Potty Training - Tucson,AZ

When your kid is ready! The way I was told how to know when my kid was ready was when he could wake up in the morning still dry - that's when they have bladder control and can hold it until they get up and go pee.

The other signs of readiness is an interest in the potty process - watching other family members/peers, sitting on it, etc.

Certainly introduce a little potty seat (although ours never got much use!!) and sit your kid on it just before baths, right when they wake up, etc.

And - know this - you can start potty training a kid at 2 and the potty training process can take a whole year or two, or you can wait until the kid is 3 1/2 and the potty training process can take only a few days. It is ALL UP TO WHETHER THE KID IS READY.

When my son was born, I had friends who had lots of boys and they all said boys pottytrain about 3yo, not to bother trying before then. Girls can be pottytrained earlier, like around 2 or so -if they're interested. When I moved to another state and made new friends who also had sons right around my son's age (he was 2 3/4 then) I was surprised and yes, I admit to feeling a little embarrassed or feeling some 'peer pressure' because 3 of the boys were already pottytrained (one did it on his own, right when mom was having the 4th baby, she was surprised, the other two I dont know/remember how/why they pottytrained then)

I stopped feeling bad that my son was *still* not pottytrained at 3 1/2 when one day I was out with one of the boys at a playplace and he had an accident. (He was potty trained for daytime peeing only, not poop or at nighttime either.) They didn't have anything, no extra clothes in the car, so I offered a diaper from my car because I didnt want the poor kid to go half naked in a playplace!! I dont think extra-early potty training does any good.

I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather deal with diapers than poopy underpants!!!

Another tip when you're actually in the process - no pull-ups (maybe nighttimes, or if the kid really wants to use the toilet) Get those thick training underpants so they are actually WET, not just wet-diaper wet. (or some others swear by the 3 weeks - $300 method - which is 3 weeks of no pants/diapers/etc and then $300 for carpet cleaning after the pottytraining process is over!)

I know most people tell you when your child seems 'interested', but if your child is young still you can try to start putting him/her on the potty. Before disposable diapers the average age to be completely potty trained was 18 months. Pampers are easy...potty training young kids is time consuming but possible and will save you money in the long run. Just keep in mind that with anything your kids learn, the longer they do it one way the harder it is to teach them a different way. That is some parents have such a hard time potty training.

Whatever you decide Good Luck!

All childern are different when it comes to potty training.

With my first I put a potty chair in the bathroom when she was around 12 months - just so she would get used to it and sit on it if she wanted to when I would go to the bathroom. When she was around 16-18 months I started to sit her on it, bare bottom before baths and she soon wanted to sit on it again, bare bottom when I'd go. At that time we switched her to pull-ups and she took to potty train really well. One week after her 2nd birthday she was in big girl panties full time except for naps and bed time. By 2 1/2 she didn't need pull-ups at all.

When it was time for my 2nd to train we started out the same way as we did with our 1st. We thought she'd take to it really well since she was not only watching us go she was also watching her big sister. At first (at 12-14 months) she seemed to be interested but by the time she was 16-18 months she wanted nothing to do with it so we decided not to push. Around 20-21 months we started to sit her on it bare bottom at baths but she still didn't seem interested. Around 23-25 months she'd go when we sat her down but wouldn't let us know that she had to go durning the day. This went on for several more months. I started to set the timer for 45 mins at a time all day and evenings. When it'd go off we'd go to the potty. It actually was pretty cute - she's hear the ding and run to the potty! But, with out the ding she wouldn't go on her own. With her we ended up putting a potty in the bathroom as well as the family room so she'd make it to which ever one in time. She was such a social child and didn't want to "miss" anything. We wanted to make her feel comfortable with going and this seemed to do the trick (once she started getting used to going we took the potty out of the FR). She was finally in big girl panties during the day (minus naps and bed time) by 3 and FT by 3 1/2.

It was diffently more frustrating with our second but we just tried to be as patient as possible. A few suggestions is buying potty training books to read to your little one. My girls also liked watching the "Potty time with Bear" (Bear in the Big Blue House) DVD. Also, going potty in public restrooms scared my girls. From the look of the public potty to the sounds of the flush.

Just try to remember that what works for one child won't necessarily work for another. Good luck!

Well I started at 8 months. I learnt this from Tracy Hogg, the Baby Whisperer. Her book is great. So no credit to me. Anyway, my son could sit up since 6 months. I got a potty seat, and not a potty chair. I sat in front of him holding him as he sat on the potty seat every morning anywhere from 2- 5 mins. I gave him glycerine suppositories for one or two days and of course he pooed at once. I gave huge smiles and claps.( I learnt that giving glycerine suppositories were an established practice in Europe before modern day diapers came in vouge and pushed potty training age to toddlerhood). Anyway, after doing this a couple of days, he understood what was expected of him when I put him on the potty seat. And since he was 10 months, he has never soiled his diaper again. Also he has developed a very regular bowel habit every morning after warm water or milk. Hope this helps.

Here’s a segment from the recent pre-released Freakonomics movie covering the surprising link between potty training and economics and how parents, like economists, use incentives to reach ideal outcomes. In this clip, acclaimed economist Steven Levitt explains how his young daughter outsmarted his potty-training scheme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1gm2NuxQjg). C. (Freakonomics)

Whenever your child seems interested in it. Normally, I'd say it's around the 2 year mark, but that is highly subjective. I think most people would like to see their child fully trained by 3 years old, though.

There are lots of great tips on the site, and I've written several myself if you want to browse through my "answers". But really, when you're just starting out, I'd try to be as laid back as possible. If you push too hard and stress everyone out over it, you'll be doing more harm than good. So make it a fun process!

Best of luck to you,

-S.