Advice on Toddler Bed and Potty Training

I got my son a race car bed that fits a twin bed; these beds are easily found at your local Toys R Us, etc. It's great because he can grow into it and have it for a very long time.

Potty Training:

http://www.learn2potty.com ~ Excellent tips! :-)

www.amazon.com has a ton of low price, cheap DVDs and VHS's. Currently, I am watching one right now called Potty Training 101.

When It�s Time for Potty Training

There are many wonderful ways to help our kids think for themselves and help them become wiser. The following is a story about Harry, who learned, along with his family, that potty training can be fun, for both parent and child.

Little Harry lives in a house that has two bathrooms � one upstairs and one downstairs. One morning, his father said, �Hey, Harry! You want to use the upstairs potty or the downstairs potty?�
�Upstairs! Upstairs potty! Harry said.
A Love and Logic parent, his father smiled and said, �You want to have fun while we�re doing this, or not have fun?�
The great thing about choices with little kids is that they love making them � even when the options we give seem a bit silly to us. The decisions they make on their own make them feel important, leave them with a sense of control, and give them lots of chances to exercise their brains.
Harry looked at his dad as if he were crazy and giggled, �Fun! I want to have fun!�
�Great,� said his dad. �Do you want to bring a drink in with you, or do you want to wait until you�re done?�
�Wait till I�m done!�
�Do you want to bring Clarence, your stuffed sea otter, with us, or do you want to leave him?�
�Bring him!� Harry says, as he goes to retrieve his favorite stuffed playmate.
Now, Harry�s dad moves to the next step � modeling. Although some parents might find it a little embarrassing, modeling is the best way to teach your kids just about anything. Harry�s dad thinks it�s great.
�Hey! I really have to use the bathroom!� he says enthusiastically to his son. �Why don�t you come in with me? Let�s go. Let me show you how it�s done!�
He shows his son how he uses the bathroom. �This is so much fun! he laughs. �Someday when you�re big enough, I bet you�ll be able to use the potty like me! Then you can have fun, too! Boy! I love using the potty! I can even wipe myself! Check this out!� He flushes the toilet and waves, �Bye-bye!� as they look into the toilet.

The logic here is clear. Kids want to be like their parents. Whatever parents do, kids naturally want to be able to do, too. And if parents think it�s fun, kids will, too. So, parents have some choices when it comes to potty training:
� We can allow ourselves to become embarrassed and refuse to model this skill.
� We can fight with our kids over the issue and try to force them to be ready before they actually are.
� We can decide to have some fun, take the pain out of the process, and build strong relationships with our kids. How? Use lots of choices � and model, model, model!

When Parents offer choices, model, and make a task fun, learning happens quickly.

When Accidents Happen

If you know how to ride a bike, you probably remember falling a few times before finding the right balance. When we�re learning something new, accidents are bound to happen. So it is with out children when they are not potty-training age.
Successful parents dole out empathy and say, �Oh, you had an accident! That�s too bad! I love you, Sweetie.� They take their time and don�t rush anything, because there�s no set timetable for potty training. Every child has his or her own unique schedule of development.
Some children potty train at two, some when they�re four, and some at every age in between. It all depends on the child. A wise parent locks in empathy and waits for kids to develop the skill on their own. Then, when a child is successful, a parent can say, �You did it! I bet that feels great!�
Unsuccessful parents have a pattern, too. When their kids make a mistake, they get upset, or angry. They say, �You messed your pants again! That�s not nice! We don�t do that! Now you better learn how to do this right! You�re going to sit here until you use the potty!�
You can guess what happens. The child sees frustrated parents, and the child gets frustrated, too. Like any task we�re expected to perform under pressure, potty training becomes an undesirable chore. What a bummer!
-END-

This is directly from Chapter Two, Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years by Jim Fay and Charles Fay, Ph.D. - www.loveandlogic.com

Honestly, It may be a good time to train..... two days after we moved into our new house, my VERY Difficult daughter decided she was done with diapers (unfortunately she was 3 1/2, her twin sister was a little older than 2 1/2 when she trained)..... and that was it, she hasn't even wet the bed or been in pullups overnight since. I emphasized the fact that she was going to be a big girl in the new house and really let her help (as much as she could- little tiny boxes and such) with the move. Just remember, some knids just do it when they're ready..... no matter how much you try to "teach" them.

Hi B.... Sounds like me right now, my youngest son will be 2 october 23rd, i have 2 other children ages 6 female and 8 male , i had them both potty trained before they were 2 and a half. My daughter was very easy my oldest son was a bit hard.I'm trying the same thing is working for my youngest that worked for my oldest and it may sound funny but it works, i bought a box of fruit loops and let my son take a few and throw them in the flush, then i had him stand on his stool and would tell him to pee on the green one or the red one you get the point, he enjoyed it alot and thought it was cool.As for number 2 i just kept sitting him on the flush every hour and a half,...I just moved to my new house 1 month ago my son also has a new room and new big boy bed but im still going to start on the potty training him kids are stonger then you think and they get over changes fast at a young age as ours our.. good luck

I think introducing the new bed with the move is good idea. I do think waiting at least a few weeks ont he potty training would work better for both of you...

B.,
I have 2 children, a 4 year old and a 7 year old. Potty training has been the hardest thing. The biggest advise that I can tell you is that they will do it when they are ready. But some things to help are sticker charts( i gave like 2 stickers for pee, and 4 for poop) The other thing is that since he is a boy, make it fun for him..Try putting cheerios, or colored marshmellows in the toliet for him.(It works great) The other thing that worked was putting books, and trucks on the back of the toliet. For our daughter, she wanted a Doras talking kitchen so bad... So we told her that if she went potty all of the time on the big girl potty, we would get it for her. She flew threw it like a champ. I found that the little potties weren't helpful, but that the seats that went on the big potty were helpful with a stool....Hope this helps..:)