Please help me get ready for operation potty train......

[sammysam]

I had decided a little while ago to potty train (or try!) DD (2yrs 8mths) over the Easter Hols as it means we have no need to go anywhere so we have two weeks to hopefully get a good start .

I had however forgotten all about it and how close that is now as I'm suffering from morning sickness (though am 13wks now and I think it's geting better).

What do I need to organised and get ready?
What do I do? Do I just go cold turkey and start by taking her every xmins? She knows when she is doing something but with poos for example she will swear blind she isn't just so she doesn't have to have her nappy changed! She has gone and got on the toilet herself when she was undressed the other week and she did a wee. I think it will be a bit of a bumpy ride but i'm concious of time running out before #2 arrives and I want her to be dry for as long as poss to try and minimise the risk of regressing once the baby is here.

So what are your top tips?

I finally managed to potty train my twin boys this time last year aged 3 and bit after 3 or 4 unsuccessful attempts. You will save yourself a lot of cleaning, tears and frustration if you wait until you know she is definitely ready. Just because the timing suits you doesn't mean it suits her, IYKWIM.

Mine would do well for a few days at a time, but then they'd just revert to peeing and pooing in their pants all the time, as if they just couldn't be bother with it anymore. This left me with the no-brainer choice of wiping up mess and washing 12 changes of clothes every day, or just putting them back in nappies. Which I did 3 times, and I think it confused them and made them wonder what the point of learning was when they'd get their nappies back in the end anyway? I wish I'd waited until they were definitely ready, but then again it's difficult to know unless you try so it is a bit of a catch 22. Some people just introduce the potty slowly instead of doing boot camp - in fact this is how most people I know did it. Just be encoraging and use stickers to reward her every time she does a wee or poo in the right place, and she might just potty train herself.

When we finally cracked it it meant staying at home for a week with lots of DVDs, and incentives: a sticker for sitting on the potty regularly, a smartie for a wee, and a kinder egg for a poo! Be encouraging, gentle and make no fuss about accidents (oops! nevermind - next time we'll do it in the potty, ok? sort of thing). The girls we know have all been much quicker to get it than the boys, and my boys seem to have been particularly resistant - I hope you're one of the lucky ones!

I'm also going for it over the next couple of weeks with ds (2 years and 4 months) sammy and you know your child and when would be a good time to have a go. And I do mean have a go, if it doesn't work you can leave it and try again later.

This is what we've done/are doing, although obviously it might be different for your child's needs. Ds likes to choose between potty and toilet seat. We haven't yet found a pattern to which he'll choose at any given time!

1. Potty and toilet seat in house for a while now. After a phase of not wanting to even try, he's suddenly decided in the last few days that sitting on the potty in return for loads of praise, a small biscuit and stories while he's there is rather good. Being primed for going into pants.
2. A trip to let him choose 'big boy pants'. He's dead chuffed with his In The Night Garden and tractor pants .
3. Another week of keeping pullups and gently suggesting/bribing to 'sit on the toilet/potty' without anything exciting happening.
4. The week after next, we'll go into pants, except for pullups in the car and nappies at night.

Good luck and have a go if you think that your child is ready.

I do think she is ready (though can't be sure ) as she really wants to wear pants, does tell me know what she has done, sometimes when, and she has taken herself off a couple of times, and she has finally started to find wearing a wet/dirty nappy uncomfy and wants to be changed.

Blimey KHS-what a nightmare to try and do 2 at the same time-huge respect to you!!!

I think we'll give it a go-i'm not expecting anything amazing-if it doesn't work we'll leave it till the start of the summer I imagine.

How many pairs of pants do you need? Would you put them in a nappy for a short car ride or just a long one? I know I have more questions but I'm ssoooo tired this morning...i'm sure i'll remember later!

Thank you for your help