How do I go about potty training when I work full time?

[giddykipper]

Do I have to take a week off work?

I thought about doing it when we are away on holiday, but there's going to be so much on I don't think DS's mind will be on it.

Or do I rely on nursery to do it for me? (I would rather not).

Hi I wouldn't bother on holiday, too much excitement going on.

I would try building up to it, so take nappies off when you get DS home, try nappy free stretches at home at the weekend, see how he reacts to it. If he is keen then take either a Friday or Monday off or if possible both, that will give you a long enough stretch for him to get the idea of it.

What age is your DS ?

He's 2.3, has been using a potty for wees every now and again for probably 6 months but never anything solid. Although to be honest I think the novelty has worn off a bit recently because he uses it very rarely now.

you could always ask nursery to offer the pot at every change, which is a good starting point

he mioght even get the idea himself if there are other children doing it too

NB do no tthink that you have to do it all yourself just because you are the mum - if you had a nanny instead of nursery you wouldn't think twice about asking for her co-operation, would you?

I'd start by doing nappy off as much as possible at home - so whip it off as soon as you get home, and spend weekends with no nappy as far as possible.

If you are out, offer a wee on the toilet whenever you go yourself

Ask nursery to start offering him the potty whenever they change him.

Then once he seems to be getting the hang of weeing in the potty consistently, take a couple of days off and put pants on him, stay home, and go for it.

Talk to nursery about how they do potty training so that you are consistent

Well DS is 3.2 and still using nappies for poos, so you may want to factor that in when reading any advice that I give

He is quite young and you can do potty training one of 2 ways. I started off quite gung ho when DS was about 2.6 took a couple of days off work, got out the potty, stripped off his nappy. Then within about an hour, got so bored that stuck the nappy back on and we went out and had a day.

Kept on persisting with nappy free time in the evenings, building up to going out for a short play without a nappy on, then one day DS announced that he didn't want to wear a nappy any more at about 2.10 and since then ( except for pooing ) he hasn't

I think taking a full week off to tacke potty traing gives it undue significance and as you are working full time will probably make valuable time with him less enjoyable than it would be otherwise.

So I would stick with softly softly, then once he does seem a bit more interested go for the 3 day weekend thing.

Gosh it all seems so straight forward now, but I remember really agonising about it at the time, I was so proud when DS started doing his pee pees on the potty and now he sometimes does big boy standing up peeing. (Proud mother smiley)

let them do it at nursery, my two got it a lot quicker there than at home!

MrsB this probably sounds odd but I actually want to do it. Nursery already have too much of of a role in his development for my liking, I want to do this bit myself!

Good suggestion though CMOT, they need to be reinforcing what I do so I should really ask them how they do it so we are consistent. They were offering him the potty but I think he's got bored of it.

Perhaps I'll take him out to buy some special pants to wear at home to try and get him engaged in the process again. I also thought about a trainer seat rather than a potty so that it's something new for him.

Do you really think I could crack it in a long weekend (once he's properly engaged in it)?

It probably helps if you think of potty training more of a long running soap opera rather than a 3 night drama.

If your DS is at the right stage 3 days is long enough for him to get the concept of letting you know when he is about to pee. There will be accidents for weeks after that and it just means swapping nappies for pants and trousers ( I recommend bulk buying jogging bottoms as much easier to pull up and down and wash easily)

To be honest he will either be ready or not, so if he is then 3 days is fine.

giddykipper this wait-until-they're-older potty training method goes one of two ways: instant success or utter failure. If your child is highly adaptable, accepts change easily, and is in a highly cooperative phase it could take a day or a weekend. If he resists change, or doesn't cope well with sudden changes, suddenly whipping away his nappy and telling him it's gone forever could terrify him and he could be pooing his pants for the next year.

Personally, regardless of their age, I think introducing the potty should be gentle and led by the child, starting with first thing in the morning/when there's an obvious sign of imminent poo and building on that. I work full-time and started when DS was 14 months old. He soon moved up to the toddler classroom where they insist on pull-ups and put them on the toilet every 2 hours, then change pull up as necessary. DS was clean a month later and dry by 18 months. Like you, I thought it was important that I initiate the process and his first go on the toilet at nursery was with me, too.

Interesting read. I work full time and dd3 is 2 years 3 months. We've had a few chats about this but she isn't keen so far. After dd1 - 3 years 6 months and trained instantly when she decided to be so but before that at least a year of offering the pot and generally stressing about it - I'm quite keen to let nursery do the heavy lifting as it were. We're off on holiday next month and I might try a bit then but otherwise it will be as others suggest - and evening and weekends thing. Taking time off is well and good if it works - otherwise you've used up your holiday time in order to go round the house wiping up poo.....

I had a chat with nursery about this today. Their ideal is if you spend a long weekend to start the process then they will carry on during the week. They basically said pants only (ie no shorts/trousers) for a couple of weeks, they will take him to the potty every half an hour.

She said they sometimes get parents who want the nursery to do it all and don't really reinforce the message at home. The child then gets very confused and it takes ages.

Think I might give it a start this weekend (depending on swine flu which has been confirmed at DD's school today)