i want to know potty training tips my son is 23 months

Erica - posted on 03/12/2010

Im in the midst of potty training my 2 1/2 yea old and it is a battle however I have picked up some tips along the way. firstly make sure he is ready. starting too soon will just confuse him. Reward charts are brilliant! I downloaded one from the web, got some stickers and when she has a wee on the toilet (mine has never used the potty) she gets a sticker and a smartie. After the first 3-4 weeks she now just uses the stickers but using both at the start are a great incentive for them to associate the toilet with weeing = stickers! You will learn at what times he will need to go but at the start there will be many accidents. I used to just take my daughter to the toilet every 30 mins (easy for me I live in a flat - would have stuck to the potty otherwise!). He will learn this is where I go to wee.

start to ask your son if he needs to go but dont ask too much or he will resist. You will learn to find the balance.

Potty training is quite tedious but once the get the hang of it its a doddle. My daughter is pretty much trained after 4 months however we do have accidents especially when we're out and I did start to use pull ups when we were out however this seemed to confuse her. So once you start to potty train steer away from the pullups.

Enjoy!

Allison - posted on 03/12/2010

I agree with Vanessa. I really don't like the "wait til their ready" approach, because as a parents I think we need to HELP our child BE ready for all the different things they will do in life.



Our son did NOT show any of the typical "readiness" signs, but we started full-swing at about 23-24 months, and he was a potty pro (and dry at night, too!) by 2 1/2. Now he's almost 3 and is teaching the other kids at daycare about the potty :)



Creativity and excitement were the key for us!

(1) To get him to the potty we did things like "race to the potty" and "Elmo has to go potty" - and many more, but those were a couple that worked well.



(2) To stay on the potty we would read books or sing songs. We were firm but NICE about making him stay, but NEVER forced him to stay if he was upset. We also started by taking him mostly at times we knew he would need to go - to improve chances of success - like if he was dry for more than 2 hours or recently drank a lot. If he wanted down, sometimes we would race OUT and then back IN to the bathroom to try again. Also, we usually let him play with a new toy or explore some other new item while on the potty ONLY - even things he's not allowed to play by himself - lotion tubes, etc.- and he always had to leave them by the potty, so they were special "potty time only" toys.



(3) So he understands what it's all about, we hardly ever used disposable diapers - tried Pull-Ups but those also confused him. We used cloth diapers mostly, and later did only underwear with a plastic (Dappis brand) diaper cover over it. There were lots of accidents, but each time he was wet we used it as a learning experience - things like "Oh, you peed! It makes your clothes (or the floor) all wet." or "Would you like to be dry? Let's get dry underwear and you can keep them dry!" or "Next time you can pee IN the potty and stay dry!" We let him pick out his favorites at the store, and we'd let him pick which ones to put on each day.



(4) If he DID go in the potty (in the beginning), we did a very exuberant "potty dance" - which he started to really look forward to. Learned that one from the Nanny 911 TV show - turning in circles, arms in the air, singing "pee pee in the potty! pee pee in the potty!" It actually got pretty fun thinking of crazy songs and dances to do for fun after he used the potty :)



Also, the "open door" policy is great - we actually announced everytime WE had to go, asked if he wanted to come too. His potty was right in front of ours. We would even explain what we were doing - sitting down, peeing, wiping, flushing - so he could learn it was part of our every-day life.



After he got the hang of it, he wasn't interested in all the toys/games/rewards anymore and is happy just to use the potty.



I learned a lot by doing some infant pottying early in his first year (also called EC, elimination communication), and I learned that as long as you take an all-positive approach (NO scolding, of course!) even little babies like to pee in the potty!

Vanessa - posted on 03/11/2010

Sorry, I don't mean to upset anyone but how can a child show interest if they have no idea what the whole thing is about? Yes, yes I know they start pulling at there nappies or taking them off, but what if they just like being naked? As a parent I believe it is up to us to decide when to start toilet training not the other way around! I don't think it is your childs age or sex that makes them harder to train. I think it is your childs personality and your approach to the whole matter. That being said if you are ready to start training your child here are some ideas I used.

