How to Potty Train?!

Well, my kids are alot older now, but I still love to share our positivie experiences with potty training. There is a book called "Toilet training in less than a day" and I SWEAR by it. It really works!!! Your son will be potty trained in a day or two if you follow the advice in this book. The neat thing is that this author's audience is for toddlers and also for special needs children. His methods are proven to work for both situations so it's a win-win situation. My daughter was potty trained when she was barely two, my son was potty trained when he was 2 1/2. It requires an entire day of giving your child your full attention, but it will work if your son is open to it. If he's just not ready, give it more time. There are times when kids just don't want to do it. I believe that if it's forced, the opposite result can occur. I also firmly believe that if it's a fun and positive experience, they will WANT to do it. This should be an exciting time that leaves them feeling proud of themselves.

We used the potty seat that folds up. Realistically, if you are ever on the go, you cannot plan on taking a potty chair with you everywhere. When they say they have to go, THEY HAVE TO GO! Lol! There will be no time to run back to the car to grab a potty chair if you are inside shopping. And you're not gonna want to throw a diaper or a pull-up on them for those times, either, because that can cause them to revert. We used the little fold up seat that can fit in a purse. I kept mine is a little plastic sack in my purse. You can carry little wipes to keep it clean before placing back in it's bag. It will also help with their comfort level of going in a regular toilet (which is the ultimate goal, anyway). With it being a boy, I trained my son to learn how to sit and to stand, depending on the place. If the toilet is too tall, they cannot stand, so he learned to adapt. If he was with daddy, they went to a mens restroom with a urinal. If he was with me, we obviously couldn't do that. At home, we kept a step stool next to the toilet.

Good luck! I am very confident that this will work!!!

The method I used with my daughter was the book "How to toilet train in less than a day" It was great! It was a very pleasant experience. All kids are different so some are not trained in only one day, but it is very fast! You could probably find it on amazon.com for really cheap.

I used both. The portable potty seemed to be the best starting out, and when the girls got a little bigger, we did the toilet seat adapter. The toilet seat is also easier to take with you if you go somewhere, or go to visit at somebody else's house.

I am still in the process of training my daughter. She is 26 months old. She started showing an interest in the spring, and would carefully watch what I was doing, and I would explain the whole process, from pulling down pants to flushing and washing hands. Then she started grabbing herself when she went in her diaper and would holler "potty!" So I'd ask her if she wanted to sit on the potty, and she'd say yes, so then I would take her through the whole process.

I do childcare once a week at a church, and there were several kids that didn't want to go on the potty. It's a regular size potty, but is low to the ground. So I really wanted my daughter to not be scared of big potties. I got a portable seat that fits on top of the regular seat and has handles on the side, and she was comfortable with that. I did borrow a small individual potty, but she never showed any interest in it.

In the summer was the first time she actually went in the potty, and we really praised her. There were days she showed sitting on the potty, and other days she wanted nothing to do with it. Since I was newly pregnant, I was so tired and nauseas that I didn't press the issue. For her 2nd birthday, my mother-in-law bought her a bunch of small horse stickers (my daughter LOVES horses!) and said they were for a potty chart, and she also bought a bunch of cloth training pants.

I made a graph chart on fun paper and taped it to the bathroom wall, and that has been the best motivation for her! She knows she gets a sticker if she pees or poops in the potty, but not if she goes in her diaper, or if she just toots while on the potty. Since I'm pregnant, I'm going to the bathroom every hour or two, so I would invite her in. Sometimes she'd say no at first, and then change her mind. Or if she didn't want to, I'd remind her if she went in the potty she could put a sticker on the chart. Since she LOVES doing that and loves showing off the stickers on the chart, she would agree. On her own, she learned how to release whatever was in her bladder. And now she can tell when she has to go poop, and she doesn't want to get off the potty until she's done. (So there are times she sits on there close to 30 min..... it gets boring, but it's worth the wait to see her excitement and see how proud she is that she listened to her body and went in the potty!)

First thing in the morning, after naps, and after meals we take her to the potty. And we check with her throughout the day. She's at the point now where she's waking up with a dry diaper, and keeps it dry all day. There are a few accidents here and there, but we still praise and encourage her.

So that's what's working for us, and I know that lots of moms will give other great advice.

