Potty Training - North Port,FL

I'm now starting potty training with my 19 month old. I've had her potty chair sitting in the bathroom for about six months so she can get used to it. I always let her in and sit her on her chair while I'm going so she knows what it's for. She's used it once. And ask if she has to pee pee or poo poo as often as you think of it. I would say don't rush it. They will do it when they are ready.

First of all I want to advise not to jump the gun on potty training...I did this and it was a very frustrating process. After about 3 months I realized she wasn't ready and decided to wait and try again. When I thought she was ready I just bought underware and when we were at home she wore those. No diapers or pull-ups except when sleeping. It only took about a week before she realized it was not fun to potty in underware. Then she began to protest the underware and want to wear pull-ups. But I didn't give in and now at 3years and 4 months my daughter is trained.

Hello,
Well I tried this one and it worked sooooo well. I have a little girl too, I went out and bought the prettiest panties I could find. I put them on her and told her that these were big girl pretty panties and that she couldnt get them dirty, AT ALL. Dont spill, get crumbs, nothing...and most importantly dont go potty in them. Thats all I told her. I put them on and asked her about every 5-15 min if she had to go, and in 2 days she was going by her self and completely potty trained 2 months before she turned 2. Of course I kept pull ups on her at night but she basically never wet those either. Good Luck

Hi R.. My daughter began potty training at 18 months. I never forced her to use the bathroom but I always used to be very dramatic when i felt that I needed to go to the bathroom and then i let her come in with me. When she drank anything i would ask her if she needed to go about 15 mins. later. Eventually the started to understand the whole process and by her 2nd birthday she was out of diapers. The best thing is to let them see you do it because then they will want to do it. Good luck! E.

Hi R.,

Here are a few tricks I used on my 3 year old son (he has been completely toilet trained for about 6 months).

First of all, get to know what they do just prior to going to the bathroom. My son would hide or even say that he was going to hide. This was a sure sign that he was about to fill his pants. As soon as he said that, I would say, "Let's try to go potty" and not make a big deal out of it.

Also, as soon as he got home from daycare and on the weekends, we had naked time. Of course, we had a few accidents (pee only), but it made it really hard for him to have an accident because he noticed it right away when he peed on the floor. Keep in mind, you have to be really dilligent and recognize the pre-potty behavior I mentioned before. We also took him to the potty just about every hour to have him try to go pee. If nothing happened right off, then we got off and tried again in an hour.

And the old stand by is candy. We kept a jar of M&Ms on the bathroom counter. Everytime he used the toilet, he would get an M&M (1 for pee, 4 for poop). We also used stickers. He had his choice between candy and stickers, and surprisingly, he frequently chose stickers over candy.

And finally, we did the pee-pee dance. Everytime he used the toilet in the beginning, mom and son came bursting out of the bathroom doing the pee-pee dance, whooping, and hollering ("YIPPEE, Carson used the potty!! Pee-pee, pee-pee dance, Carson used the potty). When he did something right, we made a big deal out of it. If he had an accident, we did not make a big deal out of it. We just said, "oops, that's an accident, let's clean it up" (and he would help me clean it up).

I hope you find these tips helpful.

R.,

A friend of mine told me to resort to bribery and I tried it and it really worked. I had to keep my daughter with no diaper for two days. She completely had a melt down. Everytime she went potty I gave her a piece of gum. This worked in two days! Then for bowel movements she got a lollypop. she ended up potty trained, fully in about three days but we kept up the rewards for a couple of weeks. It ended up being really easy.

Good luck. D.

Hi R.!
Potty training can be a very stressful task for both parent and child. Children at this age are not developmentally aware enough to grasp "reason." Therefore, rewarding the desired behavior (using the potty in this case), rather than punishing, is what's effective. Children cannot reason why they're punished for an "un-done behavior" but can make a connection between "reward + behavior."
I raised two sons and cannot give any litle personal hints about potty training girls. For moms of boys, I do. I used a potty training game with my sons. I had a little stool for them to stand on (to obtain the needed height) and I'd place a single square of toilet paper on top of the toilet water, afloat. Then, I'd tell them to try and sink the toilet paper square. They learned quickly using this strategy. --The fun of sinking the square was its own reward. :-)

with my daugter, she was not interested till she was 2 years old and i got lucky. she got chicken pox and was home for one week solid. I put her in paties and took her to the bathroom every so often to try and go. She was stubborn, but i'll tell ya, after she wet herself once, she decided that she did not like the feeling of being wet. I tried pull-ups and such as. To her it was the same as having a diaper so it didn't help. Same was true with my niece. We just had to put them in panties and after they we themselves, they decided to use the potty.

