I have a daughter, who turns 2 in February and we are due with #2 in May of next year.
She has started telling me "poop!" and "peepee!" when she needs to go but I can't seem to get her to go on the toilet! Honestly, I have only tried a handful of times, but it seems pretty strange for her to have her bare bum sitting on the big cold toilet. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a great book on that so that we could get her trained, maybe even by May! I'm not pushy and always let her go at her own pace, but she seems to be wanting to not poop in her pants! I AGREE! GROSS! Ha... I set her on the toilet and she always says "try?" over and over and then she promptly says "off". So... I just need some suggestions on how to encourage her to actually pee and poo IN the toilet - not in her pants IMMEDIATELY after I put her diaper back on from sitting on the toilet.
Secondly, I am a little nervous about bringing home baby #2 since my little one is still so little. I wanted to know if there were things that you could do to let her know that she is the big girl now but so that she still feels special. Is there a good book out there with some suggestions on how to ease your little one into this transition before baby even arrives? My little one is still sleeping in the crib that we are planning on putting the second baby in... I just want her to know that she is sooo special and loved no matter who else is in this house with us.
THANKS LADIES!!!
Potty Train in Three Days by Lois Kleint is the best imo. I tried the one day one and it was HORRIBLE imo. This one worked for myself and so far 3 friends! Good luck!! Read this book BEFORE you start and have it memorized so to speak. I made my husband read it too (it's really short:) and he actually did the first day because I was 8 months pregnant and couldn't do it. So it can be done with 2 people...
For the toilet issue: Buy a small-sized toilet seat. When my kids were little, it looked to me like they were hanging on for dear life - - trying not to FALL IN! Who can relax and "let go" in a situation like that?!! I found a contraption that fit over the regular seat - - with a much smaller hole - - and 2 ladder steps. It was a combination seat and step-stool. The big sister issue: I remember a day when my 3-year-old daughter, who had been perfectly potty-trained for 1 year, stood in the middle of the room watching me intently as I nursed new baby #3, and she pee-peeed her pants right there in front of me - never taking her eyes from mine. I think what I did next was PURE GENIUS! I said, "Oh, does my OTHER baby need a diaper on, too?" She silently nodded yes. I laid her on the baby's changing pad, snugged on one of the newborn diapers. She smiled and was happy and waddled around like a bow-legged cowboy for a couple of hours. Never asked to wear a diaper again. So, remember, there may be times when your older one may request some extra special attention, and that request could be in the form of surprising or unusual behavior - - and that unusual behavior may not happen at a convenient time, but just drop everything and play along. My other important advice: Never leave new baby down within reach of a toddler and then leave the room, even for a second. Unfortunately, things happen when they try to innocently "take care" of baby for you - - i.e. pulled off the couch and dropped onto the floor; or baby powder in face; or blanket pulled over face; or toothpaste in the mouth . . . My last advice: Leave her in the crib a few months past the arrival of new baby. ((Use a bassinet next to your bed for newborn.)) Make getting a big-girl bed totally UNRELATED to arrival of new baby. When you do set up a big-girl bed, leave crib up in the same room right next it, so she can have her choice of crib or big-girl-bed each night. Baby can take naps in the crib during the day, but don't put baby into it at night, until sister is ready to have it GONE from her room, so she has more room to play. Gradual transitions always worked for me.
When I was pregnant with my son I bought my daughter Waiting for baby by Child's Play. It does not have any words which I loved and so did my daughter because made up our own story. She made me read it to her every night. When it was getting close to my due date I bought her My New Baby the second book. She loved it just as much and the first book. I think they really helped her to understand that a real baby was coming home. The day before I came home from the hospital my husband put together a kitchen we purchased before I had the baby. We were saving it so she would have something new to play with when we brought the new baby home. It worked great!!! As far as potty training books I bought both the Once Upon A Potty book they both loved it.
These were the favorites with my kids:
Zaza's Baby Brother by Lucy Cousins
The Princess and the Potty by Wendy Cheyette Lewison
Our friend gave us Joanna Cole's book, and when we read it to our son, we substitute our children's names for the characters, and he really identifies and still LOVES to read the book. That book and also giving him a baby doll a few weeks before the baby was born (he is 17 months older) really smoothed out the transition for us. Now we are working on potty training and he immediately took to Joanna Cole's potty book! Good luck!
We bought a book, "My big girl potty" or something like that. We just looked through the Barnes and Nobles kid section and found it. You just need her to do it a couple times (and praise her to no end) and she'll get the peeing concept (not the trained concept though). We buy a small potty seat to go on the toilet just for them. When I'm first trying to get them to pee in the toilet, I will run the bath water. It helped my son a lot...daughter not so much. Then they have to learn the habit of going to the potty, so I take them every 30 min or so, whether they need to go or not. I try to make it exciting. They don't always think it's exciting. For pooping, I have them sit and ask them to "try to toot!" and they'll try and go poop if they need to.
With baby #2, I would highly suggest just keeping her involved and telling her how exciting it is that a baby is coming. Most kids default to being excited. Treat it as though it's an exciting thing. Then when baby arrives, encourage her to help (but don't force at her young age). My daughter loves to help. It's definitely more complicated when you're trying to take care of a fussy baby, but just keep her close and have her involved however you can. My kids haven't ever seemed jealous of each other. They just love the new babies (#4 is due June).
She'll be entering the more defiant/fit throwing stage, which is just a normal phase. It would happen whether the baby was there or not. It can be a bit complicated sometimes! Anyway, good luck. Having another baby is so exciting. And it's exciting when the baby is around 15-18 months and starts playing with sister. It sounds like you're thoughtful and will figure it out:-) Oh, and we bought a book for bringing home a baby and becoming big sister. Found it in the same kid section as the potty book.
We're expecting #2 in April, and our 2-year-old STUDIES (I'm not exaggerating here--it's pretty hilarious!) 2 books by Joanna Cole--"I'm a Big Sister" and "The New Baby at your House." GL!
Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day by Teri Crane. It worked for my son and it was easy.
You should talk to her and let her know that she will have to be a big girl for mommy by being
mommy's little helper when the new baby comes home. Also include her in on diaper changes
and helping feed the new baby. You could also suggest that if she is gonna be mommy's little
helper she has to go peepee poop on the potty like a big girl. I work in a daycare so run into these
situations and this is some of the advice we give our parents and have had sucess with it.
