Potty Training Advice

Megan - posted on 01/26/2012

Thanks. I stopped pushing it AS much. That way she didn't hate the potty. I will just ask her every once in awhile.

Rachel - posted on 01/26/2012

My advice, keep trying, but if it becomes a fight then let it go for a bit. My daughter started showing signs around 18 months, and for 2 days would use the potty. Then her fascination totally wore off and it became a battle. So I just let her be. She started showing interest again around 2 and half. So we put her in underwear and she instantly knew what to do. I think at the age of 2 and half, she was more easily able to recognize the warning signs of having to use the bathroom. And it came much more naturally. There wasn't the constant need to hover over her and take her to the toilet every 15 minutes or so. She's now almost 5 and I could count on both hands the number of accidents she has had.

Angela - posted on 01/25/2012

hi, I potty trained my son when he was 18 M. I put him straight into underwear all the time - no pullups and no diapers. I think that they get confused you switch back and forth between diapers and underwear and don't know what they have on so you end up with alot more accidents.

The first week of potty training was hard and filled with accidents :) but I was patient and he learned quickly. By the 2nd week he understood that if he peed/poohed it would be in his underwear and proabably down his leg :) so he would hold it until I put him on the potty. I put him on at least once an hour for a few weeks just to aviod accidents - sometimes he would go and sometimes he didn't have to but the key for my son was getting him to relax so he could go - so we would read, play lego, etc until he was relaxed enough to go if he had to. Even if he didn't have to go I would thank him for trying and tell him what a big boy he was growing to be. I think by week 3 we were pretty much accident free but at this age he never told me that he had to go, the onus was on me to take him. He had some cues that let me know he had to go, although he never had a 'pee dance' that made it obvious - for instance, he would start to play sparatically going from one toy/activity to the next very quickly. I think he started telling me that he had to go when he was around 2.5 yrs He's now 3.5 and sometimes I still have to ask him if he has to go if he's having alot of fun or excited - I think that he thinks he will miss out on something if he goes to the bathroom...

Anna - posted on 01/25/2012

i say good job that you already have your daughter on the potty!



i tried at 18mnths with the whole potty thing, but my daughter was just not interested! she seemed to sort of understand what i wanted, but she didnt want to even sit on it, so she wasnt going to and bribing didnt work with her. so i went back to nappys.

at like 22mnths i tried again. i just let her walk around bare bottom most of the time. every half hour i would get her to sit on the potty and if she had just had a drink i would get her on the potty on the fifteen mins. if i noticed her starting to pee i would rush her to the potty, but she would actually hold it in! or just let a little bit out and then pee the rest somewhere else.

then one day i noticed her peeing, sat her on the pot and she just let go and done a proper pee!! i was so proud...lol

we went to the big toilet, flushed it down and said "bye pepe".

after that she pretty much done it all on her own. i would ask if she had to go potty and she would say no, or sometimes she would jump up and run to the potty, or i would walk past and notice she had gone without me having to say anything. (though she wont go 'kaka' yet).



sounds like you daughter is heading in the right direction. atleast she will sit on the potty and pee!! haha

im sure when she is ready it will happen really fast. if treats work, use them. seems to be a helpful for heaps of parents.



totaly agree with Deborah on the whole pull-ups thing. if you are using pull-ups, even if your daughter knows she is supposed to go on the potty, if she is busy doing something else or just cant be bothered she can go in her pants and not get wet. i have heard of mums putting panties on inside of nappies and then the child still feels wet, but you dont get the wet clothing.



good luck. sounds like you and your daughter are doing just fine... :D

Deborah - posted on 01/24/2012

Congrats on what seems like a good start!



It might be a little early age wise, but my mom tells me i was potty trained at 18 months because I hated being wet. Just keep up with the ten minute things, and reward her for 'making yellow' or 'brown' in the potty (that's what my daughter called it, and using her terminology helped a LOT with comprehension, it's helping with her cousin too)



My daughter was about 2 1/2 when I did the panties thing. She knew what to do, had done it on her own without 'being taken', she had to 'make yellow' and went and did it all on her own.



as soon as she did that, I put her in panties. First day was a disaster, she wet every pair. next day was better, and by day 4 we were accident free. She's had a few slip-ups since then, and I think I kept her in nighttime pull ups for a few months. we stopped because she always woke up dry.



Keep at it, and rewards work wonders. Find what she likes (if you have an aversion to the whole 'candy' thing, stickers are another good reward) If it doesn't seem to be working, back off some; it'll come with time. The reason I waited until after she was 2 is because I wanted to be able to communicate with her about what she's supposed to be doing, and I found that hard. My son will be 2 in March and he's not really 'talking' yet, he'll respond with noises, and he can say some words, but as for actual communication, i don't think it's happening yet.



Only other thing I would suggest is that when she does have an accident, scold her 'gently' 'now honey, you're supposed to make yellow in the potty. Don't pee on 'Dora" (or whatever is on her panties). That worked GREAT for my girl, she always felt bad for peeing on Dora or the princess. I'd make the conversation interactive "Don't you want to be a big girl? Big girls wear panties." Don't punish, just scold a little, and take her into the bathroom to change her panties, that way you can visually show her where she needs to do her business. I also recommend letting her wear a skirt, it'll keep your laundry loads down somewhat.



And i always gave her a little 'extra' when she'd make brown.. instead of one or two M&Ms, she got six or so...



Personally I disagree with the whole 'movable potty' for kids, I had a friend who tried it that way, kept the potty in the same room as her daughter. Well after she was old enough to use the 'big' potty, she'd sometimes find a place to go in whatever room she was in, rather than go into the bathroom....that was a disaster...



Oh. and Pull ups are only good for the whole 'up and down' thing, otherwise I think they're useless as a potty training 'aid'. I felt like that's where our 'wall' had come from. She knew what to do, and when she needed to do it, but with the pull ups she had a 'choice' of where to go. Removing that option is what got us over that hurdle.





Good Job Momma, keep up the good work :)