We will be going on a cruise in January and taking my daughter. At the time of the cruise, she'll be 26 months. I'd like to have her potty trained before then so that we will be able to take her into the pool.
Right now, she is 19 months old and we've had a potty for a couple of months so that she can get use to it being around. She's succesfully used it a couple of times. I do let her come into the bathroom with me and talk about what I'm doing and ask her if she wants to go potty. She usually will then pull at her shorts, so I take them off and the diaper off and let her sit on the potty. Right now, we are not at all serious in our efforts to potty train. Rather we are just introducing the concepts, terms and actions. I should add that for a couple of months now, she pulls at her diaper when she goes potty.
My thought is to really start trying to train her in starting around September/October. For those that have girls, what are your best tricks and tips for potty training? Also, how old was your girl when she was potty trained?
I have 4 girls, & with all of them we just put panties on them around 24 months. My 1st daughter never had an accident after putting panties on. My 2nd & 4th daughter only had a couple of accidents. We're still working on my 3rd one, but the Dr. said that her bladder just hasn't caught up with her. We would put them on the potty at regular intervals until they were going on their own.
My daughter is 25 months and has been trained for about 4 months now. She was just "ready"...I think partly because she has an older brother and LOVES to do whatever he does. She does still have accidents from time to time but personally I think it's much easier to deal with an occasional accident than diapers (and cheaper, too!). She only wears pullups when sleeping (nap and night). I think the biggest tip I have is that once you start training you have to be really committed to it and no more diapers or pullups (unless sleeping) becuase they really just get confused by that. Yes there are going to be lost of accidents at first, but such is potty training. My daughter hated to be wet or messy so was easily motivated when she had accidents in underwear. There's a book called "How to potty train your child in less than a day" or something like that that i got from the library. it has you use a doll that wets to teach them the concept, but I didn't do this with either child since they already had the concept down. i did set a timer (started with 10 minutes and gradually increased) and if they had dry pants they would get a treat. Then I would take them potty and if they went they would get another treat. They key for my daughter being easy to train was that SHE was ready and wanted to do it. Good luck!
Hi N.,
We started letting our daughter use the potty around 19mos. She showed some curiosty with the toilet when I would go to the bathroom, so we bought a toilet cover(kinda squimish with dumping the potty bucket.) We did not push her, it was more like a fun event for her. She would use the potty here and there, and we would praise her everytime she tried--even if she did not go.
We did not actively start potty training til she was 2yrs old. I bought 3 big paks of lil panties. During the day and naps, she would wear the panties. At night we would still wear the pull-ups(she will probably start wearing panties to bed this summer.)
The first week and half, I did alot of laundry. As time went, she was getting better at telling us when she had to use the potty. She had a few accidents here and there. Overall she is doing really great using the potty for both.
We didn't venture out much during her first two weeks of potty training, but when we did, I purchased this awesome portable potty at Babies'r US. It's FisherPrice Active Gear Portable Potty. It comes in it's own carry bag. The legs fold out/in out. It also comes with 5 disposable baggies, but you can use the 4gal trash bags. I always had wipes with bags so she could use something to wipe.
Sorry for giving you so much info, but I thought I would give you as much as possible. Potty training is not easy but it's another challange that both parents and child with go through together--and the truimph of every flush is exciting!!
Remember to make this fun and not such a task for her learn. She will take to potty training better.
Good luck and have fun,
BB
First thing, I think setting a date is a bad idea. I would get used to the fact that she will probably not be in the pool on this trip. Also, you might want to check the cruise line, because I know some of the pools are salt-water and REALLY cold so I doubt you would want her in that anyway. She might also sense your urgency and will probably rebel despite all your best efforts. Something to think about.
My daughter, who is almost 5 knew what to do at 18months. The first time I sat her there, she went! I was overjoyed...but it was short lived! She would wear a pull up all day, and then when I tried "Big Girl Panties" she would immediately go in her pants. Number 1 & #2!! By the time she was almost 3, she had mastered the #1! But it took a few months after she turned 3 to get the #2 down (I mean ZERO accidents by then). We offered 1 sugar-free gummy bear when she peed and 2 when she pooped. We also had a sticker chart. We had a little calendar thing and everytime she went, she got a sticker. Once she reached 7 stickers, she got a prize. We let her see the prize, but not touch it so she knew what she was working towards. One more thing, peer pressure helped a lot. My daughter is in school and by seeing the other kids do it, it really helped to get her motivated. She did want to be like the big kids and wear her big girl panties! She didn't want to be a baby anymore. Good luck and don't feel bad if she's not trained by 26months. In my opinion that is pretty young, even for a girl.
We had a slow developing bladder at our house too. My daughter was 3 when she decided on her own that she'd had enough of the hot training pants and was ready for underpants. I tried with her when she turned 2 and although she thought the whole potty business (no pun intended) was pretty neat, she just wasn't ready. My friends recommended bribing but that goes against the grain, so we just kept her books in the bathroom and when she did things on her own, my husband and I cheered and clapped :) Good luck!
Is there any reason why you couldn't just put her in a pair of little swimmers like everyone else? I agree that setting a deadline is a recipe for frustration. She is young and personally I don't know any girls (or boys for that matter) who successfully potty trained by that age (not to say yours wouldn't or couldn't though). Also, if your dd is not showing the signs or interest, it doesn't matter how much "training" you do. Successfully using the potty is more a matter of physical development and cannot be pushed if your child simply isn't there yet.
The good news is that she does seem interested (don't be shocked if that changes at any time), you have plenty of time and you are not pushing it (the more you push, the more they push back a lot of times); however, keep in mind it may be many many months before she really gets it. It's taken my son about 7 months to move from being interested and able to go to the ability to wear underpants for longer stretches with few accidents. We're just now able to go out in underpants without me having to worry if he's going to soak his expensive new car seat. :)
She might very well be potty trained by January, but to echo another poster, don't beat yourself up if she isn't. I have several friends whose girls didn't get it until almost 4.
short & sweet - - M & Ms
I guess if you want to be healthy, you could use mandarin oranges or something like that. But every mother I ever knew used M & Ms as rewards and encouragement.
I am not an expert but just wait until she is ready my daughter is 30 months old and she came up to me this past friday evening and said she had to pee. She did and ever since then only one accident and no diapers since. There was no headache no frustration and to tell you the truth traveling and trying to find potties whenever they feel the rush is not pleasant. You will feel like your entire vacation is in the bathroom. Little Swimmers work just fine. There is no need to rush it. When she is ready she will let you know. I always had the little pottie and panties around just in case she was ready.
That is what I did with my son as well and I have never had a potty training problem.
My best friend decided to potty train her daughter when she was 18 months old and it was nothing but headaches. She fought with her for a year, she just wasn't ready.
