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Original poster

Gina Fords: Potty training in a week...what are your experiences of it?

26 replies

JayneF · 21/08/2008 21:00

If you have actually tried GF's Potty training in a week, what dd you think of it?

Her title is msleading because it the prep is not part of the week,...but did anybody like it? Does it work? Did you tweak it to suit? Would you do it again? Did you end up using the pages as wipes...!?

Would love to hear your thoughts

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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snickersnack · 21/08/2008 21:10

I scoff at the idea that anyone, even Gina, could have potty trained my daughter in a week. We ticked all the preparation boxes, but "Potty training in 3 months with a lot of tooth gnashing, poo-ey knickers and puddles on the floor" would have been more accurate.

3Ddonut · 21/08/2008 21:14

You know that there is a ban on discussing GF on MN? I don't know anything about her btw, except we're not allowed to discuss her!

Original poster

JayneF · 21/08/2008 21:17

Not as catchy a title though snickersnack!

Who made a ban? Not really discussing her,..just looking for experiences of the programme.

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slinkiemalinki · 21/08/2008 22:36

I rather liked it. I thought the advice was sensible. We did do plenty of prep and cheated a bit in that she wore pants at home and nappies to go out in for a few weeks of the prep time, and she was probably ready to go into full training earlier once we started the preparation, but I had booked a week off work to focus on it - we went straight into pants and away we went! Although I do know a number of people it hasn't worked for, although they have broken the rule and ended up giving in back into nappies.

Original poster

JayneF · 21/08/2008 22:47

Was she "confused" by the pants/nappies thing? How old was she at the time?

OP posts:

Original poster

JayneF · 21/08/2008 22:48

Also, did it take just a week as per programme?

OP posts:

2point4kids · 22/08/2008 08:38

I used it with my DS1 only a couple of months ago.
He was 2.9yrs at the same, so a bit later than average and maybe thats why it worked so well.

He didnt tick all the boxes as to being ready, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway.
We didnt follow the prep exactly as I had been already showing him the potty and he was sitting on it at bath time each night as part of our routine (he'd never done anything on it though)

I started straight off with the one week thing and we did crack it in a week!
It was pretty intense. I basically cleared my diary and we stayed in and concentrated on it all week.
By day 6 he was reliably telling me when he needed a wee or a poo every time and as long as I responded instantly he got them all on the potty.

Had the odd accident since then, sometimes through being distracted and sometimes not getting there quick enough but only one accident a week at the very most I'd say.

I think its an excellent book. I would not have known where to start without it!
Obvioulsy tweak to suit you (as I did with the prep and a couple of other bits) but if you more or less follow it and your child is ready I would say it works well!

GColdtimer · 22/08/2008 08:47

I tried it but I don't think I was hard core enough to focus solely on potty training.

I also don't think DD was ready because by day 3 we'd had limited success and she started staying "nnnoooooo potty, want a nappy".

I think if they are ready and you are really committed to doing nothing but potty training for that time, it could work really well but if not, it probably won't work.

2 months on DD is in knickers when we are at home and pull ups when we go out because she still only tells me she is needs her potty as she is doing something so lots of slightly wet knickers so I still don't think she is physically quite ready. Very un-GF I think but it is working for us.

(I think the ban has been lifted now that MN and GF came to some arrangement, as long as what we are saying about her is in no way libelous, which this isn't. I think - someone else I am sure will correct me if I am wrong )

2point4kids · 22/08/2008 08:54

Thats true. You both have to be ready to start it, not just the child.

bumbling · 22/08/2008 08:56

Don't bothere with Gina, you need Cod's potty training bootcamp. I missed the "Live" ones but followed the rules by looking up all her previous ones, reading everything and re checking when having a problem. Cod's potty training is absolutely brilliant.

thebecster · 22/08/2008 08:59

I"ve heard of Cod's bootcamp, but don't know anything about it - is there a link to it on the site? Am about to start training DS... We have Gina's book but what she says sounds a bit unrealistic for DS. Haven't started yet, so may yet be proved wrong!

Shitehawk · 22/08/2008 09:09

I read it when someone gave it to me with a load of equipment they were finished with. I took one look and decided it was way too draconian for me, and I would rather trust my child to tell me when she was ready and how she wanted to do it.

If a child is really ready, it doesn't take a week, you won't need a "programme", and there isn't much preparation besides buying some knickers and a potty, and telling the child what they are for.

If they're not ready, a week won't do it, and the hard-core approach may well freak out your child.

Throw the book away, listen to your child and your own gut feeling instead.

cyberseraphim · 22/08/2008 09:42

It definitely wasn't a week for us but my DS has special needs (it took 3 months) but I would say GF does give realistic advice about what a child needs to understand and breaks it all down into small steps. Obviously most books (incl. GF assume developmental normality) but I did think hers did not just breeze over the 'understanding issues' in the way that some do.

onepieceoflollipop · 22/08/2008 09:44

Use it as a very rough guide perhaps, but not as a guarantee. My dd1 was apparently quite easy to train, but I found it hard going tbh.

