I think my daughter and I are finally ready to tackle toilet training. I was wondering if any of you had techniques or books that made this process easier for you. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Get clothe training pants and go for it. Make sure she practices pulling her pants up and down. My daughter took awhile. But it was at her own pace and we had lots of messes but thats normal. I didn't mind cleaning the mess.
There are a ton of books, one of my favorite was the bunny one, I cannot think of the name of it.
We started for both kids with a chart, every time they peed, a sticker, for pooping two stickers and at the end of each week if there was say like 20 stickers total they got a surprise from the dollar aisle or a treat.
Do not ask if she has to go, just say "lets go try" and set her on the potty or you will set yourself up for a struggle.
Keep it light hearted, start with pullups too! I know a million moms swear that isn't the way to go but it will be a life saver for you. She will get the confidence using a pullup and will lessen the stress for you with messes, promise. I found right away, the less stressful it is the faster it will go for you both.
Both of my kids were in pullups that first few weeks of potty training and then both in underwear 100% without any messes!!!!! I still used pullups at night for a while after and on long errand trips, neither had regression due to pullups!
After the first few weeks, take her to pick up some big girl underwear and tell her how exciting it will be for her to start wearing them.
I haven't read this book, but I just saw it on Amazon--it's called "The Potty Train--Chugga Chugga Poo POO!" I started laughing so hard when I saw the title, I decided to buy it for my son when he starts training. I have seen a lot of people post things here on Mamasource about that book "Potty Training in One Day", but I have never used it myself.
When I potty trained my daughter, we had both a little potty that sat on the floor in the bathroom, and a seat that went on the big potty, so my daughter could have a choice of where to go, which seemed to help. We didn't pressure her or anything--we just let her use the potty when she wanted, and it took a while for her to really be interested. I finally put her in underwear, rather than a diaper, to see if that helped, and that seemed to be the ticket. She had a few accidents, but not many, and was pretty much fully trained in a few days after I stuck her in the underwear. Good luck!!!
This doesn't work for all but it did work for my first daughter. I made a calander on a poster board with a bunch of fun pictures on it that she liked (like frogs etc..) on one side I had written on it goal & prize then I had it laminated and tacked it on the wall in the bathroom. I also bought a bunch of stickers. Using washable makers I filled in the month & we would write a goal (like: go poop/pee at least once a day for a week. On the prize we come up with something she wanted to work for like a slurpee and if she met her goal she would get it. With the stickers she would get to put 1 on it for pee and 2 for poop. Then if she went in her pants she would have to take she same amount of stickers off the chart and throw them away (which she didn't like to do. She loved to show Daddy how many stickers she had gotten during the day). As time progressed we upped the anty. This also worked for my niece but they just put the sitckers on a piece of paper. Good luck too you!
I had a potty party for my daughter when she was 2&1/2. I built up the day by talking about it for about a week; we went shopping for a potty and big girl underwear together. On the day of the party she wore a party hat and just a shirt and underwear to make it easier. I had her open small presents when she went potty. We did this outside on our back deck (still had privacy) so that if she had accidents, no carpet was ruined, etc. and I wouldn't freak out! Most importantly, I let her drink all the flavored water pouches and juice boxes she could handle all day. This was key, as it made her have to use the potty a lot, so she had lots of practice and gained confidence with her successes. Then, after that day I just made sure she sat on the potty at particular times of day (don't ask, just have her sit there). I think we used a sticker chart as well. Make it sound fun and exciting (just draw your enthusiasm from the thought of never having to change diapers again)!
