What's the Best Way to Start Potty Training??

HI!
We had phenomenal success with 3 wonderful DVDs and a strange looking potty!! haha

1. The DVDs are:
Bear in the Big Blue House Potty Time
Elmo's Potty Time
It's Potty Time for Her/Him

2. We bought one of those little pottys (at Target, I believe) that is just one molded, ergonomically correct piece of plastic. (Just like the one in the It's Potty Time for her/him DVD.)

My little guy LOVED LOVED LOVED these videos and they totally got him excited about the potty--he was completely done at 22 months!

Good luck & enjoy this time--it goes so fast, doesn't it??
K.

First off, I'd skip the pull ups. They are a waste of money and time. My kids are grown, and my daughter was using them on her son, and getting very frustrated. I put him in his underpants at my house one weekend, and he didn't like the wet feeling and he was on his way to being done. And that was after months of my daughter trying it her way. She even tried the ones that made him feel cold, whatever. It was just a battle, that neither of them needed. I'd get her some pretty little panties, and she'll go from there. If she's ready, she'll be done in no time, otherwise, give her another month or two. And don't fret over accidents, they happen, no matter how old she is when you start working on it. Good luck.

Good Morning!

I read an article in Parent magazine when my son was 18 months about children being very interested in potty training at 18 months or so. The article went on to explain that most children lose this intrest and will regain curiosity closer to two. My son did this exact thing! We bought him the potty seat that goes on the regular toilet at 18 months. He used if for about three months, he was even going #2! But one day he wanted nothing to do with it. The article also said not to push the issue. The bigger the deal you make of it the more the child will protest.
I guess I'm saying kids change their minds daily so don't get discouraged if she changes her mind about this:) When Grant was 27 months (which is impressive for a boy:) we did fully pottytrain. We bought a Playmobil Advent calendar for $20 and everyday he didn't have an accident he got to open a box which held 1-4 little toys. We got the pirate one but they have a cute unicorn paradise one also.
Sorry if this was long and good luck!

Best Wishes
S.

My daughter is 17 mo and is also ready to potty train. But I have experience w/potty training her older sis who is 5. My oldest was easy. The main thing I found was to not ask if they have to go potty-just say lets go potty and get up and help them....have a distraction available while they are sitting on it...i use books and a pretend makeup bag that I only let her play with while she's on the potty. After that it just comes natural...make sure when she does go u give lots of praise and use the same term for it over and over (yay you went potty) Now I would not suggest using pullups b/c they are expensive and kids get used to them. There are panties that have cloth on inside and a plastic liner on the outside if you are worried about accidents. But I would just keep doing diapers until you have a potty routine built up and she is going regular..then switch to regular panties or training paints. The other main pointer i would say is never get mad if she has an accident or doesn't want to cooperate..just take it one day at a time. good luck!

Oh my!! 17 months is too young. First thing, is she dry at night? That was always a pre-requisite for me. Pull-ups were not invented when I potty trained...I think they slow things down. The trainee needs to know what's happening...if she pees, it will go down her leg, not just get absorbed into a pull-up.
Her interest in the potty doesn't mean she's ready. She is certainly excited about being the big sister and big girls go on the potty. You could get her some panties and let her be the big girl BUT from what I've seen over the years, if you start too early, you may have SOME success, but it will just take longer and right now you should be resting from birthing your new baby, having 2 is more work! You don't need to be cleaning up messes right now. Relax, there's no hurry!
I found some of the other moms' responses interesting...
"the night thing is harder to train for"... If you wait til shs's dry at night, then you know her body is ready to hold it for a period of time. Do what's best for you and your little ones. It's a long time before she's 3 and ready for preschool. I always waited til they were dry at night, (I have 3 girls) trained with NO pants...the first two took a week. The first two were 2 1/2, and #3 was 3 1/2. #3 was afraid of the flushing noise and falling in, but when I told her I was out of diapers, we were snowed in at the time, and she would just have to wear the panties IT TOOK ONE DAY! They are all different. Good Luck!

Yes, pull-ups do work well. Always start with them. Take your child shopping and let her pick out a package of regular panties of her choice. Tell her that every week that she has not "accidents" in her pull-up, she can have one pair of the panties from the package she has picked out. If she makes it through the day (not the night yet) without having an accident in them, she can pick out a new pair the next day. Once she has learned to make it through the day, then work on trying at night. Buy a rubber sheet to put under her regular sheets for bed...this will save your mattress from "wet nights", and you will have those nights...many of them. Try very, very hard never to get mad, trust me, getting mad will not help the situation. Just remember, it is a learning process and it can take a lot of time and patience for both of you. You can also let her pick out some stickers and a cheap little sticker book and let her pick a sticker out and put it in her book everytime she shows you she went in the potty...and make sure she shows you...otherwise, she will try to fake it to get stickers...lol. Also, let her watch you go potty and show her what big girls do. I know it may sound weird to some people, but seeing how happy mommy is to go on the potty and have dry panties is psychologically helpful to your child. Important note: Don't offer candy or any other food for going potty. Remember, food of any kind is only for meals/snacks. Good luck!