Potty training is one of the first times in the child's life (imo) that they really have control, and it needs careful handling not necessarily the GF way. The NCT do a potty training book that seems more useful; in that it has various approaches not just "do it this way"!

luckywinner · 22/08/2008 09:46

I followed it to the letter and it took 52 weeks for my ds
For me, it created unrealistic expectations and I ended up feeling like I had failed.

Nettee · 22/08/2008 11:24

I used it when DS wasn't ready and it didn't work but one of things I liked about it was that it said to give up by day 3 if you weren't making progress which is something that is not in all the potty training books.

I think the general principles are good if a bit rigid

When DS was ready I think I followed it to a point (what I could remember of it) and to be honest it has taken 5 weeks so far and we are nearly there. I think if ds was even more "ready" then it would work really well.

I didn't like her comment that most children are ready somewhere between 18 months and 2 years which I think is a load of rubbish. It seems to me that somewhere between 2 and 3 is when the majority crack it.

OldBint · 22/08/2008 11:33

I did it and found it pretty much worked.

I do think you have to commit yourself to several days of being more or less housebound and that's hard, so you really need to pick your times. Both my DCs have October birthdays so I did it immediately after Christmas when they were both about 2.3, it was cold and yucky outside, we had lots of new toys and presents and we all needed a bit of quiet time. I imagine summer would work equally well.

DS cracked it more or less in 3-4 days, DD took a bit longer, say 6-7, but it more or less worked for both of them and they were fairly reliable after aan intensive week.

TBH, I think the immediate post-nappy abandoning time is pretty grim whichever route you use. DS who was a v quick learner still took a bit of time to know what an impending wee felt like or to hold on to it for 5-10 mins.

I did like the prep stuff with her - with my first child I would not have thought it through so much - obviously much easier with 2nd child.

nowirehangers · 22/08/2008 11:42

As far as I remember, having just flicked through the book, GF suggests leaving it as late as possible - if you do that training in a week is easy, nothing to do with GF just common sense. I started in earnest with dd1 when she was 2.10 because we had a new baby and she was a stubborn mare who refused to poo anywhere in her nappy. When - at that age - she finally did a poo in the loo and was rewarded with many fanfares and chocolate, I just took nappies away the next day and told her when she needed to wee or poo she should use the toilet. And she did with only a handful of accidents in the next six months. But she was old enough to grasp what was required.
Like anything related to GF do not take her book as gospel or you will end up feeling inadequate.
Have no idea how to get dd1 out of night nappies though, can't remember what Gina suggests and can't be bothered to find out. Good luck, you will get there!

bumbling · 22/08/2008 14:14

Becster will try and dig them out for you. Cod's route took me tow days though ds was 2.11 so we had left it late. If I can't find it just searchMumsnet for Cod's potty training boot camp and some threads will emerge.

Thoroughly recommend it!

bumbling · 22/08/2008 14:23

Try these two

This one

and this one.

Oh and this one too.

Original poster

JayneF · 22/08/2008 19:45

Thank you all very much for all of your views... all extremely helpful and positive...and very encouraging. Lucky winner you made me laugh...particular thanks for that!

Thanks for the links bumbling.

(The night time nappy is next years problem I reckon as he always wakes up dirty,..always has done.)

OP posts:

slinkiemalinki · 22/08/2008 22:44

No GF says 18-24 months which I thought was pretty early.
Sorry for late reply - my DD is 2.3 months but I reckon we could have had as much luck starting a couple of months ago. She didn't get confused by the nappies/pants switch at first, but that was before I started the training proper (Stage 2 or whatever it's called). Once we started Stage 2 she was done within days, but as I said, we probably let Stage 1 linger on for a good few weeks longer than we needed (I had just booked the week off work and couldn't move it).
In contrast to the GF book (which says nighttime nappies until at least 3) about a week after we finished the training, DD refused a nappy at night (though it had been dry in the morning for a while) so she made herself dry at night at the same time.
Good luck!

Original poster

JayneF · 22/08/2008 22:54

That is very interesting about the your DD refusal of night time nppy.

I am on day four and for the first time n his life DS had take his nappy off when DH went to get him from his cot (Poo all over him but not distressed about it...DH was!)

Did/does your DD ever wake up dirty? Sorry slinkie to probe, as it were .

OP posts:

slinkiemalinki · 22/08/2008 23:13

Oh sorry to hear that, must have been a shock!
Afraid she hasn't pooed overnight for a long long time - actually poos were the most frustrating bit of stage 1 as she wasn't that keen, would hop on and hop off until it finally came, and went to every other day, but now she's used to it she's back to daily (more or less)!
I forgot to mention that we went on to the big loo pretty quickly (poos in potty SO much worse than nappies for some reason!!) and went on holiday the week after we did stage 2 so no potty at all, just trainer seat. She loves the baby bjorn seats, they have been ace.
Hope it works out!

slinkiemalinki · 22/08/2008 23:17

I was a bit slapdash with the star chart but did use one (got a free one from pampers of all people and she adored it) and ice cream treats for a poo were a great motivating force...

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