Potty training help!

[Sunshine924]

My little one is 20months - so still too early for proper potty training. However a while ago he started telling us when he’s done a wee so I got a potty to sit him on (I read something about potty skills and this being no bad thing). He sat on it a few times before his bath (as we wanted to try and get him to start doing a wee before bed) however the past month or so he’s refused and instead done a wee in the bath or just on the floor. I'm not sure what to do as i dont want him to stop doing the wee (if he doesnt we often get a leaked nappy overnight) but equally dont want him to
learn that the bath or floor is where to go to the toilet. Would appreciate any suggestions at all!

Don’t stress about it too much yet. My DD wasn’t ready to be potty trained until she was about 26 months.

But when you think he’s ready, what you can do is take a long weekend off, put plastic tarps down on your carpets, and put a little plastic potty in most of your rooms, especially the ones you spend the most time in. Then you keep him bottomless for the long weekend, putting him on the potty at least hourly and watching for signs that he might need to go. If he goes on the potty, make sure to give him lots of praise and attention. If you’re not opposed to giving food as a reward, you can give him a couple M&Ms when he goes (my husband called this “potty candy.”) If he has an accident, just gently remind him that he’s supposed to go on the potty, and patiently clean it up. Have him help you, if he doesn’t find it to be too much fun. Give him lots of fluids to encourage urine production (kids love juice and will suck it down. It won’t hurt them for a few days.) You can also put potty training cartoons/videos on the TV to help get the idea across.

If at the end of the long weekend, he’s not mostly potty trained (going to the potty while awake and at home; it may take much longer to get the hang of making it on time while you’re out and about, or while he’s sleeping), wait a couple months and try the process again. This is what I did with my DD and it worked beautifully as soon as she was old enough to understand her body’s signals. There is little point in trying to make slow progress over months or years when you can get it mostly done in a few days.

good luck!

What if you try to put them on the potty and they HATE it? Won't sit on it and have a mini meltdown every time you suggest it? My DD is 2.5 so prime age but showing zero signs of acceptance 😩

That’s a tough one. I would say spam him with happy potty training videos (ones with upbeat ear worm music) on the TV, and you may need to sit on the potty yourself and pretend to have a great time. Maybe do it with the door open and a big smile on your face, and start reading a book aloud so that he’ll want to come in and sit down too. Don’t force it, of course. The more positive associations you can make with that potty, the better, and like I said, I was not above temporary bribery with treats, lol.

My girls were 22 months and 26 months when I did them. We spent about 5 days in the house with nothing on their bottom half. I put them on the potty every hour and if they did it on the floor I would put them straight on the potty and just say this is where we wee not on the floor.
It took about 3 days for them to get the hang of it but still had accidents.

The following week I put them leggings on no knickers. That took about 5 days, they didn't like the feel of wet bottoms so would run to the potty when they needed it.
I'd say it took around 2 weeks for them to get the hang of it without many accidents and a lot of patience
I did read the oh crap potty training book as well

Thanks! I’m not stressing yet as wasn’t planning on properly trying. Was more what do I do about the weeing in the bath / on the floor for now - just let him do it? He refuses to sit on the potty (screams) so I can’t see him being willing to do that

@Edenmum2 have you tried with a toddler seat on top of toilet? My DD who is same age refused to sit on her potty so we took it away and got her a seat that you put on toilet and she loves sitting on it. Still trying to actually get her to pee/poo but at least she is sitting on it.

Personally, I wouldn’t have the potty sitting around if I wasn’t starting potty training properly. I’d think it would confuse him. I (not rigidly) followed the Oh Crap method and it advises not having it out until you commit to it fully. 20 months isn’t necessarily too young.
It also said between 20-30 months is often the sweet spot for it. I would let him do his own thing until you were committed to start as it might confuse him you wanting him to do a wee on the potty before bath but letting him wee in his nappy etc any other time.

Will give this a go I think! Thanks

I would say the same thing to you as I did to Edenmum: try to build a positive association with the potty. Sit on it yourself and pretend to be happy and have fun, try reading to him or playing with his favorite toys if you get him to sit down, reward with lots of praise or even small amounts of candy. You could get one with those fake flushers on them, that make sound and are fun for little kids. You might need to move the potty out of the room it’s in if he has a negative association with it in that setting.

Until you’re ready for your potty training weekend, and once he’s comfortable with sitting on it, you can put him on it for a few minutes before getting him undressed or before bath time as a means of accident mitigation, so to speak. Try to catch him in the act of peeing in the tub or on the floor when it happens and rush the potty to him, or him to the toilet, if you can. Sometimes kids will give you subtle signs that they’re about to go (a particular face, a little dance, a weird posture, holding themselves, etc.)

Thought Oh Crap was good, and they recommend you can start before two. We did it at 23 months and he had it within three days. That first day and a half was wee dribbling everywhere though 😱 and we thought we'd made a terrible mistake. Keep the area restricted to one room.

As a PP, lots of potty songs on YouTube with Cocomelon and Baby Shark. We also offered rewards for sitting on the potty, and then rewards for going - chocolate buttons. I know the Oh Crap says praise should be enough, but we found praise and celebrations and rewards worked better for us. We had some potty resistance too, but he soon got over it