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Original poster

Right I have 1 week off at Christmas, can I Potty Train in a week?

34 replies

SuzyStockings · 20/12/2004 14:31

So this is the one week off I'm going to get in quite a while, dd is 2 and a half. Can it be done, can I potty train her in a week?

She has no interest in it currently but she does use weeing and pooing as a delay tactic at bedtime. "Mummy I need to poo on the toilet" etc and she'll sit on the loo but she won't actually do anything while she's sat there!?!

Does anyone have any top tips for getting this sorted? I'd really llike to conquer it! at the same time I feel like I'm lining myself up for a stressful and miserable christmas!

OP posts:

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snowmeltsonthebeach · 20/12/2004 14:32

Very bad time of year to try it - over excitement and tiredness will surely lead to failure... but good luck if you attempt.

DingWongMerrilyOnHigh · 20/12/2004 14:35

I agree, why give yourself more stress over christmas, and it won't be a 'normal' week for dd and it's best to keep their routine as normal as possible while they are getting to grips with this

(I have to tell you that as I type my MIL is telling me how she had dh trained as 15 months! What she means is that he had her trained to recognise his signals and rhythms)

motherinfestivemood · 20/12/2004 14:39

It can be done in a week with a child who's really up for it - I did it, purely because my sterling childminder said one Thursday evening 'right, that's it, no more daytime nappies' and handed DD1 back to me for three days. But not perhaps this week. Quite apart from anything else, there's different food. And quite possibly long journeys. And last-minute things to get out of the oven. Noooooo.....!

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nailpolish · 20/12/2004 14:42

im thinking of doing this too - MI could you elaborate a bit? that sounds interesting

KristmasBear · 20/12/2004 14:44

Unless she is really ready i think you need longer than a week. It's quite stressful and I think it's maybe not the best time. Saying that though if this is the only time off you've got give it a tryo for the next three days and see how it goes.

My DS has been dry for the past tree nights (ran out of nappies so decision was made for him to go nappie-less at night!) So far so good.

Good luck.

Batters · 20/12/2004 14:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hulababy · 20/12/2004 14:47

It can be done in a week, yes - DD was completely dry without a single accident by the start of day 3. BUT as others have said:

(a) they have to be really ready for it - which you may not find out until you have started anyway, and

(b) Christmas maybe too exciting and stressful a time.

motherinfestivemood · 20/12/2004 14:47

Nailpolish, I just (following instructions, I was terrified!) kept taking dd1 up to the loo, and sitting there reading her books. She got the hang of weeing quite quickly, and then managed a poo, and I think the fact I kept telling her how utterly fabulous she was kept her going. But I think the main thing was that in reality she'd been quite ready for some time before, and this was just a matter of deciding to use the loo rather than being trained to recognise when she needed it IYSWIM.

cab · 20/12/2004 14:49

It's not really up to you - if the wee one is ready it will work, if they're not, it won't.

Gobbledigoose · 20/12/2004 15:07

I potty trained ds1 last new year in about 4 days when dh was off work. I think if they are 'ready' it'll work but having said that, ds1 showed no signs of being ready but I was!! The first day he screamed the house down because we put pants on him and just did all his wees on the carpet! The next day we got him to do 1 or 2 on the potty by bribing him with chocolate buttons! By day 3 and 4 he did most on the potty and from there on he's had barely any accidents at all!

Gobbledigoose · 20/12/2004 15:08

DS1 was 2yrs 9months at the time.

busymum2004 · 20/12/2004 15:11

i have 2 toddlers, a son aged 3 and a daughter aged 1.

my son refuses to sit on the potty, or the trainer toilet seat.

he is a bit behind other 3 year olds, due to the fact he had heart problems when he was born.

he takes his nappy off when he is wet, or he does a poo.

is my daughter too young to be potty trained?

my son has done a wee on the potty once, but he will not do anything else now.

i use a musical potty.

any advice would be welcome.

bluemoon · 20/12/2004 15:32

Suzy, I agree with everyone else. I started training dd about 6 weeks ago but although psychologically she was up for it, I realised that mentally she wasn't. She could wee and poo on the potty so long as I constantly reminded her to use it but wasn't able to recognise the signs that she needed to go in time to get there on her own. Your dd may or may not have this problem but IME it takes more than a week to ascertain this. I decided to temporarily postpone until after Christmas anyway.

Original poster

SuzyStockings · 20/12/2004 16:29

wow, posted this and got stuck into work and forgot about it, Came back and found all these responses. Fantastic!

I don't know if she's ready and I think you're all right - it was my concern that it is Christmas and my first day off is Christmas eve so wouldn't even be able to start until Christmas day.

I just don't know when else I could try, is a weekend to short to get her started before she's back at nursery again?! this is the only alternative in the new year.

I bought her some big girls pants a while ago as we had a little try and she loved them but she likes to wear them over her nappy!

I'm torn really but the majority of you think leave it so I think that's what I'll do. Maybe I'll try a couple of days and see how we get on.

