[CoCosMom]

Potty Training a Toddler **Update in OP**

Update: Day 1, Hour 4...

Not doing so well on the boot camp potty training so far. We're in our 5th pair of undies, lol. He's peed 4 times since 6:30am... all on the floor. Luckily we rolled up the rug! This last time I KNEW he had to go, but I waited for whatever reason and sure enough... DH is getting discouraged, but I know if he can just get it in the potty once or twice and he gets his sticker and we make a big deal of it, he WILL get it. He just has no concept yet. I just gave him another juice/water and set the timer for 30 minutes...

Wish me luck!

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OK... give it to me straight. I need whatever advice you can give me for potty training, particularly for boys (although I will take all advice from those who have done it!).

I think we will start seriously on this tomorrow with Ben. I've made up a chart for stickers (Cars the Movie, his fav!) and have some big-boy underwear for him to wear in the house. My plan is to just put him on the potty every hour, or when he shows a sign he needs to go (like peeing on the floor - ha!). And praising him like crazy just for sitting on the potty. He'll get a sticker for actually using the potty.

I plan to still use diapers at nap time, night and when we are out & about. He just turned 2 at the end of May, so I don't expect a miracle, but if we have success tomorrow at home and keep it up then I will start expecting more of him when we are out.

Thoughts??? TIA!

 

[Melissa]

Well, I had a boy and he did end up potty trained, but boy do I not have advice to give. We apparently sucked at it. My pediatrican actually said "Don't worry, he won't be going to kindergarten in diapers, I promise."

 

[CoCosMom]

So what did you do Melissa? I just won't do that.

 

[Melissa]

Probably a solid strategy. Unfortunately for you I've blocked that part of child rearing from my memory. =)

 

[jzgrlduff]

My plan is to just put him outside every hour, or when he shows a sign he needs to go (like peeing on the floor - ha!). And praising him like crazy just for going potty outside. He'll get a cookie for actually using the potty.

Sorry, I had to laugh. I'm re-training Frankie right now just like this.

Well Michael and Jared have been potty-trained for 20 years and I don't remember how we succeeded. It sounds like you're on the right track though!

Good luck. I think he's going to surprise you.

 

[Wendy B.]

There's a book out my cousin used to potty train in under a week-I'm sorry to say same principle as training a puppy lots of praise & treats

 

[BauersMom]

I would use Pull-Ups instead of diapers (and make a big deal out of those being big boy underware), and in the beginning I would use them all of the time. I would wait on the big-boy underware until he understands what you want him to do. The first kid is the hardest (my first son was 3 before he was fully potty trained). The chart, stickers, taking him every hour or so are all solid strategies. It is easier to catch them pooping than peeing, so it is easier to get that in the potty. Good Luck!

After the nightmare with my 1st, my 2nd was a breeze. I took him in for his 2 year well check, and didn't have any diapers with me. He had to go commando on the way home, and I told him that if he had to go potty he had to tell me. He never wore diapers again. He wore pull-ups for a while during naptime and at night, but that was it. I hope yours is just as easy!

 

[blacklabparent]

I already wrote on you FB wall =)

With Livy, I took a week and we just did it. She did have a few accidents after, but not many, and they were usually my fault for not getting her to a public washroom faster. She was fully "learned" (I hate "trained", sounds like a dog) by age 2. Of course, once her sister came along (she was near 3) she regressed, I believe, due to all of the attention Anna was getting (the 24 hr/day nursing marathons) and she began peeing in her bedroom closet... out of spite. That lasted for about a month or so.

Anna, on the other hand, was fully "learned" by 18 months. She wanted so much to be like Olivia, that she too wanted to sit on the big toilet & wear panties. All we did was make sure there was a step stool for her to climb on & help support her so she didn't fall in.

Olivia didn't use a "potty" (Bonus, because it would have been just one more thing for me to have to take apart & clean, lol!) So we bought her a ring that sits on the seat so she wouldn't fall in. Anna wanted nothing to do with the ring, she wanted to sit on the actual seat with us supporting her under her arms, lol!

Neither girl had pull ups. We went straight to panties so they could feel when they were wet. I found pull ups to be just diapers that happened to make a huge mess if they pooped in them (no sticky side tabs). And more expensive to boot.It is different for every child though.
I personally think pull ups slow the whole thing down, as it makes it harder to connect the signal when they feel their body telling them they have to pee, and feeling the wetness in their pants. They need that connection "I feel like *this*, then I feel wet... I had to pee". If they never feel wet, it takes longer to get their mind around their body's signal.


Just make it fun & rewarding for Ben, (smarties or m&ms work well, I hear) but no pressure or disappointment when he has an accident. Olivia would get terribly embarassed if she had an accident. We would just shrug it off, smile & say, "it's ok, no big deal", clean her up & make no more of it, no matter how messy it was.

Just follow his lead. It sounds like you have a good handle on it already!

 

[BucksMom]

Raises hand. Here. Mom of two grown boys and daycare lady for the past 17 years. Been there lots. Tips and pointers on the way. your plan sounds great but you have to stick to it and don't budge from that path. It is how well you are trained that will be the key. Timing and consistancy, lots of love and praise. I am not a supporter of pull ups never have been but we didn't have them back in the day with my boys. Alot of my daycare parents use them at home but i ask them to keep them at home, we don't need them. I've actually had children ask for them, just so they can use them to pee or poop. We manage without them.

