Where on earth do I start with potty training!?

[chloechloe]

DD1 has just turned 2 and showing signs of being ready for potty training.

But where on earth do I start!?

I've seen some talk about 3 day training where you basically stay at home with a half naked toddler for 3 days. Apparently it's a rough 3 days but then it's over and done with.

Is it best to go cold turkey like this and get it over and done with quickly. Or do you keep them in nappies until you're confident they've learnt to go when they need to?

I'm really not looking forward to this, especially as I have a 4 month old demanding attention as well!

Don't overcomplicate it. Have you got a potty? Show dd what it is and have a chat about doing a wee on it. Leave it in bathroom. Get pants. Choose at Day when you're not going out. Put pants on in the morning and say today if you need a wee do it on the potty. See how she gets on.

If she hasn't got a clue what's going on then go back to nappies for a month or so. If she manages a few wees on the potty then keep going!

Good luck.

Honestly? If she's just turned 2 and you have a 4 month old, I'd be waiting a bit! They always decide they need to go just as you're mid-feed, or trying to settle the small one for a nap. Also, potty training is sooo much easier in warm sunny weather, when you can spend a couple of afternoons in the garden, and washing dries more quickly too.

Check out 'Oh Crap'. That's the half naked 3 day blitz it fast method you've heard about. Worked really well for us when my DS was just shy of 2 and a half. But her whole thing is that you should start pretty early. Anyway have a read and see what you think. Good luck!!

I was planning to wait until the weather was warmer but she's super independent and has decided to potty train herself! We have a potty in the downstairs loo and a smaller seat upstairs and she strips off her pants and nappy and goes by herself! She even tries to rinse out the potty afterwards as she's seen me do it. She still does go a lot in her nappies as well though.

We have hard floors so maybe I should stay at home for a day, I'm just dreading the mess!

Sounds like you've already started to me

I used pull ups until ds reliably told me he needed to go to the toilet. They were easier to pull up and down and contained any accidents. He trained by age 2.

You've done it! No more nappies in day , pants and remind her frequently ... nights are different ... wait until nappy dry in the morning regularly

Princess Polly's potty is a good place to start to outline the process to her and get her head around what you expect her to do.

Have a potty ready. Be delighted if she sits on it or even looks at it. Reinforce "yes, a potty! That's where you can do wees and poos like princess polly!" Lots of enthusiasm.

When you have a wee, ask her if she would like to sit down on the potty at the same time (in the same room).

Congratulations! You're half way there already. See how she copes with swapping the nappies for pants all day and don't worry if you need to revert back to nappies or pull ups at some point in the process.

Thanks for the replies! I'm just confused about whether it's best to put her in pants so she knows when she's had an accident or to use pull ups instead. Do I try the former at home first and see how it goes?

I would say pants as pull-ups are too like nappies and accidents don't discomfort the child enough. My experience was that they got the knack very quickly when they were ready and it sounds as if your daughter is ready

Can I give you some advice..please don't expect a child to be potty trained in 3 days. I'm sure some do but I know many toddlers and that is not the general rule.

I have potty trained 2 kids myself and the second time was way way less stressful because I put her in nappies when needed but just kept bottoms off st home ...she gradually got more and more used to running over to the potty

There will be many accidents...do not put pressure on her or yourself by expecting a 2 year old to use toilets outside the house just because they use a potty at home

They all get there in the end but if they get pushed too far it really does become stressful and humiliating for them.

So we gave it a try at the weekend whilst at home with just pants on. I kept putting her on the potty every 45 min or so and she would wee every time. But she also kept weeing round the house anyway - I guess with her nappies she's used to doing a small amount all the time which she doesn't notice as she stays dry. She's at nursery now for the week so may try again at the weekend.

It took us ages. Wee first but poo much much much later.

If she is doing small amounts of wee a lot then she isn't ready. Readiness can come in stages and potty/toilet awareness is just the first- it doesn't mean she is biologically ready.
I would take a step back and move onto pull up nappies so she can pull down if she wants to. Stop "putting" her on the potty- that is potty timing and isn't helpful. She needs to learn to feel the fuller bladder herself and go to the loo then. It is honestly very early and when you wait until the time is right she will be done in a week. Doing it this way is harder work really.

^ this ^

In all honesty two children in nappies is far easier than one in nappies and a newly out of nappies toddler anyway.

Another vote for Princess Polly potty book. We read that for ages and had a potty that we just left in the living room and didn't ask her to go on. She started sitting it on her herself and did a pee pee quite quickly.

It's a good point you make isadora about the difference between social readiness and biological readiness which hadn't really occurred to me! Nursery had suggested we give it a go over the long weekend but I see now that she's probably going because she sees others doing it, not because she has an urge to go.

dubious I agree entirely, I'm quite happy to have two in nappies to avoid the mess and the stress!

We went cold turkey with the nappies during the day and used pull up ones for bedtime, made a big deal out of him wearing "big boy pants" during the day and gave lots and lots of praise when he used the potty and when he asked to go too. I stayed in for the first couple of days and gradually built up going out side for walks around the block, to the park and then for longer drives in the car and just made sure he went on the potty before we left, and kept the potty where he could see it, I feel like having it near him reminded him to use it, he had most of his accidents when he couldn't see that it was there to use! It took about a week for him to get to grips with it and another week later he was waking up with dry pull ups so underwear was used during the night (with a puppy pad under his bed sheet, had a couple of night time accidents the first two nights but that was it) and he's been in his underwear with no accidents since

Only advice I have is the Oh Crap potty training book. DD was 22 months and refusing nappies and I had 6 week old DS so not most people's idea of good timing! But it's been about 10 weeks now and I much prefer only having one in nappies!