Potty Training After a New Baby

I had a little bit of a hard time following the process you were using for potty training, so forgive me if I'm seeming redundant.

But from what I gather, it sounds like you were really in the early process of potty training...the part where you are getting her familiar with sitting on the potty and helping her make the connection between going #1 & #2 by having her sit on her potty after she started or even finished the process already with a diaper.

What's not clear is whether she had gotten to the point where she knew to use the potty on her own before anything happend.

So what I recommend is that you start from scratch, but perhaps step up the pace a bit. The method (I saw this on the Dr. Phil show two years ago, I foo-fooed it, but was pleasantly surprised to find it actually works!!) I used with my kids suggested first letting your child have time to just get familiar with their potty... carry it around... sit on it like a chair (not as though they were going to use it)... you show them a favorite toy "using" the potty and explain hygene such as hand-washing and wiping after etc.

I know this sounds weird, but it was even suggested to me to use mini-candy bars (like a Babe Ruth) and water tinted with yellow-food coloring and place/pour it under the doll while it's on the potty to get the idea across of how this whole thing works. I felt pretty silly, but it worked! My kids were absolutely fascinated, and it seemed to get the point across.

Do this for about a week, that's just about the time their curiosity is peaked. If she asks to use the potty and do the same thing right away, by all means let her. Otherwise, continue the process and then pick a day to announce that you are going to have a "party" for her.

Pick her favorite character, even buy a potty with the character, party favors like balloons, whatever, and tell her if she can use the potty the way she saw her stuffed buddy use it, she'll get a special reward (for my kids it was a pack of big kid underwear with their favorite character, a box of toddler wipes (very important for successfully teaching them clean-up properly...toilet paper is too dry and hard to handle for little ones) and a small toy.

The next step is to pick a block of days where you will not be interupted from dedicated potty-time. Your goal is to shoot for potty-success in one day, but don't let your daughter know. YOU DO NOT want to pressure her, or the whole thing will fail. This should be a goal for YOU. So day one is party day.

Have her potty in a room by a t.v. with her favorite videos, and the party stuff all set up. Have a chart handy with spaces for each skill you want her to learn such as "trying/sitting down", #1, #2, wiping, flushing, washing hands, drying hands, throwing paper towel away, etc. Each time she accomplishes any of these tasks she should get a sticker for each one...and a big cheer with noisemakers etc.

Make sure she understands that if she actually does a #1 and/or #2 she will get a small prize. If she gets through the whole weekend or next two days successfully, following the same process each day...at the end of the weekend she will get the big prizes and will be an officially big girl! Tell her when her baby sister/brother is older she can now teach them what to do. (more incentive)

At the end of it all, when she meets your goals, tell he she will now wear big girl pants all the time...no more diapers. Toss the diapers out. And be sure you have rubber pants on hand for night-time or if she still has an accident here and there. You want to drop diapers cold-turkey once she's demonstrated a complete weekend of successful potty use. If you go back to diapers, she will regress.

For night-time training, no liquids two hours before bed, have her go potty before bed, and use the rubber pants if she's not able to stay dry through the night. If you use pull-ups you'll have a harder time getting her night trained. Granted some kids don't develop the bladder control right away, most can and are better off starting on the right foot. Being uncomfortable during the night is a motivator to use the potty. Lastly, keep her potty in her room with a nightlight if she's scared of the dark.

This is alot of work. But in the whole scheme of things, one weekend is very little to sacrifice to have an actually potty-trained child.

You'll find this method is really good for those parents with kids who don't know what having to go to the bathroom feels like, or haven't yet learned that if they feel wetness etc. they need to get moving to the potty. Most kids give signals such as "hiding" behind furniture, squinty or intense facial expression, pacing.... you get the idea...I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

If nothing happens, and your weekend is a bust, still keep going through the process of rewarding them on a sticker chart for what they are able to accomplish to encourage them to keep trying. The important part is each accomplishment, whether they actually go or not is rewarded.

http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/V-Dr-Phil-Potty-Trai...

1 mom found this helpful

Just curious - did she start to regress when you went back to work? Could that have something to do with it?

My daughters are 15 months apart also. My oldest went back and forth on potty training also for a while. The back peddaling is normal. She is just trying to decided what she wants. She will make up her mind soon enough. When you least expect it, she'll do it on her own. Be patient. If she wants to wear diapers, put her in diapers. If she wants panties on, put them on. Good luck!

K.,
Congrats on your growing family! Our daughter was 2.5 when the second was born, and almost fully potty trained. She regressed back to diapers for a few months. Give your little girl time. I know she seems big to you, having already used the potty, but she is a little tiny human. She may have regressed without a new sibling, because at 2 they start saying no to everything! Just give her the time she needs to work it out. She'll get there again, because she sounds like a bright little girl.

I say this because as a mother of two, do you really want to jump through all the hoops with the tricks of candy and yellow water?! I bet you have enough to do without adding that to your list.

Enjoy your girls.

I see you have already reported back on this one, and it reflects what I wanted to say.

It sounds like you are very much in step with your little girl. You recognized her cues to use the potty at certain times and understand by her communication where she is right now. I would be careful about using the word "success" with what she did, as though what she is doing now is not, or with the word "regress". The picture I get is that you are walking this path with her and where she is, you are. That is always success. So when she is ready to go again, use that same connectedness to follow her leads. Don't worry if it is a very long time. This is just a teasing thing that our little girls use to help prepare us for the next many years of parenting them. (mostly kidding--hee, hee--but girls can be a real trip!)

First off, I think u need to relax. She is only TWO! My 1st child was 3, my 2nd is 3 1/2 and has no interest in potty training and my 3rd is 15 months and shows some interest, but I don't push it. We tried too hard with our 1st and it didn't work- she potty-trained herself when we left her alone. Just keep asking her like u do and eventually she'll get the hang of it. I start to stress about my 3 year old and my friend reassures me that "she won't be 18 and in diapers!" LOL

We had the same thing happen (at 18 mo.) with no new baby. I wouldn't worry about it, give her a bit of time then try again. We used treats and buying her some panties to get her back into the habit. It worked great. She was potty trained a little after 2 and never really had many (maybe 3) accidents.

My son went on the potty for the first time on August 21 of last year. At that time, I was in my 7th month being pregnant with #2, I was exstatic! I didn't push it because of the new baby coming along, and we would progress and regress, and many times I would get frustrated. We stopped buying pull ups and put him back in 'baby' diapers and let him lead. If he went, he went. We kept a calendar, more for mom and dad to see and remember. Then, 2 Mondays ago, I prayed "Surprise me, God!" And he was dry (including naps and night!) for 4 days! And he was so upset when he finally had an accident. Now, he's had about an accident a day, but most when he's over stimulated.

Moral of the story, don't push it, but keep it in the forefront of her mind, and it will eventually come. And praise, praise, praise, when she does go. Good luck!

Instead of asking her if she wants to sit on the potty, try not making it so she doesn't have a choice ... "time to sit on the potty, go potty, etc". Put her on a schedule (when she gets up, before lunch, before/after nap, before dinner, before bath, etc).