Potty Training Questions - Corpus Christi, TX

Yes, something without too many pieces. Get the kind on the floor and the kind that goes right on the toilet. Start with the little seat on the toilet. It can make transition to the big potty easier.

But, if it's just too high up there, even with their feet resting on something, then you'll have the little one for them to use.

Congrats on the adoption!

Hi! I have tried "Every potty under the sun." I have potty trained 3 girls and I'm working on #4. They were very reluctant potty trainers and were potty trained at ages 4,5,4. I hate the potties that are in too many pieces. It makes it harder to clean and you have to take them all apart. yuck.

My favorite is Baby Bjorn, which you can get online or at Babies R Us (They didn't have them in store when I bought mine.)

For the 1 1/2 year olds I like the mini Bjorn. It's one molded piece and just the right size for their little toosies. I keep it in my van under the seat now that they are bigger for an emergency potty while we are out.

AS they get bigger I like the bigger one. It has a high back and a removable pot to rinse out. So simple I LOVE them.

When they use the big potty I like a seat from One Step Ahead (online or catalog.) IT replaces your potty seat so you have a big potty seat and then a little one that fits into the lid. When you have company they can use the big one and your younger child uses the little one- ingenious idea (especially since we have children of different ages and sizes.)

Congrats on the adoption!

Lots of good advice so far! My experience:
The potty that makes noise when you "use" it is kind of scary. As far as them breaking after a few weeks, if you are using it for that long, then you should think about holding back on potty training. Boys tend to take longer than girls. We tried potty training for my 4 yr old when he was 2.5 and all that happened was a lot of laundry. We stopped pressuring him, left the potty out and went back to diapers. When his third birthday came up, we talked about what being a big boy meant and the potty came up. He decided to use it. So he did. That was it. I've decided to just skip the "training" part with my younger boy and just go with the flow. So to speak.

Hi A., congratulations! I have potty trained two kids with very different experiences. All children are different so my first advice is let him decide when he's ready and ignore everyone that says my son was potty trained when he was 6 months old, blah,blah,blah. Of course no one potty trains that early but there is a lot of pressure from moms/preschools to get it done early. I pushed my daughter and it backfired. She was nearly 5 before she would do #2 on the pot (but peed on the potty since 3). I didn't push my son but when he started showing signs of readiness we started trying and he was completely potty trained (except at night) before 3. Encouragement, bribery (we used a treasure box - box covered in wrapping paper with a hole cut in the top, filled with dollar toys, candy, whatever works for your child). Anyway, I personally recommend having a potty chair and one that fits over the regular toilet. My kids only used the potty chair a couple of weeks and were ready to move to the big potty which is better because then you don't have to worry about cleaning/sanitizing it every time they pee! Goodluck!

Good morning A.,

My little girl is just getting close to 18 months old and we thought ahead too. I just bought this potty chair but we haven't used it, so I can't give a personal recommendation yet. However, from the reviews, the Travel Potty by Cool Gear seemed to have the most positive ones. It's also good for up to 70 lbs. if I remember correctly, so you can use it later for road emergencies or camping. It's available through One Step Ahead or Amazon. Read the reviews on it, very practical.

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Gear-Travel-Potty/dp/B0018ZC7H...

I have a three year old that we're still training. We have both: one that's on the floor and one that goes over the toilet. I would suggest both only because he may feel scared with our big toilets or he may not. My son wasn't scared of the noises a toilet makes, but my daughter was. Each child is different. Also, make sure that when you do get a potty or one that goes over the toilet that it has a high deflector. I've seen built-in deflectors and those didn't keep the pee in the toilet and left a real mess. And if it's possible, maybe have him pick the seat. We let our son pick out his seat (fisher price froggy seat no bells or whistles) and he loves using it because it's his. And if you go to the huggies website, there's a link for a free dvd.

Just a simple potty chair is best. When your son is really ready, being clean and not using a diaper will be reward enough. I wouldn't advise even introducing it until he is two, and then only letting him take the lead in using it. He will let you know when he is ready. It may be at 2 1/2 or even at 3, but when he is really ready, "potty training" will only take a couple days. Beware of pushing him to use it. I have seen many toddlers delayed in this area due to pushing from the parents. Congrats on the adoption and good luck!

