Potty Training - Birmingham, AL

All children potty train differently and at different times. My daughter is 30 months old and she just became potty trained last week! Hallelujah! First, I would consider letting her wear her big girl panties while at home. Give her an ample amount of fluids and take her to the restroom every 15-20 minutes. Praise her every time she attempts to go and reward her every time she does does a "tee tee". You may want to use fruit snacks or some tantalizing treat like a skittle or something that she really likes. Only give her one treat every time she tee-tees. Number two may come a little later. Good Luck!!

Hi. My son is 32 months old and we are going through a lot of the same things. To motivate him, his babysitter found a train potty chart that has a track on it that you put stickers on. At the end of the track she wrote Ice Cream Shoppe. I hid and watched him one day with her and was absolutely amazed. He would pull down his pants, hold his shirt up while she removed his diaper. Then she put him on the potty and he would go. She then gave him a sticker (he chose what color) and he put it on the track. They would count each sticker together and when they got to the end of the stickers they would trace the track with their fingers all the way to the end making a train sound and at the end would say Ice Cream Shoppe. This reinforced the fact that at the end he would get a prize. It also worked on his color and counting skills (which he is really into right now). He would get off the potty and hold up his shirt while she put the diaper back on, then would pull up his pants (with a little help), flush the toilet, go wash his hands with soap and dry them. I decided if he could do that there, he could do that at home. She printed me out the train chart and we are doing the same thing. It is amazing the difference. I feel the key is to get something they are interested in. He is all about trains and she found that for free on the internet. The next key is consistency. We are doing the same thing both places using the same techniques each time. He is doing better and better every day. Good luck!

The approach the worked for us is to first off when you are home with her, let her go commando (that is without a diaper or panties, just all her stuff out there in the open). Then put her on the potty at an interval that works for you, some people start at 15 minutes and progress from there spacing out the interval to an hour. She will have accidents, but she will see cause and effect, what pee pee is, what it means to go tee tee. If you want you can confine her to the areas of your house without carpet, but if you are watching closely you can get her to run to the potty, and wipe up the mess. It would be even better if you could get her to clean up the pee, so she realizes how great it is to go potty. Also don't ask her, just tell her she is going. This isn't something she gets to choose to do. It is inevitable. I had a friend who had a 3 year old boy who wouldn't do go on the potty either, and she was trying to be frugal so had him in size 4 diapers, he looked like he was in a thong, it was so funny! Anyway she had him trained in a few weeks with the commando method. This is similar but not as intense to the Potty training in a day method. I agree that parent training is alot of what potty training consists of. would where the pullups when you go somewhere, but take her before you leave the house and when you get where you are going. You are likely to hit the right time for going pee and then you can praise her. Also she will use fewer diapers this way making your life easier. My older girl was nearly 3 before I considered her potty trained during the day, but my younger one was around 2.

I hear you!! My daughter is 28 months and we are going thru the same thing. We tried the panties and feared the mess it would make on the floor then I found those plastic panties that go over the regular panties and it holds it all in very well. you can get them at babies r us. My daughter has since rebeled against the panties and she is back in diapers. I am just waiting until she is truly ready, I am not going to set her up for failure. No sense in pushing it, we both would just get frustrated. Good luck to you!

Hey J.,

My name is T. and I live in Minden, Louisiana. My children are grown and I have a granddaughter that will be 3 in March. She too is in the middle of potty training. The big girl panties are a good idea. My daughter had the wonderful idea of putting my Little Pony panties over a matching pink pair of training panties. This way when she has an accident, most is absorbed. Also, most of the time she still wears pullups. She only wears the panties when it is convenient. Panties are an encouragement and make them feel like a big girl and she can also feel the wet better which helps them train faster. But ultimately you have to remember that potty training is based on individual readiness. Take your time. You're doing a good job.

T.

