It is that time for our 2 year-old. Any hints?
Greg
Pottty Training
tips
-Make a weekly chart with stickers
-Demonstrate with an anotomically correct potty doll.
-Use m&ms or pez... small candies that you can adjust the portions from more to less as training progresses.
-Don't switch to undies too early
-Don't focus on it too much. Don't stress out. Don't start too early.
-Summer time is a good time to start because you can let your kid run naked, and he/she won't have the security of a diaper. It's a messy option, but quickly effective.
potty training
My wife is always in a rush to potty train. I think she wants to keep up with some of our nieces/nephews. I don't think you should potty train until the child shows interest without being asked or prompted. It seems that if you start too early, then it's a big deal. If you wait a little longer then they make the switch without much trouble and stress. Kids grow up so fast anyway, why push it.
Also, we have a book called "Poop: A Natural History of the Unmentionable" that describes and cartoons the poop of different animals. My favorite is Whale poop. This book our oldest for some reason.
my 2.5
-When she was 2.3 & 2.4 Showed real interest and gave us 6 x #1s and even a #2 and then just when we thought it was safe to be happy about it she lost interest and we haven't had a peep about it since we are now 2.5 LESSON LEARNED : don't rush it. Last time I looked there weren't any kids in grammar school with diapers.
I agree with JMC you'll know when it is time they will tell you.
P.S. I found a great set of books at costco ( everybody poops, whats in my nose and two others I can't remember right now.)
Chef Kev
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They will let you know
If you start too early every will just get angry and stressed and you won't make any progress.
My almost 4 year old has been day trained for over a year and night trained for at least 4 months. We didn't use charts or bribe him either.
They will get tired of doing it in their pants since no one else does and start using the toilet.
who's ready?
I think a lot of the matter is "who" is ready. Really ready enough to commit 110% of their undivided attention for a few days to the training task.
My mom had our 14 month old pretty much 100% while my wife & I were away for a weekend. Without beatings or bribery either, from what we know anyways..... :-)
We weren't that committed with the second but finally succumbed to the parental pressure and got our second out of diapers a bit before the second birthday.
IMO, I think there is a turning point too when they start having too much of a "mind of their own" and it gets harder to change a behavior.
My advice:
stay away from pull-ups and put them in some good old cotton underwear that really feel wet and gross
right after meals you're almost guaranteed some production - stick em on the pot
ask them to go to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes ALL day - party like there's no tomorrow when you get something
take your time getting them cleaned up from an accident - really make it a long drawn out procedure so they are missing out on their activity and is a big interruption to their busy day. they are pretty quick to pick up that it takes 15 seconds to take a wizz but 10 minutes to clean up from one.
Sit Back Relax
Diaper training, toilet training blah blah blah, it will happen when they are ready for it to happen or want to prove something. The way they fill a diaper is a good indicator, pudding like and they are not ready. Baby Ruth like and they may be ready to launch one. Maybe if Grandma is coming to babysit and Baby Ruth is being seen regularly and they want to prove how big they are is the force they need. For us, the grandparents came down for the day to watch the little guy while we went to a ski country funeral in Breckenridge. Not more than a mile down the road and my cell rang and he told me he pooped like a big boy in the toilet!
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Ready
First, let me start by emphasizing that I do agree with the idea of not forcing things, not getting mad, etc. And, there are physical limitations that make it difficult or pointless to potty train very young.
However, and I know I'll be unpopular for this, but I absolutely do not agree with the "wait and they'll do it when they're ready" philosophy.
Some people believe that this concept of waiting comes from a conspiracy between a popular pediatrician and the Pampers company. See "Pampers size 6" here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampers
I don't know if I agree with the conspiracy theory, but it's absurd that one should wait until their kid just spontaneously decides to go on the toilet. Kids in most other parts of the world are potty trained at ages significantly younger than what is expected in the U.S. And, common sense would suggest that if all a kid has ever known is the diaper life, there's not any really big motivation to change.