MAKE IT FUN!!! GIVE THE POTTY AS A GIFT. GET ONE THAT HAS SWIMMING FISH OR SINGS. EVERY TIME SHE POTTIES, LET HER PUT A STICKER ON IT. IF IT IS IN THE BIG POTTY, ON HER OWN, OR POO POOS, GIVE HER A SMALL SURPRISE OR TREAT. ASK HER WHILE SHES REALLY INTO PLAYING, SOMETIMES THEY DON'T WANT TO STOP WHAT THEY ARE DOING. TAKE HER BEFORE HER BED AND PICK HER UP AND TAKE HER WHEN YOU GO TO BED OR WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. IT MAY BE A CHORE AT FIRST WAKING HER TO POTTIE WHEN YOU JUST WANT TO GO TO SLEEP, BUT I NEVER HAVE PROBLEMS WITH MY DAUGHTER WETTING THE BED NOW BECAUSE SHE IS SO USED TO WAKING UP TO POTTIE. SHE DOES IT ON HER OWN AND GOES BACK TO SLEEP.

R.,
I'm sure that you've recieved alot of advice.
I would like to tell you my story. I have a 10 year old that was potty trained by her 2nd birthday... Well now I have a 3 year old that is still not totally trained. All of my friends and family are upset with me because I dont make her sit on the potty. Well, her dr kept telling me that when she is ready, she will do it. We tried M&M's, suckers, bubbles, stickers...Even got differnt potty styles (one that sits on the toilet, and the sit down version. You name it we tried it for a year.
She woke up one morning about 2 months ago and said that she wanted to use her potty.... We were so happy! Well, she has been using it on her own since. She still asks for the M&M's, which we happily give. When she poos, she likes to tell her poo poo "Bye-Bye" as it flushes down. Shes doing great. My advice... Dont rush it. She will do it when shes ready. Just keep at it. Good luck
J.

I have also taken the rewards route with my daughter. It took a little longer but she has been fully trained for 2 weeks with only 1 accedent. I am at the point that I am giving her a reward once a week. Last week it was she got to choose new underware. Also when I first started I used a timer and took her every 20 to 30 mins.

R.,
Being that were all girls allow the little on to interact in the bathroom with each of you. See how her business is supposed to go while in there. Let her in while you in and set her on the potty while you brush or while one is showering or while is going themself. She'll want to be one of the "girls" and do the same as all of you.
And of course have her sisters be involved in aknowledging her and rewarding her too. Rewarding is important. It reminds the young mind of the great accomplishment the have achieved. She is going to want all of your approvals.

HI.. A GOOD WAY OF MAKING POTTY TRAINNING FUN IS TO MAKE IT A GAME.. HAVE THEM FOLLOW U TO THE POTTY, ON THE WEEKENDS OR WHEN YOUR MOSTLY HOME WITHTHEM HAVE THEM PUT "BIG GIRL PANTIES". ASK THEM TO GO TO THE POTTY EVERY 20 MINS, MAYBE GET THEM A TOILET SEAT OF A CARTOON CHARACTER THEY LIKE.. REWARD THEM WHEN THEY DO USE IT.. THIS WORKED FOR MY DAUGTHER SHE'S 3 TURNING 4 IN SEPT. I STARTED POTTY TRAINNING HER WHEN SHE WAS 1 1/2, AND SHE GOT IT IN 2 MONTHS.. THE SOONER U START THE BETTER IT IS FOR U AND THEM.. THEY START TO FEEL INDEPENDENT. GOOD LUCK.

Lots of great advice for already but heres something not mentioned. START POTTY TRAINING WITH #2's (Poos). I started with my boy when he was almost 2. We started talking about how he was getting bigger, and big kids go in the potty... He totally got it. Then when he would go #2 in his diaper, I would take the diaper off, clean him up, then he and I would take the diaper to the potty and pour the #2 in the potty and let him flush it and say bye - bye etc... Then I would tell him that this is where the poo poo goes.. in the potty. (I started with #2's first because I heard it was harder to potty train for #2 then just #1. Second, #2's are usually only once a day and on a more predictable time schedule. It also starts the process slowly. Instead of being after them all day... "do you have to go potty now?" - 10,000 times - you are only concentrating on once a day. Also, if they are sitting on the potty doing #2, chances are you will get a little #1 also. This gets them used to it. After a week of that, he was going #2 on the potty and we slowly started the transition to #1. I used all the tricks other moms told you about (going with no clothes on in the house, Brand new Thomas the Train underwear, and sweet tarts). Expect accidents, and buy a good carpet cleaner. ALSO - I DID NOT USE THE TRAINING POTTY - I bought one, had to clean it once or twice, found there was no way to keep it sanitary and I thought we have to make a transition to the big potty at some point anyway (you cant carry that thing to the mall) so I just went straight for the big potty with a little step which he used to reach the sink afterwards. PS: Since they should wash their hands for 20 seconds to get them clean, I would teach my little one to sing his ABC's while he washed. It takes 20 seconds, and he learned his ABC's as a bonus! (A little trick I learned in a CPR course)Anyway, if your little one is waking up dry at night, then they are probably ready. Speaking of nighttime, I would suggest, once they are trained, make them go potty just before bed (part of my little ones routine; bath, brush, flush), then you might want to wake them up before you go to bed or at some point in the middle of the night to avoid accidents and set backs. Put plastic liners on the beds - yours too if they - like mine - are prone to coming in during the middle of the night and crawling into bed with you! Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Something that I recently did with my 3 year old son and it worked beautifully. I got a training potting and sat him on it with juice or water in front of the tv with his favorite cartoon. It took a while but he eventually went and I then rewarded him with his favorite thing, Hot Wheels! I did that for about a week then I took him to the store and let him pick out character underwear and starting putting those on him first thing in the morning. He of course had a few accidents. I am proud to say that the only time that he wears a diaper now is to bed at night. Use the reward system and the character underpants, it works great.

