Potty-Training - Nyssa,OR

My daughter liked m-n-m or mini marshmallows as treat. She pretty much forgot about them and doesn't even ask for them now.

She did not really care about/for the sticker system.

She loves when I dance around after she goes and we sing the "Peepee in the Pottay" song (think Look Who's Talking).

She potty trained best on a regular toliet seat even though we have a Fisher Price one that makes noise. She does use that one as a stool (as it doubles as one) for the potty and washing her hands. But she also carries it around the house and uses it elsewhere so if you are going to use the regular potty (with a kids toliet seat or the regular one) I recommend just buying a stool for their feet. That way they can be more independent about getting up and sitting on the potty.

Use a timer - instead of asking or telling her to go every 30, 45 mins. This worked wonders for my daughter. She was resistant and 'didn't have to go' when I asked her but when I told her that she had to go when the timer went off, she'd tell me it was time to go!

REAL undies or training pants that she likes - NO PULLUPS - they know that is just a fancy diaper and will use it like one!

a potty that is easy to get on and off herself - or a secure smaller seat on the toilet and a stool to get up there if she is tall enough (our daughter was small for her age and we had taller elongated toilets, so that didn't work well at first)

easy to pull on and off shorts/pants, or wear sundressesonce it is warm - really easy access

still use wipes at first, get the flushables if you want, much easier for getting poopies wiped

Books to read in the bathroom! About going potty if you can get some....our library has a few of those, and we bought a couple - we'd read them every time we were in there at first.

we used stickers on a paper, one for pee, 2 for poop, and once she got to 10 she got to go to the $1 dollar store for a prize ( later as she got more accpmplished we upped the total to 20 or more before the trip to get a prize

don't make a big deal out of accidents, just clean it up matter of fact, but make a HUGE DEAL - Potty Party of praise of her going in the potty

Good Luck - we have been diaper free during the day for a year,very few accidents and she is just now starting to wake up dry in the morning, she wore diapers only during nap and night time in between then and now.

Oh, another necessity - A portable potty for the car if you drive anywhere for more than 45 minutes at the beginning - at the very start we would travel in a diaper or pull-up, but still encourage her ot tell us and go potty in the back of the car in her potty - she has been great, we have only ever had one accident in the car and it was becasue she fell asleep without a diaper on.

We have this and we love it:
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

put in one gallon ziploc bag, snap the seat down over it, potty in the bag, wipe and put the wipe in there, and zipe it up to dispose of when it is convienient - no mess, no smell!

Jessie

My daughter is 3 now, and we still have accidents. What ever you do, don't get mad at her and don't make up "cutsie" names for her when she has accidents, lets face it, it's embaressing at any age. This is the MOST important info that I can pass on.
Okay so for supplies, I had a porta potty (that we left in our living room as it was more conveinent for her to go and to see it and remember to go and sit on it) Some parents will say no-way, stick em on hte big potty straight away. Its entirely up to your daughter and what she wants to do. The little potty out in the family room worked well for us. It is simple, no bells no singing, no frills, just a little potty that can be used as a step stool later. I figured she is already going to be distracted enough besides I didnt want her to be sad when she went to sit on the big potty and it didnt make music for her. I bought two of those drop over potty seats that make the seat smaller, but they didn't work for my daughter. Still to this day she does not like them, what works for some doesn't work for all.
I bought A LOT of big girl panties, and I let her pick them out. Of course she got all the princess' which helped her know that we were transitioning into "Big Girl Panties" and she was the one who was in control of what was going on (Not really, but that was the facaude). Also, I bought a lot of leggings for her to wear. NO zippers, no strings, no extra junk for her to get stuck on or sidetracked by while she was trying to get her clothes down to sit on the potty. I got almost all of them from the second hand store because they were WAY cheaper and when I say I bought a lot, I did. I probably got about 20 pairs or so cause I knew if I only had a few pairs the washing machine would be running every 20 minutes or so. Also, if she wears socks and you only have a few, probably get some more. I bought mine from Wal-Mart since they were so enexpensive for a package.
The first day of our potty training adventure we went through 7 pairs of pants, panties, and socks. I smiled and did positive re-inforcment the whole day. Sure I was mad that I had to clean up wet spots all over the place and had to change clothes and wash out pee-pee and knew the Poopy Day would come, but she never knew that. Sure I was grossed out when poop did end up in the panties, but what do you do, smile and know your little girl will soon be sitting on the big potty all by herself doing her own little thing and you'll realize that she's not so little any longer.
As for rewards, I tried them, but they just didn't work for us. I tried gummy bears, stickers, toys, treats, but it was just one more hurdle for me to try to remember to get from the store, to try to coax her with, and then trying to be consistant with. Plus I felt like I was trying to reward her for something that she just needed to learn anyway.
Maybe I did it wrong, maybe I should have done something different, but it all worked for me and now my just turned 3 daughter goes pee-pee and poop in the Big Potty.
Good luck with whatever route you choose to do, but like I said at the begaining of this post is arm yourself with is a Positive attitude and don't loose your cool. P.

