Potty training to soon if a fit is had?

Terri Lynn - posted on 08/23/2011

When my daughter turned 3, she got on the potty and that was that. I had her in pullups and had a potty in the corner of the bathroom. She was ready. I never pressured her.

Jane - posted on 08/22/2011

i got the "the potty book for girls/boys" w/the dvd. i played it every morning while she ate and i also loaded her w/water and juice. no undies, just socks. and for me, Swiffer Wet Jet and a can of carpet cleaner.
i started trying at 18 mos for her but she wasn't ready until 24 mos. i tried every 3 mos in b/w. i limited it to mornings at first then used diapers the rest of the day until she got the hang of it, i didn't bother w/night training at all. i just waited until she didn't pee at night anymore, limited her drinks at night time and then ditched the night time diapers. i use jelly beans as incentive. one for pee and two for poo. only if they produce, no pity rewards. and potty is not finished until they have washed their hands. potty training is like all pareinting issues; a labor of love and a work in progress.

Sarah - posted on 08/22/2011

Not necessarily here is what we tried. I had my kids potty trained in 2 weeks with only 3 accidents each since then (one is almost 4 and the other just turned 5).
I potty trained my son and my daughter at the same time. My son had just turned 3 and my daughter was 22 months old. I decided to wait until my son was almost 3 because he had speech problems (he was born tongue-tied and had just started speech therapy at 2 after he had surgery to fix it) and I wanted him to be able to tell me that he had to go potty. The first thing we did was throw out all the diapers and get a ring for my son to go on the big potty since he could get up there on his own and a kiddy potty for my daughter since she wasn't tall enough to get on the potty on her own yet. We showed them how to use it and told them that they had to tell us when they needed to go but we also made sure that we asked them every 15 minutes at first (for a few days), then every 30 (for a few days also), and then every hour (for a few days as well). I think they got so sick of us asking that they decided to start telling us on their own so we wouldn't ask.
We did everything we could to help them; they watched us go potty from the time they were very little, they watched a couple of videos about potty training (even before they were ready and we started training them), and we read books with them about potty training. It was not a big deal at all! I think if you make it a big deal and are apprehensive about it then they will sense that and they will be worried about it. My BIGGEST piece of advice though is DO NOT buy them pull-ups, in my opinion this just confuses them. I mean think about it, if you are telling them that they need to go potty on the big boy/girl potty and then putting pull-ups (which feel like diapers to them) on them then you are sending them mixed messages. The very first thing we did was buy them underwear and let them choose it (they are less likely to make a mess in it if they like it and think it's pretty or cool), the second thing we did was buy those plastic covers that you can put over their underwear. When we would go places we would put the plastic covers over their underwear (make sure you bring a couple of changes of clothes with you everywhere you go) and when we were at home we didn't. It's a little messy but if you do this the messes only last for a couple of days, kids hate the feeling of pooh or pee running down their leg or sticking to their back especially in underwear, it's a whole different feeling than a diaper and it's cold.
Don't make them feel bad or ashamed for having an accident, tell them it's okay and that it's just an accident. If you make them feel bad for it then it will take longer and they won't feel as confidant in themselves. We potty trained our kids and a couple of weeks later drove 15 hours to OH for my sister’s wedding, our daughter was the only one who had an accident and she only peed. They did a great job and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. My hubby actually did a great job with them as well and with helping me with it and I think if you present a united front to your children then they will be more likely to do well also. I also think if you try and potty train them too early it will be detrimental to them. You need to wait until they are ready, they will show you signs and you will know when your child is ready. If they want to flush the potty after you go or if they try and if they tell you they need their diaper changed then they are probably ready for it.
You are their parent and only you know what is best for your child and for your family, do what is right for you. However, this is what worked for my family and I think that if you only take one thing away from what I have said that one thing should be put them in underwear right away, do not use pull-ups, even at night, there are plastic mattress protectors that you can buy even at Wal-Mart for every size of bed (our kids sleep on full size beds and have since they got out of their cribs) and even if you have to do laundry every single day for two weeks it is so worth it to not have to buy diapers anymore. : - )

Lady Heather - posted on 08/22/2011

My 26 month old is the same. She just flips out at the mere suggestion of a potty, clothes on, clothes off, with a book, with rewards. Just doesn't want to do it. I'm going to give it a month and try again. I tried just having her clothes free and that just gave me days of constant cleaning up. Ha.