Potty Training Advice

[Pilotbaby]

I think we are almost ready! What do I need to know before we start? And curious how many of you used dolls that really pee as part of the teaching process? We still need to buy a potty- leaning towards the Bjorn. Any suggestions welcome!

[cookiemonster80]

we just did it a week ago with DD2. I highly reocmmend the "potty training in a day" by Azrin-
http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Trainin...ining+in+a+day

It's obviously written a few decades ago, but it was super helpful for both of ours. Neither were trained in a day- DD1 took awhile, but she was a bit young and then we had DD2 shortly thereafter so that affected the process, but DD2 seriously- had it in 3 days- and she is super strong willed, high anxiety, etc- I was worried about her. We used the potty doll and it really helped us at least- we just followed the book's sequence of events. Planned to be home for 5 days straight, and boom- DD2 was DONE after 3 days- she had a few poop issues, but now 10 days out they are resolved. I'm amazed. I would just stick with it- at the end of Day 3 with DD2 we were about to thrown in the towel- it was HARD, but she woke up on day 4 and had it down- I'm so glad we stuck with it.

I've also heard that pullups will prolong the process- we just use them at naptime and at night. with DD1 we use them still for long car rides though- she is fully trained, it's just for emergencies.

[JBaxter]

I always had 2 or 3 potty chairs one in the bathroom one in the bedroom and one in the kitchen/living area. Naked /bottomless worked best for use ( all 4 x) Pull ups were only used for naps and nights and over top undies on long car trips ( more than 20 minutes) Bribery works I gave away M&M's and those little mini bite candy bars I think gummy worms too. Dont give up. Once you start its all in. Lots of drinks and popcicles anything to increase fluids Every 30 minutes go to the potty and sit. read a book /sing a song turn the water on If your DC pees set your timer for 1 hr then try again. Pooping if you see then grunt / bend pick them up and run dance cheer clap be crazy funny. Yes we would watch some videos while sitting on the potty. I have pictures of Jack sitting on the potty with the iPad doing Monkey lunchbox app.

[mmommy]

We did 3 day method with both our kids right after their 2nd birthdays. Tshirt and undies, small potty in bathroom (we like the Ikea one) and bribes (m&ms, jellybeans, tiny marshmallows worked well here) Both kids were accident free after the second day. We didn't do any timers or ask if they needed to go. Just reminders "you're not wearing a diaper, you're wearing undies, so make sure you tell Mommy if you need to go potty." Pick up and put on potty if they start going and you catch it. Only time we forced potty was before we left house. I also bring a potette potty with us outside of the house, so that whenever they say they need to go we can set it up and take care of business. DD1 wore pullups at night and naps for another year+, DD2 somehow nap/night trained at the same time as day training. Almost forgot - Elmo's Potty Time was a favorite here. They actually never watch Sesame, but both girls loved that movie.

[belovedgandp]

I liked the seats that fit on top of the toilet. Easier when out and about because we had the fold up one that fit easily in a bag.

We went straight to underwear, but used diapers for night.

[azzeps]

We are doing this now. Last weekend was our three day, stay home "boot camp" which basically meant no diapers and naked from the waist down. No reminders to go. Jelly beans available for successful deposits. The first day there was one poo on the floor but otherwise everything else went in. He's been doing great. I will say that I purposefully waited a long time until it couldn't be put off (preschool in fall) so I knew he could do it, I just removed the crutch. Sure, he's had some accidents, but really, it's been pretty simple and free of power struggles.

[indigo99]

It took me over a year to fully potty train DS1 because he refused to poop in the toilet and would withhold. DS2 was trained in a week this month with only three accidents all week. We just switched him to underwear and told him there were no more diapers.

He is too short to pee standing up at the potty so we use the bjorn seat on the potty downstairs. We bought a hook that attaches to the toilet tank to hang it. Upstairs, we have a special seat installed on the boys' toilet, and it has a built-in kid seat in the lid. That's much more convenient than having to put the seat on/off each time. It does not, however, have the raised lip in the front like the bjorn seat does so they do sometimes pee over the edge and onto their clothes or the floor.
In the mornings, we use the actual bjorn potty (it's easier to convince him to use it when he's barely awake but I wanted to keep all poop in the real toilet from day one), and we have another that I keep in the rear of my CRV. If we're out then I'll put down T.P. on the seat and stand in front of him so that he can hold onto my legs while he sits on the public toilet. If we're in the car or leaving somewhere then I let him use the potty in the back of the car.

I made a chart for the fridge with days across the top the first week. Each time he used the potty, he got to put a sticker under the day. When he pooped, he got a special sticker to use. He also got MnMs or Jelly Beans each time. After a week, we went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate.

Initially, however, we didn't go in full force. For about a month, I had a chart where we just charted PP in AM and pooping. If he'd go PP in the potty after waking up or pooped in the potty then he got to do a sticker. After he got 15 stickers, we went to Build a Bear. Because of that, he was pooping in the potty about 4/5 times even before we switched to underwear, and he was holding his pee most mornings. The hardest part is that he wakes up needing to pee 6:30 or 7. He was peeing in his diaper and going back to sleep until 8 or later. Now that he has to get up to pee, he doesn't go back to sleep. That means that now we're ALL waking up earlier.

eta: DS wanted to wear shorts and not run around in underwear only so I let him. Normally I would do underwear only at first though. The few times that he forgot, he did stop himself and go to the potty to finish once he felt himself getting wet. At first, I told him a lot "tell mommy when you need to pee" or "don't forget to go to the potty when you need to pee". I wasn't constantly asking him if he needed to go though. I just wanted to keep it on his mind, but we didn't make him go and sit just to try. He controlled when he went to the potty. The only time I insist on him trying is before we leave home. Then we ALL have to go and try.