Check out Dr. Kyle Pruett, an early childhood development expert. He has several books out including one that gets into great suggestions on potty training. Boys tend to potty train later than girls, BTW. Feel free to stop by our preschool and pick up some free info on potty training and other topics (Goddard School of Cedar Park). Good luck!

forget parenting books. they're all a bunch of fluff that is very general and never seem to work for your child. all they do is pad the author's wallet.

potty training should be started as soon as the baby can hold his/her head on his/her shoulders. as soon as he wakes up in the morning, rush to the bathroom, take the diaper off and "sit" him on the pot (while still holding him so that he doesn't fall in). the cool air hitting his warm bottom generally will stimulate him to urinate. make sure to praise him for "using the potty". if he doesn't "use it" that time, that's okay. still flush the potty (to get him used to the noise) then replace the diaper if it is not wet/soiled. then every 30 minutes or so after that, take him back in there and repeat the process.

when he gets to be about 6 months old or crawling, increase the time between to about 45 minutes or so - all the while maintaining the praise when he does potty.

when he starts walking (around a year old) then you increase to about an hour or so. encourage him to "tell you" when he needs to go and don't punish for accidents. don't make him afraid to tell you he's dirty. you may tell him "you need to tell me sooner next time so that you don't feel all yucky".

when he gets to around 15 - 18 months, you should be able to be using only training pants and pullups at night. around this time, make a chart for him. for every day that he manages to "tell you" in time, he earns a little sticker. go buy i'd say about 10 "big boy" underwear. for every week he earns 7 stickers, he gets to throw away one pair of training pants and to pick out one pair of big boy underwear.

how do i know this works? my grandmother raised all 3 of her kids, all 4 of us grandkids and both of my kids this way. it's not as traumatizing if they are exposed to it early. don't read a stupid book and "wait till the child is ready" that's a bunch of hooey!

A wise friend of mine suggested to start my son off standing up to go #1, not sitting. I'm going to sound like the world's biggest hillbilly here, but we first had him go outside (to get used to going without having to think about aiming) and then he graduated to the big toilet, standing on a potty stool. I admit, this is not for every kid, and my son's aim was pretty bad for 3-4 months (tip: cut up cheap plastic tablecloths and line the walls around your toilet for easy clean up) but now you could never tell he learned to pee outside. So we never had a potty chair for #1 training.

When we started training for #2, we first had a floor potty, but then my son wouldn't go into public toilets b/c he was used to pooping in floor potty (or at least trying to go #2) so we got rid of that and got a potty seat for the big toilet. We had a potty seat for upstairs and downstairs toilets.

If your son is short (like mine), check to see if the chairs that convert into a stool are tall enough as a stool, b/c while the chair is a good fit while the child is sitting, the stool may not be tall enough for him to reach the sink safely.

Congrats on your new addition and may your home be blessed with his life, love and laughter, inside and out!

I loved the baby Bijorn potty (I think I spelled that right) it was super easy to clean and sat on the floor. The problem with my son was he is so tall the "protector" part wasn't tall enough and he would pee over it on the floor. It should work great with my daughter though.

For my son we ended up with a Boon brand potty. It is/was awesome...it has a great bright orange flexible shield that I could tell him to put Mr. Peepee behind the "orange thing" and pee never got on the floor. Also, it can then be used as a step to stand on a wash hands.

We also have a seat that fits on the big potty and within a couple of months he was using that then before I knew it he is sitting on the regular potty. And I thought he would NEVER be trained!!!

It is great you are thinking ahead with gifts...a small table and chair set for in the kitchen, an art easel, anything that are bigger ticket items they use all through the pre-school years. Hugs!!

Hi! Well, my daughter just turned 3 and I think she's finally "completely" potty-trained. She used a little potty starting when she was about 18 months or so, very sporadically, just to get her used to the idea. Then, when I started to really train her about 6 months ago, I just used a seat that fit on the big toilet, so she would know it was time for serious training. :) I agree, rewards work well, be it a sticker chart and/or things like M&Ms or small cookies. We stayed home for about 3 days and really focused on the training; then after that I just encouraged it whenever I could. It probably took 3-4 months before she really had it (and then our second child was born and the oldest regressed some). I would keep her bare-bottomed at home (or in underwear) and then keep pull-ups for outings or nighttime. God be with you - and give you patience! It's sometimes a tough process, but really worth it.

i potty trained my son at 18 months old and he did just fine i don't think it is too early all i did was take him to the bathroom with me so he can see and get use to the sound of the toilet sometime the flush sound kids don't like well then i put him on his own potty i let him pick that way he can want to use it well i put him on every 30 min. for 10 min. for week and he got it and when he went i mad a big deal about it that way he can see it was a good thing but i do have to say the pooppie thing was harder but i just had to reassure him that every thing was ok

I got my daughter this one (I think from target or somewhere) that looks like a little crown and played a song. The price was alright for the product and it's been pretty durable, she can also use it as a stand as she washes her hands.

I actually don't ever have the song part turned on. It seems more confusing than anything - she and another kid i know were attuned to just making it play and had trouble correlating that it was because they had "gone" in it. if you pour anything in it it will go off, so i can understand why it didn't really help them understand what it was. Plus, at some point it started to just play at random so we were always clapping and saying "yea!" anyways ;)