Potty Training - Austin,MN

When both my daughter's started potty training we sat down together and made a potty chart. one side for #1 and one side of the chart for #2. I let her decorate it with water color paints and glitter. When she was all done we hung it on the bathroom door. Every time she went potty and really went she got to put a sticker on the right side of the chart then. When she started getting the hang of it we got some really pretty stickers that she got to wear if she went potty. It made the process more fun for her and it was a good incentive for her. May be it something that will work for you as well. hang in there she'll get it.

I had a time potty training my son. He is so close that its crazy. I let him go and sit and either read or play his vtech handheld game. Something that keeps his interest. I also put some cheerios in the potty. I realize boys are different but it could work for a girl.

my daughter started going around the same time and did great for awhile even going #2 but around the time of her 2nd b-day that was the furthest thing from her mind. we still worked everyday and gave her rewards but it wasn't until a month or 2 after her 2nd bday that she really stuck to it daily. she is now 2 1/2 and only wears diapers for bedtime. and you are right - they only do it when they are ready

I am a big proponent of letting them do it themselves, especially if they start very young. (My daughter started at 18 months. I just let her take the lead. It has been very gradual, but she is now 2 1/2 and almost completely potty trained. I have done almost nothing, except gave her an M&M during a phase where she didn't feel like doing it at all anymore.) If you feel she might be trying too hard, I would just say something in a light tone like, "Well, sometimes it seems like you have to go, but you don't. Maybe you should try again later."

IMO you are in your 'window', which I believe is between 15-22months. Both my boys wre trained by 2, my oldest at 20 months, my youngest at 15 months. We used ELimination COmmunication, and it was stress free and smooth sailing for us both times.

20 months is a great age, she's interested, willing to please, a quick learner, and she will be able to access those muscles, master their use again (babies are born with the full use of their muscles down there), and will catch on quickly!

www.diaperfreebaby.org is a great site ,adn you can message me if you'd like!

I've heard lots of others talk about "encouragement", which is good. However, when my 4 year old was training, he got really attached to the massive amounts of praise and attention he got when he sat on the potty. After a while it was all sit and no action! We toned it down a bit, gave him his praise and attention at other times, and found his motivation: can't go to school unless you use the potty. Good luck!

You can help her along by reading her the book, "Once Upon a Potty" and sussing out other books with characters who use the potty (ask your librarian for help).

Still, they do have their own time. A child potty trained before 24 months is an anomaly.

One trick ~ don't be in such a hurry to flush the contents of the potty chair down the toilet. Children are attached to their pee and poop. If you flush it down in front of them, they may revert to diapers because this way they can "keep" it for themselves. Flushing is scary for toddlers and they are often resistant to it, so if you leave their pee/poop alone for a while and flush when they are not around they won't find the process as scary.

Most kids will go back and forth the whole time they're training. Doing good, then not so good. Interested, not interested. Just encourage her when she shows interest. It sounds like she's really catching on.

ive heard of the 0 and 70 deal.

the 0 is for the amount of clothing the child is wearing. the 70 is for the vacuum cleaning bill.

i havent tried it, but summer is coming, it might be worth the try. my 16 month old likes the potty as well, and the best thing you can do is catch them as often as you can and let them get used to the idea and positioning of sitting on the potty.

I found this book to be the best in regards to potty training. It can be downloaded to your computer, www.pottytrainer.com.
R. S.

Our little girl was fully trained at 22 months. She didn't like being wet/messy and was very interested so we just went for it. We also used rewards for the first few weeks. All it took was us telling her "tinkle and poopy go in the potty" and that was it. Our biggest problem with her was that she was really small for her age and the smallest size of underwear we could find were 2T. Then with our little boy, it was completely different. Good luck!

Consider yourself lucky if SHE is initiating wanting to sit on the potty. Just let her sit there as long as she'd like. She'll go when she's ready. If you push her and check in every few minutes or get frustrated that she hasn't gone righ away, she's going to get an aversion to sitting on the potty--not what you want!

You could try using stickers. Every time she goes she gets a sticker. When she has like 10 stickers or so, whatever you decide, let her go tho the store and pick out a toy.
Good Luck!

Ah, potty training. I know some people don't like this, but we rewarded our children when they used the potty successfully. Partially to encourage them to go, and partially so that they didn't just go and not do anything.
Still, it is a positive thing that she is comfortable with it. 20 months is still a bit young, so I certainly wouldn't push it.

