Potty Training During Lockdown!

[LunaHardy]

So now seems like a better time than any and I've decided to potty train my 2yo dd during quarantine! I haven't potty trained for about 10 years and that was with my ds. I've bought her a potty a few weeks ago just to get her used to it but she's still not keen on sitting on it. Any tips please?

Oh my god we’re on the poo dance again! Give me strength

@Caz1412 tbh I have read a few and kind of combined them as we have gone along. Bare bum does seem to be working! We have had a successful poo here - wee is taking a bit longer but she is definitely understanding when she needs to go, just not the same initiative to get herself over to the potty just yet.

I’m bloody exhausted!

Day 1 done.
7 pees in potty (so the DIY sticker chart tells me) and 6 on the floor. No poos but she did 3 yesterday so wasn't really expecting one.

I. Am. Exhausted.

I've decided to eat my feelings instead of drink them.

@mamablondie the book suggests 1-3 days for block 1, but very much emphasises that you shouldn’t think too much about days. She says that you just have to feel like you’re seeing progress to move onto the next stage. Just to say that on day 1 my DS was peeing where he stood all day, we didn’t see any progress and we had no idea about any signs that he was about to pee (coz I don’t think he had a clue!). Then he woke up on day 2 and just had it! I put trousers on him mid-morning and he had no accidents. So really just to say it can change so quickly!

We are still struggling with poos a little bit, but it is starting to feel like we’re seeing a more constant (albeit gradual) improvement. The poo dance seems to be less intense. He was back and forth all afternoon again but not every few mins, just every now and again which felt easier to deal with. He then managed 2 poos in the toilet in one sitting, and then stood up trying to tell us that there was no poo even though there clearly was. But the next wave came so quickly that it just missed the toilet, but he was really upset about it. I’m counting it as a win that all accidents have happened in the downstairs loo whilst he’s been trying to get to a toilet. And he def knows where the poo is supposed to go even though he hasn’t quite worked out exactly when it’s coming!

Hope that everyone is seeing progress!

@RonSwansonsMustacheComb after day 1 of potty training I don’t think you have to choose between eating or drinking - it’s def both!

Am sure day 2 will be better!

Sounds like everyone is progressing! To those just starting, it does get better. Eventually. We had another successful poo on toilet. After about 4 hours of back and forth. She was in a nappy at the time and asked for it off. She still got upset and cried but maybe slightly less than yesterday. @Kle209 never have I been so jealous of a downstairs loo. Every time is upstairs to the loo.

@TwistyHair hooray for another successful poo on the loo! It sounds like she is really getting there . Am sure the next thing will be that the poo dance shortens, or for us gets less intense so there’s fewer trips back and forth. Not having a downstairs loo must be so hard, but at least you’ve got good exercise built into your day (desperately trying to look on the bright side!). I have to admit that a downstairs loo was one of the major things I wanted when looking at houses, but wasn’t considering potty training at the time!

And I second what twistyhair has said, it does get better! Even though it feels like it never will, it does. We’ve even had a couple of days where we’ve barely had to think about it (days where he hasn’t pooed!).

Fingers crossed for a good day everyone!

@Kle209 thanks for this, so reassuring! Today is a weird day. She’s not weeing as much and has managed 1 wee which we ‘caught’ and then one full on accident - but she definitely was aware it was happening.

So do you think if I put leggings on her tomorrow that might help? She had a brilliant breakthrough with poo yesterday so I just want to give it today to make sure she is doing that herself again before we move on.

@mamablondie The not weeing as much is def a good thing, as it shows she is holding it more. Honestly, we still haven’t cracked poos properly so we just put on trousers once we felt he had figured out weeing.

We started with pj bottoms coz they are loose and quick to pull down. He didn’t have any additional accidents for having added trousers, but all kids are different!

Ultimately, if you put trousers on and then you have loads of accidents you can always take them off again! Or you could put on trousers for a short period and bills it up too. There is no wrong way to do this!

@Kle209 can I just say thank you! We persevered and I’m so pleased because she managed a poo and two wees completely independently (plus a few mid-wee plonks on the potty also, with no resistance!)

I’m feeling a lot more positive about all of this now, completely seeing the “progress not perfection” thing and going to move onto Block 2 tomorrow. Have set aside a load of baggy/loose fitting trousers for her like you suggested.

@mamablondie2 brilliant news, well done!

Ooh well done @mamablondie2

Day 2 over here.

3 pees in potty, 3 on floor. Last accident upset her as she said it hurt her legs (she has sensitive skin/eczema).

And 2 poos on the potty.

Her training steps and toilet seat for the downstairs wc arrive and she seemes very pleased at the thought of going all by herself.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Ron, that is fab! I think giving them self confidence is key, isn’t it? Your lo sounds keen!

And also good news for mam, kle and twisty..Yay!

We are just moving forward with clothed days...he is generally taking himself to the loo and going independently, with trainer seat.

No poo today tho - wonder if there will be one tomorrow morning. Will try and get it done before heading out.....;-)

Wees are still going well. No poo today though. Two hours of back and forth to the toilet but no wee or poo in that time. She holds her poos so much that she also holds her wee at the same time.

Ron! Can’t believe you also have a downstairs loo too! We have to go up ever time because she won’t use potty anymore. Which is great in some ways.

