Is he ready?

[WineandDine]

DS is 26 months which I know is quite early for boys but would appreciate some advice. FTM over here so this is all new!

We bought a potty a couple of months ago to just have it out before bathtime so DS could get used to it and go on it if he wished. He has taken to it like a duck to water.... sits on it every night and always does a bit of both (!) We give him lots of praise and he is always very pleased with himself. He's fairly predictable as to when he will poo so if he hasn't gone after breakfast or lunch (his regular times), he will also go on the potty when asked if he needs to go.

I'm slightly confused as to where we should go from here as he is still very much going for both 1s and 2s in his nappy at the same time as sometimes using the potty. He will normally only tell me after he has gone that he needs changing or has gone 'poo poo'
Do we continue on with him getting the hang of going on the potty as and when or does it sounds like he could be ready to go for it properly? He has a baby brother due at the beginning of Feb so figure if we haven't potty trained by Xmas, it will probably be a good few months after the new baby is born before we have the time and energy to tackle this. Also mindful that they can often have regressions when a new baby comes along?

I've tried explaining to him that he needs to tell me when he needs to go so we can get the 'big boy' potty out but he has only done this a handful or times...

I’d recommend reading the Oh Crap book. I think it’s a great way of looking at potty training.

If you have a few days when you can be at home in a row then try it in a low key way -
No bottoms on, potty in the room & see what happens - make the day time shorter as in get the night time pants/pull ups on earlier then normal as when they are tired more accidents happen & start the morning early with nappy off.

To go from a nappy to pants can be confusing, as it feels the same, but loose trousers or no bottoms helps as it feels different so they are aware for that moment before they go.

If it doesn't work then don't worry and continue what you are doing for a while.

Second oh crap book - he's definitely ready but you need a manual!

Apologies for the delay in responding but thanks so much for the advice above.

I ordered the Oh Crap! book and we started last weekend. Having mixed success and we’ve gone back to basics of no bottoms today after 2 poo accidents in his trousers but will keep going!
Feel like I’m going a bit mad... please someone tell me it gets better?

It gets better!

How’s he getting in with wees?

Hi tea, after an awful day on day 4 (I can really see why people give up) and a poo accident in his pyjamas yesterday morning, we seem to have turned corner . We went back to no trousers for most of the day yesterday and he starting self initiating in the afternoon. Put his own trousers on this morning (wasn’t keen on commando again!) and has continued going by himself for 1s and 2s and we even managed a gym class.
I know we’ve still got a way to go but feeling so much more relaxed about it all now and very proud of him!

Excellent! Well done for making it out to gym as well. Hopefully that’s the worst of it over.

That sounds great wineanddine. Well done to all involved! It's hard to be relaxed about it isn't it, you remind yourself to be then somehow start getting a bit intense. And I imagine another baby on the way adds to that feeling. We are 4 weeks in with 22month dd and it is going well, we will now have like 3 days no accidents, then one, then a couple of good days...etc. Maybe I can hijack your thread slightly and ask tea for some support around the oh crap advice to give a consequence for accidents now I'm sure she gets it. I totally understand the rationale but in practice it feels harsh! But tonight there was a poo accident that seemed like pure laziness so I took away the balloon she was playing with. It didn't seem a big deal to her but I think she understood me explaining why. Does that sound like what I should be doing?

And wineanddine, are you planning to night train as well? I was well keen at the start but now I'm chickening a little

Hi Jo

Tricky one! To be honest I’ve never gone down that route with DD. If she has had an accident, I’ve tended to go for a stern (ish!) ‘no, we don’t poo in our knockers! Poo goes in the...’ and let her say toilet. But I didn’t do consequences for behaviour at that age anyway other than if they were directly linked.

I do think they can get quite tired of it after the initial weeks. It’s an intense process for them so maybe she just couldn’t be bothered? No excuse really (other than she’s little! ) but if it’s fairly irregular, I’d maybe try to let it go? With DD, if she did have an accident, I didn’t used to put underwear back on for the rest of the day just as a kind of reset.

Sorry, that ramble was probably no help!

About night training, we didn’t actively do anything. We did day training in Feb and by July, her nappy was dry every night so we didn’t put it on one night - haven’t since and haven’t had any accidents (touching wood). Complete luck of course but maybe get through this initial stage and see how you feel?

No problem Smellyjo. Glad to hear things back are also going well for you on the whole.

Re night training, planning to let things (hopefully) progress naturally. My DS is still in a cotbed so lifting him in and out of bed seems like going back a step in my opinion when we are trying to give him more independence with all of this. He’s starting to stay dry for his nap so I’m hoping this is a good sign and that he’ll just get better and better at holding it.

No real advice re consequences I’m afraid as we haven’t had to cross that bridge yet.
Good luck with it all.

Thanks both, I'm not sure, it's been one accident a day for last 3 days after 3 days clear so not really irregular. But in general I am delighted with how it's gone, I think it is so much about being relaxed and need to remember that when I'm getting a bit too attached to results! She's been getting quite resistant to being prompted this last week, when it was fine, which I think is about getting fed up of talking about it like you say so we're mostly leaving it up to her now. I haven't gotten knickers yet, still commando as I was thinking to wait until she's more consistently dry, but maybe that would be a treat for all her efforts!

That sounds great about the night training just happening, I'll cross everything for that! She is consistently dry in the nap now.

Hope things keep on the up for you wine!

Staying dry for naps is a brilliant sign for you both- shows it’s really working (even if there are a few more accidents to come!)