Any Potty Training Tips? Please Let Me Know

Hi there. Well it might sound a little corny but here goes. My daughter at that age was fascinated with being a princess. So we found some panties with princess' on them and told her that princess' don't like to be pottied on. That worked so great for her, it only took 2 days and at the end of it we took her to the disney store and she picked out a new princess outfit. We just made it a fun experience for her. So find something she truly enjoys and give it a try.

Well Ashlee,
I'm potty training my little boy right now but I do remember when my mom potty trained my little sister, she would allow her to go to the restroom with her or my older sister or I would take her with us when we would go. She eventually caught on and after about 2 to 3 weeks she was doing it on here own. But the thing to do,is be consistant each and everytime you go so she'll be able to follow the routine easily. Hope this helps a bit.

Hi Ashlee,

I have three older children, in their 20's and now have a three year old. My advice is to let your child take the lead in potty training.

Bring out the potty chair so that she gets familiar with it, but don't force her to potty train because the "timeline" says it is time for her to be trained or because it is what you would like to see happen. That makes the process frustrating for her and for you.

She will train on her own time, and if you let her take the lead, it comes a lot easier and is more relaxing for both of you.

I have done it both ways (before I learned to let them lead) and I can tell you that using that method with my last three were easier and took less time than what I put my first one through!

The book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day worked on my 27 month old son, who has now been diaper free for 8 months. You can get it cheap on amazon. You can skip the first three chapters to make it a shorter read.

HI Ashlee!

My main suggestion would be to make sure your daughter is ready. We tried potty training our daughter when she was 2 and her body wasn't ready for it. A friend had told me what worked for her daughter - keep her in panties or let her run free and she will quickly learn to use the potty. Our daughter doesn't like being dirty or wet, so when she couldn't control the tinkle coming down her leg, she became very upset and any interest she had in potty training stopped. We did try about every 6 mo or so after that and finally got her interested agiain when she was almost 3 1/2.

What finally worked for us was the treat method - not my favorite, but it worked. We don't have candy much in our house, so we told her that if she went tinkle in the potty she would get 1 M & M. If she went poop, she would get 5 M & M's. The pee part was pretty easy (once she decided that it was something SHE wanted to do.) The poop part took a little longer. Again, SHE made a point that (as if remembering...AHA!!!!!!!!) if she went poop in the potty, she would get 5 M&Ms!!! Within a couple weeks she was potty trained and has only had a couple of accidents since. (We gave her too much to drink before bedtime-OOPS!!!!!! She has gotten so distracted with she is doing that she doesn't make it to the potty.) Weening off the M&Ms was pretty easy. Once she was pretty well trained, either she would forget to ask for an M&M (and we wouldn't remind her) or we would forget about them and she would forget to ask.

Best wishes to you!!!!!!!
-A.

My only tip I have is to not purchase a seperate little toilet that sits next to the big toilet. I learned the hard way that this only teaches them to go potty on that and when you're out and about running errands or whatever they don't want to sit on the big potty. Instead get one of those ring inserts for your big potty. I know this doesn't help with the actual potty training part but it's a good tip just the same.

L. H

PS I'm a 39 y/o sahm to 9 and 5 year old girls married for 11 years.

Ashlee,

You've gotten great advice so far. My son was 4 1/2 when we finally got him potty trained. We started at 2ish, had him nearly there, and that summer his best friend (my dad) started driving semi trucks and "left". We waited and he started showing interest again around 3. That was great, I needed him out of diapers before baby sister was born. No such luck. He was almost there, then she was born and it all went out the window again.

Needless to say, I've had some struggles getting my son potty trained. With help from these great mom's here he's been potty trained now for around 4 months. I'll add the link to my post in case you don't need it. :)

Best of luck and my your potty training be easier and faster than mine was the first go round.

Melissa
http://www.mamasource.com/request/8244745171971866625

We are just gaging interest in our 20mo old for potty training. I got the potty training packet from Pierce county library. Basically 5 different books for kids about potty training. Since she loves new books we have been reading them to her consitantly for 2 weeks. Yesterday she peed it in potty. It seemed to surprise her so we will see if it continues.
We tried the Elmo's potty time DVD (also from library) and neither us or her were impressed.

Ashlee,

My daughter is almost 2 1/2. We put her potty chair (that also turns into a stool and goes on the toilet) in the bathroom when she was 18 months and interested, however she has been trained during the days for a few days now. We also have a Baby Bjourn that fits on the toilet. I didn't actually do any training until last week.

I went to the library and got some videos for her and I to watch. There were some really good tips that I used and I thought the songs and information was great for her and I to use while she was learning. She was so into the videos she watched them over and over.