I agree that pull ups dont work i have 5 kids my first i tried pull ups she had alot of accidents when i start just putting underwear on her she had no accidents with my other 4 i just start putting underwear on them when they started telling me they used the bathroom in their diaper and they went my girls started going to the bathroom around 1-1 1/2 my boys started at 2 i really believe that they will go when their ready and i dont think they should be punished if their not ready so i think u should just put underwear on her and if she gose great if she dosent try another time well i wish u the best

Pull ups are a glorified diaper. An expensive glorified diaper at that. :-)
I would let her lead... If she does not know when she's peeing yet then you will stress yourself out and spend a lot of money in the mean time. If you do want to start laying the ground work just start putting her on the potty. Take her diaper off of her and set her on. If she goes, she goes... If not, no pressure. With the new baby she will go thru stages of wanting to be the baby/ big girl... Most girls get it around 2 yrs old... Boys around 3 1/2 (preparing you for the future:-)... Putting her on the potty after every meal, just after waking, and before bed time is usually the best times to catch the peeps. Once she connects the feeling of going with the fact that she's going she'll be a breeze.
Don't sweat it... It will come in its own time... Having a 2 yr old and an infant is tiring for anyone, try not to bite off too much at one time.
Good luck...

get her a small potty that she can manage on her own. I would definately try pull ups so she can pull down her own panties and sit on the potty.

he J. being a mother of five girls pulls up are just a waste of money .when you feel she is ready you have to commit to it what i done with all mine and it worked great was set a timeer for thirty minutes and ever time it went off we tryed to go potty before we left the house to somewhere and then whene we got to where we were going and in no time at all they had it if they went you told u praise and if they don't you say good try or maybe next time sweetie i alway keepet a change of clothes with us in the car and i had a little potty seat that fit on top of the real potty that went ever where with us at first they seam to like that best my youngest was potty trained months before she was two something like 14 16 mo well good luck hope it works for you

We did the timer thing at 18 mo- after seeing how long she was keeping dry for at a time in her diaper. We took her to the bathroom every hour&1/2 & when we were going out. We used the cotton panties w/the plastic on the outside. We did diapers at night. We kept a calendar & wrote down the times she went to be consistent. (If you look at your own habits- you probably go to the bathroom close to the same time each day, too.)
At 2 1/2 she started keeping dry all night, (So yes, it was a whole year -gradual process.) so we kept a chart once she was diaper dry for a few weeks that if she kept it dry one week in a row she got to wear underware at night. Then after that was done- a week later- we transitioned to a big girl bed (so she could get up to go potty if she needed in the middle of the night)- but that was a whole 'nother story!
Even though it wasn't something that was done in one week or even one month, it still saved us money on diapers! And it was a 'transition'!!! Don't make the goal preschool- make it your daughter's development! She will make it at her own pace. Good luck!

wow. It seems like you have a full life!! Honestly? I think you are trying to tackle a huge task. Potty training is a big deal and 17 months is a good age to introduce training but she may be closer to 2 - 2 1/2 before she is "trained". Plus, it takes time and patience which a 2 week old won't give you. But if you really think she is ready, start by getting a great book. Then, a nice potty that she picks out. Next, introduce the words you want to use for potty time and every time you change her talk about the toilet. Because children learn from example let her come into the bathroom with you. I found pull ups DON'T work. You will just have to deal with alot of accidents. Start with poop training as that is a bit easier and when your ready move on to peeing. My son was 2 1/2 when we trained him and 3 year old preschool was fine (all 3 year old schools take them w/ a pullup but you have to come up and change them if they are poopy.) My daughter is 23 months and has been pooping on the potty for a while, but not consistently. Anyway, good luck and let us know if you discover any new tricks along the way!!!
D

17 months is a little young in my opinion. They have a hard time controlling their bladders at such a young age. I never started my kids until they were at least 2. My daughter was totally potty trained by her 3rd birthday. I just put her on the potty several times a day and clapped when she used it. She loved that.

My daughter sounds just like yours. She started being interested in the potty around 16 - 17 months. So we bought her a potty chair and she'd sit on it while I went, most of the time with her clothes on. Every once in a while she'd know she had to poop and she'd tell me and we'd go sit on the potty. I just let her explore it herself. Then last month at 20 months, she wanted to poop in the potty every night around dinner time. This went on for a week with no interest in peeing in the potty. Then after seven days, she looked at me one morning and said, I pee potty mommy. Then she did it again 15 minutes later. So I asked her if she wanted to wear big girl pants today and she said yes. So I put Gerber Training Pants (http://www.gerberchildrenswear.com/OURPRODUCTS/tabid/118/...) on her, the thick cotton ones and told her to tell me if she had to go again. She only had two accidents that day. And two the next at daycare. Now a month down the road, most days are accident free. She wears "night night pants" (diapers) for nap time and bedtime. She only had one pee last night though, I could tell since the diaper was so light. So while, I'm not an expert, I would definitely encourage her for the next few months and see what happens. Lots of clapping, and calling grandma to tell her about our potty successes helped too. I love the training pants, she can feel she’s wet, and she might get her outfit wet too, but the mess is relatively well contained.

