Who initiated potty training?

[SoCalMommy]

Did you wait until your DC said they wanted to wear big kid underwear/use the potty or did you encourage them by asking to get the process started?

DD had a lot of interest around 18-20 months and even went a few times (pee and poop) on the potty, but has refused to even sit on the potty for many months now (she is 27 months). We have read potty books, explained sticker charts and asks if she wants to go on the potty, but other than having her stuffed animals go "potty" on the real potty or flushing after I go, she has zero interest. My initial thought is to just give it time since she is just over two, but then I hear about or read about a younger child who is already potty trained and I wonder if I screwed up. She still can't (or doesn't want to) pull up her pants and although I know the "face" when she is about to poop, doesn't seem to care about staying in any kind of soiled diaper.

I know she won't be wearing diapers forever, but DH has said he doesn't want her to be over 3 and still in diapers. I think being potty trained for pre-school (a requirement with the schools we have toured so far) has something to do with his comments. Either way I am not worried, but wonder if others experienced this pattern?

[Mommy_Mea]

When we felt ds1 was ready, at around 30 months, we did the 3 day boot camp. He had been showing interest since he was 15 months, but we did a lot of moving, and then ds2 was born, so this was the first time we felt we had a good window.

With ds2, we are going to try next weekend. Similar to the 3 day boot camp, we are ditching all diapers, going full underwear, and never looking back. I think it is a rare child that fully potty trains on their own before 3, and I think poop training just gets harder the older the child gets (ds1 just recently started pooping on the potty, a full year after pee training).

ETA: I realize I didn't answer your question. While they have both shown interest, they didn't potty train on their own. We did a big push, and it was successful with DS1. Hoping for the same with DS2!

[brittone2]

All 3 of mine had a window of interest about the potty when they were about 2. They were all dry in the morning by age 2, were starting to recognize when they had to pee, etc. We kept it low key, offered the potty, and then saw how that went. For 2 of my 3, that pretty much did the trick. I brought home a little potty around the time DS1 was 2 just to have it, and he hopped on and was going 8x a day or so right away. That lasted a few weeks, and then he lost interest. He went back to dipes for a month or so, and then back to the potty and that was that. He had some constipation and withholding issues prior to that, so we did have some issues with pooping in the potty compounded with that. He would go, but had some lasting effects from being constipated. With DS2 there was a window of interest, we went with it, and he caught on quickly. We did a few days of naked time or undies/tee shirt and once we got through that week, he was pretty much good. He doesn't get as constipated as DS1 did at his age and has always done well with pooping on the potty, but if he gets a little constipated he will have a pee accident. That is our clue to make sure we keep up with a little miralax.

I thought DD would be easier, but she was really not interested when I first started offering, even though she was showing some curiosity about the potty. We ended up revisiting when she was maybe 2.5 and then it was fine.

eta: My kids did train on the earlier side, but that did mean I had to help with clothes a bit, etc. I still have to help DS2 get his pants all the way back up properly (he gets close). I don't think there's anything wrong with offering in a low pressure way. Some kids will run with it, some will not be ready. If you are offering she may not be ready.

[hellokitty]

None of mine initiated it on their own. I'm the one who suggested it. With DS1, he PT'd around 2.5 yrs old, it was very easy, we did the 3 day PT method. With DS2, I tried at 2.5 and even though he had peed on the potty before baths, he refused to use it at all, he did not finally PT until he was 3 and basically got jealous that DS1 got to go to preschool. As soon as I told him that they do not let kids who aren't PT go to preschool, he wanted to PT right away, however it still took a good 6 mo for him to get the hang of it, he would be really lazy about going to the bathroom unless I nagged him about it. I tried introducing PT to DS3 when he was 2.5 yrs old, but he wasn't ready. By age 3, he was interested and it took about 4 mo, but he is pretty much fully PT'd, except he still needs to learn how to wipe his butt by himself. Preschool has been somewhat of a motivator for him, I would have signed him up this past yr, but he wasn't PT'd, so I told him so when he asked why he wasn't going to preschool. It hasn't been the great motivator like it was with DS2, but DS3 is more about wanting to be a, "big kid" like his older brothers and his other friends. Each kid has his own motivation. Oh, DS1 was all about the popsicles. You have to find their soft spot. DS2 couldn't be bribed with anything under the sun, except it was envy and jealousy that worked for him. DS3 loved m&m's and that's what we used for him.

