I am looking forward to helping my son (he is two and half) with potty training pretty soon. Does anyone have any tips,advice,books,potty recomendations to look at that will really help me. Thanks a bunch.
My biggest tip is to get him interested in it. If he wants to do it he will train so easily rather than trying to coax him along. Maybe targets (cheerios) to shoot in the potty, maybe some new underwear to wear, maybe seeing the flushing mechanism work. Whatever it takes to get him engaged will make your life much simpler.
My son is three & 1/2 and he has been fully potty trained before he was two. (nights and all) First of all, all children are different. So don't take every thing as though it is written in stone. You will only drive your self crazy if you do that. Because we started so early I did not even try to force him to go. I just put the potty in the bathroom and he was naturally drawn to it. It was one of those that sings when you go. He would come and sit on it any time my husband or myself went. I didn't even take his diaper off at first just let him sit on it and get used to it. It was only a matter of a couple of days before we was trying to pull his diaper off before he sat down. It didn't take long maybe a couple of days before he recognized the question "do you need to go potty". After that he could respond yes or no. Oh and did I mention the marshmellows? LOL That was his treat. The mini marshmellows. 1 for trying and 2 if he went. They worked better than every thing else. Consistantcy is the most important. I had to set a timer for every 20 - 30 min. reminding myself to ask him or have him try to go. Other wise I just got caught up in my routine at home. Also, be consistant when you are out and about. This is the hardest part. When you are at a dept. store where the bathrooms are nasty or driving down the road and have to swing into the local Wendys, you still have to take them. If they say they need to go, stop. Eventually you will get to the point where you can ask them to hold it for a few min. but they are still learning how to controll all of that so it may be a while before you get to that point. All of this being said, I now have a 16 month old daughter and we are back to square one. She sits on the potty when we go and she shakes her head yes or no when I ask if she needs to go but if she says no I usually ask her if she wants to try any way. Usually she says yes. She is doing very well. But we still have a long way to go. I know it got a little wordy but I hope some of this helps.
Learning Together
Mir
The target idea works wonders! I found when I taught preschool that toilet paper works just as good as cheerios (target is bigger, and you can find it in ANY bathroom). Also, stay consistant! Follow his cues, b/c if you push too much, then it will take longer. Make a potty chart and let him put a sticker on it every time he goes. At the end of the week, give him a small reward (ice cream, new coloring book, something simple).
"Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day" by Teri Crane. My sister-in-law used it on 7 kids and swears it works. My baby just turned one, so I haven't tried it myself yet, but I bought it and have started reading.
I sat my son on the toilet backwards. He could hold onto the tank and that naturally put his "man part" in a downward angle which prevented him from spraying the walls. Also, he was facing the way he would eventually be when was big enough to stand in front of the toilet. When he had to poop though, I would have him sit the other way. I know it sounds confusing, but it worked for me. Also, once I put him in underwear, I never went back to diapers or pullups, not even at night. He was potty trained by the time he was 3. Good luck!
Put Cheerioes or Fruit Loops in the potty and have him "aim" for the items. Good luck.
When I was potty training my children I would by nice underwear with their favorite character on them (elmo spiderman, etc) and I would say dont get spiderman wet ok. When they kept them dry I would make a Big Deal about it with lots of claps and yays and they would be saying yay and clapping and smiling. (reward him when he is doing well) Also use plastic rubber underwear on top when you are away from home incase he has an accident. I never used pull ups because I felt that a child still feels like he/she is still wearing a diaper. Good Luck.
