Share Your Potty Training Stories!

Just put underwear on your child, when you think they are ready! No Pull-Ups are needed (except at night, I did use them then), because that's basically a diaper with no snaps! If they are pooping or peeing in their undies and not saying anything, they obviously are not ready for the potty....but if they come and tell you they are wet or dirty, they are making progress!

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Very good point Melissa however - what's your idea on a child that will use the potty to pee with no hesitation and will tell you if he pee's his pants but doesn't mind pooping his pants and refuses to use the toliet for #2? Pulls ups have proved defience for my own situation as my son will hold his poop until I put one on for the evening and than poop - even if I have him on the toliet prior. Is this considered 1/2 trained?

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I was pottey trained when my best friend from down the street was. She is a year older and came down and showed me her brand new underwear and I was thrilled! My mom brought me to the local Ames (which is not around anymore and is now replaced by Ocean State Job Lot) and I got some. I had one accident at night and that was it. My best advice it to just give them the underwear and tell them what happens and thats it. Treat it as if it is a huge deal!

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My advice is to start well before the "terrible twos" and just establish a routine, so the child doesn't get the idea that he has a choice about whether or not to eliminate in the potty. There will still be some accidents, but the child will be learning, not manipulating. And give away all the diapers as soon as all-day dryness occurs - don't be tempted to look back when a couple of accidents happen. (Nighttime dryness for many kids happens at the same time as daytime, if the expectation is there.) Oh, and don't be afraid to use discipline just like you would for any other thing you want your child to learn.

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My advice starts well before the child is ready. Cloth diapers REALLY help, if you are able. Allows your child to be familiar with the feeling of being wet. (Pull ups do this too, apparently, but if they've spent 2 years of their life never feeling wet, it takes a long time for their brain to understand the wet feeling.)

Naked time also helps, but when they are closer to being ready. Allows them to visually see when they have to go. Being able to go outside helps, keeps things clean!

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All four of mine start when they can get on the potty--crawling, walking --as long as they get there. Older two both done by 18mo--although younger one still has stomach issues (ibs) and has the occassional mishap. My twins--she is completely potty trained--he still sits because he sees his sister do so. Daddy and he are working on it, but he is still with the girls more.

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Making toilet learning a natural part of their learning process just like anything else is key to not having to stress over 'potty training'.

Our babies gradually and slowly learn to eat, crawl, play, talk, walk - they can learn to use the toilet in much the same naturally evolving way. You may need to get a few paradigm shifts going to help them though, as our society currently favours doing nothing but cleaning up after them until they are 3 or more.

By starting as early as you like by giving your baby daily diaper free time you are helping them stay aware of the processes of their body, rather than 'numbing them' with a disposable diaper.

By offering your baby the opportunity to pee in a baby potty when they wake up with a dry diaper and as you wait for their bath to fill means the potty is a familiar bit of household furniture - there is no uncertainty around it, nothing to 'learn'.

You'll catch pees and poops this way; have a cheer! Sing a potty song! Your baby then toddler will feel happy and relaxed about using a toilet place. Potty Cheers are little ditties to sing when they do a wee in the potty, my sons love them! I've collected over 40 potty songs and cheers at http://www.PartTimeDiaperFree.com

You will feel calm and relaxed about a gradual path to toilet independence, and not stressing about having to suddenly 'train' your child that going in their pants is no longer an option now that they are 'x' in age.

Washable Training Pants are a great option for the transition to regular underwear, too. www.parttimeec.com has a huge visual directory of the wide variety now available.

Charndra

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My advice mirrors isisaquaria in that I believe in potty training well before 2. If a child can communicate even a little you can teach him/her to tell you when he/she needs to go. This is important so that you will be able to take them to restrooms away from home. In the beginning I recommend letting them watch a short video or play with a toy or book that is a special treat only for the potty. Lastly, do not, under any circumstances put a diaper back on the child after you've told them they are now to use the potty. If they have an accident calmly explain that next time they should tell you when they need to go potty. Good luck to all you parents!

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Soo.. I have a 20 month old and one that will be 3 in July and neither of them have even thought about going on the potty.. just flushing it. Is that terrible??

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All of this writing about toilet training provided the momentum that I was needing to begin potty training our 19 month old. We began one week ago and it has been surprisingly smooth from the beginning.

I say that it was smooth, in the same sort of way that birth is wonderful. The first day was both challenging and rewarding. She did not have an unending stream of pee dripping from her unknowingly. Instead, there were occasional accidents and occasional successes. The first few accidents were upsetting for her, even though we assured her everything was okay, and she was learning a tricky new thing. But we encouraged her (and each other) and every day has gotten measurably better.