Once upon a potty book worked for my kids

I think the best advice on potty training is to WAIT! :)

Let your son dictate when he's ready, don't push him and it'll be a breeze. My 6 year old didn't use the potty until she was three. We had a little potty in the our bathrooms since she was about 18 months and she'd sit on it with me and occasionally pee pee in it; it wasn't until she was three that she was really interested in using it more frequently. I made a chart on a piece of poster board, hung at her eye level, with rows of 5 empty boxes plus a box at the end with a picture of a prize (Barbie doll, Chuck E Cheese, Toys R Us, book, etc). Each time she used the potty she got to put a sticker in a box. Once the row of boxes was full, she got the prize at the end. It took us just a couple of weeks and she was out of diapers (she was in pull-ups at night awhile longer). Because we waited and didn't push her it was SO easy. There was no "training" involved. I don't get to brag that my kid was potty trained at an incredibly early age, but neither of us got frustrated or upset with the process.

My 21 month old has showed a bit of interest in the potty; we have small potties in our bathrooms, same as we did for her sister. We plan to do the same thing; wait and let her decide she's ready. So much easier that way!

Good luck to you!

I have started the potty training process for our 19 month old little girl. We bought the Baby Bjorn Potty Seat for the adult toilet and the Baby Bjorn Chair as well and LOVE both. If you buy a Seat go with the Baby Bjorn...it is SUPER EASY TO INSTALL and DOESNT SLIP AROUND! The Chair is easy to clean and for her to empty the tray into the toilet.

The book I purchase to help me is the "The Everything You Need To Know About Potty Training" it has answered all the questions that I had. Here is the link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.a...

I also purchase the "A Potty For Me!" to read to her : http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.a...

Potty Time Training Pack which has a magnetic foam bord inside with magnates to reward them: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.a...

and Potty time with elmo: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.a...

Best advice I can get is this keep track of when he pees and makes a BM if the are regular times then you know when he needs to go to the potty. I know after my daughter eats she needs to go to the bathroom. Make a big deal out of it when he goes but dont get mad if he makes a mistake. If he does go let him see what he did so he can associate that BM came out of him.

When it gets warmer I am going to let my daughter run around the yard with only a shirt on ONLY so when she goes she can feel it run down her leg...I am told this works (we will see).

One other thing I was told NEVER TO USE PULL UP'S!
Good luck!

what worked best for me was the musical potty b/c when they used it (either poop or pee) it made a "ta-da!" sound and i knew she was done, so i didnt have to sit in there with her the whole time. (Sometimes it takes a while) Also, the "potty book" (they make them for girls and boys). BUT my biggest piece of advice is: GO COLD TURKEY! Dont go back and forth from diapers to underwere. And if you can help it try not to use pull ups at night b/c if kids have a safety net, they'll use it. I have potty trained two girls, and both have very different personalities. But they both trained in two months or less. I hope this helps!

I dont have any advice on special needs kids training. But we bought that potty stuff for my son and he refused to use it. I thought he was never going to do it, then one day he just got up there, on the seat, on his knees facing backwards and went. You could try that and to turn on the water for "encouragement" and when he goes dance around singing and yelling that he went potty like a big boy, oh and how mommy loves it. And Im sorry I have no experience with down syndrom so I dont know what he can have or not but you could always modify it to him, but you could give him a treat after, or let him put a sticker on a chart and then if he goes so many times a week take him for ice cream or for a small toy from the dollar store. That is how I potty trained my son, hope it was helpful.

I have no idea how to potty trian but I do have a son with Down's SYndrome. You are the first person on here I've seen a child who has Down's. I would love to talk to you through regular email please email me
____@____.com

I waited until my son was a little over 3. then we had 3 naked days. I used the portable potty and plied him with milk a lot so he would know that feeling of having to go. i also set the timer and every 30 min the first day when it went off he had to go. if he went pee pee then he got an m&m. if not then he hot a raisan. if he pooped on the pooty he got 3 m&ms. after 3 days he was set to go, but i didn't let him be far from me- if i was upstairs, so was he and same for downstairs. the only time he had an accident was when he was up and i was down. hope that helps!!!

Hi A.,

Children with Downs are indeed a beautiful gift! I would echo the suggestion of another email in that you watch for signs that he is physically and emotionally ready. Boys, on average, don't potty train until they are closer to their 3rd birthday.

I will share the advice I gave another mom about potty training boys:

Make it fun!

Try floating something that is flushable in the toilet and let them practice their "aim". I've actually heard of using Cheerios!

