a few potty training tips please?

[prefernot]

I'm on the verge of training dd (or trying to ) and there's a couple of practical things I'm wondering about.

1. We've got a little potty she seems to like and I've ordered a toilet seat. I know I can take a potty out with me while she uses that but when she uses the toilet seat do you also carry one of those around or do you get them to use ordinary seats?

2. In the first few days when you're mostly at home, do you leave them completely knickerless or do you put them in knickers and just change them when they have an accident?

3. How long did you leave it before attempting a trip out? Dp's out at work long hours in the day and I'm bound to need to go and get shopping etc. but would rather stick to no nappies in the day if possible.

4. I know to still use nappies overnight but how about naps?

Hiya - my dd is 2.11 and i basically left potty training up to her and let her tell me when she was ready! At first I let her run around naked - when they are getting used to the idea of learning they need to go and getting to the toilet in time! This is still a bit of a problem for us - she quite often leaves it to the last second and doesnt make it! I make a point of taking her to the toilet every couple of hours and just sitting her on it and asking her to try - makes for less accidents and gets her used to knowing when she does and doesnt need to go. If we go out into town on the bus i put her in pull-ups but still get her to try in the toilets when we get there and before we leave. Sometimes we can go out and she'll stay dry but i make sure she goes before we leave the house. She's still in pull ups at night - think she will be for a while yet. Sorry that was a bit long winded!!

naps - dd is fine with and generally stays dry

You can buy fold-up toilet trainer seats (4th one down) for outings if she doesn't like sitting on the ordinary seat. Can't help with your other questions, as ds steadfastly refuses to consider using the potty or loo.

Thanks everyone.

Zephyrcat, How long have you been going with the training?

a good few months now - but i'm not really ina rush i'd rather let her get the hang of it in her own time. She has just started playgroup and they have to be in pants there so i just make sure she goes when we first get there. I've found its quite hard work and we've had a few relapses!!

I let my dd decide when she was ready; she was 2 years 8 months old and decided she wanted to wear proper knickers, which she was allowed to choose. Because we left it until she was ready, rather than trying to impose our timetable onto her, we had no problems at all.

I didn't bother with a portable toilet seat when we went out, I just lifted dd onto the big seat and held her there. I didn't bother with a portable potty either; we tried one once and the wee just sailed right over the potty!

Because dd started in winter, we kept her dressed and she managed with pulling knickers and trousers down with no problem. Just make sure your dd is able to pull her own clothes up and down before you start.

We took our first trip out after a couple of days, with me paranoid about never being far away from a toilet. Make sure you know where all the public/shop toilets are, and ask her frequently (like every time you pass one!) if she needs a wee. Eventually I got used to how long she would go between wees, and then could relax a bit more!

I didn't bother with nappies for naps, dd was mortified to be asked if she wanted one as she thought she was such a big girl, and generally that was fine too - as long as I tried to ensure that she had a wee before she went to bed. We had a couple of accidents, but very soon dd dropped her naps anyway so it wasn't an issue.

Good luck!

Prefernot, I just stopped putting dd in nappies and took Tommy Tippee potty everywhere. Went out and about as usual. Also have folding loo seta - really useful, esp so dd doesn't jave to put bum on makny public loos. Just take a bag with change of clothes/pants. It was all much easier than I thought it would be. Good luck.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to spend this afternoon at home with her nappyless and see how it goes. She's very keen to do her poos on a potty and quite mortified if she does one in a nappy now but she's got no conception that potties / toilets are also for weeing in even though she sees me do it!

She's quite a bit younger than other kids mentioned here. I'm not in a rush either, I had no plans to do this until she was gone 2.5 but she herself seems keen and wants me to change her nappy after every wee which is getting to be a nuisance and is expensive!!

Just started PT 4 weeks ago.

DS is 2.5 and we haven't really used the toilet yet. We have a travel potty which has been useful.

I put him in pants and socks at first although easier to wash wet clothes than clean carpets!

We went out on day 3 - we've only had 1 accident away from home. I was worried but just got to go for it. Carry plastic bags and kitchen roll etc

Yes ds has a nappy on for his nap.

Good luck!

My DS2 has just started (2 weeks ago) after a couple of failed attempts, he is 2 years 5 months.

We take an ordinary potty with us when we go out and babywipes, there is usually a drain or a bit of earth that you can pour the pee and I've got nappy sacks for any poos (not an issue as he usually does these in his pants anyway ).

I let him go bare from the waist down for the first few days and then he wanted to wear pants, I just make sure he has things that are easy to pull up and down on. DS1 however was only reliable when naked from the waist down and that went on for ages so I suppose it depends on the child.