START!
17 months is not too young. Matter of fact, there are MANY people, including myself, who practice 'Elimination Communication' (EC) with our children. Children are born with the knowledge of when they are peeing and pooping AND the instinct to NOT soil themselves. We teach them to go potty in their diaper and then expect them to re-learn something else later!

There is a great book, 'The Diaper Free Baby'. Of course much of it is dedicated to families who start EC early (I started when my daughter was 5 months old, many start at birth). BUT, it does have great information you can use for potty training.

But, here are the basics.

You need to get that body recognition back. As you pointed out, she doesn't know when she is peeing. So, it might be a little messy for a day or so.... but take it off. Take it ALL off. Put her in a t-shirt or something and let that butt go free. Pay attention to when she pees.... does she have to pee when she wakes up from a nap/bed? How long after she has a drink does she need to pee. Does she pee more in the morning, afternoon?

Timing is your friend. If you can get her on the potty when you anticipate she needs to pee...then do so. Make it a big deal. Have a potty party with her. Sing songs, clap...whatever to make it fun. Whether you catch a pee in the potty, or if she goes on the floor... TELL HER what she is doing. Say 'You're going pee!' Not angrily ... but excitedly. She WILL get the connection. It won't take long before she connects the words 'you're going pee' with the sensation of actually going pee.

As far as pooping. I'm sure she has gotten into a rythmn for that. So, put her on the potty just before you think she has to poop. OR, if you see 'the look' .... get her on the potty.

Kids are really smart and we don't give them enough credit. She will get this. Noone wants to sit in their own waste. It's yucky.

I can't believe how many moms I hear say 'I know when my kid is going poop... he/she gets this glazed look and I just know what is happening' Yet... they sit and WATCH and let them go in their diaper! WHY!? Would YOU want to sit in your own poop??? If you know it is happening ... why not just put them on the potty!?

Baby Bjorn has a great little potty chair. Perfect size. They also have a bigger one that is more expensive. But the simple little potty chair is typically about $10 or something. It's all one piece and comes in lots of colors. Amazon sells it, I think Target also sells it. If you don't have a potty chair yet that is.

Have Fun! I would say definitely start getting that diaper off!

Oh... and for those who think this is nuts. My daughter goes poop in the potty, we catch many of her pees through the day, she WILL tell me through sign language when she has to go, and another friend of mine ... her daughter was completely out of diapers by the age of 15 months. There was no struggle, no coercion, just good ole communication with our children on meeting their elimination needs.

J.,

I don't know where you live exactly, but the Adventure Center in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti is great. My almost 3 year old goes there and the room he's in helps potty train because they don't have changing tables in the "pre" pre-school room. He's doing really well with it. The best thing I can recommend (and this is what Adventure Center is doing) put your little one in pull-ups (don't use the pampers easy ups because they don't have the tear away sides if you need to lay them down and treat like a diaper, which trust me, you'll need to once in awhile.) take them in to the bathroom once an hour and put them on the toilet. Even if they just sit there, that's okay. What works pretty well in conjunction with that is if you sit on the toilet like you're going to go, or let them watch you while you pee, they can see that you're supposed to go in the toilet, and not in their pants. Good luck! I love the year and a half age, my daughter is 18 months old and she's so funny.

J.,

The best way I found was to put my daughter in big girl undies. The pull-up are glorified diapers to me. They have to learn and what better way than big girl undies. That way they will learn what wet feels like. I know it sounds like a mess but it works. My daughter is 3 1/2 now. She took a few ups and downs with potty training but is doing super now. The pooping took a bit but she has that down now. The night training is a little more tough!!!! Hope this will help you out. Good luck

M. H.

Starting potty training at 17 months may not guarantee she will be trained at the age of 3 for pre-school. There is nerve development plus development of self-awareness and self-control that must happen, and you want to make sure that she is given the time she needs to feel that feeling (a tickle?) that she needs to urinate, and that she has the control to hold it or let it go.

You can introduce her to the potty, certainly, and celebrate with her if she happens to "go" when you sit her there, but don't mistake "going" on the potty for that development of the nervous system and the development of her awareness and control.

My mom says that I was potty trained early (by two, I think), and NOW she admits it was SHE who was trained to put ME on the potty chair often enough to keep me from going in my diaper.

As her awareness and control develop, you'll be able to hand over to her the responsibility of using the toilet and it will happen beautifully.

There is a video and book by the same name, called "Once Upon a Potty", with a version for boys and one for girls, and watching the video was helpful for us. We kept the book in the bathroom and looked at it in there.

Good luck--you have a wonderful family!

My first instinct when I read this was - this woman must be sleep deprived! I don't know anything about potty training, but I am very aware of how exhausting a brand new baby can be!
But then I thought about it, and it might be a nice way for your daughter to get special attention from you during the adjustment period - as long as it doesn't get stressful or turn frustrating...either way, best of luck!