Lkg for quick tips on Potty Training

[janine]

We are in the middle of PT - DD is 2 and 3/4 and definitely ready. We've got the books, potties, talked through it. But she never actually has peed in the toilet.

This weekend I decided to up the ante since she was starting to say "no" to any attempts to get her to sit on the potty. Got a jar of M&M's, one for sitting, a few more for actual pee (or poop!). Oh how she loves to sit now....but no pee! I take her at regular intervals ... every 1-2 hrs and after meals.
What gives, how do I encourage/get actual pee?

[Cam&Clay]

Maybe she's really not ready if she won't sit without bribes. I found with my boys that it was best not to push it until they wanted to do it.

[amm40]

We just did 3 Day Potty Training (http://www.3daypottytraining.com/) 3 weeks ago, and it was a huge success. I'd highly recommend doing a "boot camp" type program and getting it over with. What I liked about this system was it wasn't pushing him, it actually gave him the control and the tools to figure it out. And this was a kid who was pretty resistant to start out with. But by day 2 he had it mostly under control. I even got to return the pull ups I'd bought for night time, he was dry 1/2 the time for the first week and a half, and completely dry for over a week now :boogie: Now if I could just get him to pull his pants up and down on his own...

[janine]

thanks AMM. I have no doubt she is ready and do not consider this "bribing" in the negative sense. I just have a stubborn DD and I think if we had one successful pee in toilet it would all come together. I've backed off on the potty training for some time, but now with age 3 approaching (and preschool requiring PT at aged 3 and #2 on the way) it's time for me to get more focused. Looking for what worked for others in similar predicament.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We went for it too and we did have success but it took a while. 6 days of him not really caring and only be willing to sit sometimes, candy and rewards not working. I gave up on rewards for sitting. I also gave up on a clock. If I thought it was a good time to go, I'd suggest it, otherwise I backed off b/c it was getting frustrating to ds2. Also, we went into undies completely and just dealt with accidents. It was annoying b/c he didn't care 1 bit about the accidents. But, a few days in it all clicked. I was ready to bag it b/c he just didn't seem ready. But, I was so we kept going.

Does hyping up school work? Could you just wait till closer to the school year? We pt'ed for summer camp (preschool doesn't require it).

Beth

[KpbS]

Pants free/undies free, running a little water in the sink when she is trying, praise her few just a few drops of urine into the potty. In the beginning of training DS2, I found that he wanted me to look away or if I pretended to be doing something else that took the pressure off of him and he would go.

[PAfirsttimemom]

thanks AMM. I have no doubt she is ready and do not consider this "bribing" in the negative sense. I just have a stubborn DD and I think if we had one successful pee in toilet it would all come together. I've backed off on the potty training for some time, but now with age 3 approaching (and preschool requiring PT at aged 3 and #2 on the way) it's time for me to get more focused. Looking for what worked for others in similar predicament.

We are in a similar predicament. Ds2 starts preschool in sept, and he is required to be potty trained. We haven't started yet. He won't be three till sept and doesn't even seem ready. But I think we're going to try very soon. My other so didn't train until he was older. Anyone out there have success with training 2 yr old boys? Sorry for hijacking a bit. Good luck to you op!

[amldaley]

Every 1-2 hours is not often enough. She needs to be on the potty every 30 minutes up to every hour. And NO DIAPERS! Diapers make it too easy for her not to use the potty. I let DD pick out her own panties - Dora, Hello Kitty & Elmo. That was a big incentive for her.

The rewards need to be clear and consistent. No reward just for sitting unless it is HER idea. We did 1 skittle/jellybean/mm for the decison, 1 for pee & 2 for poop. Stickers are a great reward, too as they can continue to look at the sticker and you can say "hey, that's a nice sticker...what did you do to earn that sticker?"

We put her porta-potty in the living room and she went sans diapers for a few days. That was a great catalyst in getting started.

Some people say "no" to pull ups but they worked well for us. We still use them on days out, trips, etc but they get treated just like panties.

We praised her constantly and made a BIG production out of the potty. You'd have thought she discovered cold fusion they way we carried on.

And we bought a toy potty for her doll...which was a big hit!

