Talk to me about potty training like I'm an idiot

[buckingfitch]

What age when you first bought a potty? How did you introduce it to them?

Read ‘oh crap’. A funny but super useful read. After potty training happening practically on its own with my first and a then having a horrible time with my middle child I used the oh crap method with my youngest and it was great.

Bought potty around 18 months but had no idea what we were doing and weren’t fully committed. Read ‘oh crap’ and decided to go for it on coronation weekend when our daughter was 2.5. Followed the book to the letter except a few little things (for example we offered a reward for poops). Worked wonderfully. You and the whole family need to be committed and really want it.

Forget the potty it just adds an extra step I to the hellish process..
Nice soft character toddler toilet seat .
Pants off . Sit on toilet praise for a wee or poo.
Repeat for as long as it takes

Our daughter was 2y9m when we started toilet training and she took to it very quickly. We let her choose her own pants (which she was very excited about), then asked her if she needed to use the potty every half hour to an hour but we had a couple of days of her just weeing everywhere, while she learned to associate the sensation of needing to go, then the unpleasantness of being wet. There was a lot of praise whenever she managed to go in the potty or toilet (and sometimes a sweetie as a reward if we weren't at home). Pooing took a bit longer to figure out and she had a brief phase of trying to hold it in but we were just very consistent in asking if she had a sore tummy when we suspected she needed to go and then giving her choice of potty or toilet and lots of praise when she managed to do it. I think we were very lucky with how quickly she got it but she was ready because she could dress herself and climb up to sit on toilet, etc.

The biggest thing is just to commit to it, it's less confusing if you just pick a day to stop wearing nappies and get on with it.

Definitely read the oh crap book. Slightly annoying in my opinion because it’s American but the plan works!
Some kids are scared of the toilet, so I would use a potty and get a toilet seat insert so they’re not feeling like they’ll fall in for when they do use the toilet.
The most important thing I think is DONT ask them if they need a wee, just tell them it’s time to sit on the potty and praise them for sitting whether they wee or not. Otherwise they’re likely to just say no, they don’t need a wee, then have an accident 2 mins later.
Stay at home and keep them naked initially. Then just a top on the next day, then loose bottoms with no underwear the following days.
Watch them like a hawk for signs of hopping, dancing, holding themselves, when they need a wee and are trying hold it in. Then get them on the potty quick.
Make a plan to stay at home for a few days to concentrate on it if you can.

I just keep them around earlier than needed, so the potty becomes a normal part of the household. I explain what it is obviously. When they seem like they notice that they are weeing or pooing then I ask if they are. This lets me know they definitely know when they're going and what they're doing. Shortly after I begin to ask if they are about to wee and do they want to do it on the potty. Then when they're ready it's usually pretty easy and they'll know when they need to to and go to the potty.

Before this I tried to train when not ready and it was a complete disaster and just didn't happen but when I waited there was not really much training involved.

Another one for "Oh Crap".

The author is awful but the plan definitely works. Potty trained both my DDs in a couple of weeks around their 2nd birthdays.

It really isn't hard most of the time. Get a potty, spend some time at home to make it easier. Put your child on it regularly, ideally without anything on their bottom half, praise like mad if the do anything. Progress to wearing pants and then clothes and then master going out. That's basically it! I did find using a potty loads easier than going straight to the toilet. Problems start if trying too early. My 2 daughters were 2 years 3 months and were dry very quickly and my son was 2 years 9 months but it was every bit as quick. I think they showed they were ready in their general talk, like saying they were doing a wee, telling me their nappy was wet etc.

Wait til they are ready. With my kids this was around three and I had such a nightmare with my eldest trying to do it earlier because people told me she seemed ready.

Thanks for all the replies!

I'll give that book a try although the thought of no nappies is a bit scary.. luckily the flat I'm renting has brown carpets

Did "oh crap" method with my eldest at 2 and a quarter. Worked a dream. Dry in 2 weeks, dry at night within 3 months so totally done with nappies by 2.5. Brilliant! She's never wet the bed. My boys.... trickier. Tried the same method but it didn't go as well. 5 months on and we still have accidents and one of them is really good with wees but will hold his poo until you aren't watching and then do it in his pants behind the curtain.... Sometimes you need to be a bit flexible! You won't know what kind of kid you have in your hands in this respect until you try though.

Another one here for the ' oh crap' book. 3 days for wees and a few more for poos, one accident. I was dreading potty training due to four back to back nursery stomach bugs and it was relatively easy!

We mostly followed the oh crap method too (although I never read the book) by the sounds of it. Home for a few days, naked, lots of praise, and the move on to clothes and leaving the house once they’ve cracked it. We never used pull ups (well I had some for long journeys and night time, but we didn’t regularly use them)

One thing I did do was buy a potty and just have it in the bathroom. Encouraged them to sit on it before they went in the bath. No idea if it speeded up the process or not, but both of my kids were fairly straightforward to train and both were day and night trained at pretty much the same time (I know that’s hormonal, and some kids take forever, but mine it was like a switch and they were dry at night too)

DS was about 2 years 9m and DD was about 2 years 3 months.