Potty Training...... - Pasadena,TX

I am a grandmother of four boys and two girls( girls are both 2). I have watched them since they were 6 weeks old. Some kids dont like the "cheering". One of my grand daughters was like that, the other granddaughter loves cheering. Does she put her head dowm like she is trying to hide? If she gets embarrassed by the cheering just tell her good job, in a matter of fact tone. Sometimes children would rather do the whole thing on their own then have to tell anyone. If she can take her own pants down etc. and use the baby stool to get up there, let her. You be there to help of course. If possible take her every hour or so to begin with to "catch" her going. She will get the idea. If you sit there with her don't stare at her wondering if she will go, she will be looking at you looking at her and not going. She will probably go the minute she gets down.Which will happen lots of times, Ha. When she is sitting there start up conversation,or show her a picture book( little one).If she likes the cheering, sometimes turning the water on will help, take note of when you go,after alot of drinking something,in the morning, etc. and take her too. you will probably see a pattern when it comes to going #2. make sure to take her about that same time,everyday , its easy to forget, I know I did. I hope this helps, I do not think you are pushing her.. K. P.

Some children train this early. be positive and upbeat and if she shows some anxiety, back away for a little while. Right now you are just getting her used to this new thing and she won't really potty train until she can recognize the feeling of needing to eliminate and then go sit on the potty. So right now help her learn to pull her pants up and down, buy pullups or training pants that she can feel WET and have her sit on the potty frequently. you could even get a doll that pees to help teach her.

At Target in their dollar days section they have a 'bye bye diapers' book that might help too (and there's other potty training materials you can find on Amazon.com)

First I would wait until the child is ready. I did this with my daughter and when we waited for her, the day we went to panties she didn't even have an accident. Granted she was older almost 3 but I was pregnant and I wanted to make sure it "stuck" as I didn't need regression with another one on the way. Early on we got a potty chair because WE thought she was interested, turns on all she was interested in doing was stitting on it fully clothed and generally when I went (monkey see monkey do). She always loved to run around without any clothes on, or a diaper, after her baths so I used this time as a teaching tool. I just let her run around and the day she came and told me she needed a diaper I went and sat her on the potty and she went. So we had a plan. Every night after her bath she got to run around until she needed to go potty. FOr some reason the diaper was her safty net and if she went in her diaper it was no big deal and she thought panties were diapers so that didn't work either. She eventually got in the habit and then we just had to wait until she was not wetting her diaper so much during the day to start that process. I am SO GLAD that I waited for her to be ready although I got lots of criticism for waiting as long as I did. But she never had accidents and she didn't regress when baby #2 came around. Oh techincal note- potty training during the night generally comes much later and I jsut let her wear pull-ups until she could stay dry through the night for 2 weeks straight before I started that. Hope that is helpful! Everyone is different and you do what is right for you. I just see some start so early that it is really training the parent to watch for their kids signs than training the kid.

When I was potty training my son, my sitter suggested that I set a timer for every 15 minutes and that seemed to really help us. I wasn't working but was attending college. After we had been working on potty training for awhile and he began to recognize the signals that he needed to go we started setting the timer for every 30 minutes. Then after more time had passed we just made sure we reminded him to go once every hour if he hadn't gone on his own. Another thing wed did/do is that instead of asking him if he needed to go, we told him to go and try to potty. Most kids will tell you no they don't need to go since they don't want to be bothered with stopping what they are doing. Whatever method you use, just remember to be patient and eventually it will happen for you. Some kids get it over night and others take much longer. Best wishes.

Hi P. ~

I'm not sure if I will be much help but I strongly believe that, though your child may be very capable of using the potty, I don't believe that you can push a child to use the potty. I think that as long as your introducing the potty to her and she sees your using the potty, she will eventually be interested in it. But the key part is that, she will be ready when "she's" ready! I would say to keep asking her, put don't push her to the point where she rebels.

Here's one way I tried with my kids ~

I introduced the potty to them, showed them over and over how my "pee" comes out and how I get to flush the potty when I'm done, PLUS ~ and here's the magic trick, I think ~ I get a treat for using the potty!!! ;)

I don't give my kids much candy, so when I get candy for using the potty, it's a huge deal for them, therefore, when they are ready to get that candy ~ they'll be ready to use the potty! And once they do ~ make a big deal about it ~ give them their treat and keep reminding them to see if they have to go potty! And once they get it 100% ~ you can eventually take the candy out!

