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Parenting

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Original poster

Do you really need to stay indoors to potty train ?

13 replies

lovinit · 10/05/2005 12:03

DD is 20 mths and I have a baby arriving in 10 weeks. She is showing signs that she is ready by peeing when offered and needed in the potty (or loo) and tells me when she is pooing or has pooed. However, I have read on numerous threads abt staying in and having no nappy on. Problem is that we live in a small flat and it would drive the both of us crazy to stay in all day for a week ! Is there a compromise that any of you mumsnetters have found to have worked ?

Is it a definite no no to wear nappies whilst potty training ?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Carla · 10/05/2005 12:07

Get one of those porta-potty things - I got mine from Boots. Even the most conservative North Oxford granny appreciated that we were giving it a whirl. At the back of M&S

Good luck!

WigWamBam · 10/05/2005 12:09

Make sure you know where all the public/shop toilets are as well, and take her often. Use a Piddle Pad or similar on the buggy, and make sure you have a change of clothes with you in case of accidents. My dd didn't get on with the Porta Potty, but I know that lots of children do, so it might be worth a shot. Otherwise, you could try taking an ordinary potty with you in the basket or on the handle of the buggy.

mancmum · 10/05/2005 12:10

we did our best toilet training outdoors --- less mess... also buy a folding toilet seat from boots that you can stick in your bag and so you can take her out and whisk her off to a loo when required.... and my DS did wear nappies at times as it is impossible to dedicate a whole week to training and there are places were you just don't want to have an accident!!

Good luck!!

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99redballoons · 10/05/2005 14:25

We are just going through this at the moment with our 22mo ds. The first week I used a mixture, nothing on at home and nappies when out. The second week we were naturally more indoors, but still nappy when we went out, but I think he got alot more confident that week. Today (third week) we had our first outing without a nappy and he lasted the hour and even attempted to do something in the TT Potette. If your dd is happy with the loo I would try and keep her using that. My ds is still not too sure about it and so we're using the potty. Other suggestion from a friend was to go to the park lots where accidents don't matter. HTH and good luck!

PS, was hoping it would be a quick process, but a good friend has just trained her dd at 21mo and it's taken a good two months to get her 'trustworthy' so to speak. She can take her anywhere now and know she can hold it for a short while if she has to. So it will be a long process...

lima · 10/05/2005 14:34

IME it is easier to train them when they are a little older - both my ds's trained in a couple of days and were reliable in a week - they were both between 2 and 2.5.

Most of my friends have trained their around this age too - one who trained her little girl just before she was 2 had accidents for months.

OTOH I do know of one mum who sucessfully trained her ds at 18 months

mummylonglegs · 10/05/2005 14:39

I don't think you need to stay home all week but a bit more time at home generally might help. With dd, 2 1/2 I kept her half naked at home for a couple of days with only brief trips out (timed strategically after a wee / poo and not immediately after a big drink) to the playground / local shop so that we didn't go nuts (we're also in a flat). I didn't mix up nappies and knickers but I know a lot of people do and it seems fine. I just decided it might be easier for her to get the message that from the day we started doing it, nappies were 'yuck' as it says in the Little Princess story that she likes so much. I switched to pull-ups for night time and called them 'nappy knickers'. And I kept her in knickers for naps so long as she'd done a wee immediately before going down.

mummylonglegs · 10/05/2005 14:41

Oh, I should have mentioned that at 20 months you might find your dd doesn't always manage to tell you in time when she needs a wee. We tried to train dd at 2 years old and she was great at using the potty when we reminded her / she was naked, but she had constant accidents in clothes and when out. We postponed and this time was a total doddle, she'd cracked it within 2-3 days.

oliveoil · 10/05/2005 14:45

dd1 was potty trained about a month ago and I had her in knickers at home and put a pull up on when we went out.

It is supposed to confuse them but I would have been more confused dealing with a wet toddler AND a 6 month old baby in the middle of Asda.

There is no way I could have stayed in!

Surfermum · 10/05/2005 14:51

I stayed in all Friday for exactly this reason, Lovinit and it drove me up the wall! I've been potty training for about a week now. DD is 2 next week. I'm leaving her without clothes on her bottom half when we're in and putting her in a nappy to go out and to sleep. Tomorrow I'm attempting toddler group with no nappy! In a week or so I'm going to progress to knickers.

Original poster

lovinit · 11/05/2005 01:46

Thanks for all the advice and also sharing your experiences. It does appear that it does take a shorter amount of time to acheive the task if you wait till they are 2 . I think that I will now just spend the next few months asking her and offering her the potty but still have nappies so that she will get used to the concept. Then come 2, will whip the nappies off , whilst on holiday for a week and half in sunny Spain where she can be bare bottomed to her hearts content !

Good luck surfermum !

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bigdonna · 11/05/2005 22:52

hi lovinit, i would wait until you have had your secind child as quite often when children are potty trained just before their sibling is born they seem to regress,i think this is because they want to be like a baby too.I waited until my daughter was 4mths old my son took 1 week to potty train during the day and 2 mths later i potty trained him at night.he was just over 2.Good luck

bigdonna · 11/05/2005 22:55

hi again i meant to mention i never stayed in and never used pull ups.I found putting shorts with nothing underneath worked for my son.And i carried a potty everywhere!

fifilala · 15/05/2005 22:30

We waited untill 2.10mths with ds - never stayed in and went about our normal day to day routines - funny experiences including weeing all over a carpet showroom floor -tried to ignore it but the salesman spotted it and also seeing my ds sitting on a potty in the boot of an estate car! took about 2 weeks with no major problems although a few experiences recently!

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