Potty Training

So I think I'm going to start this within the next week or so but I'm hoping for tips and advice from others.

The girls were 2 in April. They've had their potties since around Christmas time and they know what they're for but we've not been pressing the issue on them using them. They like to sit on them because it's a rare time for them to walk around without a diaper. I'm taking them to buy some underwear this week. I plan on making it all exciting and stuff.

One is showing signs she's ready but the other is a bit iffy. I plan on training them together but I don't intend to pressure one if she's not as ready as the other.

I'm dreading it a bit.

My secret weapon was m&m candies. A jar full sat on the back of the potty- you get when we you do a number one and two when you do a number two . They are small- not alot of chocolate or sugar, but an immediate reinforcement-- yes it is bribery, but it worked. Also found they need to be wearing underwear so they can feel the wetness, if they are having a lot of accidents in the beginning- you can put underwear on under pullups so it isn't a big mess but they still feel the wetness.

I recently trained my 2 yr 10 month old using the 3-day method.  I had tried twice before when she was 2 yr 5 months and 2 yr 8 months and failed horribly.  Just ended up with wet pants and no real success on the potty. 

The 3-day method sort of locks you in the house for 3-days and you don't use diapers or pull-ups at all.  You are CONSTANTLY watching your child for signs that they are about to pee and rushing them off to the potty when you see it's about to happen.  The idea is that the penny will drop and they will suddenly get that the sensation of pee means that they have to go sit on the potty.  You don't make them sit on schedule or for 20 minutes at a time.  You just constantly remind them to "tell mummy when you have to go potty OK?"  I guess this way of phrasing it, puts the power in their court.  Because even now, if you ask my DD "Do you have to go potty?"  She'll say no and then 1 min later run to the toilet.  I don't think they honestly know they have to go until the second before they need to.

It worked for us.  It happened to be a really warm week when I did it, so I just let DD run around in a t-shirt and underpants.  The first day we had NO success.  She didn't once make it to the potty in time and went through nearly all of her new underpants (Like 10 pairs).  It was halfway through day 2 before we had a victory.  by lunch on day 3, she got it.  I think she actually got number 2's first and then number 1's.  It really was like the penny just dropped and she understood what the sensation was and that she had to run to the potty.  We have had very few accidents since.  I don't put her in a diaper during nap, so we do have accidents about once/twice a week.  Kind of a pain, but I don't want to confuse her by putting her back in diapers during the day.  We do use diapers at night still, but she is almost always dry, so thinking of getting rid of that crutch soon. 

If you have the time and inclination to stay home for 3 days, they say this can work for kids as young as 20 months. 

Good Luck.

Thanks guys. I'm only part time and with the bank holidays and nursery closures, after this wednesday I'm off until the 12th, so this is a very good time for me to do it.

I had the Gina Ford potty training book but can't find the blasted thing now.

Cheers ladies.

I just wanted to say we did pretty much the same as the others with good results.  Recently the Monday after DS turned 2 we just started, he wasn't showing any signs of being ready even though I thought he'd want to start copying his older sister but could've cared less.  I figured if he could put a DVD in, unlock my phone, etc he could certainly "get" this.  Day 1 we did just underpants and he wet every 10 min and could care less. Day 2 we went bare bum and held it for like 4 hours or something crazy like that so.  If we put him back in pants he'd wet more often and not say anything. So we did bare bum and bribes and by the end of the week he pretty much got it.  We did have to change up the bribes every so often to keep things interesting but not a big deal.  we used MMs, cadbury finger biscuits (cut in had then thirds) and even trips out of the house.  I think the biggest thing is that have to feel the accidents to learn from them.  It'll test your patience but when they start "getting it" it feels great.

Good Luck

I never did bribes, just lost of praise, high fives, hugs, etc.  We also took them to the store and let them pick their favorite underwear so it would be something they would not want to get wet.  My 3 (triplets) went at all different times, my daughter was about 2.5 when she got it, one of the boys was about 3 and the 3rd about 3.5/4.  Just each did it in their own time, I have to admit it was much easier with my daughter than the boys!     Don't rush the one that is not ready yet, she may want to more after she sees her sister do it.  As other ppl said, just make sure to ask 10,000 times per day if they have to go. 

One thing that worked for us was to allow DD to drink as much juice as she liked.  I let her go for it because then she was going to the bathroom all the time.  Eventually, she figured it out and made it to the toilet!  We hunkered down for a week and it worked. Within two weeks, we were pretty much done.  DS was a lot slower and that didn't work as well for him but taking away the pull ups finally did.  HG is right, they gotta feel the pee running down their leg and onto their shoes...

One thing that worked for us was to allow DD to drink as much juice as she liked.  I let her go for it because then she was going to the bathroom all the time.  Eventually, she figured it out and made it to the toilet! 

We did this too.  I stocks up on juice boxes, since those are normally a treat. She loved it. Just try to stop giving them liquids around 5pm-ish.

My youngest just decided he was ready. I'd tried the 3 day camps (I think I have the PDF 'how to' if you're interested) but with minimal success. But after a couple attempts at that, a few weeks after that, he made the decision to not pee or poop in his pants anymore. He was about 3-1/2 when he was more or less potty trained.

My oldest is a completely different issue as he has medical problems, but even he 'just decided' one day.

My advice is to give it a go but try not to show your desperation! Rewards like M&Ms are great and I fully endorse that. No kid will end up going to college needing an M&M to pee so I've never worried about the morals of bribery. My oldest has only been consistently going for a few months now and even he doesnt' ask for reward candy any more.

Good luck!

Interesting point about the pants inside the pullups so they feel the wet but it's minimal mess. Might try that down the road with Thomas. 

What do you do about naps? Would you put them back in a nappy or a pull up? Or just leave it? I'm not going to worry about potty training at night for the time being but I'm worried about the naps.

personally I would do a routine of sit on potty before nap, and not put put nappies back on at naptime.

DD does not wear nappies during nap.  I make her go potty right before hand.  And I try to keep an ear out for her stirring when it's about time when she normally gets up and then take her straight to the potty, usually still half asleep.  I am not going to lie, the first week I changed her sheets every day.  Now, probably once/twice a week.  The guide I read said you didn't need to wake them up early from nap, but if I think she is sleeping longer than normal, I will tend to wake her up to try and head off an accident. 

During the first week, DD would cry every morning when we took off her nappy and put on pants for the day, begging us for another nappy.  I didn't want to have that fight twice a day, so opted to do lots of laundry and keep her in pants for nap time.

Cheers guys.

Naps were never an issue for us. Once Jake made up his mind, that was it and the only time he had accidents was when he was 'too busy' to go. That was usually when he was engrossed in play. If he did that, the toy was taken away for a bit.

I personally would not put them back in a diaper for nap time. I'd just quietly put a water proof sheet or towels under their usual sheets and try what Karin did.