Your plan to try every hour or so is the best, but expect accidents too. Keep track of the tries vs the sucess attempts too, he might do a try at 10:00 but not go then 15 minutes later wwwhhhoooppps, thats ok. Have him help you with the clean up and changing clothes, helps him get used to what the accident is and how to fix it. Above all never get frustrated or angry. The calmer you are, the easier it will be. If you are using a portable potty, keep it nearby for the first few days, if he sees it, it will keep reminding him. Take it outside if its easier. Read some potty books to him. Let him practice with a doll or stuffed toy. Have him place the doll on the potty and have him tell the doll what to do, when he isn't watching sometime, wet the doll and explain what happens next.

Don't worry, you'll both be graduates of potty training in no time!!!!

 

[MidwestGirl]

I agree with all the advice previously posted.

good luck ... he will learn

 

[dweck]

Our #1 (who would die from shame knowing that I've revealed this) was a BEAR to teach. I guess my biggest advice is to give it a shot, and if it doesn't work in 2-3 wks, SCRAP EVERYTHING and wait 'til he's older.

DW#1 would sit and sit and sit and sit and sit and sit on the pot. And sit and sit and sit. Then she'd sit some more.

And after godknowshowlong, she'd get up, get back into a diaper. And soak the thing through to wringing.

Oopsie.

BUT!!!

FFwd a couple of months. And BINGO. She got it right off.

So take all that FWIW.

 

[Aim]

Oh Good luck!

With my first, we started long before she was ready. It was a struggle the entire time.

With the second, we followed his lead and he was potty trained within days of deciding he no longer liked diapers.

 

[Princess Zoe]

IF you do use Pull Ups don't switch between those and diapers. It tends to be confusing. M&M or candy rewards didn't work. Makenna would sit on the potty for a second and then ask for the M&M. We also had a potty prize, she got a Dora Backpack when she didn't wear Pull Ups. I credit our success to daycare. They did the hard part. Now if we can only get her not to pee the bed! She has been doing pretty well, only 1 accident since Saturday.

 

[Mama3tikes]

DD wanted pink Beauty and the Beast pantys so...I tacked them up on the wall next to the potty and told her if she didn't have an accident in 24 hours she could have them and trash the diapers...it was that easy for her....
DS#1 and DS#2 got to "shoot" at cherrios in the potty, #1 got it in about a week, #2 took 3 weeks. We did the pull ups at night and at nap for about 3 months (I am real lazy when it comes to laundry, I didn't want any extra) My only advise make it fun, let Ben go without anything on the first few days (if you are at home! ) Put the potty seat in the livingroom and read to him while he waits to poop, we also loved a video call...It's Potty Time"

Good luck and don't let it become a power struggle.

 

[dweck]

DD wanted pink Beauty and the Beast pantys so...I tacked them up on the wall next to the potty and told her if she didn't have an accident in 24 hours she could have them and trash the diapers...it was that easy for her....
DS#1 and DS#2 got to "shoot" at cherrios in the potty, #1 got it in about a week, #2 took 3 weeks. We did the pull ups at night and at nap for about 3 months (I am real lazy when it comes to laundry, I didn't want any extra) My only advise make it fun, let Ben go without anything on the first few days (if you are at home! ) Put the potty seat in the livingroom and read to him while he waits to poop, we also loved a video call...It's Potty Time"

Good luck and don't let it become a power struggle.

Oh, the memories you're bringing back. We did ALL these w/DD#1.

Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.
Fail.

 

[jzgrlduff]

DS#1 and DS#2 got to "shoot" at cherrios in the potty,

Oh, the memories you're bringing back. We did ALL these w/DD#1.

You let DD#1 shoot at cheerios in the toilet? LOL

 

[Mama3tikes]

Dan DD would Kill me if she saw this post! In 30 days she is off to start life at University! She is 18 Oh where have the years gone?

 

[joflake]

I just wanted to say good luck, and the one thing is once you start, don't go back. Don't say this isn't working, and go back to diapers. Don't give up. Hang in there, it will work.

 

[dweck]

You let DD#1 shoot at cheerios in the toilet? LOL

Heck, if we thought it would help, we'd've let her RAIN on the damned Cheerios!

 

[LiloBella'sMom]

Good Luck!! We just got Connor potty trained last month, started Memorial weekend since I was off a few days. But I have been introducing it to him off/on since last fall. He just wasn't ready yet so I didn't push.
Sticker chart didn't work for him because he likes stickers, but not enough to be excited to get one for doing it. Candy would not work because he is not a candy kid. He hates chocolate so M&M's were out. I found his love for popcorn. lol
So, I popped popcorn and took about 10 little snack bags and would put just a little in each bag. Connor is a visual kid so I took the bags and put them in a bowl and we put the bowl in the bathroom. Every time he would go he got a baggie of popcorn. He loved it and it worked!! The pooping was a little harder and he just actually got that down about 2 weeks ago, but we did the same thing.
Also, once we started with the underwear, we did not go back to diaper/pullups. I was told it just confuses them and it would take things longer. Connor had a horrible first week because he peed on himself ALOT, but I'll tell you what, he got it pretty quickly. Most kids don't like to be wet. My laundry was also caught up on for the week. lol I would also not suggest putting pullups/diaper on when you go out. They have to learn to not only use bathroom at home, but other bathrooms as well. Take extra clothes wherever you go. Connor has an accident now about once a week and it is usually at daycare.

What I also did was when we were home I would leave him nekid on the bottom so I could tell and see when he started to go we would run to the bathroom. I feel that helped a great deal. And it helped with the pooping too because if he had underwear on he would just poop in his pants. But if he didn't have them on he didn't have a choice, but to go potty and do it there.