I was thinking I might try the "Santa took your nappies when he left your presents because you're a big girl now and you have to use the toilet"

OP posts:

charlie95 · 20/12/2004 20:01

hi busymum and suzy,

i've decided to try training my ds who is 4 after xmas. he's developmentally behind too due to few medical problems but has been able to use the potty at certain times of day for some time now.

i know they say xmas is not a good time , but hey, i'll have a weeek of doing nothing but this with him. and its cold/wet outside anyway. i need a full week to get him going and decided it it was now. i'm also 26wks pg so i need to get sorted b4 baby comes along.

i am finding that sitting on potty to do wee/poo whilst having a story helps. and some bribery of jam/cream cake (swiss roll to you/i )!

hes had few accidents y'day and otday. only 2nd day today. lots of praise is great and he likes to tell everyone what hes done too!

i bought a book by gina ford some time ago about potty training in a week. has great advice at the start of it, epecially to ensure when a child could be ready for it eg they should be able to put clothes on/off first. my ds not not long doing this and still needs help but is getting good at pants and trousers at the moment!

Hulababy · 21/12/2004 10:21

When is the next Bank Holiday weekend? You could try then. That's what we did with DD. Day 1 was really good, Day 2 we had a few accidents but not many, Day 3 was no more accidents since.

SantaFio2 · 21/12/2004 10:24

i am going against the grain but my ds was incredibly easy to train and I would say yes. I just took him out his nappies and put him in just trousers and it took a day or so at most. i would give it a go tbh

Original poster

SuzyStockings · 21/12/2004 10:43

Well I've had a bit of a think over night and I think I'm going to at least give it a go. If it doesn't work out then I'll try again at easter (as it's a long bank holiday). Fingers crossed, it'll be ok.

OP posts:

Maudy · 01/01/2005 23:42

Suzy how did it go? Did you manage to train your DD this week? I have been thinking the exact same thing and thought that Christmas would be too stressful. Grandma went home yesterday (finally!) and so I thought today would be a good day. Still put him in nappies and so kept forgetting to take him to the loo. Needless to say when I did remember this evening after dinner he did a poo on the loo (first time...round of applause please) and then at bath time did a wee on the loo for daddy. Am V V pleased. Should I go ahead and take his nappies off or should I try pull ups for a while. DS1 is 7 now and I can't remember what I did with him

Maudy · 01/01/2005 23:44

Meant to put 'nevertheless' rather than 'needless to say'. Still not sure that makes sense. Thinking I should go to bed now.

jenkel · 02/01/2005 00:07

Interesting to hear that somebody else had the same plan as me. My dd is 28 months and is not actually showing any signs of knowing when she is weeing/pooing. We tried her in pants on Boxing day (werent going anywhere and no visitors) and had a few messes, then the day after boxing day I came down with a bad cold and thought I just couldnt cope with cleaning up mess the way I was feeling, so back on with nappies and I'll now wait until Easter.

teabelly · 04/01/2005 14:29

Suzy/Maudy how's it going? We did this during this week off, hurrah!!

DS is 2yrs 6mths. He knew what wees & poos were but wouldn't necessarily tell us when he'd done one in his nappy, but he had used the potty/toilet successfully whilst waiting for the bath to run.

Day one : we started on the monday after xmas, put him in new Mr Men (big fav.!) pants and trousers, and kept taking him to the loo/potty every 30-45mins. Had 7 accidents and two successful trips (but more lucky timing than real successes!!)

Day two : pants and trousers - had 8 accidents and 3 lucky timings!

Day three : an hour on the potty in the morning (reading/singing nursery rhymes to occupy him) left us with no wees, and a nappy back on for the rest of the day as we prepared to concede defeat.

Day four : wonderful, wonderful nursery!! He asked for pants in the morning so I put them on but took copious changes of clothes/pants and spare pullups! They took the pants off (as mentioned before) as they said they gave some nippers a comfort feeling and so they didn't concentrate on their bodies sensations. They had only 2 accidents in the morning and none in the afternoon.

After that we took their cue and he was in trousers but not pants, until sunday when the pants went back on. He asks to go all the time now without prompting, unless his Nemo video is playing and we have to remind him as he fidgets reluctant to miss the film he's seen 1000 times! and we haven't had an accident since.

I'd definitely say give it a go you have nothing to loose. We were at the point of giving up, and although he was showing some signs of being ready he was also blatently ignoring others. If you don't succeed this time try the next time you have the time free, when they're ready it can happen very quickly. Sorry this is abit long/detailed, just wanted to say it can be done and good luck

SuzySox · 04/01/2005 14:47

WOW Congrats!!!!!

We ended up so busy that it just wasn't pratical. Have run into a problem though - dd freaks when she hasn't got a nappy (or pants) on. So think we could be in for problems! guess it will be easter now but she'll be nearly 3 by then.

elliott · 04/01/2005 15:07

suzysox, we trained with pants on , you don't need to have them running around with nothing on, so if she prefers to have pants on I'd go with that. similarly I don't think you need to have a special week at home with them either - we just started on a Saturday of a normal week, and kept up with our usual activities throughout. Nursery were well used to training so I didn't feel I had to do it all at home. First day we had several accidents (three I think) then none at all for several days. We've had ups and downs since then so I would never say he was 'trained' in a week - it was mroe a case of gradual progress over several months as he found it easier physically.

teabelly · 04/01/2005 23:13

thanks Suzy

As Elliot says maybe she's just happier with pants on...or what about trousers/tights but no pants, or would she freak at that? Don't worry about her age - she'll do it when she's happier, and may even surprise you by asking for pants before Easter. The reason we wanted to try over xmas is that I work 3 days so ds is at nursery one day, with mil for two and at home the other two, so it seemed easier for us to try when we had the time to concentrate, but as said you don't have to wait til you're off, and if she's at nursery they really are good at dealing with this kind of thing. Good luck.

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