I am needing as much advice as possible, and ideas for prizes. I would like to stay away from candy b/c they want it all the time. I have made up a chart with stickers, and they really like it, but I want to make sure I am doing this the right way in the beginning and not starting a bad habit. They both will go on the potty, and my daughter has been going back and forth since Christmas. I didn't push my son until he started showing some interest, and he is actually doing better than my daughter. I'm hoping that I haven't missed the window of opportunity with her. To throw all of this into a crazy manner, I have a 10 month old that make this even more stressful. Please help any ideas that you can give. I, like everyone else, wants this to happen quickly, so I'm willing to try all different ideas. Like I said I have two, so what works for one doesn't necessarily work for both. I appreciate anything that you can give me. I know most of you are going to say be patient and let them do it when they are ready, but they are both ready. We started potty training yesterday afternoon, so it's early, but I would like to have other things to fall back on. Thanks again for any information that you can give me.
They were potty trained within the first week!! Finally, only one in diapers now!!!! Thanks for all your advice!!
Hi S.
We have a Dora 8 x 11 sheet taped on bathroom door with squares to place stickers in. My daughter gets a sticker for trying and a jelly bean if she actually goes. This worked for all my nieces and nephews. After a few weeks keep the stickers going but stop the candy. By that time they are used to going and will not want to soil themselves.
Hope that helps!
Ah, the dilema of potty training! Well, with my first son he was a little over 2 and I got little prizes from the dollar store and wrapped them up. Who doesn't like unwrapping gifts! I did put him in underwear and went on regular intervals and it worked for him great. With my second son it was much easier because he seen his big brother doing it. I put him in pull-ups though until he got better with going to the potty, I still would take him on regular intervals. But for his prize we did what I called the "victory lap". When he went to the potty then we would take a lap around the living room clapping and singing "Joel Andrew pee-peed or poo-pood (I'm not sure how you spell them) in the potty! we sang it over and over until the lap was done. He loved it and couldn't wait until he could do it again. Silly, I know but it worked.
Sorry I haven't taken the time to go through the responses, BUT when my daughter (Now 13)was being potty trained, I used the Cloth training panties (Now hard to find) I was 18 when I had her and wasn't too sure what I was doing! I started her at 1 year old and would let her go in with me from time to time so she knew what to do in the bathroom other than hide in the clothes hamper! So I started and by the time she was 15 months old she was potty trained- but the story of her life is she is 5 going on 20! SHE was an exception to the rule, my son- the reality! I used pull-ups with him until I realized that they kept him just as dry as a diaper. He was 2 1/2 years old and we went to Wal-Mart and I let HIM pick out his underwear- Bob the Builder it was! Each time he started his day off going to the bathroom I would make it a BIG deal about wearing BIG BOY underwear and he would get excited. I would restate that DIAPERS were for for little boys and babies. I only had to put a diaper on him 2 times before he realized he wanted to be a big boy- he was dry over night by his 3rd birthday with a few accidents in the night from being SO tired from the day activities. KEEP IT UP- THANKFULLY you have two, but one is learning from the other and he will catch up quick!
We should talk. I also have 2.5 year old boy /girl twins. I would really love for you to let me know what works. I have also been trying since christmas but no luck. Also, everything I read said not to push...
My best advice from experience with my 2 1/2 year old and my this worked for my friends little boy who is 2 1/2. After you know they can and will go on the potty, but they are just either being lazy and going in their diapers or showing their willfullness and refusing to go. We just had naked weekends and evenings when he wasen't at daycare to practice going in the potty. Without the diaper it seemed they got it much quicker, because they have always known how to go in the diaper and it can be hard to break them of that, even though they know how to go in the potty and can hold it, they just need practice. Eventually after say a week of this we just put him in underwear and if he had an accident he had an accident which ended up for us to be not that often. Good Luck! Pullups I think just enable them, my son treated it just like a diaper. Good Luck!
We had a stepstool that the children could decorate with a sticker every time they went potty. They seemed to like it better than a chart, and it ended the mysterious sticker deposits elsewhere in the house.
As for your son going sooner: my boy practically potty trained himself and was totally trained (even at night!) by 27 months. I really had nearly nothing to do with it, aside from the first couple of times of showing him the potty and getting excited and congratulating him when he used it. He really did all the rest.
My daughter....oy. I didn't think she would ever, ever pee in the potty. She would go in there to poop, but it took forever for her to want to pee. But one day she did, and she was all excited and it took off from there. It took her longer, though, and longer to last through the night, too.
Sounds like you've gotten good advice, and you're doing the right stuff!
My little guy was facinated with coins around this age so we used it as a reward. We placed a small piggy bank on the back of the toilet and would give him a penny every time he went pee and serveral for a b.m. We eventually stepped up to giving him "big money" (a nickel or quarter) for bms. As he got the hang of it, he eventually forgot about the money and stopped asking. Once he was fully trained...we took him and the piggy bank to the bank and cashed it in at the coin machine. We then went to Toys R Us and let him buy a toy with the money he had earned...and some of ours :)
I saw an awesome couple who have 6 2 yr olds and two 6 yr olds on tv. They mad a big deal out of poop. They clapped, took a pic for their album and really celebrated. They also gave them one m and m sorry but it seems to be working. They also had a chart by the bathroom and their own toilets. So when daddy came home he could praise all over again because of the chart. G. W
I ran a day care for 16 yrs the thing that worked for me was to use the timer and kind of like "pavlov's dog" when the bell went off .... yippee its time to go pee pee on the potty , I used pee pee targets for the boys and the girls well not much shooting there , I used stickers like you not one for sugar.
If they even tried and no performance they got a sticker for trying and tons of praise. I also increased liquids to that helped. Good luck it happens sooner than you think. I also read the books once upon a potty, they all loved them.
L. T
Actually, what works for one WILL work for the other. You just need to decide what potty training will look like and stick with it. If they were in a daycare situation, they'd all fall in line with whatever rules were set, so they can do it at home too.
What we've noticed with my son is that he will tell us before hand about BMs and go in the potty almost every time. With peeing, he will go on the potty if we put him there, but doesn't yet tell us that he needs to go before it happens (he'll announce it as he's wetting his pants). We realized our efforts were fruitless after 3 days of wearing underwear and taking him potty every 20 minutes to avoid an accident. He was only accident-free if we were on the ball and didn't get distracted from the mission. Only problem was, it wasn't HIS mission! So, my philosophy this time around with potty training is that if I'm more trained than the child, it's not time. Granted, he's only 2 yrs and 1 month, so we have some time to re-visit underwear :-)
Anyway, the first step to potty training that was pretty successful when my daughter was in daycare was to put them in pull-ups at 2 1/2 yrs old and simply take them potty at regular intervals. This is what we did during out little 3-day potty training stint, only in underwear, so there was a lot of pee on the floor. We're back to pull-ups.
After they're doing well that way, they switch to underwear. THere are no rewards other than high fives and dry pants.
