Starting to Potty train...ARGHH!!!

Hi Shelly,

My piece of advice: get or borrow the following book:
Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, by Nathan Azrin

http://www.amazon.com/Toilet-Training-Less-Than-Day/dp/06...

I used it and my son was #1-trained in half a day (had a total of 3 accidents after that,) and was asking for diaper when needed to do #2 before the end of the day. Three weeks later, on his own, started to go potty for that too. He still needed nitgh-time diapers for a couple of months after that, but I needed him potty-trained for pre-K first and foremost. I've recommended it to many friends, who all have had the same experience.

The book was written in 1973, and is in English English, so some of it is outdated or a little weird, but the method is painless (at least for the child, it's quite involved for the parent) and works wonders. I've always wondered why it's not something that everyone uses, because it's so much easier than the traditional methods...

Hope this helps,
K.

I had my 3 year old daughter wear her "big girl underwear" then a pull up on OVER those - that way, she'd feel wet and not make a mess. Best piece of advice I ever got... :)

Each kid learns at their own pace...so don't stress out.

Some people used reward systems - I allowed my daughter to watch a movie IF after she went poo poo in the potty -

Best of luck!
A.

My two children LOVED the book "Once Upon a Potty." If you get the DVD, it has a very (sappy) video of cute babies & toddlers and sings a song that even today, years later, I can recite (and so can my children!) "Yes, we're going to the potty, potty..."

I also let my kids run around in the backyard in the nice weather without pants (bare rear end) and put a potty outside for them - it took about 1 day and they started using the potty all the time. I kept pull-ups (not the cloth trainers) on them inside the house, but it was super easy to help them learn this way (and we spent most of our time outside in the back yard, so they used the potty a lot! :) When we were inside, they would run to the bathroom. Best of luck!

Here's the link to the "Once Upon a Potty" DVD:
http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Potty-Her/dp/B0000CBLBB/r...

My best advice to you is to purchase the 3-Day Potty Training e-book for $25. Works like a charm. :)

Hi Shelly - I used an online book called three-day potty training by Lora Jensen. I think it was about $24. We did the training as recommended and my son skipped pull-ups altogether and has been dry ever since. I'm not sure if it was the method or if he had simply decided he was ready. Either way, it worked really well and we had a great weekend together going through the process. Beware, the web site's home page sounds really arrogant but if you get past that, the advice she gives and the process really is pleasant and productive.

Good luck!

I haven't tried this yet - my daughter still has another year to go before trying but I heard of a technique that I am going to try when the time comes - Potty Training in ONE DAY!

The idea is to make them responsible. Don't let them wear anything on their bottom. When they wet and make a mess - make them clean it up. When they realize they have to clean up after themsleves they will quickly learn that going on the potty is a much better option. Obviously this will be very hard if you have a carpet - I only recommend this if you have hard wood or tile floors. :)

I heard some good feedback about this method and am looking forward to see if it really works for myself.

Good luck in anything you try.

Hi, I'm a mom of two sets of twin girls, ages 9 1/2 and 4 1/2. I didn't try training them until they were almost 4 and did the same thing for all: I waited until I had 3-4 days at home when they did not have to go anywhere. I put them in underwear and a vinyl diaper cover and set my clock to have them sit on the potty about every half hour. I did not let them sit on the couch and we put their Little Tikes chairs in the living room for them until they were completely trained. One twin always picked it up sooner than the other. Generally, after having a few accidents, they started to get the hang of it. While the vinyl pants don't always contain the urine, they really minimized the wetness to the clothes and whatever they were sitting on. I only put on a pull up at night or when we were going to go somewhere where there wouldn't be access to a potty. Also, I always keep a potty in my van since you never know when someone has to go (even the older ones!). Good luck!

