whats the best approach to potty training, and when should it be accomplished?

Gunilla - posted on 05/18/2009

"Potty training" Hmm!You cannot train a child to do things it is not ready for but you can introduce the potty at an early age without expecting any results.I am a nanny and recommend that the little ones are put to sit on the potty as soon as they are able to sit by them selves.At first just some seconds but prolonging it gradually.Never have a child to sit on the potty "for ages".At the beginning we just sit and have a look in a nice "pottybook" which isn't used at any other situation,we do n ot expect anything to be produced in the potty but we are training to accept sitting there.One magical moment you are able to catch the pee and that's a moment for big fuss.I say CATCH because still the child is not peeing by will but you are on good way.When a child is about 1½ or 2 years it is time to stop using diapers thar feel dry,you can use diapers that feel really nasty when dirty or wet or in the warm season just let the child have normal pants which will get really wet and nasty when you are at home.Every child wants to get rid of the diapers if given the popssibility.Good luck

Anne - posted on 05/12/2009

Our Oldest potty trained herself, at about 2 years 2 moths. She had taken her diaper off to poop in it so it did not get on her skin. She walked the dirty diaper out of her room to me and said I do not want to wear these any more. It did take her longer to night train that is another story. Our youngest was 2 years 5 months old and came up to me one day and said now what I am doing? (As she was making her Popping face. You know the one they make) I am pooping and it is going to stink and you are going to have to change it. I thought to my self you are more that ready to put that in the potty. She loved Mini Mouse and had at least 6 outfits that were MinI Mouse. I bought mini mouse undies in her size and showed it to her. She also loved black olives. I took her Mini Mouse outfits away and told her she could have mini muse undies if she went potty in the big girl potty. The successes were reinforced with the black olives. Find out what your child really likes and try to make that a part of potty training. I agree with the other moms on what they have said also. No one has mentioned the pull up type of diaper. I have mixed feelings on these. I was a Pre school teacher and I also had Child Care in our home when our girls were little. (They are now 21 and 25 years old.) Some children did great with the pull up type and some treated them like regular diapers.

Danine - posted on 05/10/2009

oh that was hard!!! I did it twice and never want to do it again....not even a puppy!!!! The hardest part with my daughter was her absolute terror of public toilets....especially the automatic flushing ones!!!!! She still hates those!!!! But they give us indications when they are ready. I just tried to make it as fun as possible and as lighthearted as I could. We did an m and m reward system. Everytime she peed she got one pooh got her two. downside was it took longer to break of the m&ms then it did to potty train her!!!! so you may wanna use pennies or something healthy.

Sara - posted on 05/10/2009

Potty Training is so frustrating. I have a son and a daughter. My son was so hard. He took 2 years longer to fully potty train. I think I worried so much about it and now that I think about it there was nothing I could have done differently to make him care. They will be ready when they are ready. But there are some good books that I read from the library about potty training. They do give some good tips that might be helpful for you. The thing that worked the best for my daughter was candy. Every time that she went to the potty she could pick out a piece of candy. She was allowed to eat it unless it was morning. Those times I made her wait until after lunch to eat it. I have heard of people who do other rewards also if you do not want your child to have candy.

I wish you luck!!