Anyone else planning to potty train over Easter?

[reabies]

Hi all, we are planning to potty train our nearly 2 year old over the Easter long weekend, wondering if anyone is planning the same!

I'm going to follow the oh crap method, read the book a few weeks ago and going to have another quick flick through before Good Friday.

Whilst I am kind of sad to not have any fun Easter plans I'm sooo looking forward to (hopefully) being done with nappies in the daytime so quite excited!

I've decided not to night train yet as DS is still in a cot and sleepsack and it sounds like too much faff. Once he's in a toddler bed with an easily removable blanket we'll think about nighttime.

How's everyone else approaching it?? Any tips and tricks from going through it with older kids??

We did this last year. Son was 2 years 3 months and got the hang of it very quickly. Weirdly he was also instantly dry at night without us even trying 🤔

We did no bottoms on for the first few days and regular trips to the toilet/potty then tried short walks to the park with a My Carry Potty just in case with him just wearing trousers and no underwear. Once he was proving he was doing ok with that we tried a trip into town with underwear (again, taking regular toilet breaks). We chose to go with regular underwear rather than bulky potty training ones as my son was cloth nappied and I worried the potty training undies felt too much like his nappies.

The following week he was back in childcare and has had only one accident whilst there, which was actually our fault as we forgot to make sure he went to the toilet before he left the house and childminder walks them straight to the school to drop off mindees.

We made him a sticker chart and he enjoyed adding the stickers to it for each remembered activity (washing his hands, flushing the toilet etc). At the end of the week we also 'exchanged' the sticker sheet at Halfords for a balance bike.

Best of luck with it!

This is my plan! 2.5year old DD. Showing interest, using the mini toilets at nursery! Knows when she needs to wee and knows when she’s had an accident but yet to make any breakthrough on the actual toilet! Haven’t seen the Oh Crap method but I’ll google now

Has your child actually shown any signs of being ready for potty training? Are they happily sitting on the potty before the bath, telling you when they need to go, have a decent level of speech and understanding? If not then I'm sorry but you may be in for a rude awakening! The Oh Crap method instills a false expectation that you can "train" a child to do something before they are emotionally ready for it. And it's also nonsense that you need to stay housebound when potty training. If they are ready you can carry on with your normal life and go out and about as much as needed (with the expectation of an odd accident). Having just potty trained my second (training actually being the wrong word because she pretty much did it on her own) I can assure you it should be easy if they are ready. We tried to potty train our first before they were ready at a similar age to the age you're suggesting and it was a nightmare for all involved.

Here's my method: wait until your toddler can tell you they need a wee, wait until they will happily sit on the potty before their bath and do a wee (don't underestimate the number of children who strongly resist sitting on a potty if they aren't ready). Knickers and trousers on the day they start using the potty. Every 30 minutes or so ask them if they need a wee and/or look out for any signs they might need one (eg holding their privates or dancing around). Carry on your life as normal but bring a potty and lots of changes of clothes for out and about. Don't be embarrassed to whip out the potty for a wee wherever you are (in a shop, on the pavement etc). Big fanfare and happy smiles when they do a wee on the potty. Remain entirely neutral for any accidents eg "don't forget to tell mummy if you need a wee". Rinse and repeat.

We are planning to potty train this weekend too. Our daughter is just over two and a half and has shown a number of signs that she is ready. I tried before Christmas, but found she was just holding until I left the room and then having an accident, so quickly stopped. Hoping for a little more success this time, but will try again another time if it isn't working. Got the sticker chart ready and also bought her a potty sticker book to play with. Good luck to everyone else who is in the same boat!

Yes, Ds is almost 2.5 and we had already planned on doing it over the weekend but on Sunday while waiting for his bath he asked for his potty out of his wardrobe and sat on it and done a big wee, he has since done a few every day since but going to properly focus on it at the weekend. He loves sitting on it and is so pleased with himself when he's done one. His speech and communication is excellent but a few times after he's done about 2 wees he will ask for his nappy back on. I'm really nervous and not sure how he will do with poos but we will see. I haven't had the time to read through hundreds of pages of a book so just winging it really. Going to try and pick some underpants up when I finish work ready for Friday.

Not even 2 yet? Are they showing signs of being ready or are you just doing it because?

@supercalafragilisticexpealidocious @colouredball hello and thank you for your concern over my child's readiness. Yes, he can tell me when he is doing a wee or a poo, he absolutely hates having a nappy on, he can sit on the potty, we have talked about no more nappies, he has a great level of speaking and understanding (not to massively brag because everyone thinks their child is the best, but since you asked, he is being moved up into the 2 year olds room at nursery ahead of his birthday because they have said he is hitting all milestones early). He has not yet done any wee or poo in the potty because I have not yet explored taking the nappy off - that is what this weekend will be about.

Also, this really is very low stakes - if he doesn't get it or oh crap doesn't work, then no harm no foul, we'll go back to nappies and reassess.

Thank you to those who shared their experiences - especially not following oh crap, it's really useful to see what other people have done differently! And good luck to everyone attempting it this weekend as well!

@Winglessvulture Hi! I think my daughter might be doing similar to what yours did. She knows she needs but when she sits on the toilet nothing happens, sometimes she says ‘all done!’ Without a pee and sometimes she just asks to get up but then she’ll have an accident shortly after (assuming she’s at bursting point when she does it) although nursery said she does the toilet in their toilets. do you think we should try for a few days and if she’s not picking it up then just try again in a few months? Im terrified of pushing her

Our daughter is doing the same thing as she did at Christmas, so we are putting her back in her pull ups tomorrow. She just isn't ready yet and I don't think there is any need to push her. We are going to try again in the summer, hopefully she will be ready by then :)

@Winglessvulture we had a few things come up this weekend so couldn’t dedicate the time we wanted (frustratingly!) my daughter doesn’t seem as keen as she was last week but we’ll try once we can give it our full attention and see how she is