Hi Shelly,

I am the mother of 3 yr old twin girls and have been potty training since last Summer. My mom actually started it when she was babysitting for a week. They were at the point when they were telling us when their diapers need to be changed. I regret having switched to pullups as early as I did because they only recently have used the potty with any consistency and as far as they were concerned there was no going back. I think one of them is just about trained but the other one is a little behind. I only have one potty and a stool for them to reach the regular toilet. What seems to have been the most effective has been the promise of m&ms when they used the toilet. 2 for peepee and 4 for poopie. I'm a dental hygienist, so resorting to candy bribery went against my better judgement, but it seems to have helped alot. A mother of grown twins passed along this hint. I am now considering getting the cotton washable training pants because (1) the pullups are leaving marks and (2) I think it will make them more aware. But them do seem expensive considering how many you would have to have. Good luck! Everyone I've talked to assures me that when they are ready, it will happen.

L.

Darlin...I'm in the same boat. Thank God for carpet shampooers!

With my oldest daughter I used silk panties so when she had an "accident" she was cold and uncofortable. That worked great for her learning quick to use the potty. Now my 2 year old just fusses when she has "accidents" in her panties..can't find silk ones anywhere. I take her in with me when I have to go so she "knows" that's what the potty is for...not working. She'll sit on hers and giggle then get up. I've even gone as far as going in her potty...didn't work either. She just laughed at me.

If you figure it out, let me know.
Nanc

Have you noticed your girls placing one object inside another object. This is an indication that they are ready for potty training. This time should happen between the ages of 2 1/2 and 3 years old.

Right after breakfast, place your girls on their potty with a book or a toy. They should be able to relax and have some success in the training. If there is success be sure to give praise and tell them that that child is a "big girl". I would image that competition between the two siblings may make the whole episode easier to accomplish.

D.
I'm 60 years old, been married 38 years to the same man and have two grown sons.

Hi Shelly,

My advice on this topic is usually the same - I would not do anything but take clues from your kids...this is an issue they really do have control over us, isn't it?!!

I don't go for Pull ups of that type of thing...it's still a diaper, imo...it worked out for us that our 2 oldest trained during the summer time, so I let them bare bottom it. Of course, we had accidents, but I was always very aware of where they were, and every 25 minutes had them sit on the potty. But that was when I knew everyone was on board to be seriuos about it.

They do have the really thick training underwear which might help.

They'll get it!!
J.

I hear your pain! I just potty trained my almost 3 year old. She was in cloth diapers and went to cloth trainers for a short time. I found she potty trained really quickly when she was ready. I do think that the cloth trainers like the Bummis let them feel the wetness and they typically don't like it. Good Luck!

C.
Mommy to Jessie, Katie and Julia
www.TimetoChangetheDiapers.com
adorable, affordable cloth diapers and reusable items for the whole family

Shelly-
i am at this stage myself with my son who will turn 3 next week. ii have 3 in diapers so i did not want to do the pull-ups thing because of cost. JC Penney has padded training pants by Wee Essentials. they do not have them on their website, but they do in the store (but not all stores-i found them at the LeighHigh Valley Mall). they are not leak proof though and the pee does come through! SOme bigger Babies R US have padded trainers and some with a leak-proof coating by Gerber (also at the Lehigh Valley Mall-not in the mall, but same parking lot) in their cloth baby diaper section. good luck.

Just be consistent. I am currently potty training my 25 month old. She is my third child and the youngest I have potty trained.
When I am in the beginning part of potty training I don't go anywhere. We just stay at our house usually for about a week. Yes its inconvenient for a short but the pay off is worth it.
I also used prunes and raisins with my second child. He was trying to hold the poop in. When I gave him prunes and raisins he was unable to hold it in.
Tell them how wonderful they are doing. Have a special book just for when they are on the toilet. I sing a hooray song every time she poops and pees in the toilet. She really gets into the singing. She is proud of her achievement.
The past couple of days I have told her when she tells me she has to go without me taking her. Keeping her panties dry we will take her to the toy store and buy her a doll. She really likes this idea.
Good luck. Denise

What worked for me was putting them on the potty as soon as they woke up, and then 20 minutes after they ate breakfast,

Use a egg timer so they can hear it go off and then they know they need to try and go potty.