Living in the country, we allowed our three boys to run to the back yard to urinate through the porch railings into the grass. I know this might sound a bit "backwoods", but they loved it!

Before starting, make sure he is showing the interest and physical readiness to do this. My friend started training her son when he was 2 years old and he was still having accidents 6 months later. On the other hand, I waited until they were 2-3/4 years to 3 years of age (which is the average age for boys to potty train) and in all three cases, we were successful in a matter of a few weeks with very few accidents!

Search a bookstore for books and videos. My kids enjoyed a video but only when they were curious and also when potty training. You might shop for a book for you (describing several approaches to this) and a book for your son (going potty is normal and not scary). "Once Upon a Potty" is good for him and a funny one is called "Everybody Poops". You probably will have to look for the latter book on Amazon.

Let me know what you decide!
Good luck!

Janet B
Parent Coach

Think about what makes your son feel comfortable.
My kids were all a little different in what worked for them. My oldest was scared to sit on the big potty till he was about 3 or 3 1/2. But he was on the small side. he used a child's training potty--one that the seat could be used to snap onto the big potty later and we just transitioned to that till he was bigger and more comfortable sitting on a regular potty.

My dd used the small one a couple of times, but she was not bothered by sitting on the big potty with the little snap on seat.
My youngest did not want to do any of it. He would if I made it a big thing, but he could care less about any of it. He was not completely trained till well after 3 years.

So I suggest you get a little potty that will allow you to take the seat portion off and snap it onto a big potty. Then see how it goes with the small one on the floor, then transition to the big one with the seat and finally to the big potty without a seat snapped on.

And fwiw the best thing imho that you can do, is set the timer or watch the clock and just take him every 30 minutes to an hour. Small children need constant reminders and help with everything like dressing, potty, etc. Don't expect him to be trained until you have been reminding him and monitoring for a few months--not days. ;-)

Stories of kids that train in days are usually the ones that are very intelligent and waited till they were 3-4. But who wants to buy diapers for another year? LOL

Hi A.,
I bought the "little" potty chair for my girls to start their potty training on. I found that with my older daughter, she was too scared to sit on the big toilet and it was conflicting with her being able to go to the bathroom! The potty chair we have has a detachable top that pops right on to the big toilet seat. It's nice because after they are comfortable enough to try and sit on the big toilet, they don't have to worry about falling in and the top portion has handles on each side (which are VERY handy!).
The movie that did wonders for us is "Potty Power". I found it on Amazon.com. After my older daughter watched it about a dozen times, she went into the bathroom by herself and started using the potty chair...and never looked back! It really is a great movie and I recommend it for ALL parents who are potty training their kids! I wish you the best of luck!

~H.~

I would recommend two DVDs that helped us: Once Upon a Potty and No More Diapers that can be rented in Plano library. My son especially loved the second one.
We started potty training him when he was about 6 weeks before his third birthday. Basically I was asking him if he needed to go potty every hour and he was wearing cotton underpants and plastic underpants on top of them (recommended to me by one daycare teacher which I think is a great idea, you can find them in Walmart in baby section). We gave it up after about 10 days because we realized that he doesn't recognize the urge to go to potty. But wearing underpants for the first time definitely helped. So he went back into diapers for about a month and when we tried again, it worked so much easier. He loved reward stickers and started feeling very proud of himself.
In my opinion only parents or caregivers that really know the child can find the best method to potty train the child. Because there is not ideal method that works for everyone. And it's also very important not to use punishments but only encouragements and rewards during the whole process. They really want to learn and we just have to show them a way and be very patient during the training.

Good luck,
R.

I was happy to see some many moms Post the "once upon a potty" book I had it for my first son and bought the girl version for my daughter and plan to use it with my third. It helps the kids understand the feelings they feel when they need to run to the potty, and it also helps them understand the parts of the body. I have noticed that now they have a book with potty and doll. As far a what typr of potty the adult potty or child potty. The kids sometimes decide that. my son used his potty for a short time, but my daughter preffered it for much longer.

I would also like to add that it is much harder in the winter to potty train with all the clothes than it is in the summer. so do take that into consideration.

we are potty training also. if your son is anything like most if not all other toddlers he loves elmo. there is a dvd at toys r us that is called Elmo's Potty Time. it is cute and my daughter loves it. I hate the pull ups they don't work. it is just a more expensive glorified diaper. good luck and if you have anything that might help us that you hear let me know. good luck.