Potty training and the introduction of pants

[SarahL2]

DS1 is 2.2 and showed all the signs of being ready to train - was dry for long periods (couple/few hours at a time), hated being dirty, could tell me when he was wet/dirty, could pull his own trousers down, could follow instruction etc - so we gave it a go.

We've had about a week now of being naked from the waist down whenever we're at home (nappies when we're out) and for the past 4 days we haven't had a single accident - wees and poo's all in the potty - yay

But He never tells me he wants to go! Just sits down and does it and tells me afterwards.

But...he's developed a rash on his bottom. We wondered if this was from sitting bare bottomed on the carpet (he has mild excema) so decided to introduce pants to cover him a little.

I bought Roary and Thomas ones and he loves them. Likes wearing them. But he won't pull them down to go. Just sits on his potty with them up and goes. I've tried getting to him before he can wet them but as he doesn't give me any prior warning its a bit hit and miss and he's gone through 4 pairs already today!

Now I expected a few wet pairs which is why I bought loads and it's only been 1 morning so he probably hasn't had chance to get used to the new situation yet but...any tips on getting him to tell me/take down his pants before he goes?

i started training 3 weeks ago, after 3 days bare and using the potty all the time i put her in pants and she said potty when she needed to go, she still needs help getting pants down. if she wet them i said pants all wet, got to be washed and she didnt like me taking them away so she started asking for potty again.
not sure if thats any help but i also had a tick chart for success and ticked accident if she had one so maybe a tick or sticker if he takes pants down?

also, maybe the nappies when out is confusing him, he may think he can wee in pants like nappies.
we stayed in for a few days and then when we went out i told her if you wee when out you will get wet and have to wait to be changed, i put an open nappy in the carseat and buggy and highchair and went for it.

I think you need to be brave and put him in trousers.

It sounds really mean but if he wees in his trousers, he'll feel wet and uncomfortable, so hopefully he'll get the message a bit quicker.

And say to him all the time 'Tell mummy when you want a wee'. It's great that he's trying to do it all himself but at this age he's going to need help to wipe etc, so he needs to tell you what he's doing.

I'm not a huge fan of leaving them bare bottomed for too long for this reason - controlling their wee is only part of the potty training process and dealing with clothes is as much a part of it. He needs to learn to tell you what he's doing.

He's doing great to get this far already though, I'm sure it won't take long

Yep, I agree with ilovetochat too - ditch the nappies when you're out. It's confusing. If you really have to, use pull ups and still take him to the loo etc.

I think you guys are right. He needs to get used to undressing for the potty just as much as he needs to get used to what it feels like to need a wee/poo. Nappies are probably confusing him too - needs to be all or nothing I suppose.

So, we've got a busy day tomorrow morning but then a bank holiday weekend at home with Daddy to help so I think we'll go cold turkey as from tomorrow afternoon - just nappies for bed (thats OK right?)

Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for your advice!

ilovetochat I've been rewarding him with a jelly bean whenever he goes in the right place.

He thinks it's so great he sits on the potty even when he doesn't need to go and tells me "wee wee stuck mummy"

hi jojay, yes i remember you from the other thread, hows it going now?
sarah, somehow i managed to just offer dd ticks on a night garden wipable mat and she was happy with that, good job she is too young to know everyone else got buttons or jelly beans

dd still wears a pull up for naps as she sleeps 2 hours and nappy at night but she calls her pullups bob pants and knows she has a sleep nappy at night.

when she asked what the nappy was for in her chair i told her it was a cushion

ilovetochat Things are going really well now thanks - he's pretty reliable now, and we haven't had an accident for ages so I think he's classed as 'trained' now - yay! I think I read on another thread that your dd is good now too - that's great, she's done very well 'cos she's quite young isn't she?

Good luck over the weekend SarahL2, I'm sure he'll crack it!

she is 21 months jojay, she hadnt had an accident for over a week but yesterday and today (while in dps care) she has said potty and he hasnt undressed her quick enough and she has done a tiny bit of wee in her pants, not enough to wet her trousers, but i think he is engrossed in what he is doing and she had probably asked him more than once. she still cant undress/dress so we have to help but she is doing well.
got to get her on the toilet next.

So far so good. He actually asked me to take him to the loo early this morning!!

A bit later on I took him to Playgym place in his last nappy. He stayed pretty much dry the whole time and actually did a wee when I took him to the toilets Not bad to say we were there for over 3 hours!