My daughter potty trained herself by the age of 2 1/2 and my son was 3 months shy of his 3rd. birthday.

I hope this helps or at least gives you an idea! Of course ~ everyone has their opinion and I hope this helps a little bit!

Good Luck and Best wishes!!! ;)

Sincerely, A. ;)

My daughter also just turned 2 on Dec. 28th and we just started to actively potty train. We had introduced her to the potty around 18 months, so she has been sitting on it willingly for awhile, but, like you said...never really did much. I just started having her sit on it about once every hour or hour and a half and she will usually go every time now. I think she had to learn what it felt like to go and it didn't click for her until she was doing it on the potty (so she knew she was going) and felt it at the same time. I still haven't had much success with her telling me that she has to go in time to get there, but we're working on it. I would just take it really slowly. If she seems interested and doesn't fight you on it, just sit her on it a few times a day to start with. Try after she wakes up (in the morning and after nap) and at bath time. If she says she doesn't want to or cries at all, then I would take a break for now.

Also, there are some great potty books and videos that can help them understand the process and get excited about it. I would look into getting her a couple so that she has something fun associated with it. We also reward my daughter with a sticker on her potty chart when she goes on the potty. She loves it and gets really excited about it, so you may want to try that too.

Best of luck! I can't give you much more advice since I feel like I've only been mildly successful at this so far myself. ;-)

My pediatrician told me that every child is different, so the timing will be different for each child in your family. He also said something has to "click" in their head before potty training can be successful. Until it "clicks", he told me I'm wasting my time training myself,not the child.
My 5 year old was 20 mos and was fascinated with wanting to "potty like a big boy". My husband I thought this was great and it would be easy (play laugh track here). We bought him the potty and started the process of putting him there throughout the day. He was very sporatic, going in the potty sometimes, in his pants sometimes. It wasn't until he was 3 before it seemed to happen overnight--he was potty-trained.
While I say that, I've known moms who've trained their little ones before the age of three. I've heard girls are little easier than boys. I believe Dr. Phil has a method on his website that's supposed to be successful. For the record, my 2 1/2 year old son has shown absolutely NO desire to pottytrain yet!! Have loads of patience and make each trial and success a positive experience. Good Luck!

All kids are different and there is no real set age on when you should potty train your child.

My three boys potty trained later than my three girls. Two of the boys were potty trained by the time they were three. I have one that is 3 1/2 now and it's still a challenge and he hasn't quite gotten it. But his 2 1/2 year old sister is completely potty trained.

Don't force things. Forcing it can make it seem like a negative experience for them. I learned this with my first one. I started when he was 2, two months later (even after all the praise and attention) he ended up constipating himself because he didn't want to go in the potty or his diaper.

On the huggies website it gives you a list of things to look for to see if your child is ready to potty training and even then they may not be ready. Let her lead you in the training, she'll let you know when she's ready.

I also learned, through potty training my six kids, is to not use pull-ups. They can't really feel the accident in pull-ups but they can in underwear...and they don't like the feeling of wet underwear and it encourages them to go in the potty. If you are worried about messes, use plastic pants over them. You can buy them at any Walmart. Pull-ups can be used for nighttime safety and for going in public, but at home, use undies.

Best of luck!

First I never cheered. My friend's kid got overwhelmed when she did that. ;-0 So I just clapped once and said how great it was, then left it alone.

Some kids needs a cheering section, others just want a pat on the back. ;-)

Secondly just keep up with the bathtime thing. The important thing is not pushing them, but making it a comfortable thing to go sit on this thing! LOL So just keep that up and move to do it also at naptime, at dressing time, at feeding time, etc. till some day you are doing it every hour!