The other moms have given you good advice so far.
We were at the pediatrician this morning for our daughter's 2 year well-baby visit, and he asked about whether we were potty-training. We said that she's really not showing signs of interest, so he recommended holding off until she's ready.

That being said, her 3.5 year old brother potty-trained about 9 months ago just after his 3rd birthday.

As far as potty's: He preferred not using the actually potty seats and preferred having the cushioned seat that you can take on and off the toilet. We purchased about 4 stools at IKEA, have one in front of 2 of the toilets and one at each respective sink for him to use.

As far as reward systems: entice her with whatever works for her. For some kids it's food treats, others prefer stickers. Our son was motivated by Cars cars. We set milestones for him to achieve to get them, and when he did he was rewarded.

It started with going 3 times/day. Then, we moved to 5 times/day. Then, we moved to 3 days without accidents. It took about 2 weeks. We've been fortunate to have no regression and only occasional accidents (mostly because he waits too long).

I do agree with the others about not scolding them for accidents. They happen. Just keep a spare change of clothes or two and some plastic bags to put the wet ones into.

We also decided not to go with pull-ups because they are glorified diapers with slightly less absorbancy. We either stuck with diapers or went with underwear.

Letting them pick their underwear at the store and having plenty to account for multiple changes throughout the day was key for us as well.

Good luck!

Read Potty Training in a Day. Even if you don't do the whole training in a day idea, there are still a lot of good ideas and tips.

The most enlightened current thinking is that when kids are both physically and emotionally ready, learning to use the potty is as natural a part of a child's development as speech and walking. Prizes or bribes keep the reward system externalized. Ideally, the joy of realizing this new freedom from dirty diapers is a more-than-adequate reward. (Though it can take great restraint for a deliriously happy or frustrated parent to just treat the successes and failures as "normal.")

I trained my daughter 38 years ago without rewards or charts. I was surprised how easy it was. I just gave matter-of-fact verbal appreciation of her successes, and remarked how proud she must feel about herself. She made the transition beautifully, over just a week or so, at about 2.5 years.

My grandson is frequently reluctant to stop playing to take a potty break, so we developed a game in which I have to clear the bathroom of its crowd of dinosaurs so he can get to the potty. It works well. There are other ways to make the bathroom an attractive destination, too, like a story, or puppets, or making funny faces in a mirror, or playing a kazoo….

We just got a potty and put it in a special place (and got a seat for the big potty) and just encouraged her to go first thing in the morning and throughout the day. We tried m&ms--they didn't work. She did really like Jelly Bellies. She loved being able to pick out her special color. Later on, we filled a plastic jar of toys from target (like tattoos, pens, stickers--little rewards) and when she pooped, she could pick one. That was a big hit. But we didn't do anything drastic--no 3 day bootcamp or anything. We just let her get ready herself. Since summer's coming up, I can tell you our pediatrician said to take her outside without pants and just let her go. When she did have an accident, she had to put the dirty clothes in the laundry, but we just said "that happens. it's okay." and we picked out another pair of underwear-no punishment of any kind. Just relax and she will too.

OMG I just want to say My 3.5 year old daughter and 2 year old daughter are so resistant to potty training it's mind numbing... neither shows interest, neither will cooperate with doing it, they don't respond to the rewards, they are simply not interested. I tell you this just to be prepared just in case. Not all kids respond well. And sometimes, as in my older daughter, they rebel. I've been trying off and on with her since she turned 2. Her doctor says, just wait until she's ready. Can you imagine?! Yikes! Good luck!

If she has a favorite cartoon character (i.e. Sesame Street, Dora, Cinderella, etc.), buy underpants with that character on them. That will help encourage her to stay dry and clean so that she gets to wear them longer. Must haves are, of course, a potty, lots of underpants, maybe a few pull-up type disposable underpants for nights and travel. Lots of praise when she goes in the potty. Make it a very big deal. Applause, yay's, you did it, you're such a big girl, etc. Stickers are very good reward system for this, if she likes stickers. The praise from you will probably be enough in most cases. Good luck and have lots of patience!

This is how I have done it and it worked everytime! I have 5 kids, yes 5 not a typo. I take them to the store and let them choose their favorite under wear, like transforms, Dora what ever it might be. I then ALSO get the plain white. IF the kids go potty in their pants they have to wear the white one because Dora ( or whom ever) does not liked getting pee'd or worse pooped on. The kids have one accident and then no more. They love those charicter underwear and would do anything to have their favorite thing close to them.

We have used a single gumdrop for pee pee from the very start and she loves them. Chocolate drops for poo-poo (chocolate chips or M&Ms or whatever). We also use a potty chair (larger one w/ a lid) in the living area that she likes and also the mini-seat that we put on the big potty. Also, a stool to put her little feet on when she's on the big potty.

I like Toilet Training in Less Than a Day by Azrin. Great with even a reluctant participator. Excellent with any kid.