HOWEVER I think this is mostly down to the fact that he has reasonable bladder capacity, so as long as I can persuade/cajole him on to the potty often enough, it is ok. He is still pretty poor at deciding for himself that he needs to go (although he can do this at nursery) and we have often had a scenario where he denies he needs to go about 30 secs before having an accident.
Anyway in aroundabout way I'm trying to say that I think we may have been just a little too hasty with ds1 and he might have done better to have been left another couple of months - but we are having enough successes that I can't really go back now. I do wonder whether your ds (who is really pretty young in the potty training scheme of things) is quite ready? Why not go back to nappies mostly on but with a potty sitting routine - no pressure, he can sit and if he does something that's great?

elliot that sounds like a good idea, today he had nappy off all morning (some pee in potty,most pee in pants), sleeping all afternoon then nappy off after dinner.
tried bare bum on basis that pants kinda felt similar to nappy..wouldn't pee even though he was obviously bursting, kept asking for pants (thus confirming he didn't like to pee without something on), finally ran into sitting room when we weren't looking and peed on the carpet
has been back in nappy for rest of evening.

will discuss with dh and maybe try your suggestion.thanks

we are taking a step backwards as ds is just not aware that he has to pee until its too late, also he is size of average 3yr old and potty is too small for him to sit on for any length of time, and he has refused to poo for 2 days (even with nappy on in evening).

So we are taking advice from elliot on my "cold turkey" thread and having nappy on most of time. will put him on potty first thing in morning and after meals and maybe around bedtime. also will let him run around in bare botty or with favourite pants for a while in the morning.

we have the whole summer ahead of us...we'll just take it one step at a time for now.

gloworm if he's big, have you tried gettign a seat for the toilet and just skipping the potty part? Or get one of those nice comfy armchair style potties (they're great for extended story sessions!) Good luck

was thinking about toilet seat...problem is we live in very small town, in middle of nowhere in Ireland...own a shop,very busy, so never have time to go to other towns for shopping

I'll bet you can get them online (mothercare?) See, you've no excuse now

but do they deliver to ireland? hah probably not

but will have a look online tomorrow to see if i can find any irish based shops.

Hello there
am reviving this thread as am now realising that I've been rather lazy about the whole thing.
DD1 is 2yrs and 9 months and speaks loads and understands pretty much "everything". I decided about 6 weeks ago to introduce "panties" so she will wear panties at nursery and after nap time.

We've had a few accidents as expected but also she will deny she needs to go and then just do it just after.
Also, we will take her at regular intervals and that's what they also do at nursery.

ok she has actually told us a few times as well that she wanted the potty but it's so inconsistent.

However if I'm busy in the afternoon as I have ds2 also, then I'll just leave her in a nappy - it's so bad of me but there's this whole scene if I rush her off to potty and then ds1 starts creating mess and wanting to play with the potty etc...

anyway, my main worry is that if we always take her to potty at regular intervals and always keep nappy on for car journies then she will never learn???

is it time to go cold turkey?
How long can they hold once they realise that they need to go?

OuiOui,
I am not sure this will help you but as we have just completed week 2 of potty training DS, here goes:

-we trained DS in conjunction with his creche who are superb at this thing - DS is just 2 and 3 months

• we committed to not really leaving the house at evenings and weekends for any length of time (for the first two weeks)

• we kept a diary of all potty attempts, (noting time, his condition - wet/dry/accident - and if there was a result) and we pro-actively asked him to use the potty every 30 mins or so (very boring but it works).

-'Results' were rewarded with lots of applause and kisses. Even attempts at sitting were rewarded.

• DS had several accidents but we left him for a few minutes to get the feel of the cold wee, and very soon he got upset with himself if he wet himself.

To answer your question about when do they know they can hold on - on our second weekend we took a trip to town on the new Tram system and I could see him holding on to himself halfway through the journey. No accident though and as soon as we got off we went into a Hotel for a wee. So I think he learned that very quickly.

• We only used nappies for naps and nights. After week 2 we are now without nappies for naps too. I am not going to rush the nights though.

Hope this helps.

Miffy2, sounds likes your DS is doing fantastically well. We are on week 3 of potty training and have had some success, but we are not as far along as your DS. DS seems to have got the hang of poos - knows when he is going to poo, and sends us into panic as we scramble for potty - sometimes I think he is doing it to wind me up! But with wees he can still deny he needs to go and then do it five minutes later. I just regularly stick him on the potty and make him go, and hope he will get it eventually. Please somebody reassure me!

Incidentally DS makes a clear distinction between pants, pull-ups and nappies, and has different preferences depending on how confident he is feeling. DS seems to know he can wee and poo in the pull-up but that it is seen as less acceptable than doing it on the potty. Pants are for when he is 100%, pull-ups for when he is not so sure and nappies after he had a few bad poo accidents and felt rather shattered by it all. We stick to nappies for bedtime, and I was using a pull-up for naps, but DS doesn't want them anymore. We did make quite a song and dance about trying to keep the pictures dry on the pull-ups the Huggies ones), so he does distinguish them from nappies, and I still went through ritual of pulling them down and getting him to sit on potty.

Not sure what we will do when we are on holiday later this week - carry potty around with us all day I think!

Reading this with interest as we're in the first week of pt with dd - 2 and 1/4.
We've gone cold turkey during the day - apart from naps. The first day was pretty bad with lots of little wees everywhere, the 2nd day she realised she could control it a bit, since then she's been getting better at it every day. I haven't stayed in the house - we went to playgroup yesterday and I made a big deal out of explaining to her where her portable potty would be and to go straight to it if she needed to go - and she did - to much applause (aren't other mums nice some times!)We've had a lot of success with the portable potty so haven't changed what we do really. She asks loads of questions about being allowed to wee once her night time nappy is on, but seems to have got the hang of the difference now. I'm so proud of her - she's so delighted when she gets it right, it's really touching to guide her towards another milestone. (am I daft getting soppy over potty training???)

Just wanted to add something for those of us who were really worried at the thought of POTTY TRAINING!! . Started potty training my eldest (3yrs and 2 wks) June the 1st this year. He's been dry day and night for the past four weeks (touch wood and all that). I certainly won't rush my youngest into it either. So don't be pressured by other parents - they don't tell you half the problems they had and probably still have! To quote a line from Finding Nemo - "When they know, you'll know - you know!"