J.,

Do not worry! Your situation is all too common, although I realize...difficult on you. I highly recommend that you go to thepottytrainer.com It is an excellent resource that helped me potty train my now four-year-old twins in three days! Another good friend of mine, also named J., just used it to pottytrain her 2 1/2 yr old in as little as three days as well. Just remember that some children are not ready as soon as others. I encourage you read the information and begin to pottytrain when your daughter shows some interest/signs that she is ready. It is an outstanding resource! Good luck!

K.
38 year old mother of 4-yr old boy/girl twins and a 21 mth old son.

Hi J.,
As a nurse and a mother of 2 I have learned and figured out a few things.
Just because she knows what it is about and how everything works does not mean that she she can do it. Their nervous system has to be develpoed to a certain extent before that can control themselves and go when they want to. 2 y/o is a normal age to begin potty training, but some will take longer. It is not her fault or yours. I see some people heavily punishing their children, when this is out of their control.
Don't rush her, one day she will just do it. Then after that she will be able to keep it up. Don't leave her sitting there for very long. Take her about once an hour or 2 all day long.
There is a brand of pullup type disposables that actually have a stay wet lining. I forgot which brand, they may be harder to find.
Also, later, for at night time. I bought some bed protectors. Like the blue cloth ones used on hospital beds. These were a lot softer though and had a water proof backing. They come in all sizes, even some large enough to tuck in. For accidents in the middle of the night I had 2 pads, just change the washable pad!
Of corse right after I bought them she became completely trained!
Don't let it bother you much.
Oh, important, I almost forgot. There is a book, Once Upon a Potty!!!!!!!! Great great book for her! You gotta get it.

Hope I helped!
Have fun,
I miss those days with my small children!
C.

J., she'll use the potty when she's ready, not before. No amount of coaxing, pleading or begging will do. Just let her know potty is available. The bigger deal you make of it, the more she will resist. I agree that big girl panties are a must!

N.. Mother of 6. ages 42-to 22 years.

I don't know if its a girl thing or what because I don't remember my son being as difficult to train as my daughter, she was a few months shy of three before she finally decided to use the potty and beleive me we tried everything. I did find one thing that helped a litte, which is make a chart and put it on the bathroom wall and every time she uses the potty she gets to put a sticker on the chart! Who ever it is that makes the toddler wipes, hand soap etc.(I can't remember the name)has a chart you can print online, my daughter loves stickers so that helped her along. As for the big girl panties, I tried that too, as your daughter she loved them but as your husband says you can't go around cleaning up the mess. So what I would do is after she has gone potty in her pullups, put panties on for a little while (maybe 30 minutes at a time)also everyone told me "when she gets ready she will go", I swear I almost gave up and, I was kind of embarassed, but then it finally happened, although she is such a heavy sleeper she still has to wear pullups at night! UGH I know no other way but to wake her up every hour on the hour to try and make her go potty but that leaves for a very bad nights sleep for the both of us, so maybe I will have to go back to it will come in time! Good Luck! I hope it helps

Hey J., I'm a mother of one. She is six now, but I did go through the stage that you are now experienceing. Me and my sister have a child the same age we started training them at the same time. What I realize while my child was training I never used words like tee tee or all the little goo- goo words us parents tend to use. I felt like you wont the child to know that there growing up and your say yeah thats a big girl, but your still babbling to them like a baby. While my sister took the other route here child took alot longer time to train then mines. I dont know if that had anything to do with it but it work for me. Talk to him, or her like a big child trust me they understand. Plus it help my child out know that she's older my daughter has a very wide range vocabulary and she accelarated reader. So if it does'nt help with the potty training it can definetly improve the way the speak. Anyway maybe someone eles has some better advice. Good luck...
P.S. I did sing the pee and the potty song. That might help.

Try reading the book Toilet Training in Less than a Day by Azrin and Foxx. It should help you tremendously.