[lizzywednesday]

I'll have to totally ditch the diapers before we re-introduce pottying to DD, but at least she's got the support at daycare now.

She'll be 3 this week.

[wellyes]

With DD, we talked about it for a few weeks, but didn't commit to really doing it (timers, accidents, stickers, etc) until she said she wanted to. But I had to ask "Do you think you're ready to give up diapers and wear big girl underpants from now on?" She was just shy of 3. We PTed rather quickly after that.

[BabyBearsMom]

DD1 told me one day that she was done with diapers and I followed her lead. She was 2.5.

[Simon]

We start young and introduce the potty. Our goal is to make it part of the normal routine and start before they become toddlers and "No" enters their vocabulary. That said, its a pretty low key approach. So far, the boys have been pretty self-motivated after we started. Ds1 and Ds2 were day trained at 18 and 19 mo and it stuck. Ds3 is just starting.

I don't think you've failed just because your Dd is still in diapers. There are some windows for PT-ing that are easier than others. I also think, and this isn't always a popular opinion, that its okay for it to be parent initiated and for it to be a process vs. overnight. Using a potty isn't optional here. Everyone goes at certain times of the day or at least tries. I have never done a boot camp or a naked training--though who knows what will be Ds3's path--but we also don't usually have tons of accidents either.

[crl]

Ds was a very reluctant potty trainer and it was definitely my initiate. He was three years three months (I kept waiting for him to be "ready" but it became obvious that wasn't going to happen--or more accurately he WAS ready, just not willing). He was completey potty trained in under two weeks, as in he had one accident in the entire year after those initial two weeks were up.

I was planning to start with dd when she pretty much started on her own (I was waiting for weekend visitors to be gone and planning to start on Monday). She started asking to use the potty and taking her diaper off to go. So I switched her to undies when awake and haven't looked back. It's been about two weeks now and she hasn't had an accident in the last three or four days. She needs a lot more help than ds did though. She takes all her undies and pants off to go and can't get them back on. She also just runs out of the bathroom with a naked bottom and without flushing or washing her hands if I'm not right there to stop her.

ETA. Dd was 34 1/2 months old when we started--very nearly three.

Catherine

[SoCalMommy]

For those that did the 3 day method or naked time, what did you do for naps?

If you did use diapers for naps, how long until you went to undies?

[newg]

I initiated with both DDs....DD2 showed a little more curiosity than DD1, because she had DD1 already going potty.
I used the three day method mentioned above....all panties, no diapers for any reason at any time of the day. Not everyone does this, it's personal preference....but both girls stayed dry through nap time in about 1 week (or less), DD1 was dry through the night within that same time frame. It took some work on my part, but they did it.
I struggled a bit with DD2 staying dry through the night....I knew she was capable, but she wasn't consistent. I just had to find the right "motivation" for her. I finally started to offer her a marshmellow with breakfast if she stayed dry.....and she's been dry all night for well over a month now.

[maiaann]

DD1 & DD2 - we initiated. They were around age 2.5 & I felt it was time. DD3 essentially potty trained herself at about 22 months (maybe earlier - can't remember). She was by far the easiest, but I think she was interested because she witnessed big sis's using the potty.

[bostonsmama]

DD made gestures at wanting to use the potty as young as 18 months. From then on it was hit or miss, and then she majorly regressed from about 24-27 months. Right at 2.5 I noticed she was ready, but she was too engrossed in play to WANT to take a break. I started reading about motivators (other than treats and charts, which weren't reliably working since she always kept upping the ante/bargaining). For DD, it was being like the big girls on which she hung the moon. She still gets stars in her eyes when she talks about these big girls and how they don't go pee pee in diapers, they ONLY go on the potty, and she is "just like" them. It's adorable! We're only a few days into it, but she hasn't had one accident (either from nap or bedtime) since she decided in her head that big girls don't pee in their pants, on underwear, in bed, and only go on potties. She even pooped on the potty twice now, and she LOVES it! BMs were her biggest withholding thing, since she'd beg for a diaper, run into her room, poop, then hide out til the nose gave her away. It's been night and day. We do only panties during the day and a diaper at night til I get up the nerve to risk the sheets. Maybe I'll try tonight! LOL

[SoCalMommy]

[QUOTE=bostonsmama;3747175]DD made gestures at wanting to use the potty as young as 18 months. From then on it was hit or miss, and then she majorly regressed from about 24-27 months.

That sounds exactly like us!

Congrats on your recent success! How exciting! That is encouraging to me.