Having a bear or doll go potty is really fun for her to practice. We bought her a cabbage patch doll a while back and didn't realized it was the kind you can give water to and it pees, but it's really great for our daughter to put the doll on the potty feed it water and watch it pee like her. I bought her a bunch of training underwear at Hanna Anderson outlet in LO and ordered her nylon pants online to put over the underwear. This is perfect for protecting her from getting her carseat or clothes wet ~~just in case she goes.

I wish you the best, happy training!
G.

We did like the "Toilet training in less than a day" book but the one thing we did not like was the rewards. That one can backfire on you real bad. It creates an entitlement mentality that can easily carry forward into other areas of daily life. The idea that you deserve something for doing something perfectly natural (like existing and going potty) will cause children to think they should have special treatment, just because they do... ANYTHING!
I have three and each one was trained younger than the last and I think the best advice I can give is to practice. Practice from every room of the house and outside. Anywhere your child may find them selves having to go potty. Then go through the WHOLE ROUTINE EVERY TIME. From running to the potty, pants down, wipping, pants up, flushing, closing the lid all the way to hand washing. Once a child can do all the steps by themselves it is just a matter of them being physically ready. (being able to feel and control their bladder) They will be totally confident of the process and have practiced so many times that even at night when waking up from a sleep they will know what to do. No kidding, no night time diapers here! Once in a while they sleep too hard and you have sheets to change but just make sure you have a good washable mattress cover under the sheets. Worth the $ for sure. :D And they get to help clean up. Not as a punishment but as a natural consiquence of what happened. (We say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" when we bump someone...even if it is an accident.) I kept mine in pull ups for most of the training because I was not expecting them to go in the potty at first... I was training for the process.
Happy training!

Wow, there is a lot of advice here. I must be honest I didnt read all of them and apologize if I am repeating someone.
My daughter started potty training when she was 18mo. so I didn't feel I could use the regular training material since she was not interested in watch movies or really following a book. I purchased a stand alone potty and just kept it low key in the bathroom for awhile and when that didn't work I moved it into the living room and just left it there. I would always let here come with me to the bathroom and see the whole thing. One day she just went on the little potty in the living room and after that I moved it back to the bathroom and started a sticker chart. Although she didn't really understand the chart she loves stickers so I would give her one and put one on the chart. Worked for us. I hope this helps. On a side note, my friend used candy for rewards and her daughter would actually poo a little get a candy and go back poo a little more - candy and so on. She now has problems in that area medically, this caused me to stay away from food for reward.
Good luck!

This is just the way I did it and it worked out great. NO pull ups...except for at night. Start with day training first. One thing at a time. I didn't do rewards with my son. I did praise...and lots of it. I didn't want my son believing that he was going to get a reward for every time he went potty. I wanted him to understand that it's something we do as we grow older. Consistency, routine, patience, praise, and discipline were my tools.

I realized that it takes 15-30 min to digest food/drink. I paid attention to the cues my son gave me. I created a routine based on that and our schedule. Don't ASK if they have to go. That's giving them an option. Normally if you do this, they'll tell you no. Encourage them to go. "Hon, you should go potty now." I had my son go when he got up, sometime after breakfast, before we ever left the house, before dinner...etc. I didn't do the every 15 min...because children don't go on a timed schedule, but rather a routine that fits around their schedule.

Praise them BUNCHES when they do go. Make a big deal out of it. They will appreciate it in the end. :D Also, if your daughter makes a mess by accident (i.e. you encourage her to go and she's in front of the toilet, but doesn't quite make it in time) then help her clean the mess. This way she learns that she gets help from those she loves if it's an innocent accident. I keep a bottle of vinegar (which doesn't smell good but is safe and works great to clean) and a rag around. If she does it on purpose (you encourage her to go, she tells you she doesn't have to and refuses to go and instead, 2 min later pees in her undies) show her how to clean her own mess. Sounds cruel, but she'll pick up on the idea that you aren't going to mop up her messes when she refuses the potty and she should've gone.

Sorry so long. Need help on night training, feel free to write and ask. :D Hope this helps out some.

My son was potty trained by 18 months & my daughter is almost trained at 15 months.

We let her watch us & we talk to her about the potty to explain what we are doing & why.

We also go totally crazy for her when she goes on her little potty chair! We sing pee-pee on the potty to her over & over claping our hands & cheering to either a cha cha or congo beat.

She loves it & wants to sit on her potty all the time! So we let her run around for a few hours a day & we sing to her while she is on the potty.

It worked for my son & it is working for her!

I saw other ladies have done similar things just don't be upste if you get puddles on your floor or if it takes time.

Kids are smart & will do what they need to!

Hope that helps you!

O.