More importantly, what is our job as parents? Well, there may be many jobs, but guiding our kids and teaching them appropriate behaviour is certainly one of them. And, I think we can all agree that crapping in your pants isn't generally considered appropriate behaviour. So, what is wrong with trying to encourage and teach them to go on the toilet? Nothing.
We don't wait around until they're "ready" to clean their rooms. We don't wait until they're "ready" to eat vegetables. We don't wait until they're "ready" to not hit. We don't wait until they're "ready" to share. We guide them towards what they should do on all of these things. Hopefully, we do it in ways that aren't emotionally scarring, filled with unreasonable expectations, uncaring, or otherwise problematic. There's nothing about potty training that makes it any different than these other topics.
So, be kind, don't get angry, and have reasonable expectations...but don't have zero expecations. I think that applies to a lot of things, potty training included.
It's time when it's time
I have three kids. They each did the training thing their own way on their own time. You just need to be looking for the clues. I started too early with my oldest and so he refused to pee, except on the living room carpet. We sat him down and told him (short version) that he was going to wear diapers until he was old enough to wear underwear. Three months later he dropped a Baby Ruth in the bathtub (he was horrified) and that was that. Underwear forever.
My last one finally trained before his third birthday. Each kid took about two or three days because I didn't push the issue.
Myself, I would go to the bathroom with the door open, so they knew the "how" and the "where". When their bowels kicked in with the "when", it wasn't that hard. But if I were to give one little piece of advice besides patience, it would be "no pull-ups." Not even at night.
Simple Start: BE PATIENT
Well my 28 mo son is potty trained since he was 10 months.
The key factor: BEEN PATIENT
Every morning, as soon as he wake up, I sit him in the potty and we looked some book, until he did piss and/or poop, usually between 10 and 15 min, and with a kind of chant "piss does the frog, poop does the dog"
Then every hour I sit him again until he got the ROUTINE.
He used his diaper until he was 1 yo, but usually it was clean so we remove his diaper during the day. Now he does not use any diaper, and we are in the process of teaching him how to undress and dress again when he needs to go.
Besides that I have to carry a small potty in my car, but when he start saying "piss does the frog..." I just hold he and his pants on my arms and he enjoyed the feeling of pissing/pooping in the open.
Just remember, Elimination is also a way of communication.
If you want more inspiration look for the book:
Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom Of Natural Infant Hygiene, by Ingrid Bauer.
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Congratatio pro erudio et auxilium
Itux
Patience
I might think, though, that training a 10-month-old is not about "patience" but about something else.
I have known parents to train their children in such a way, and that's great for them.
For me, though, I just didn't make such a big deal of it. People were always telling me, "Oh little junior was trained by six months/one year/ two years/college..." whatever. I just think it's not as big a deal as some parents make it out to be.
Like I said, happens when it happens. It's part of the whole enchilada of childraising. Speaking of which, a tasty enchilada in a two-year old is good impetus for sitting on the pot and having those bowel-conversations.
so are
Quote:
Speaking of which, a tasty enchilada in a two-year old is good impetus for sitting on the pot and having those bowel-conversations.
So are White Castles! (or Crystals, wherever those are)
Even Before They Are Ready
I think everybody has covered the "only until they are ready part". Here's a couple of things that have helped a lot before and once our oldest got started, and now with our 2nd.
Potty Time Elm DVD - Our daughters, like most, really connect with Elmo and this was also a fun way for them to become oriented to the whole messy business. Watching it with them and interacting with them during the DVD I believe also helps a lot, quite entertaining too as far as Elmo DVD's go.
Also the obvious, start showing them how it's done yourself. There may be some modesty and other issues here for Dad's to show their daughters, if that's the case have mom & grandma do it. If you do choose to show them also, be sure to sit (even as emasculating as this may seem or be). Last thing you want when you turn your back is your daughter trying to do it standing and peeing all over herself and everything else. Not sure how it works with a boy since we don't have one, yet anyways.
Our oldest has always done better with mom and her potty training, which doesn't surprise me actually. However, being the parent who's with her most of the time makes it even more difficult. Of course, I get yelled at and blamed for all the times she fails to do her business on the toilet, even when I'm not around. Yes, it's a shitty job but someone's gotta do it.
