Starting potty training - what do I do? What do I need?

[justneedsomesleep]

Looking for some help/advice/ideas on what I need to do when starting potty training.
My dd has just turned 2 (Jan 2) and has more and more being telling us when she does a poo and doesn't like a dirty nappy. She doesn't fight the nappy change so wondering if she's ready or simply getting ready for potty training.
We've had a potty in the house for at least 4 months now (2 actually) which she uses mostly to put toys in and use as a hat(!) but it was really just to get her used to seeing it and sometimes sitting on it with her clothes on (to show real use of it). She is also more interested when I go to the toilet now and will sit on her potty (with clothes on) when I'm in there. HOWEVER she is only on it for about a minute and then runs off again.

Also what do I need in terms of 'equipment'? As I've said, I have 2 potties in the house so far. Reward charts? What about clothes - trousers or skirts for girls - i thought a skirt might be quick iykwim?
Have also loads of pants ready to use?

Advice gratefully received.

Hi justneedsomesleep. DD will be 2 next week and we are going to do potty training just after easter because until then I have something on once a week, we are going away for a week at Easter and ds (6months next week) MIGHT be established on food and need less bf by then.

In preparation clothes wise, I've bought some jogging pants which will wash easily and be easy for her to pull up and down, and some knickers 18-24months and waaay to big. We've had the potty for ages and she will happily sit and read on it for a while with no clothes on first thing in the morning and before her bath, but so far nothing.

Will be watching this thread to get extra advice. Good luck.

Lots of knickers
Bicarb or tonic water if you have carpets
Absorbant kitchen roll if hard floors
Try to avoid trousers and get some plastic flip flops for indoors

My DD was potty trained at 2 and dry after a week exactly. I didn't bother with rewards or star charts as they meant nothing to her, but every child is different. I tried offering a raisin or biscuit if she weed in the potty, she'd say she needed a wee, sit down on the potty then get up and run away as soon as she got the reward. More often than not she wasn't interested in the reward at all.

You do need nerves of steel and loads of patience. We used to do role playing with her doll and I used to spot her making her doll wee on the potty and kissing her when she'd "done" it, so she'd understood the concept but was still saying no to potty then weeing on the floor. I stopped asking her every half an hour and just kept an eye out for when she started hopping about and suddenly she started going alone. So you do have to chill.

Good luck guys... I bought lots of 'training pants' which I never used and threw away in the end, so don't do that. We had 2 potties, one on each floor, and plenty of knickers and elasticated waist trousers. Also a travel potty was really useful to always have in my bag. Think that was all really. I always went out with a couple of changes of pants, trousers & socks in my bag too. Never did reward charts or anything, though I know lots of people for whom chocolate buttons were key.

We didn't start in earnest till DD was happily doing a wee in the potty every morning, and I think that made it all a lot quicker & easier.

Hi all,
Thanks for replies so far. Jennster - my ds is 15 weeks old and I am breast feeding on demand. It never occurred to me that this might be a prob in terms of potty training as dd might need to use the potty when i am feeding! But i am willing to break off his feed for a minute or two if she needs to 'go'...i think?! Aaaarrgh? Now what do I do? I know you not supposed to start if there have been big changes like birth of new baby etc....but i plan on breast feeding for a while and can't put off her potty training indefinetely(sp?) can i? I am willing to dedicate myself fully to get this done. Fed up changing two lots of nappies also(selfish, mi know!)
Any ideas now anyone?

Dunno about managing bf at the same time, but for what it's worth my other piece of Sage Advice is that potty training is much faster if you leave it till you're completely sure they are ready. If you're not certain she's really completely ready, it might be easier to keep going with the nappies for a while as you probably have enough on your plate and potty training is a hassle. Even when they're dry, you still have to keep thinking about it and reminding, and being on the alert and remembering changes of clothing and stopping the car for wee breaks!

I just figure the longer I leave it the easier it will be, and it's not as if the end of march when she is 2 years 2 months will be excessively old. Ds is actually VERY good, and as long as he is clean, dry, fed and watered, then he is a very happy little boy, but really not very interested in food. I can't see him suddenly starting in the next week. I know what you mean about nappies though! DD has the skids at the moment and so we have gone into disposables from cloth until it clears up.

I found that once you've decided, you need to give it a week, and cope with the accidents. Loose trousers are great because they can get them down, but also soak up some of the wee, making it a smaller puddle if you are feeding at that moment, and can't rush around clearing up. It also gives a cahnce to stop the wee, then start again on the potty. Until they have a few accidents, they don't know what to do IYSWIM.

My four girls were all different. DD1 and DD2 were two and really easy. DD3 2y3m and a bit silly, and DD4 2y6m at least before she stopped having accidents, though I think that was because we were always on the move with the others, so kept putting pull-ups on.

Good luck!

We 'did' ds1 earlier this year. Agree that you need to wait till she is ready. You need to give her lots of NOTICE. Ie, don't just decide it yourself and expect her to know whats going on.
DS was showing signs of being ready a couple of weeks before we went on hols - 5 hour drive each way so we left it till after we got home. Before the holiday I took him shopping for pants (he had a day when he insisted on putting them on over his nappy ). Then the last few days of holiday we told him everytime we changed his nappy and everytime he noticed us going to the loo (saying 'mummy is having a wee in the toilet') we told him that when we got home, the next day to go to nursery he would not have a nappy, but wear pants and wee wee in the toilet.
First day the nursery reported only 2 accidents and I am sure him knowing so much about it in advance helped.

When you go for potty training - go 100%. Don't put her back in nappies 'because you are going out' etc, just don't go very far for a while. SIL's daughter 3.4 was supposedly potty trained at 2.3yo but whenever we see her she is in pull ups 'because we had to come in the car/don't know where the toilets are' etc etc.

Disclaimer - DS1 may have been potty trained in 2 weeks and dry at night in a month, but you may well spot me on these threads desperate for help with DS2 who we expect to potty train some time this year!!

Oh, and if you have bought training pants, which I did and like others, never used them, this is what I did for nighttimes -
I sewed some extra layers of towelling in them so that they made a sort of pull up washable night nappy, we called them bed time pants and he was really happy to wear them but could get them on and off to go to the loo. Because they were towelling he could tell when he had weed the odd time and I'm sure its what helped him get dry so quick at night.
(I'll no doubt be on here in 3 years asking for advice how to get ds2 dry at night aged 5...)

Oh my, we had a poo on the potty this morning. Not too difficult seeing as we had 3 before 10am this morning.

Really enjoyed reading this thread .DD was 2 on 1 Jan and is showing some interest in the potty but i am nervous about starting her off with the potty and then using pull ups.I work two days a week ( childminders on Mons and Tues) what should I do about that? Any advice from the pro mums out there? ...)

Hi, I've started training my DD of 22 months. She is very good if left with a bare bum, goes when she needs (1's and 2's) with no accidents. The problem I have is that when i put pants on her, she doesn't pull them down, she sits on the potty with them on. How do I get her to pull pants up and down?