It would have been easy to decide on the first day or two that she wasn’t ready, but I knew better. I have been observing her development and knew that she was up to the challenge. I understand that new things are scary whether you are 19 months or 19 years old. We expressed compassion, empathy, and confident encouragement. Once the ditchin’ diapers day arrived, there was no going back.

Was she ready? After a few days of successes and messes, she has now been completely, reliably dry for three full days. She has even been on numerous outings and has been able to anticipate her needs and alert us so that we have gotten to a toilet in time. This success mirrors the experience we had potty training our first daughter when she was just a few months older (about 23 months).

On Day 1, we lit a fire in the fireplace and took off her diaper and pants. The fire crackled all day long and much of the day was spent in the bathroom reading and rereading every book. We took a preemptive approach. On Day 2, we had another fire and spent slightly less time in the bathroom, because we better understood her pattern and signs. By this point we had exhausted our large book collection a dozen times over. Day 3, she got to wear underwear and leave the house for the first time to pick her sister up from school. Success! On Day 4, less time was spent in the bathroom and only one accident, for which I might have to take responsibility. I was otherwise immersed and her bathroom plea was like background noise for me. Oops. Since then, Days 5, 6, and 7, we were relying much less on preemptive bathroom trips and more heavily on her requests.

While we are very happy for our daughter, we know this is not a done deal. In fact, far from it. There will be many months to come of carrying around extra clothes, just in case. Many more months of hyper-awareness to her bathroom needs. And still, many more months of waking during the night for preemptive bathroom trips. But I am happy to report that she is able to be out and about in town and effectively communicate her needs after just one week. She feels delighted with herself!

Her delight and newfound self-confidence was evident after the second day. She seemed to have a whole shift in her, which spanned across various aspects of her personality. She became more expressive with strangers. She began using bigger words. She attempted new physical challenges. She reacted very positively to our increased expectations and her ability to meet them. This will not always be the case of increased expectations, but is more likely to be when the expectations are challenging in a developmentally appropriate way.

Find more tips for success at: http://childperspective.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/potty-training-success-story/

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I bought a potty for my daughter when she was 1 year old and put it in her room. It was one of those fancy ones with a cushioned seat (but not the musical one). For a few months it just stood there and gradually she began gaining interest in it. When she was 18 months I started talking to her about peeing in the potty and so started our daily nightime routine: bath, potty and bedtime. She did that for about 2 weeks and one day decided she wanted to pee in ther potty in the morning and througout the day. She's now fully potty trained with occasional accidents. At night, she no longer wets her diaper, even though I put one on her just in case. She's 22 months now. So it may have been a slow process but I left it up to her, when she was ready, never forcing the issue.

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I spent a few weeks potty training my 2 year old Danny. Sometimes he did okay for a few days. But it always seemed like he would regress. It was like taking a step forward and then 2 steps back. I ended up buying a few potty training dvds. They were okay but it didn't help much until I bought the magic bowl. It's a musical and he loved it. He would run around singing the songs all day long. Within a week he was asking to go to the potty on his own. I made him a medal like the ones they used in the movie and he loved it. The only place i've been able to find it is on http://www.toilet-training-video.com not a bad investment for 12 bucks.

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My kids was 2 and we bought a few potty training books and to our surprise he paid rapt attention. A couple of months later--without our even asking--he just decided that he was potty-trained and he never went back.

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I had my father in law design a potty desk to allow the kids to entertain themselves. Go to pappaspottytrainer.com to take a look at what he designed.

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I purchased a training potty for her at 15 mths. I allowed her to get familiar with it and appx 1 month later, she was willing to sit on the potty. However, it was only a few times a day. At times, she would sit there even (5-10) mins until she's ready and done. After doing so, she would let me know that she tee-tee. Now she's 20 months and I havent seen any progress since then. So today, I'm trying the underwear method. She told me thusfar only 3 times out of all the accidents after wetting herself. Is she not yet ready or will I see progress within the next few days? With this method, should I still try to take her to the potty proactively or do I let her pick up on her own and tell me once she learns?

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I have a three year old who would not pee in the bathroom sometime but refuses to poop in the bathroom when I'm around. He'll tell me sometime that he needs to pee, and sometime I have to remind him to go pee. When I don't remind him at times, he'll just pee in his pull up. I tried the trick of putting underwear on him and I get the same result. He poops on his underwear just like he would if he had pull ups. Also at the babysitter he will poop but at time I will walk in when he's pooping and it's over! He does not want to poop anymore as long as I'm around. At home I can sit him on the toilet and he will not poop and will cry or just play around. I'm so frustrated with this. I've come to the conclusion that I've done something wrong to cause him not to want to poop or poop on his underwear and pull up when I'm around. I don't know what to do anymore. Every kid I know his age is already progressing with potty training, even an 18 month old his babysitter watches. I am on my last straw. I don't want him to be turn 4 and still wearing pull ups.

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