i am sure that you have heard it before, no 2 children develope at the same rate. just give her time and she will come around. Girls generally potty train faster than boys do. my daughter potty trained prior to her first birthday, however my son did not do so until he was approx. 2 1/2. I was a stay at home mom, and whenever I would go, i would get him to go (this works for both boys and girls to at least try to go with their parents) while doing so try to take a little longer than usual with your own business. sometimes you have to turn on the water, or blow on their genitals (I know it sounds crazy), and make sure to reward them, usually a phone call to the entire family works. you have to stay consistant with it, otherwise a child is confussed about the entire thing, so if there is no time or effort to devote to the cause then there is no sense in trying. Reminding them that Big Girls and Boys use the potty.
BTW, I did not use the Pull-Ups (accept at night for a little while, then weined them off) to me that just seemed to be more confussing to the child, training pants only. Afterall you are trying to get them to use the potty, but a pull up feels like a diaper, not matter what they look like or how moveable the sides are.
I wish you luck, consistancy is Key when trying to train you child for anything. like going from bottles to sippy cups, and then sippy cups to cups with no lids. or teaching them to tie shoes, zip zippers, dress themselves, pick up after themselves. try to make it fun, but stay consistant.
T

It's not too early if she's ready, but I think you should just talk to her and see if she wants to sit on the potty and not put her there. They really need to want to do it themselves. The positive re-enforcement is good, but you shouldn't get too carried away with it. My first son was ready at 18 months and I learned the hard way that you've got to let them have control in this situation after struggling with my second son when he was two and just was not ready. I spent two months with the big boy undies/pull-ups to no avail and drove myself crazy putting him on the potty. He would go, but then go again in his undies right afterwards (showing me who really was in control in that situation). In the end, we just went back to diapers until he was ready. He was almost 3 by the time he would regularly use the potty, which is very normal for boys.

There are many conflicting theories about potty training. My personal opinion is that as long as they are showing some kind of interest, then give it a shot. If they get at all upset or distressed, stop immediately, the time is not right. I agree with the previous posts, try sitting her on it every hour or so throughout the day. Sometimes she will go, sometimes she will not. My son is 19 months, and he will even use the potty on occasion (mostly after bath-time, or if he sees daddy do it). It takes time and patience. Good luck.

I waited until my girls were closer to 2.5 for my compliant child and 3 for my strong-willed one. Diapers are a wonderful thing --- especially when you are at Wal-Mart or traveling or at an outdoor fair where they only have Port-a-Potties. There is nothing wrong with a 2 yr old being in diapers. First I would analyze how often she has a wet diaper. If she is going every hour, then I don't think its realistic to train her. You might could --- but then you would spend the next several months in the bathroom with your toddler :) Training too early can stress both mom and child for no reason. Just another opinion to think about. Also the longer you wait, the quicker the process is. The one I potty trained at 3 took about 3 days and had only a handful of accidents. It was easy.

MY son was showing TONS of signs of being ready at 2 (he's a Sept baby), and I didnt' want to push it, so I just let him go when he wanted too. We had different things coming up - a wedding in Nov we were flying to, a trip to visit grandparents 5 hours away for Christmas, moving in April, baby in June.... We didn't actually pursue it till he turned 3. I regret that I didn't actively pursue it when he was showing signs of interest and being ready at 2. It would have been SO much easier to do it then, than to have done it at 3 when he'd lost interest and would rather just play with his friends or toys. If she's ready, I'd say go ahead and actively pursue it. Don't punish her for not going, but definately encourage and ask if they need to go every so often to make sure they remember that they can go potty. If they're interested, it's much easier to get away with verbal praise and such. WHen they get to the point that they are no longer interested as much, you have to 'bribe' them with different things. When I was a two year old, I discovered one of my friends had big girl panties, and I told my mom I wanted some. She explained to me what I had to do to have them, gave me some, and I managed to go without any accidents that were my fault. (There were a couple of times that we were at a store and my mom couldn't find the bathroom quick enough or when I was outside and didn't get in quick enough... but that's all. Basically, if their ready, jump on it and go! Don't wait because they may loose the interest. There is never a convenient time to potty train. And there is always pull-ups if you have to make long trips.

Good luck

I have a 2yr old who is already going to the potty,
i use pull-ups that have a liner in them,so she can feel when she is wet,it works really good,she goes potty alot now,
hope this helps

D.

P.,
I think you're doing a great job! Just keep talking about it. Let her see you when you potty and talk about it. Help her learn to pull up and down her pants - that'll help a ton when you get more involved. Keep praising her and talking about it. When she shows more interest, have her do a little more. Take her if she ever wants to go. When you feel like she knows what she's doing, then make it a new part of everyday life. Before you know it, she'll have it mastered. Remember, its a process - not an event! Enjoy the next few months! :)