[citymama]

Bare butt at home
Easily accessible potties
No pull ups - undies or training pants when out of the house
Potty reward chart
Lots of potty time (read to her)
Lots of patience

Watch the shimojiro video w her on YouTube!

[KrisM]

What is she wearing around the house? Underwear or is she naked?

DS2 was mostly trained in March and then he stopped. Would not even try or sit, so we went back to diapers for a couple weeks. Then, about a month ago, he was just ready and has been totally dry since, including at night. Bribing him to sit on the potty did not work and just made us both frustrated. It was worth it to back off a month or so and then once we started, he was naked for a few days until he got it down.

I think naked works better than underwear.

[ahrimie]

Mine was the SAME way. So finally I just took the diaper off and put her in underwear. By day 3, she was trained completely.

[MSWR0319]

We are in a similar predicament. Ds2 starts preschool in sept, and he is required to be potty trained. We haven't started yet. He won't be three till sept and doesn't even seem ready. But I think we're going to try very soon. My other so didn't train until he was older. Anyone out there have success with training 2 yr old boys? Sorry for hijacking a bit. Good luck to you op!

DS is only a month younger than your son. We tried to PT in May and I think he was ready, but I wasn't ready to deal with it because he's super stubborn and you can't force him to sit on the potty. We just started again last Thurs. And I can say we are doing much much better! He is in underwear only. Yesterday he only had one accident. He still doesn't tell us when he needs to go all the time, but after awhile I'll just ask him and he'll go sit for a few minutes. He did tell me last night when he had to poop! The first few days we went through quite a lot of underwear but I think that helped him learn. He gets a small piece of candy for peeing or pooping. At first I tried to give him one for sitting (because he wouldn't sit, not my original plan) but that didn't work and only resulted in him wanting to sit on the potty for nothing. If he asks for a piece of candy after going I'll give it to him, but if he doesn't I won't because I don't want to be giving him candy for the rest of his life!

[janine]

Thanks all, some great tips here.

The 'bribing' has been a success in getting her to sit willingly and even ask to go potty. It has not been a success in actual pee. I have not taken the diaper off though around the house -sounds like I need to cross that bridge and deal with the accidents! Her diaper has been mostly dry overnight lately and she also says "I don't want to pee on you" when I carry her sometimes, so I really feel she is ready.

Thing is I work FT so I can only really attack this full on on weekends!

Thank you!!

[PAfirsttimemom]

DS is only a month younger than your son. We tried to PT in May and I think he was ready, but I wasn't ready to deal with it because he's super stubborn and you can't force him to sit on the potty. We just started again last Thurs. And I can say we are doing much much better! He is in underwear only. Yesterday he only had one accident. He still doesn't tell us when he needs to go all the time, but after awhile I'll just ask him and he'll go sit for a few minutes. He did tell me last night when he had to poop! The first few days we went through quite a lot of underwear but I think that helped him learn. He gets a small piece of candy for peeing or pooping. At first I tried to give him one for sitting (because he wouldn't sit, not my original plan) but that didn't work and only resulted in him wanting to sit on the potty for nothing. If he asks for a piece of candy after going I'll give it to him, but if he doesn't I won't because I don't want to be giving him candy for the rest of his life!

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like I might have hope!

[twowhat?]

Stay at home - no plans to go anywhere. Just stick her in panties. On day 1 set a timer for every 30 min and have her sit on the potty. Use diapers/pull-ups for naptime/bedtime. Ask if her underwear is dry. Accidents are good - she will see/feel them and figure out the sensations associated with needing to pee and releasing the pee. Make no big deal out of accidents other than "You're peeing! Let's try to get the pee in the potty next time".

Day 2 - tell her to keep undies dry and to tell YOU when she needs to go. This is the big step - when she figures out what the urge to go feels like and can communicate it before she actually pees. Remind her throughout the day ("Is your underwear dry? Do you need to pee?"), but don't make her sit on the potty on any kind of schedule unless she actually says she needs to.

In the following days she will learn to hold it longer and longer as she tests the limits of her bladder. You will not be rushing to the toilet every hour forever:)

Once she gets it, make a rule that everyone must pee every time before leaving the house. And put her in undies when you go out (bring changes of clothes/shoes!).