Potty Training a Two Year Old

Hello. Everytime Austin goes potty like a big boy he gets three gummy bears and three m&m's. This is all the time whether he's good or not. Like a reward for being a big boy. He asks for them all the time, but I just keep explaining to him that he only gets them when he uses the potty chair. I guess that's why it's worked so well. Find something that she really wants, like a special snack, sticker, etc. Then only let her have it when she uses the big potty. And leave it in site, but out of reach. I keep the bags of m&m's and gummy bears on top of the fridge at all times. Austin can see them, but can't have them unless he goes potty. This has seemed to work for me. He's 2.5 and wears real underware with out any accidents. I love it!!!

K.

I highly recommend the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day". I saw it recommended on here, bought it on Amazon for I think about $6. I bought it because I figured even if I got some ideas that made it less stressful, it was well worth $6. Well... my son potty trained in a day! It was one of the least stressfull things I have had to do with him.
The advice I would give that I beleive was the most help was:
1. Put them in underwear and keep them in underwear. If they have an accident, let them change themselves. They will learn a LOT faster that way. Also, teach her to do everything completely on her own. Everything from pulling down her pants, wiping, pulling up pants and underwear, and even emptying the potty chair and flushing... they have less accidents if they are relying on themselves, instead of waiting for you. Teach her to just go in and go without needing permission when she has to go. Independance is a huge part of this. I know a lot of people don't want to let their kids make a mess... but they can do a lot more thtemselves than they get credit for, and it is easier to clean up after them the first few times, than have them dependant on having you clean up after them every time.
2. To get her to have to go, get her to drink as much as possible of whatever she will drink. She will be constantly going, and will learn fast that it is uncomfortable to be wet.
3. Plan to stay at home for at least a couple days, and let her focus on going potty. If she seems ready, take her somewhere the 2nd day (we ended up spending the whole 2nd day out... when I had 3 days off work to stay home and potty train, for a total of 5 days. I really only needed 1 day!)
4. The book explains how to use a doll that goes potty to motivate and teach her.
5. Most important (along with the underwear, NO pull-ups!), is to be positive and reward her. The book recommended salty treats, instead of sugar, because they make you drink more. I got chili frito's (usually my son doesn't get junk food or pop... for this he did! It's only 1 day, and makes it exciting for them). I would check every couple minutes, if he was dry he got one frito. If he was wet he didn't get any. If he went potty on the toilet and was wet, he got one, and if he was dry when he went, he got a whole handful. I kept reminding him how happy everyone would be, listing off everyone he cares about, and how happy it would make them that he could wear big boy underwear. I also kept reminding him how happy it made mommy, and he really focused on that. Not one negative word. Just rewards and inspiration.

His first day... I was thinking he might not be ready. He was constantly having accidents, and I didn't think he would make it. The next morning he woke up and stayed dry the whole day. We never went back. If you are nervous about underwear in the car... take a plastic bag (like a Cub or Target bag) and put it on the bottom of the carseat. The seat will stay clean, and she will still learn. He had one time that he had an accident on purpose when he was mad at me... in a grocery store when he was tired and crabby. I told him I couldn't hold him because he was wet and it was icky, and made him sit in it until we got home (I had extra clothes, but I wanted him to learn from it). He has never done that again.

Good luck!

J.

It's been a while since I potty-trained a child, but the biggest suggestion I have is to skip the Pull-ups and go straight from diapers to underwear. If you use Pull-ups, expect your child to treat them like diapers, because they feel like diapers. Also - try to let your child be in charge of her potty learning as much as possible - pushing a child and forcing them to train can cause that same child to rebel down the road and have "accidents" on purpose. Children will often use this as a means of control. If your child is particularly in love with a certain character (Disney princesses, Care Bears, Spiderman, etc) try to find underpants with those designs, and talk to your child about not wetting (or dirtying) the Princesses or whathaveyou.

Good luck!

I highly recommend the book "Toilet Training Without Tears." We had a lot of trouble with my 3-year-old. At 3, he had expressed occasional interest, but it quickly faded away time and again. I was frustrated and felt like I didn't know how to help. This book explains three distinct approaches: early training (which is for babies, like less than 6 months), the readiness approach (which is pretty child-led and what most parents use these days), and the training in a day approach. He goes over the advantages and disadvantages of each. He also talks about the most common parenting mistakes; I realized I'd been so worried about pushing him that I hadn't given him any direction. With some ideas from the book, we made great progress, and he was fully trained (with only occasional accidents, but going everywhere in underpants) within a couple of weeks! It really helped me a lot, because I felt really lost and he speaks to parents in ways that really help.

Good luck!

R.-

Just wanted to say that I am also starting this process, and will be looking back to see the replies! So far, no luck w/my 2 yr daughter, although physically she is ready - she seems to have "performance anxiety" and will hold it until she is in private. She loves to sit on the potty to hear books and have fun only. Just bought a new potty, and the booklet that came with it had some ideas contrary to what everyone had been telling me. God help both of us!
:-)
T.

