Potty Training

Resi · #1 October 8th, 2010, 05:46 AM

Is anyone potty training or getting ready to? Any tips for those who have BTDT?

We are going to start in a couple weeks.

midnight_starr · #2 October 8th, 2010, 06:13 AM

No tips, just wanted to say good luck!!

greeneyes · #3 October 8th, 2010, 06:26 AM

The biggest thing I learned is that if you introduce potty learning and your child seems in any way resistant, to back off for a bit. I started by taking Lily potty with me and asking her if she thought she might like to use the potty like a big girl until finally one day she said yes. Even then she didn't always want to do it and I didn't push it on her at all. In the end, she approached Lee about three months after we started talking about it and said, "Daddy, I need to go yucky in the potty, please!" She never wore a diaper again after that and within a week she was completely potty trained, even overnight.

When they're ready, it's so much easier!!

LisanAndy · #4 October 8th, 2010, 07:00 AM

^^Ditto! Taylor started showing signs of readiness at 18 months and we kept with it. Well she regressed for some reason at close to 2.5. She decided about 2 months ago that she doesn't like diapers anymore and hasn't looked back... yet LoL. I do have her in fluff at night though and it's damp in the morning so she's not ready for that yet I guess. Just let them move at their own pace, it'll happen

ETA: Rylie's working on 19 months old and she's no where near ready. Each kid is so different!

Angelaosaurus-rex · #5 October 8th, 2010, 07:32 AM

I backed off for a bit because he was doing great but then started to act scared of the potty!!! I hope Oliver takes to it quickly!!!

ANGWife · #6 October 8th, 2010, 08:29 AM

We bought a the small seat to go on the big toilet. For about 2 weeks, Henry sits on it every night before bath. He has yet to pee but he enjoys sitting there and playing with the toilet paper roll. Then he reaches out for me so I know he's done.

I've potty trained tons of kids doing daycare and each kid is so different. I just think if you go slow and try not to get too stressed out, he will do well.

SandKmommy · #7 October 8th, 2010, 08:52 AM

We don't pottty train so I'm probably not much help. We let our kids decide. I didn't want to force Seamus especially since I was pregnant from 2yrs-2yrs 9mo and I was too worried about regression after Kieran was born.
What we did was have him come to the potty with us when we would go and talk to him about what we were doing. About 2weeks after Kieran was born, to my surprise, he asked if he could go potty and jumped up on the toilet and went. From that point I'd just ask if he wanted to go and if he did I took him, after his pack of diapers ran out we just went to big boy undies and he was great with pee's, poo's took a few months of accidents to get down.
We will do the same with Kieran, but I think I'll have to get a stool and one of those toilet seat things since she's so tiny she can't go on the big potty as easy as Seamus did. But its still 6mo to a year before I bet Kieran will want to. We let our kids tell us when their ready to do it.

Frozendesire · #8 October 8th, 2010, 09:04 AM

patience. it may or may not take awhile. Every kid is so different. I've heard storied like Kate's and Lily's however it's so opposite for us. I've learnt that I just can't compare experiences. We introduced the potty and got rid of diapers around 2 years old. He had a handful of accidents but learned to pee in the potty quickly. He did great! However pooping is a huge issue (and always has been even in diapers). He's still not ready. I'm just trying hard to have patience and wait till he's ready

Mjp121212 · #9 October 8th, 2010, 09:18 AM

I'd start out with a potty schedule, taking him to the bathroom about every hour and seeing if he needs to pee, and rewarding with lots of praise if he does. And about 20mins after he eats to go poo and rewarding with lots of praise if he does. Other things I wish I had known:

1.) Accidents happen even after potty trained. Bed wetting may not be a sign of improper night time training but a physical thing. It is also genetic so if you or your dh had bed wetting issues your ds could too. Brayden will still occasionally wet the bed.

2.) Give treats after going potty if you get stuck, this helped us. We did a reward system. Each time he went potty at my request he got 1 sticker, each time he went on his own he got 2. After 15-20 stickers he got a prize. One of my good friends is a psychologist and he told me to do that LOL.