I took DS2 out the very first day of potty training (big brother at School needing picked up), it was just a short trip but I kept asking him every 10 mins or so if he needed the potty and eventually he said yes and used it. Since then trips have been getting easier although if he is bored he will ask for the toilet all the time even although he doesn't need which is a bit of a pain!

My DS2 doesn't nap anymore but when DS1 was training I put nappies on him for his nap for the first week or so and they were always dry afterwards so decided to leave them off after that although he did have the odd accident.

All the best!

Must just add that when I took DS2 to School on the first day of potty training he did have pants and trousers on, it was just no pants in the house.

prefernot - when it came to nap times dd wasn't always 'dry' - I didn't put a nappy back on, but put a quilted matttress protector (a waterproof changing pad - about £10 from Mothercare) underneath her. I still do now even though she's dry - I just know the time I don't will be the time she pees in her sleep!

In the car I didn't worry too much - I knew the fabric was removable and washable

I also gave her a sticker (her 'thing' at the time) every time she did a pee on the potty or toilet and gave her lavish praise! I would also phone up her nanny or DH and let her tell them what she had just done. She was v proud!

lots of luck with the potty training

DD was pretty much dry, with no accidents by day 3 on PT - she takes all credit, we did nothing really.

Q1) DD used a potty chair at home, and has a little (cheap) potty at both grandparent's house. We also have a spare potty that we still have in the boot of the car for emergencies on the motorway, etc. We used to carry a travel potty around with us - but TBH I couldn't really get on with it much. It's a great idea but DD seemed to always topple it to one side. So when out she wither uses potty (in car) or normall toilet seat.

Q2) We did knickerless for day 1, and then baggy pants (no trousers/skirt) on day 2. By day 3 we were dressed, but in loose fitting clothes that she was able to pull up and down, relatively quickly, by herself.

Q3) We went out on day 3 - in pants (not Pull Ups or training pants). Only for a short trip, but it was fine. I made sure she went for a wee before leaving the house. And I had the potty with me - stuffed under the pushchair. Oh and spare outfit and lots of wipes in case of accidents.

4. DD was just 2 when we PTd her. She is now 2y 7m and not ready for night training. She does wake in the night, but has generally already done it before we get there. For naps from after the first week she went without a nappy. First day I did put a nappy on. Second day onwards I put a Pull Up on, but left pants underneath - so she could feel wetness. I also made sure she went for a wee before her nap.

Forgot about the stickers! Yes, we also used stickers as a reward in the early days. We had a bumper pack of little stickers and each time she used her potty she choose one and it was stuc directly onto her potty. She loved that. We had one or two issues with her doing a poo in her potty at the start and we solved that, naughtily, by using chocolate button rewards.

when we trained dd, which was around 2.5, we stuck to nappies for naps for a good while, a couple of weeks, until she was reliably dry on waking up. also used them for excursions for first few days, unless it was v local and she'd just done a wee before we set off.

so after the first few days, when she'd 'got' it, she'd have a wee at the kerbs/at park entrances etc if ncessessary. no portable potty (and no loo seat attachment, couldn't find one to fit and then realised it wasn't going to be that useful anyway).

people were always understanding -- leastways, no one actually confronted us about it.

the first few days we stuck her on the potty the whole time. every half hour or so and always after a meal. were just brisk and 'time to sit on the potty now'. she watched loads of cbbs and got read plenty of stories, so it was all 'fun'. also sticker charts worked great (1 star for a wee, 2 for a no2) -- get her to choose the stickers herself. good book by tony ross, I want my potty.

we talked it up loads with visitors/gparents on phone, what a big girl she was etc. she loved it.

we kept her in knickers from the start, don't think we did knickerless. she loved them too much anyway (ooh, you should let dd choose them, she'll love that)

get loads of potties so you've got them all over the place, one in sitting room, one in loo etc.

she was ready for it, and it was much easier than i'd expected

hope it goes ok.

My DD refused to put a nappy on for long car journeys when it was v.likely she would fall asleep. We compromised by sitting on an open nappy - under knickers! Kept both of us happy but turned out we never needed it. Also, we used to carry the potty under the pushchair and she pulled it out & used it herself whilst waiting in the hairdressers to everyones amusement.
Good Luck!

Thanks again everyone. She still hasn't weed on her potty but she's been really brilliant with her poos. She just says to me 'got poo-poo, best do it on potty mummy' and off we go to the potty. I haven't put her in knickers yet, she's been bare from the waist down. Will be trying a bit more full on tomorrow!

prefernot sounds like she's doing really well. I wouldn't worry about the poos I think they take a while to master.

Day 2 with dd aged 26 months. V keen to wear knickers and sit on potty but no wees or poos and no accidents. She did wee in nappy over night but I am worried about potential danger of holding in wee and pop for long periods. Any advice? Thanks.