Needing Potty Training Advice

Pamala B had great advice for you and I did everything that she suggested but I did one extra thing Whenever I went to "potty' I took my child with me and sat her on the potty also. I would tell her that it was time to potty sometimes she would use the potty And alsways praise her for being such a good girl

Pull-ups can be useful for the early stages of potty training. The main reason is because they are just easier to get off and on for a child who is interested in the potty, but not quite physically, mentally or emotionally ready for full potty training. The Montessori school where my daughter was at 2 used them for this in-between stage to get the beginners used to pulling pants up and down, and to get used to the routine that included potty breaks (In our house potty times are before we eat, before we sleep, and before we leave the house. Plus, we go before baths, and make a potty stop when we arrive at a destination (i.e. Target, restaurant, etc.), and often just before we leave).

You don't want to limit fluids. In fact, you want to load up on them to give her lots of opportunities to go to the bathroom. If she's compliant you might get away with every 15 min, but we found that 30 min was often enough. We made going potty part of a transition. I'd let my son know that when the timer beeps, it would be time to go potty, then do the next thing ("When the timer beeps, we'll potty then, read books...").

The words you use are important. We never ask "if" he had to go potty. His answer would always be "no." Rather, we'd say "It's time to go potty."

Also, if she is PDD, you might consider a photo chart of her or a doll doing all of the steps necessary to go potty successfully. Take a picture of her sitting on the potty, take a picture of the roll of toilet paper, a picture of the flush handle, a picture of a doll with panties around her ankles (or maybe you could manage a discreet shot of your daughter doing this -- this was hard with a boy!) -- you'll just tell your daughter the doll is pulling her undies up, then a picture of the bathroom faucet, with the soap dispensier in the shot. You can add a shot of the hand towel. I added a shot of 5 M&Ms on a plate. I put the pictures in order on a piece of poster board, then labeled them 1-6 with big numbers (I think I just drew the numbers with a sharpie). I also labeled each activity ("sit on the potty" and "use tissue", etc.)
You can use stickers instead of M&Ms. My daugther used M&Ms and my son liked stickers. I put a small container of stickers in the bathroom and my son could pick a sticker when his hands were clean.

The photo "story board" is an idea that will help her with many things. I have two friends with kids on the spectrum and they have made little booklets to help with routines for the first day of preschool, basic routines for home life, road trips, you name it! We even made one for our Sunday School class routine.

I used to teach the potty-training class in the preschool/daycare setting. I also have a child who was diagnosed with PDD. I hope you will take my advice.

To answer your questions:

1. Do you limit fluids?

Not until just before bedtime. Actually PUSH fluids (offer salty snacks to make her more thursty). This will make her have to GO more and give you the opportunity for more success.

2. When is the last Sippy of the night?

I recommend about 1 1/2 hours before bedtime. Continue going to the potty to allow her to empty out. Also, take first thing in the morning and after nap. This will usually be the times for the BEST success.

3. Other suggestions other than pull ups that help?

Since you are going to use Pull-ups, you may want to try going outdoors with NOTHING under the dress and take the potty seat outside with you. This is an easy way to start her realizing what it "looks like" to tee-tee (it looks different when you are not in a diaper/Pull-up).

Because of the language delay, pick your "words" and stick with them to keep any confusion down. I always used: Potty, poo-poo, and tee-tee. They are very simple and they are not as imbarassing as some when in public.

Even if she IS PDD, she may understand MORE than she is letting on. Continue to talk to her (the more the better).

4. Any other handy advice!

*Get the potty chair AND the toilet insert (makes the toilet seat smaller for little bottoms).

*Take a bin of toys/books/puzzles/activities that can be easily washed or replaced into the bathroom (spend time with her until she is able to sit by herself). Distraction allows kids to relax and GO.

*Put a TV tray in the bathroom for when she is on the big toilet (this gives her a table to do activities and helps keep her on the potty).

*Get a potty training doll. This will give her a chance to "teach" which I have found is the BEST way to learn. It also helps to teach her how to poo-poo in the potty. (I used Tootsie Rolls for the doll's poops.)

*Use a timer. Start with 5 minutes of sitting. If you do not have success, add time next time. Do not let her know how much time you are setting the timer for, but tell her you are setting the timer and she can get up when it goes off. Then put it outside of the bathroom door. If you get a timer that does not beep as you set it, you can add time if she is sitting well when she is not looking.

*After she gets up, set the timer for the 15 minutes and keep the timer with you, but where she can hear it. When it goes off, tell her, "It is time to go potty." If you have to GO, do it first and talk to her about what you are doing (this shows her what you are wanting her to do). Do not make the mistake of ASKING her if she has to go; this gives her the opportunity to say, "NO." Instead, TELL her that it is time to go.

*The timer can be used for a LOT of things for a child with PDD (or ANY 2yo). Pottying, eating, time out, nap, etc.

I know this is a LOT, but I hope it is helpful. If you have any questions or want any other information about what worked for me, please message me.

Blessings,

P. <><

I used to sit the potty in the living room when we were watching tv. And just have her sit on it. She can do all kinds of things while on there and then when she goes you can jump all around and be excited and celebrate.

The pull ups are definitely good at night in the beginning.

The only time I limited fluids was at night. No drinking after 7 (of course depends on bed time).

Hope this helps.

1. I strongly suggest regular underwear, or training underwear under the pull ups. Even the cool alert isn't the same as wet - and honestly I have a real problem with intentionally putting a chemical reaction next to my child's skin.

2. I'd work on days before I started with nights.

S.

