potty-training questions--x-post from toddler's boards

[crl]

(Originally posted on toddler's boards but no replies so I'm trying over here.)

Hi,

BACKGROUND:
DS is 32 months old and shows some signs of being ready to potty train. BUT we just moved (only 3 blocks from our old place) and he is starting preschool on Monday. So I'm not going to tackle it just yet. But we are moving again in August so I think we either have to try this spring or wait until after the move (concerned that he will regress if it is a very new skill and don't want to deal with PT training during a cross-country move.) So, I want to start figuring out a plan of attack now for about a month from now.

SUPPLIES:
He's big for his age so I'm going with step stool and insert. We already have those. What other supplies do I need? He's not actually a fan of being naked so I'm not sure that the naked method would work out very well for us. Plus our (rental) place has cream carpet in the bedrooms. I was thinking cotton training pants of some sort for home (at least that would keep poop and maybe some pee off the carpet)? What brand? And what for school? Pull-ups? (Teacher will not initiate potty training, but will gladly continue if we start at home.) What cleaning supplies should I have on hand for the carpet?

METHODS:
I figure we'll really start on a Saturday morning. We're already working on the hand-washing, pull your own pants up type of stuff. Right now, I occasionally ask if he wants to sit on the potty. He says yes sometimes, but doesn't usually pee and has never pooped. (He really likes wiping himself with toilet paper, flushing and washing his hands.) Would you start trying to do this more regularly (ie, you sit on the potty every day at x time for x minutes?) now? And then when we really start PTing have him sit on the potty every hour or so? Or some other plan?

RESOURCES:
Book suggestions (for me or DS)? Links? Etc.?

Thanks for reading my ramblings and any suggestions you have!

[kransden]

I am only going to address one question, most of dd's PT experiences weren't applicable. With my dd I discovered she needed to go every hour and 45 minutes. The books normally say 2 hours but that was too long for us at first.

Oh and we also had the potty book that makes a flushing sound. She loved it.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[crl]

Thanks!

[kozachka]

I think you have enough time before August to work on PT so that your DS gets a handle on this by than. The question is whether *you*, his parents are ready. Our DS was much younger when we took the plunge but I'd dare to say that you still would need to be very patient and forgiving of DS mistakes. We had real rough first couple weeks and the next two were still difficult. Not to discourage you, but I found it much easier to deal with accidents that took place on the hardwood floor than carpet. And no matter what I did we still needed to get our carpet professionally cleaned when we were mostly done with PT. So if you do decide to go ahead with PT, I'd just not try too hard with the spots, you'd be probably having the place cleaned at the end of the rental period anyway.

Every kid is different but mine thought it was OK to pee in cloth (not fleece lined) diapers which we used instead of training pants and it was OK to pee if he was naked. So after trying for over a month, I just put DS in underwear and used either a liner or wash cloth to catch most of the pees. DS pooped at somewhat predictable times of the day so we had very good chance of getting them into the potty/toilet as long as he was seated on them at the time. So maybe you can note what times of the day your DS does his business and try the same trick? When we started PT, we also tried to get DS on the potty first thing after he woke up. He almost always peed right away. Running water helps too. We did not give DS any candy for using the toilet. It worked for a few of my friends but I did not want to start him on 1)candy, and 2) bribes. Initially, we put DS onto the potty every 30 mins. These days he can go for a few hours, he tells me himself.

Last but not least, when DS had an accident I'd wipe it with toilet paper and put it in the toilet saying "pee/poop goes into the toilet. here it goes. bye-bye." And try to have him help you clean up but don't make it into a punishment. HTH!

[crl]

Thanks so much! The carpet is a real drawback, but there's no guarantee the next place won't have it too.

[JacksMommy]

We didn't PT DS until he was three, he just wasn't ready yet. I really liked Brazelton's method, which is basically to wait until your child is REALLy ready before going ahead with PT. We had very few accidents and virtually no power struggles with this method, basically putting DS back into diapers if he was having accidents offering him the chance to wear underwear or diapers or going naked so he could chooose and never pushing him to PT. Also, the potty chart with stickers worked great.

Laurel
WOHM to Jack, 6/4/02
Baby Madeline 12/14/04