Use underwear, they'll pee their pants, but after a couple of weeks they get the hang of it.

watch the potty video every 3 days.

And to ensure a fairly clean day I would give my boys a sip of coffee after breakfast, to help them move their bowels

this way they feel the poop coming out, and you have a good idea as to when it will happen.

You could try oatmeal, aloe juice, prune juice
All are natural laxatives.

M

We are potty training my daughter. I feel your pain. We have introduced the 'cozy pad.' Its a SUPER absorbent mattress pad that is pretty much under her butt whenever she sits. No matter where she sits. Its soft and special to her, and she actually asks for it, if I forget. :)

We use regular underwear in the house. We are still doing diapers whenever we leave the house.

Where did you find those cloth training pants? We had a pair for my son and I would love to get some for my daughter.

Also, when its time to use the potty. We read books while she sits. It kinda takes her mind off the task, and when she does pee we give lots of praise.

Hopefully this process wont take too long. I am SO looking forward to being a diaper free household!!!!!!
GOOD LUCK!

We practice "elimination communication" and my 19 month old has been out of diapers since she was 6 months old and a graduate since she was 1, so I really don't have any suggestions on the standard "potty training" front, just be consistent and gentle and communicate with them about what they are feeling before, during and after. "Potty parties" (everyone including you sits on the potty for a few minutes) and special toys are good to hold the LOs interest while they are on the potty.

If you're going to invest in training pants, either get some that are waterproof (PUL on the outer layer) or use a waterproof cover over them. There are lots of WHAMs that make very nice ones. Plus even though cloth TPs are expensive, remember that you can reuse them, unlike pull ups, and they have a good resale value as well. Check out "diaperswappers" for second hand TPs.

Here's a couple of other options for "feel wet" training pants. Get some little underwear and sew in a few layers of toweling or flannel--these won't be waterproof, so you'll want a cover when the girls are on the furniture a lot. Alternatively, you can get some old T-shirts or rags and cut them into rectangles to lay into the pull-ups. this will let your girls "feel wet" and protect your furniture and if you can't/don't want to wash the rags, just toss them in the trash with your diapers.

Good luck on the potty training.

I started potty training my triplets when they turned 2 1/2. After a few weeks they still weren't getting it,so I stopped for a few months. This past March I decided it was time. I have potty seats for all of them, left them out so they could be reminded to use them & left them naked all day. After a week they were done with diapers.

Hi Shelly~ I just finished potty training my son. I didn't think he would ever be out of diapers. I bought this book, I think it was called potty training for idiots or dummy's or something like that. Our problem was I couldn't get him to sit on the potty. In the book it suggested that you have them practice. So, if you asked them and they said they didn't have to go, you suggest they go practice sitting on the potty. My son got stickers (which he loved) for even sitting on the potty. We went cold turkey without pullups, he needs a pullup at night and is 50% dry. good luck with your journey out of diapers.

I would get rid of the pullups,too expensive for this stage of the game.Perhaps they just aren't ready,don't force the issue,go back to diapers for a month and try again.All kids are ready at different times.

My twin boys are the same age and I'm also thinking of trying to start training soon. With my daughter (a singleton), I waited until about a week before her third birthday and then I said "the diaper fairy came last night and took your diapers away!" But at night, I'd tell her that the fairy brought her a night time diaper (a pull up). I found that if you're going to do it, just take the diapers away entirely and risk accidents. After they have a few, they won't want to have any more. I also found that waiting until closer to three made it so much easier (at least with my daughter). You kind of have to pick a 3 day period where you are willing to stay home though b/c you don't want the kids peeing all over public places!!

Meanwhile, I'll tell you that my boys just are not ready yet. They don't get it at all. So I'll wait. Luckily, their school allows diapers!!

If you hear of any good hints for twins, let me know!!