My son was speech delayed (expressive) and I expected him to be delayed in the potty learning as well from all the research I had done. With my son, the potty learning happened very quickly once his speech came in. I'd say it took about a month in all and, on a bad day, he had no more than maybe 3 or 4 accidents. This wasn't because he's so smart (which he is of course ;) ) or that I'm such a great parent (I'm not), he was just ready. Potty learning has NOTHING to do with intelligence -- either of the parent or child. The smartest, most verbal kid in my son's playgroup was one of the last to potty train despite his family's efforts with bribes, charts, etc. (we never used any of those). He just made up his mind one weekend.

my only advice would be not to put any pressure on your dd quite yet. If she's having a bunch of accidents and you're constantly cleaning up, take a break. Potty learning will happen (kids don't go to kindergarten in diapers), but they have to make up their minds to do it. It's not worth getting stressed over.

Regarding the night time thing.... Staying dry at night has to do with the body's ability to release a hormone that keeps them dry. There is nothing you can do to potty train someone when they're asleep. She may be 5 before she can stay dry at night. That's perfectly normal. Try and look at the day time potty training as separate from the nighttime thing.

Good luck!

You may find that 27 months is simply to young, you should be ready to set it aside for a couple of months if it doesn't seem to be working. You will probably be able to tell pretty quickly if she's interested, if she notices when shes wet, or it bothers her to be wet or dirty, training goes much faster. My brothers kids were both almost 4 before they were ready. Definitely do not cut down on liquids, I have one that basicly trained herself @ 2, she just didn't like being wet or dirty. My boys however took a little longer, one at 30 months the other right at 35 months, Try not to make it a battle, enjoy every stage with your children, don't be so quick to rush to the next one. My youngest is now going into Jr.high, I have enjoyed each and every stage with all three of my kids, sometimes it gets a litttle crazy, but always fun, take at your own speed and hers, don't feel pressured to fit a time frame for this. Good luck, & enjoy the journey.

D. B

Im a mom of four children and the best advice i can give would be do use the pull-ups it will make your child feel like a big kid. You will have better luck letting the diapers go completly. I always started to limit fluids about 2 hours before bed and go potty right before bed. With some of my kids we had favorite books that we only read on the potty. We also had a sticker chart and everytime you go you get to put a sticker on the chart. Best of luck!

This is a very late response so you might not even read this, but I am in the middle of potty training my 3rd child. She is a girl and she is 31 months. We have been working on it now for two months off and on. She was only showing a slight interest in the beginning so I didn't push it. I would just take her to the potty with me every time I went and hoped that she would go to in her little potty. She was still in diapers until just a few days ago. I gradually worked her out of diapers and into panties. She did have accidents through her panties about 6 or 7 times before she realized that it was nasty running down her leg, etc. Not only that, but little ones have to train their bladders to hold their urine so they have to experience it just coming out of them and running down their legs or they don't even really realize it. Then they learn that once they get the urge, they have to hold it and tell you, or run to the potty, etc. My best advice is DO NOT put toys in the bathroom. I find it very distracting. Maybe a book or two but that is it. They seem to get more involved with playing with those toys than concentrating on peeing/pooping. I tried toys and would end up in the bathroom for 30 min sometimes waiting for her to relax and pee. Books are different. They sit in your lap and you look at pictures, you don't want to necessarily get up and play with them. One thing too, my daughter gets so excited to see what kind of pretty panties she gets to put on next. That was a huge motivator. Of course, we do sing when she pees and she gets to flush her pee, then wash her hands, then dry her hands, then she gets a star sticker out of the closet (near the bathroom). All of these things are just too fun for a toddler! I have only used pull-ups one time so far and they are no different than diapers in my opinion, but perfect for car rides, grocery trips, bedtime, etc. Otherwise, diapers (cheaper) to panties. Good luck!

I haven't experienced this myself, but I read a posting a while back where someone put the undies on INSIDE the pull-ups so the child could feel the wetness when an accident happened, but not make a mess. Don't know if that would help, but it kinda made sense, as I think the diapers/pull-ups wisk away the moisture so it's not as obvious or annoying to them when they go.

I would limit fluids. A lot depends on if she is a light or heavy sleeper. My daughter was completely trained at just over 2 and we never used pull ups. She stayed dried at night and if she had to go she woke up and went on her own. My son was a heavy sleeper so he wore pull ups until he was 4, just at night though. We also would take him to the bathroom a couple times during the night. With my son we put down a crib mattress pad with another sheet over it, so if he did have an accident at night it was much easier to just take off one layer and not have to mess with changing sheets in the middle of the night. Another thing we did that helped was when they did go to the bathroom they got a "potty chip" (which was a mini m&m). Good Luck!

Yeah its potty time! Im so happy for yall!
My kids are speech delayed and my daughter has seizures so she regreesses alot after a seizure.
When we were potty trainning we wne tand got a piggy bank that makes musical sound when money is put in. I think we got ours from walgreens for like 5 bucks. Anyhow! Everytime my kids went to go potty they got to put a penny in for trying two for peepee and three or more for pooping in the potty!
We also gave m&ms for a reward afterwards too!
It took my daughter about two years to be done potty trainning due to her seizures but shes been doing great since.
For the trainning pants you are wanting you might have to google them or cheeck ebay even craigslist has had them. If you live in Amarillo once upon a child and childrens exchange have them sometimes! Id call them before going if you live out of town!
Also, you mentioned that she is speech delayed and doesnt understand much of the ordeal. When she does peepee or poopoo in the potty make a huge deal out of it dance, sing whatever she likes to do and she will understand it! Once my children were done with their trainning we had a potty party for our close friends and family to celebrate!
Best of Luck!
God Bless!
E.