A book from the 70's called "Toilet Training in Less than a Day" by Azrin and ? (forgot the other author). Even if you follow it imperfectly it will be effective.

My dad used it to train me in a day and a half.

I used it to train my son at 28 mos. It took 3 days and he was potty-trained except for pull-ups for sleeping.

I used it again on my daughter. It took a couple of months but we started a bit too early (20 months)-- she wasn't really ready but she really wanted to so we went ahead.

Potty training is just something that you have to be consistant with. With both my daughters (now 6 and 3) they were both trained by 2. When I felt they were ready (going #2 the same time almost every day) I used a timer to remind them to try and go potty. I would take them to the store and let them pick out a timer and started out with 15 minutes for the 1st hour and slowly push the time out until they were going with out the timer. When they heard the timer go off I would tell them it is time to go sit on the potty. Sometimes they would just sit for 30 seconds but at least they learned to sit on the toilet. With in a week they got to keep the timer as a toy. I did use pull-ups for bed time as they did not understand that they can go at night by them selves. I also used the mattress protector sheets that are made of cloth on one side and a rubber like material on the other on the outside of the sheet. If they had an accident I did not have to change the whole bed, exspecially if they woke up in the middle of the night that they had an accident.

I told my step-daughter this method with her 2 yr old son and he was trained in 4 days.

The one thing to remember is to not punnish them if they have an accident. This can cause them to regress.

Good luck!

Morning R.,

You are asking about potty training, like you we have a girl and when I trained her everytime I went she came in with me and went on her own potty and within a few days or two tops she was using the "big girl" potty on her own. She also trained really early and fast she was day trained by 17 months and over night trained by 20 or 21 months. She was easy and everybody always say that girls are easier then boys. So I hope I have helped you and good luck on the training. Now she is 6 years old and still sings the "ABC'S" after she is done going potty and washing her hands. They say in the time it takes to sing the song thats how long they need to wash there hands the right way. Just a little hint that might help you there as well, because at 1st she hated to wash them after going potty she didn't understand why because she didn't she the "germs" or dirt.

A little about me, I am married to my soulmate Kevin, together we have our princess named Rachel who will be in 1st grade this fall and then we have a son who became an angel and we named him Matthew, we both work full time outside the home and love life and all there is about it. Oh ya and like most females I love to shop!!!

Bye 4 now,
T.

I think the best thing is to go straight to underwear. It's easier for them to pull up and down, they feel the wetness more, and if you celebrate getting the underwear with them and talk about what that means, they know something special is going on.
Rewards and positive reinforcement.

My boy turned 3 in april just started about 3 wks ago and is doing a great job! I never would have thought he was ready but 1 day at grandmas running around naked in the kiddie pool and he peed she just told him next time lets do that in the potty and he hasn't peed his pants since. he's even dry at naps and only wears a diaper at night just in case. Bowl training has proven a bit more difficult, he didn't have a movement for almost 5 days but finally did, in his pants but at that point anywhere was a relief. I just started tonight w/ a reward system he gets a jellybean when he poops on the potty and it worked tonight! (I may do an m&m instead so the jellybean isn't stuck in his teeth)
The best advice is to not push it when they are ready it just clicks. You don't want it to be a negative experience and accidents are just that. Good luck!

It's funny that you write this because I, too, am training my son this week. We have been preparing him that we are going to train him for the last couple weeks. We were at the library two weeks ago and picked up the "Potty Elmo" DVD. While it hasn't inspired him to use the potty yet, he sings the songs whenever I go. Actually, he sings the songs wherever we are, but it's especially funny when he does while we're in the bathroom. We have also used the potty chair as a regular chair in the living room, so he gets use to it. He's the kind of kid that likes to be prepared or told what's happening next and we thought this was a good way of doing that. Our next step is underwear. I'm taking the suggestions from the messages from other moms. Thurs & Fri I have off of work. That's when we'll do it.

My question for the moms, though, nap time and bed time - diaper, pull up or underwear? I wouldn't think it would be underwear... and how do you explain to him that it's ok to wear a diaper at nap time/bedtime but not during the day?

I have a 2 year old girl and we just started potty training. Today she actually told us she had to poop when her diaper was on and we put her on the potty and she went. This is a big step for us because we have been working on it for the past week. What we did was strip her down and let her be naked. I started letting her be naked for a half day on Monday and then the next day I would add in some afternoon time. By the third day I was taking her diaper off right away in the morning and right away after nap. She will have an accident when she is wearing underware and will go potty in her diaper. When she is naked she will tell us. I put a diaper on her when we go out but otherwise she is naked or in underware. I will also remind her to tell me when she has to go instead of asking her all the time if she has to go. I think it makes her feel in charge. I hope this wasnt too much information. If you have any questions let me know.

Hi R.,
I am just about to start potty training and wondered if you could forward me any responses that you get. I was going to send the same request next week.
Thanks and good luck,
M.
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