Make it fun have races to the bathroom. I use to to do this with my daughter and she would race me and then laugh at me when she got on the toliet first.

Talk about it alot, let her come in there while your going stuff like that.

You tell her when you go to the bathroom you get to put on pretty lipstick(lipgloss chapstick whatever) and if she goes potty like you she can wear it too and make it a thing you can only wear and do if your in the bathroom and actually go potty.

Your right though don't make a big deal out of it.

I just finished reading the book Potty Training 1 2 3 by Gary Ezzo. It is a great resource for readiness signs and helpful ways to go about getting your toddler to stay ''clean and dry''. I'm looking forward to trying thier recomendations out on my 23 month old daughter.

Keep praising her as much as you can. Tell her good job! Even if she has not gone in the potty. Just sitting there is a huge success! If she gets the positive reinforcement every time she tries she will keep doing it. Make sure you say you are such a big girl sitting on the potty! And she will be excited to keep using it. Maybe it is time for pullups that she can take on and off whenever she wants to try? Just let her pick out the ones she wants to wear. My daughter likes the cheap target brand because they have ice cream cones, flowers, fruit, butterflies, and bicycles on them, all her favorite things. It doesn't have to be the expensive character ones. That's wonderful that she is doing so well! Congrats!

I am a mother of a 5 year old girl and 7 year old boy. Both were potty trained by 2 1/2 and was it nice. My little girl however started to take interest like yours, around 18 months and was I excited. Only to learn that it was just a phase and then we waited longer. It does take time and patience, but it is normal for them to take interest and then back off a bit till later. Godd luck!!

S.,

I used the book "Toilet Training in Less than a Day" with my three oldest and it worked well. It is the same method Dr. Phil recommends. The book is older than I am, but it is still selling so that says something.

One recommendation, it works like a recipe, so you can't pick and choose what you like out of the book and expect results. Follow it to the letter.

Good luck,
S.

They do that. Our daughter did the same thing. She was just so proud when she was able to go ont he big person's potty chair, that she went even if she didn't have to just becasue it made her feel like a BIG girl.

I think it's great. If you think of all the mom's out there that can't get their children to go potty & you can't get yours off the potty. It's pretty cute.

I would just let her. As long as she doesn't sit too long.

J.

It's a good idea to leave them in charge. She will take 2 steps forward and 4 steps back at times. I would just keep up positive praise when she does it. Every kid is different and she will pretty much train herself if you let her. That's how my daughter was. Good luck!! Potty training is frustrating for the parent at times.

The beginning is all new to you both as I found out. I know it's probably hard to read the signs she is giving you, but keep with it. My now 28 month old son has been showing interest on and off since he was 18 months. He went on and off for awhile, stopped for awhile showing no interest and now he goes in the potty about 80% of the time. I started a "potty chart" and gave him a little sticker every time he tried and a big sticker and a little treat (like a couple of M&Ms) every time he went. This seemed to help because they have an incentive to actually go in the potty and not their diaper. Then as he went more and more, we transitioned to Pull-Ups and made a big deal about those being big-boy Pull-Ups and not baby diapers. Be extra enthusiastic about the whole thing and when your daughter is ready, it'll happen. Good luck!

Bare-butt potty training worked for us! We kept the potty chair close at all times and asked him if he had to go probably every 10-15 minutes to keep his mind on it (he was 2). It got him used to his rhythms, and made him more aware of what was going on. You'll probably be cleaning up pee a few times and poop once or twice - I know I did. In my experience, poop was easier - he'd feel the need coming on, and make it to the potty chair with great timing. Thinking about it, the lure of books helped too. He still sits on his potty chair when he poops and looks at books for sometimes 20-30 minutes all by himself. What a nice break!

Eventually, you can ease her into underwear (which may cause a backslide for a couple of days). We made sure to highlight what a big boy he was, and he was thrilled. The whole process took probably 2-3 months, and I think we went through a whole month bare-butted (it also coincided with a new baby, so I didn't have the energy to make the next move, to underwear). Also, when I say 2-3 months, it was 2-3 months of more success than failure. Don't let that deter you! Getting rid of diapers makes it so worth it, and it sounds like she is ready for it.

Another thing to note is that they go through lapses in interest and ability. I have no idea why, but get ready for that and don't give up when it happens: it will pass. Just don't give up. You can do it, and so can she!