3.) some kids like a potty chair, others done. Brayden didn't. We got the small seat to go on ours. Just research them because some have been known to cause injury.

4.) take him to the bathroom with both of you. It helped Brayden to learn more.

5.) messes are gonna happen. I've personally never seen a child who completely trained with out weeing in the floor or pooing in the floor. It just happens. But it also teaches them.

6.) I didn't see any results out of pull up type things or anything. It was straight undies for us and that's what worked. I did use the more padded training undies for short outings and school the first month or so, but that's it.

I've also read about a lot of kids having regression issues or suddenly just acting as if they'd "unlearned" everything about the potty. This was an issue in my PR for a while too it seemed.

I also ditto the don't push it part. If he is NOT showing an interest at all, or if he's not waking up dry he may not be ready. They have to have the muscle control and strength to be able to hold it back and if they can't then accidents will happen.

LuvMyLwAaMr · #10 October 8th, 2010, 09:30 AM

Ditto on doing it when they are ready... my MIL has told me so many hundreds of times of how horrible she still feels about forcing her 1st born to potty train, she said it caused so much unnecessary struggles and stress for the 2 of them.

With my 1st DS, he showed interest on and off from 15 months old, but I never pushed it. Not until a month and a half before his 3rd birthday did I actively try to potty train him... I felt he was completely ready, so I bought him the big boy underwear, when I got him up in the morning I took him potty right away then put the underwear on. The 1st day he had a ton of accidents, but by evening, he was going to the potty every time... he didn't seem frustrated with the accidents so I just kept cleaning the puddles and changing the underwear. Each day the accidents got fewer and by the 5th day he was in the potty every time and never turned back.

Night time potty training is a whole different story for us... he just turned 4 and he still wears a pull-up to bed. I limit his drinks before bed, he goes potty before he goes to sleep, and he still never ever wakes up dry. The couple times I've let him go to bed in his underwear, he's peed and had no idea... didn't even wake up, so for now I'm not worried about him wearing a pull-up to bed.

Good Luck, and like everyone else has said, each child and their experience is different!

artisticmind · #11 October 8th, 2010, 09:42 AM

we've got a potty chair but i don't push him into it. Riley has watched us go to the bathroom and we've set him on his potty a few times before bath but he wants off of it pretty quickly main just to get at his bathwater...i swear i gave birth to a fish! He's never shown me signs of grabbing himself when he wets but i do know that he pees when he stretches in the morning after waking up because his diaper instantly gets warmer

as for pooping i know when it's happening because he goes from being a jabberbox to nothing and as soon as he's done he'll go right back to playing. I figure it will happen when it happens, he's only 19 months old.

Mars · #12 October 8th, 2010, 11:11 AM

I have introduced Amara to the potty and she has also been introduced at preschool. I encourage her to sit on it but I don't force her. We're taking it slowly. She knows to tell you when she's done something but not quite before she's done it.

I am going to start putting her on a few minutes after meals or drink since my mom told me that's how she trained us.

We always have a huge celebration if she does something in the potty and she enjoys that.

My main problem has been consistency which I'm working on. I would try one week but forget the next. So I am making a conscious effort to be consistent so that I don't confuse her but I will not push or force her if she's not in the mood for it.

Trannyfromtheuk · #13 October 9th, 2010, 07:04 AM

We went with the flow. Let her be bottom less around the house, Mia has been accident free in the day for about 6 months and only just on the night (past 2 weeks)
We have always incouraged her to use the potty and never told her off if she has an accident.
She started showing intrest just before her 2nd birthday. She never liked using the seat so just sits on the toilet like me or you

Resi · #14 October 9th, 2010, 10:55 AM

Thanks for the tips. I really think he is ready. He shows almost all the signs. He is very verbal for his age and communicates his needs well. I think we are going to go for it starting Monday. He just pooped for the first time on the potty chair today. Damon took him to the bathroom after he said he had to go. We didn't think he would try to go on the potty chair but after a minute or so he did! I couldn't believe it when Damon called me in there. Soo proud!

