Potty Training!

Lori - posted on 12/19/2009

I have a boy...but he was a year when we started potty training too. We kind of did it the old fashioned way. We just put him in big boy underwear and constantly asking him if he needed to go potty and putting him on the potty. At first he didnt understand it, but then when he would go in his pants he didnt like the feeling of being wet. and he caught on quickly that he could potty in the big boy potty and stopped needing a diaper. It just sucks because you are doing alot more laundry for the first part of it! Plus if you have nice furniture you have to constantly be on the look out for accidents. But another great method is to give them a small treat every time they make a potty...we used fishy crackers since they are healthier than most treats. and if they make a poopy you give them a bigger treat or more of that treat. they start wanting to use the potty so they can get that treat...but once they got it down you have to take the treat away...otherwise thats a whole other problem to wean them off of!! Goodluck!

Christy - posted on 12/19/2009

i started my daughter at 11 months old, she's now fully day time trained at 16 months. i got her one of the 3-in-1 combos, a potty chair that breaks down into a potty seat and step stool. for the first 3 months or so i used a timer and set it for 30 minutes. i know it gets hard to put them on every 1/2 hour but it is well worth it in the end. during those 3 months she would have times where she didn't feel like training, sometimes for a week at a shot. i just went with it, continuing to offer the potty at least in the morning, once in the middle of the day, and again at bedtime until she felt like doing it again. i think when they are so young it's important not to be too strict with it but also not to totally give it up.



when she turned 15 months she started to tell me when she'd had an accident, though by this time she was have about 3-4 dry days a week or she would on have 1 accident a day and such. at the beginning of her 16th month she started telling me when she needs to use the potty and has been dry for almost 3 whole weeks.



i would definitely at least start with the potty in the bathroom and if you are on 1 floor keep it there but with my daughter i had to move it to a corner of the living room while she was on the every 1/2 hour routine to get a lot of success. also, while the potty chair is great i would also suggest trying to put her up on the big potty every so often, first with the potty seat but as she gets more comfortable even just hold her so that her thighs are on the seat of the actual toilet. it just makes it more convenient when they are comfortable on a normal toilet so they can continue training more easily when you're out. also, try to make a habit of flushing the toilet around her often so that she doesn't get scared if you try to put her on the potty at the store. i hope this helps, good luck!