My son is just shy of 25 months and while he started showing interest in the potty at about 18 months, he is not really ready for training. We got him his own potty and let him play with it and on it, and after a few months, he started sitting on it at night with his diaper off while we were getting his bath ready. Took several more weeks before he actually did something. We praised like crazy, and now he'll sit on it almost every night while getting ready for bath, but we don't always have success. Nights when he doesn't want to sit on it we don't push the issue. I take him to the potty a few times a day and if he's agreeable, just let him sit, sometimes success sometimes no. He likes to hand me 'paper' when I use the toilet, and he likes to help me flush, but otherwise no real interest. He doesn't tell me when he needs to go, but he does tell me when his diaper is wet. I don't plan on pushing the issue until he seems more ready - if he asks to use the potty, or can tell me he needs to go before he does it.
I know lots of mothers with young children, and I have found that those who tried to push their kids before they were ready had a much harder time, tantrums, accidents, fighting vs those who just let the kids take the lead. More of the laid back moms kids were potty trained faster when all was said and done. Also, our ped said at his 2 yr visit that he didn't expect our son to be interested in potty training until he was much closer to 3. The thought of getting him out of diapers is exciting, especially with #2 on the way, but I think it would be much easier to just change diapers for a few more months than stressing out over the potty and constantly cleaning accidents!

J.,
It was my experience that she will potty train when SHE is ready. my 2 year old did the same thing. I did everything you are currently doing. I was told not to put my 2 year old in pull ups because they can't feel the wetness of the pull up. I talked with my pediatrician and other friends and he told me that she can hold it longer than we can stand it and she will. She will hold it even though you are encouraging, she is not ready to potty on the toilet. My advice is to keep doing what you are doing. Get in a routine of putting her on the potty and she will eventually go when she is ready. My two year old potty trained at 34 months. 2 month shy of my second child's birth.

I also bought her two potty training books at Barnes and Noble. We read them all of the time. I got them back in the children's section.
You might want to get her a child's size potty chair, or a doughnut to sit on the big potty. Make it fun, you can get her a step stool to step up on the potty and some flushable wipes. I always told my 2 year old that she couldn't have the wipe until she pottied. It was an incentive to get her to potty. Good Luck!

I didn't read the responses. Forgive me if I repeat someone. My daughter was not potty trained until 3 years old. She was just very comfortable going in her pull ups. We bought movies and books and everything. What finally did the trick was putting her in training pants and covering them with vinyl pants (both found at Target.) I told her, "You are a big girl and big girls use the potty." I never looked back. I made her wear the training/vinyl pants all day. Pullups only for bed. YES, she made a lot of mistakes and I used a spot lifter more than once (never fussed at her but made her help me clean up), but in three days, she was trained. Remember though that she was over 3 years old. You will know your child is ready when she has a word for pee and poo, can undress herself and can go through the night dry. Good luck!

Your husband may as well get used to the idea of leaks - even after she is trained, there will be occasional accidents.
I tried the terry cloth training pants as an intermediate step with my daughter, but because I had used cloth diapers with her, they were too much like diapers and she didn't get it. She was quite girly, and I bought her some pretty panites. She liked them, and didn't want to messs them up, plus they felt nasty if she wet or soiled them. She learned pretty quickly once she started wearing real panties. Yes, she had accidents, but that's part of the process. Pull-Ups feel too much like disposable diapers for most children to really grasp the idea that they're supposed to use the potty and not the Pull-Up.
Your husband may not remember it, but he had accidents and leaks when he was being potty trained as well. You might want to remind him of that.

Hi J.,
Is she sitting on the potty on a conistent basis (every morning, as soon as she gets home, right before bed)? All I can say it keep doing what you are doing and she'll get it soon. How long does she sit on the potty? I know we don't have a lot of time on our hands but can you make potty time fun but sitting with her and playing with toys or letting her "read" a book. Perhaps if she was distracted from the task, she would sit longer and eventually us it.