Feeling a lot more confident about going cold turkey now... May even attempt supermarket in pants this afternoon

And am definitely pleased that I ignored MIL's suggestion that I shouldn't even try potty training till he's 3!

I hope that it continues to go well. TBH, since you had already done it, I wasn't going to say, but I skipped the going naked stage completely with both my DC - through neccesity, as DS was at nursery 5 days a week and DD 4 days a week.

DS was late (2.10, IIRC) and trained in the company of a group of his friends at nursery's suggestion - cold turkey, lots of accidents for the first couple of weeks.

DD is 2.6 and 1.5 weeks in now - and hasn't had any accidents (fingers crossed for today) for 3 days now . Largely because she started expressing an interest / wanting to go to toilet earlier than I expected, we never actually got the potties out so she has gone straight to using the toilet - and insists on taking/undressing/dressing herself and washing her own hands. We and nursery are now working on getting her to say when she has had a poo, though, as her wiping is, of course, less than it might be.

Well done Sarah - sounds like he's doing really well If he can cope with soft play, he's doing brilliantly

We've had no accidents for 4 or 5 days now - if you don't include sitting on the potty and weeing with his pants still pulled up!!

I think the naked bit might have actually helped as it made it much easier to go and has given him loads of confidence.

Each child/set of circumstances is different though.

Fingers crossed for both if us stealthsquiggle

I have to say, I am not sure I am brave enough for soft play yet

Took a nappy-free DS to supermarket and had complete success

He was dry for almost an hour while we shopped then I took him into the neighbouring Mothercare (to buy a Pottette) and he did a wee on the loo's in there, then we came home.

All was perfect until about 10 minutes after we got in and he came to me saying "Mummy, toilet" but he was already wet. Not sure if he had wet himself before coming to me or wee'd moments after - I was unpacking shopping and was distracted.

I'm still counting it as a sucess though as he was dry all the time we were out. I can cope better with accidents at home where we have somewhere to change him and lots of spare clothes.

He's back in pants and trousers now - we'll see how we go till bedtime...

Brilliant! Sounds like he's well on the way

Trousers and pants are really making potty training harder!

DS is trying, bless him. He's started telling us when he needs to go instead of just sitting down in his clothes but he waits till he's either started wee-ing or seconds before so he always ends up wet.

He must be busting though as he does manage to hold most of it until we can get him onto a potty.

How do I get him to tell me earlier?

I've been congratulating him on the wee he gets in the potty but what do I say, if anything, about the bit in his trousers?

DH is adamant we don't tell him it's naughty which I agree with but what else do we do?

He doesn't seem at all concerned about the wet clothes or having to change them and he's never in the wet things for long as he is telling us so quickly.

We are making progress so I'm happy that he was ready for potty training - just this last hurdle to go...

I'm sure you'll get there. It sounds like he's making progress which is the main thing - think how far he's come in a week.

Keep going as you are and he'll start giving you more notice I'm sure. You are quite right not to make him feel bad about accidents. Just change him with no fuss, and tell him, 'never mind, next time remember to tell Mummy when you need a wee wee.

If he really doesn't get it in a few more days, it might be worth not changing him quite so quickly when he has an accident. (wee not poo) It sounds horrid, but just leaving the wet trousers on for a couple of mins, just enough for them to get a bit cold and uncomfy, mihgt be enough for him to realise that it's not very nice to wet yourself.

Worked for my DS and we only did it once.

Thanks Jojay. He is definietly making progress - he wasn't telling us at all a few days ago, just sitting himself down and going through his pants - so I am sure he will get it soon.

The thing about leaving him in wet clothes is, he's telling us when he's a bit wet but then when we sit him on the potty he wee's a lot more than has dribbled into his underwear. If I was to leave him, I would have to ignore him asking for the potty and leave him to wee properly in his pants. It seems a bit mean to put the wet things back on after he's done the majority in the potty.

Will maybe try it if he ever does go completely in his clothes though.

I've been doing the "Oh dear, wet pants" thing so hopefully the longer we do this, the more notice his body will give him and we'll be properly dry in no time.

He's amazed me with how good he is already so I'm sure I'll be looking back in a few weeks wondering what I was so worried about

a just cnt get my boy to go to potty he dose it at nursay thts it hes 3 soon it doin my head in