Well, here's what worked for our 3 kids. First we would talk with them about what we were about to do and how exciting it was going to be and of couse the end goal is to where big boy or big girl underwear. We started off by setting a timer for 10 minutes, getting them on the toilet and start the timer again. Once they get used to the timer, they will take themselves to the bathroom and you meet them there. A bit of advice would be to purchase a padded toilet insert for each toilet in your home. I don't get the whole little potty beside the regular potty thing because since then will evenutally be using the big potty you might as well start out there. Less time wasted and less clean-up for you. After a day of 10 min. intervals, we increased to 15 minutes and so on. This process helps them figure out their triggers for muscle control and it's amazing to watch them get it. After consistently increasing the time and by about 45 to 60 min. they will probably start to tell you if they have pee in their tummy or not when they sit down and that's a good sign you're well on your way. I know it might sound time consuming, but this season of life does not last very long at all if you are consistent. For outings (store, park, friends house etc.), we purchase and padded travel seat that folded into 4 and came with a travel bag and if you have a larger purse of hand bag it actually fits in there. If you truly feel your daughter is ready for this (you know her best) and you're ready start, then my advice would be DO NOT START AND STOP...a basic rule for training kids to do anything. If you're going to start, do it until it's done! We didn't do a lot of rewards....they just seemed to know that this was a big deal and that Mom and Dad were proud of them, so they were proud of themselves too. GOOD LUCK!

My daughter is 23 months old and we used the Potty Training in One Day Kit that has the Potty Patty Doll in it. My daughter loved it and thought it was so much fun, she would keep drinking water just so she could go pee in the potty! She loved being able to show her baby how to go potty. THe key is making sure your child is ready. If she is interested in the potty, is she aware of when she needs to go to the bathroom, etc. Too much pressure and potty training can back fire if they aren't ready!

Ashlee,

I wrote this information a while back to another gal who was working on potty training. Hope this helps:

Here are some other considerations as to know when a child is ready to potty train. I took these excerpts from this great book on the subject called "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day."

Bladder Control: Do you notice that she urinates a good deal at one time rather than dribbling throughout the day? Does she stay dry for several hours? Does she appear to know when she is about to urinate as indicated by facial expressions or by specific postures she adopts? If yes to all three than she is aware of her bladder sensations and is ready to begin training. If she does the first two, she may still be ready for training, since not all children give this visible indication of their desire to urinate.

Physical Readiness: Does she have enough finger and hand coordination to pick up objects easily? Does she walk from room to room easily and without the need for assistance? If she does, she is sufficiently developed physically.

Instructional Readiness: To determine if your child has sufficient social responsiveness and understanding, ask her to carry out the following ten actions: Ask her to show you (point to) 1) her nose, 2) her eyes, 3) her mouth, 4) her hair. Ask her 5) to sit down on a chair, 6) to stand up, 7) to walk with you to a particular place, such as another room, 8) to imitate you in a simple task, such as playing patty-cake, 9) to bring you a familiar object, such as one of her toys, 10) to place one familiar object with another-for example, "Put the dolly in the wagon." If she carries out eight of these ten instructions, she should be considered intellectually ready for training.

If She Does Not Pass the Readiness Tests:
Most children over 20 months of age seem to be able to pass all of three of these tests. If your child does not pass the test for Bladder Control or Physical Development, you should wait until she has developed more coordination and more bladder control. Initial bladder control and physical coordination are very much a matter of simple maturation.

(There is some more about if she doesn't pass the instructional readiness test too if you want me to give you that information, let me know.)

Anyway, these guys did a lot of research on the subject and I think the key here is that if you want her to learn quickly and not have relapses that it is wise to wait until she is completely ready. My son is 3 and we just started him a few weeks ago. It worked pretty nicely at first as he is able to pull his underwear up and down, which may be a more difficult skill for a younger one. The question you want to ask yourself is do you want to have to step in and help with various steps in the process or do you want her to do all the "potty" stuff herself? I think at a younger age, you will find that the former is true. When they are a little older, they will be able to do more for themselves and then it is not just a glorified diaper change with more work for you, but an independent act that they can do and feel good about too.

Good luck to you! I highly recommend buying the book. My mom used it when she trained my brother and I and said we were both trained in one day without any regression or problems afterward. The only thing I would say is that the book tells you not to have any toys or distractions while training. We ignored this advice and spent a day entertaining him in the kitchen dining room/area where there are wood floors and if he didn't want to "practice" (every 15-20 minutes or so) we would take some of the toys away and that worked wonders to motivate him. They advised to buy some "special drinks" that he would be encouraged to drink all day so that there were more opportunities to practice. That did the trick....we had lots of opportunities to say the least! And then we had M & M's to reward him (a couple at a time) when he did it successfully. (Those are two tips from the book also.)

As an additional note, my son was potty trained pretty much from the day we did the training. However, he has had accidents purely for "attention-getting" moments recently. I have 8 month old twins, so he sometimes has "accidents" to gain my attention, but other than that he is trained. Thankfully the accidents are few and far between.

Blessings,

H. C.