@TwistyHair oh yeah it's a lifesaver, I'm so lazy!

It's taken a bit of a turn here and she's getting upset and not wanting to sit on potty or toilet. 3 pairs of wet pants. Back to bare bum.

I'm working from home and I can hear that DH is paying quite as much attention to her as I think he needs to be (ie watching her like a hawk).

@mamablondie2 I’m so glad that it went well for you! I hope that adding trousers is successful too!

@RonSwansonsMustacheComb hope that day 3 goes well for you too.

@TwistyHair and @fascinated glad to hear things are going well for you too! Hope the poos come early today with no trouble.

Things are still going well here. I do get a lot of resistance when I try to prompt him to wee, but I’m trying to learn to trust him when he says no wee unless it’s really really obvious he needs to go, or it’s just before we go out for a walk. Poos are improving here. Still very long poo dances, but more and more poos are ending up in the loo. Yesterday there was a teeny bit in his pants coz I’ve got slow at coming to him when he’s doing the poo dance due to all the false alarms! But the main poo went in the loo!!!

Sounds too Ron! We’ve been up and down to toilet three times in last 20 mins. She didn’t do a poo yesterday eve. So she’s due a massive one. Uh oh

We have just had a poo, so we are clear to leave the house! Yay!

Hand washing enforcement is a pain, lots of resistance, but important I suppose especially in a corona world !

Hi All. Hope u all ve been safe and healthy.
I have 3.5 year old girl. We started potty training when she was 2 and ot was big success with pee but...
We have a poo situation. She was constipated like forever. She is on medication and we finally have it under control. She will be on it for a while due her other health issues. My problem is that she wont do it on the toilet or potty or even ask for nappy. She will do do it in her panties. She can hold it for few hours. She wont do outside or at nursery but she will do at home in her panties. If I wont put any on her she will find one or take her brother one. We tried tv, tablet, singing, taking her with us staying with her, reward chart, chocolate. Dont know what else to do. Her poo is soft, she isnt struggling, nothing ever happen on the toilet and she is using both for her wee without an issue. She knows is not good cos she is hiding to do it. I am thinking to use reward chart again but shall I punish her for making in her panties? Punish as time out?? Dont want to stress her out. Any ideas welcome xxxx

Hi everyone,

We have had a pretty good day moving on to commando with trousers @Kle209 I’m so glad I listened to you! :)

The only thing I’m wary of is that although she is now very good at saying when she has to go, she can’t pull her own trousers up and down and needs help. Does anyone have any tips for this? I’m thinking about putting her in a dress but ultimately that won’t solve the problem, especially as she’s such a tomboy! Her ‘go to’ outfit is usually leggings and a T-shirt.

Thanks in advance x

@AnitaTip I don’t know but we’ve had the worst day ever for poos. We’ve been up and down to the toilet over 30 times. We’ve put her back in a nappy. At the end it’s been back upstairs less than a minute after coming down. Still no poo. I don’t think punishing helps. Could you try pull ups?

@anita I've only just potty trained my ds who is 3 next week, he held his poo 2 days but the app 'poo goes to poo land' was really effective for him so could be worth a look! I had worse problems with my Dd withholding, she was 2 and 3m when we potty trained her. She's 5.5 now. She got wees quickly but withheld poos, ended up on loads of prunes and movicol. She also then started to withhold wees, and then go behind the sofa to wee or poo. So she'd know, stop what she was doing, and instead of running to the toilet she'd leg it to the back of the sofa! After weeks and weeks of this and keeping it all positive, charts, chocolate, toys from poundland even, I cracked. I knew she needed to go, she point blank refused, then did a wee behind the sofa. So I took her favourite doll away and sat it on the mantle. I told her she'd get it back if she used the toilet. I ended up with 2 in a row. Then she used the loo. And I swear she was dry from then on, not a single accident. I'm not necessarily advocating this approach... But I think personalities need assessing.

@mamablondie2 my DS can’t pull down his trousers very well either, I tend to do it for him when he needs the loo as that’s obviously a time v pressured situation! I would say try to practise at times other than when they need to actually go (though I’m no good at practicing what I preach!).

@AnitaTip that sounds really tough. I wouldn’t punish unless you think they are pooing in their pants on purpose. Have you tried the poo goes to pooland app? It’s been developed by the nhs and I’ve seen people have real success with it. It’s basically just a story but it’s a fun story where the poo wants to go home down the loo. Can’t hurt!

@TwistyHair that is a really tough afternoon. Did you get any poo in the end? Hope you’ve treated yourself to something nice this evening coz I think you really deserve it. Hope tomorrow is better for you.

@kle209 we got there in the end. She did a bit of a poo in her nappy but then got upset and wanted it off. Then half an hour later did one in the toilet and was really upset. At times she’s said ‘I need a wee’ but then not wanted to even go upstairs to the toilet. And even if she did she wouldn’t sit on the loo. It’s been such an awful day I’ve totally neglected my 4 year old because her poo has dominated the whole day.

@Indecisivelurcher that’s what we have. She even holds her wee because she’s clenching everything. I’ve tried bribery but it doesn’t work. Even a mini magnum wasn’t enough. Or toys that she can only play on the loo. Or going on my phone on the loo. Nothing. She’s so scared. I’m so stuck as to what to do. I don’t know how you make someone not scared