I am a firm believer in being patient & letting them tell you when they are ready. All 4 of my kids were almost 3 by the time they trained. While I dispised dealing with the diapers, we were all a lot less stressed when I stopped pushing it.

tRY CUTTING OUT FLOWERS AND PUTTING THEM IN HER POTTY CHAIR, THEN TELL HER SHE NEEDS TO WATER THE FLOWERS! ALSO, YOU COULD MAKE LITTLE FISHES AND PUT THEM IN THERE AND HAVE PEE ON THEM! IT WORKED FOR MY SON AND ALL OF MY NEICES AND NEPHEWS

Hey J.! I know your pain! I am doing something different and it is a method developed by John Rosemond called the 3 day/$75 deal...Basically all week I have let her run around -bottom naked. I have told her that she is not wearing diapers anymore and i threw them out!! Have the babypotty available in the room she is at and tell her that she is to use the potty and the potty bell will ring 4 times a day( we use our kitchen timer!) When she wakes up , after lunch , before dinner and bed. You have to be dedicated to staying at home with her and not letting her wear panties because when she does have accidents she will not like that feeling!! After 4 days I have been able to take her out (kind of cheating because she has panties and clothes on...but NO DIAPERS) Basically you are letting her take charge of using the potty and IT WORKS!!!! I need a few extra days because of having the escape the house for a gym jog. It worked within 3 days for my older daughter and the $75 is for carpet cleaning if you have carpet!! Let me know what you think!--My daughter just turned 2 Dec.16th and frankly I know she could do it and am too tired to change diapers anymore!!!
C.:)

I have a 2.5 year old little girl also doesn't like pullups and wants to wear panties as well. I bought a big poster board and lots of stickers (I let her pick the stickers out) and every time she goes potty, she gets a sticker to put on the poster board, and then she counts them. She still won't tell me when she has to go, but I take her in teh bathroom about every 20-30 minutes and she will go potty. I also have this thing where if she gets 10 stickers (not necessarily in a row) but 10 stickers in general, she gets a popsicle and if she "poops" she automatically gets a popsicle (they are sugar free)...she still doesn't tell me when she has to go, but when she sits on there, she will go. Now when it's bedtime, she WILL tell me she has to go. I think that's a "I don't want to go to bed yet" thing though...She really likes her stickers and that's the ONLY time she gets them is when she goes potty. I have come to the realization that "potty training" is more or less for the parents. I hope this helps. I do put her in pullups if we are going places however, but if we're at home, she's in big girl panties and I just clean up her mess if she goes potty in her pants...I take alot of deep breathes at the same time and just think "this too shall pass"

J., I am sure we didn't get all the details but it almost sounds like she is not quite ready. I have 6 and have found that the time they are telling me they are ready is when they take their own diapers off. It is a very slow process at times but it really helps if you try and listen to what they are saying. My 2 year old boy has been at it for 6 weeks now and still has accidents now and then. Good Luck!!!

J.
One thing that could be happening is the going back and forward on the big girl panties and the pull-up can really confuse a child. If your husbands afraid that she is going to do her business on the furniture, try using a timer and set it for every 10 or 20 minutes, and get a child's potty chair and you could just take her when you go and let her use her potty chair. I am a Head Start Teacher, and we can not let the children wear pull-ups and we use a timer and set it for 10 minutes and as they get better we up the time to 20. Just a
little thought.
T.

you are so right!! She wont like to feel wet and should start to use the potty.

J.,

I took some great advice with my 2nd child and it worked great!

I told my 22 month old daughter that mommy couldn't afford to buy diapers any more.

We then put on the big girl panties and tried to stay outside as much as possible.

The first day, she urinated on herself 6 or 7 times and it was less and less every day. I didn't freak out on her when she had an accident, but I didn't rush to change her panties right away either. When they are wearing pants, it really doesn't make that big of a mess. By Friday she was totally potty trained. Yeah!

I hope this helps.