Start out slow buy a potty place it in the room where he plays. Let him play with it while you explain what it is for. Sit him on it with nappy on for a while (he may not stay there at first but the time he sits there for will get longer eventually he will sit on it on his own) but never force it upon him, you don't want him to be scared of it. Be consistant with your words. If you call it a potty stick to that don't change it all the time it just confuses them. This rule goes for poos & wees as well. Play games with him while he sits (read books, sing songs with actions, play with small toys or talk to him). When is sitting for a period of time this is when the nappy must go. Buy good quality training pants, this allows your son to feel the wetness when he wees. Get yourself & your son into a routine place him on the potty every hour or so even if his pants are already wet. When you actually fluke a time that he goes in the potty, act like you have just won the lotto. A child at your sons age only wants to please those he is close to so if you react positively to it he we be more willing to keep doing it. Take him to the toilet with you so he can see what it is all about. Reward him with stickers or something small when he goes as well this is just an extra bit of encouragement. Always explain to him what he has done, "Yay for doing wee/poo" this helps him to tell between the two and later he will be able to tell you which he needs to do. As for being able to communicate with him now at his age start teaching him sign language for toilet & poo. You can learn these signs off the internet and will be very surprised how quick he is to pick them up. A child can learn to say words with his/her hands quicker then he/she can learn to speak them. It helped me so much doing things this way. Most importantly, when your child does have an accident you can be firm and tell him that he must do poo & wee in the potty now but never raise your voice or get angry with him (this is easier said then done as it can get extremely frustrating sometimes) as you don't want to make it an unplesant experience for him as this can hinder or worse stop the process altogether. I also found as my son progressed I needed to change from a potty to the big toilet and he began wanting to stand to pee so I bought a plastic trough that dangles off the side of the toilet, it saves me worrying that he is going to fall off those steps you can buy. Good luck it can be a long & trying process but well worth it in the end.

www.pottytraining.com.au

www.australianbabyhands.com.au

Above are 2 websites that helped me a lot. They are Australian but if you are from another country I am sure you could find there equivilant on the net.

Oh yeah if you are going to train don't just do it at home go the whole hog straight away and train where ever you are that way you aren't going to confuse him with more then one set of rules (so you will have to get everyone who may look after him on the band wagon with you!)

Finally goodluck and don't give up no matter what.

Stacy - posted on 03/09/2010

My son just turned 2 today (3-9-2010) and we are potty training as well. This is what we have been doing with our son.........

- we started out slow, sitting him on the potty now and then

- we were using a seat that clips on to the toilet seat but he didn't like it because his feet couldn't reach the floor so we got him his own potty chair

- I got more consistent and serious about a month ago and he is doing wonderful

- I let him run around in nothing but a T-shirt so that he has the freedom of going by himself when he needs to go

- I use 2 charts; 1) Calendar that I put smiley face stickers on every time he goes pee and 2) Time sheet that I was using as a reminder to me to be more consistent (although, I may eliminate this one because he automatically goes in the bathroom when he feels the need to go)

- we also have an 'open door' policy for bathroom use which he takes full advantage of

[the other day he tried to "match" his daddy]



I agree with Anne - DO NOT force him to go !! It will just make things harder on both of you. Just be patient and don't get stressed out about it. He will eventually get the hang of it.

Anne - posted on 03/09/2010

that is a young start! as far as i have learned in my years of providing childcare to many two year olds and potty training them along the way...a child must show a lot of interest! and also tell you sometimes when they need to pee, are peeing, or have peed. The child should never be forced to go potty, it will literally traumatize them. a child should never be repremanded for not using the toilet, that will traumatize them as well. girls learn and mature much faster than boys. Many little boys will be three before they are potty trained!...