Good luck and happy flushing!
Ding! Time to go potty!
I found a couple methods method online, combined them, tried it, and so far it has worked for us.
Underwear in the daytime, diapers only at night for sleeping. I wanted to try the uncomfortable feeling makes them want to go but so far no mistakes so I haven't been able to try it out.
In the morning we went potty (sitting and standing in case either is needed) and then set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes. (that time has now increased)
When it goes off, we hurry to the potty and try to go again, whether he says he needs it or not.
Inevitably, he ends up going.
I did it at 30 minutes for 2 days, now he is at 60 minutes and telling me when he needs to go. I used 1 diaper each on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and he wears underwear all day. So far, so good!
FORCE THEM!!!!
Now that I made you look, please read. My oldest was pretty much by the book. We did the "your own potty" with stickers when he went and an occasional toy if it was something special like in the middle of the night. It was easy and wonderful. Next came my second son. Bull headed like his mom, he had no intentions of training. Oh sure he would go some times, but we could have bought him a new car and he wouldn't care. Why try when we would do the work for him? So we got mad one day and put the potty chair in the middle of the living room, put the naked child on it and said you cannot get up untill you go. One hour later, he stands and said "I went pee." We checked and sure enough he did. That was it!!!!!!!! Not just no accidents, or did you wake up wet?, he was done. We went from pull ups on friday to underwear on Sunday. I agree with "mbieweng" above. If "we" had not made up our minds we would still be buying pull ups at age 4.
Train in 1-4 days
Your toddler should first show interest. In other words, you have potty chairs and he/she sits on them, or wants to sit on them. Or maybe your toddler just talks about going poopy or potty. Ours did both.
We tried pull-ups. We tried sitting her every 1-2 hours. We tried everything in the books basically. It only frustrated her, so we thought she must not be ready. We then got advice that was GOLDEN!!!
You can train in a few days with these few steps:
1. Pick a time you can be home most of the time for 3-4 days in a row.
2. Put your toddler in regular underwear (choose a design or theme they like, this way they are less likely to want to get it dirty)
3. Give them lots of juice... whatever they like to drink. The idea is create lots of potty, so there is frequent reinforcement.
4. Block off a hard floor area like the kitchen. You may even want to move a TV into view for them if it isn't already, as well as their favorite toys. You want to keep them on hard floor because it makes clean-up much easier. MOST IMPORTANT IS EXPLAIN WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND MAKE THEM A PART OF THE PROCESS Example: "We are staying in the kitchen today, because we are learning how to go potty on the potty chair"
5. Put the potty chair somewhere in the blocked off area. Easy access is key.
6. Offer a treat when they go successfully... we used one M&M and a sticker on her shirt, so she could keep track of her success. DON'T FORGET TO CHEER AND TELL THEM HOW HAPPY YOU ARE THEY WENT
7. When they go the first time (in their pants), just explain to use the potty, but reassure them it is OK. Remind them about the reward (M&M or sticker). NEVER GET MAD, AND DON'T GIVE UP AND PUT THEM BACK IN DIAPERS
8. We used pull-ups for sleeping only. We told her it was time to put on her "sleep underwear", avoiding the word diaper. She actually rarely goes in them at night.
Remember, you may need to block them off in this area for 2-4 days. Our toddler got it in one day, but we have spoken to others that have used this method that took 2-3 days. It seems to be fool proof if you put in the time.
Your toddler might surprise you, like ours did. Did you ever notice they seem to know more than we give them credit for?
I hope this helps. Good Luck!
I'm getting ready to train
I'm getting ready to train my middle son. Well, really try and train him this time. He knows what the potty is and knows when he goes in his diaper, but has no interest in using the potty. He just turned 3. You guys have given me some really good ideas to try. Thanks and wish me luck!
Update
Well from your posts, we decided at that time he was not yet ready. All of the sudden this week he is trying to use the potty unprompted. Now here is the cool part. He is in Daycare twice a week and there major focus in his next class up is potty training. It actually sounds like they are going to do the heavy lifting for us.
Awesome.
Greg
Joined: 2007-10-25
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