Good luck!

S.
SAHM to 3 boys

Hi R.,

I agree with all of these ideas that everyone has submitted to you. I would like to also add that for both my kids I bought them underware with their favorite characters on them. And honestly kids don't want to mess up their favorite characters. My daughter it was Barbi, my son now 2.5 has scooby-doo. Someone suggested that to me when my daugter was potty training she was 3 and still would do it. So I got her some barbies and she wanted Barbie to stay pretty all the time so she went. I started my son about 2 months ago and every morning he askes for his Scooby-doo's. It just worked for both my kids.

Good Luck!!!
V. :)

Initially, I rewarded my son with M&Ms. 1 for sitting on the potty, 2 for pee, 10 for poop. I had to phase this out, by trading C. for a special dance, bathroom parties, and the like, otherwise, he'd expect a prize every time he went to the bathroom. During our training phase, he was naked from the waste down in the house. If your daughter has an accident, she needs a gentle verbal reminder about going in the potty, and she should help clean it up (this is not a punishment, it is just practical life). She probably won't do it much. My son never had an accident when he was naked. He only had accidents when Dad came home and put pants on him.

Good Luck!

When my granddaughter was potty training, we used Dr. Phil's "potty party" idea, although modified. He claims his method will work and potty train in a day. It wasn't that fast for us, but we didn't follow it to the letter. Worth a try. Look on his web site. Good luck!!!!

You have received a lot of great advice! Defianetly go with the potty prizes and stickers...reward the good behavior. I had done that to get my daughter used to the potty, then we just had to go cold turkey. I got her Dora underpants and after 2 days of a few accidents we were trained! She told me she had to go potty one day, and that was it! Just don't give in and put diapers / pullups back on. I think if I hadn't given in like that a few times, we would have been traied earlier.

Good luck!

I love the ideas shared here, especially the one about buying Barbie or Scooby Doo's! The one thing I haven't heard mention is the dreaded nighttime boo boo's. One of my daughter's was lazy about getting up at night to go to the bathroom. She'd rather wet her bed than get up. What I would do is make is inconvenient for her. First, she had to help take off the sheets. I used a plastic mattress cover underneath. Then she helped put on new sheets. After that, we went into the bathroom to clean her up. It didn't take too long of this routine for her to decide it was better to get up.

Hi R.,
I have 4 daughters and have been through this before. My youngest has PPD and it has been very difficult to train her. This is how I did it. Our house is large so running to the bathroom is not easy when your little one has to go now. She likes to strip naked as soon as she walks in the door, it just makes her happy. No big deal, everyone in the house is female except dad. So I brought the potty to her. When she was in the livingroom, so was the potty. I would watch her like a hawk because she was never able to hold it for long. As soon as I saw the distress in her eyes, I would have her sit on the potty and she would go because she had to. I started to move the potty away slowly until it was in the bathroom and by then she knew where she had to go. As soon as it was in the bathroom, she would only use the toilet, not the potty. Don't ask me why. And that was that. Being undressed also releived her from the stress of trying to get her undies down in time at the begining. I still use pullups for long trips just in case, but she has been dry until we reach our destination. Strange but true.
J.

Hi R.,
These are all really good advise. I myself have learned a few things. I am potty training a 4 year old with Down syndrome. Talk about a challange. My other two children we fairly easy to traing. My this one has got me stumpped. So like you I will try some of the ideas these ladies have posted, but If anyone out there has any advise on PT a little one with Downs, would love to hear it. He is getting there but we can't seem to get him to understand that you only potty in the pot. He also never completely empties his bladder, not matter how long he sits there. So any idea, would appreciate it.
D.