ScottishBrit · #15 October 10th, 2010, 09:01 PM

Yay for Oliver! Thats GREAT Resi! Im so happy for you!!

Cambria really has NO interest and It drives me crazy! We've had a potty seat for a while now and she has pee'd in it a few times. I started with taking her in there and trying to go when I go. We bought her a potty book to that we read when she's sitting there. She has never told me she has to go, or has the feeling, or anything. Earlier tonight she yelled "poo poo" and abut 2 mins later she went in her diaper. I was nursing on the couch and DH was making me dinner. I heard her and asked her if she needed to go and told DH to take her but of course he took his time and it was to late. Im just glad that she told us this. Im hoping this means she's starting to "get it". I give her a choc chip when she goes. I want to start the sticker thing but I dont think she'll get it. Maybe when we try and get her to poop on it. I will say It is SO hard to Potty train when I have Baylen though. Im always nursing or he's always crying so I dont get a chance to just sit there with her.

Resi · #16 October 14th, 2010, 10:19 AM

Oliver seems to be potty trained for the most part! He had several accidents the first two days but by the end of day 2 he had it down. The past two days he has made it to the toliet on his own every time! I'm always reminding him to pee on the potty when he has to go. When he feels the urge he runs over and pees. If he has to poop he tells me and I go with to offer support because that scares him a bit more. I can't believe how easy it has been training him. I'm sooo proud of him. I guess he was really ready because I didn't have to force him or push him at all. I did it by keeping him bare bottomed and the first two days I had him sit on the potty every hour or more. He is still bared bottom but I will try underwear this weekend. I'm not sure if I should put a diaper on him when we go out or keep him in underwear?

Frozendesire · #17 October 14th, 2010, 08:11 PM

I would keep him in undies and just bring extras

That's SOOOOO awesome!! I'm so jealous

hehe. WAY TO GO OLIVER!!!

Resi · #18 October 14th, 2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frozendesire

I would keep him in undies and just bring extras

That's SOOOOO awesome!! I'm so jealous

hehe. WAY TO GO OLIVER!!!

I was thinking about you today with the poop issues. Oliver today and he kept wanting to get off because he didn't want to poop. He would poop a little bit and then get up to try to go back to what he was doing before. He pooped 4 times on the potty within a half an hour or less. He was scared about pooping. After that he only wanted to pee in the downstairs potty chair. I think he is a bit scared of the upstairs one becaue of pooping earlier in it. I hope he is okay with it tomorrow. The good thing is he poops so much easier without a diaper on but I think it scares him because he has had trouble with pooping for so long. Ugh.. I hope it isn't a set back but he still peed in the potty the rest of the day.

Frozendesire · #19 October 14th, 2010, 11:07 PM

Awe I hope he doesn't regress. I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone. It's really tough. I feel like a total failure because of it... it's been really tough.

Just keep him in undies though, don't go back to diapers (except at night) as it doesn't help... messes will happen but I think it's just part of the process. That's just my oppinion though and as you can see I'm not the expert on potty training haha.

Resi · #20 October 15th, 2010, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frozendesire

Awe I hope he doesn't regress. I wouldn't wish this situation on anyone. It's really tough. I feel like a total failure because of it... it's been really tough.

Just keep him in undies though, don't go back to diapers (except at night) as it doesn't help... messes will happen but I think it's just part of the process. That's just my oppinion though and as you can see I'm not the expert on potty training haha.

He is doing fine with it today and using both potty chairs again. We will see what happens when he has to poop again. I can tell he doesn't like the idea of pooping on the potty but he didn't like doing it in his diaper either.

I feel for you with Curtis's poop issues. It seems like a common problem from what I've read on the internet. Have you tried any poop books? I've seen a couple on amazon. This one Amazon.com: It Hurts When I Poop!: A Story for Children Who Are Scared to Use the Potty (9781433801303): Howard J., M.D. Bennett, M. S. Weber: Books gets great reviews with parents claiming it helped with their childs poop issues in the potty. It seems like a far stretch but maybe worth a try for $10.17.