Potty Training

[MrsC10]

I was just wondering how long others took to potty train their LO's and what 'techniques' they used?

We're only on day three. Just curious to hear what others have done/are doing x

 

[meek0104]

following as i am also potty training my two year old with very slow progress lol

 

[SarahBear]

We introduced the potty in infancy. It saved us some diapers and poo-splosians don't happen when the poop is in the toilet. In toddlerhood we did diaper free time (with pants on). We also taught the sign for potty. Violet learned to say potty before she learned to sign it and was requesting it consistently by 18 months... Then she stopped around 19 months. Between reading her signals and her sometimes asking, she was out of diapers again at 23 months. She had ups and downs with accidents, but it was good enough until about 2 years 5 months when she had a complete regression and went back into diapers. A few months later, we told her we were buying no more diapers and that if she used a diaper, she needed to change it herself (pull-on style diapers and help with poop) and that if she used the toilet, she would get a chocolate chip. I don't remember the exact timeline, but I remember she was upset for a couple days and then was basically on-board with it.


We started out the same with Leo, but a little more relaxed. He was using the toilet regularly by 23 months but when we went on vacation around his birthday, he stopped. I tried potty training at about 2 years 8 months, but my husband who is a stay at home dad, did not follow through throughout the week, so it didn't stick. My strategy was cold turkey on the diapers and chocolate chip for successful potty use. I tried again a month later when I had 2 weeks off work and my husband was ready to commit to it. It took longer this time around and there were near constant "accidents" for about a month. By about a month and a half he had it down pretty good.

Edit: oh, I forgot that with Leo, we used a timer for the first couple days. He stayed pretty dry on those days, but I didn't stick with it. I just did it to give him a boost and so he had a chance to experience what he was working toward.

 

[loeylo]

Following. Gracie is 2.5 and we are on day 3. She’s got good control as she only seems to pee about 5 times per day, but she has yet to get anything in her potty. Prior to properly potty training her she did use the potty the odd time, so. I don’t know what’s going on!

 

[ClairAye]

With my eldest it took three days but he was 4.5, I desperately said he was seeing his kidney doctor in a few days and it would be great if he was dry. I put him in pants, put a potty in the sitting room and something clicked, he wet himself once on the first two days then not at all on the third. I don't tend to count his story as it took 2 years and there were developmental and physical issues going on too but his is a story of 'when they're ready, it'll happen'.

With my youngest I started having her in pants in the house, had a potty in the living room and a seat on the toilet but tried to encourage the toilet most. I think she was 2y 3m but she was not ready so I left it for 3 or 4 months and she got it but it took a few weeks for the accidents to stop. I used pull-ups when we were out and about but she learnt that she wasn't to pee in them, it was just to save her incase of an accident.

I used every technique from charts to leaving bottom halves naked at home to alarm watches but in the end it was something they both had to be fully ready for and on board with. Don't get too stressed if it doesn't click first try and just follow their lead. Good luck!

 

[Rainbow82]

Couldn’t agree more that when they’re ready it’ll happen. We are training my Ds at the moment, he had three accidents first day, two the second day and three the third day which was the first time we tried with full clothes on. After that we haven’t had any accidents at home. Outside however is another matter because he seems to only realise he’s going to go about twenty seconds before it happens. He also pees up to three times an hour so not 100 percent sure his body is ready even though he clearly is ready in that he knows when he is going or about to just can’t seem to hold it. I think if he hadn’t been getting around 50% in the potty at least at home within 3-5 days we’d have shelved it till the summer.

 

[jessmke]

We tried about a month after DD turned 2. She was great at going on the potty when we took her, but if we didn't take her to the potty she was just as happy to go in her pants. After about a week of this we decided she wasn't ready and then put her back in diapers. Then about 2 months later she started asking for a diaper change the instant she peed/pooped and started yelling "I'm peeing!" as she would go in her diaper (she was in cloth diapers so she could feel when her diaper is dirty). We took this as as sign she was ready so we trained her again, we left her bottomless or with just panties on and had a few potty's throughout the house so she could get to one quickly and easily. We started out taking her to the potty every 30 min or so for the first few days, then she got annoyed at that so we started taking her every 1-1.5 hrs. She was good at going on the potty when we took her, but it was about 2 weeks into training before she started telling us she had to go or just taking herself to the potty. She only had 3 pee accidents and 1 poop accident in the first week or so, and she hasn't had an accident since. We didn't have to use any rewards or anything other than just some praise.

 

[MrsC10]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.

We had 3 accidents the first day, 5 on the second day, 4 on the third and then none today.
She's going to the potty when we remind her, but she still hasn't grasped taking herself to the potty when she needs to go. Hopefully that'll follow soon.

I'm not going to get hung up on it all though. If it turns out she's not as ready as we thought, then I'm happy for her to go back to nappies.

 

[loeylo]

Gracie is back in nappies 😩 she only made it to the potty once in three days. She also held a poop for pretty much the entire time.

 

[jessmke]

Gracie is back in nappies 😩 she only made it to the potty once in three days. She also held a poop for pretty much the entire time.

Isla was scared to poop on the potty at first and would hold it in, then every couple of days she would poop in her nighttime diaper. Then she started complaining that her tummy hurt a lot, I think because she was holding in her poop. So maybe this isn't the best way to go about it, but I decided to force the issue. I fed her a huge tin of pureed prunes in the morning, then in the afternoon when she woke from her nap I put her on the potty with Paw Patrol on the iPad and had her sit there until she pooped. It took about 45 min but she rarely gets to watch shows so she was happy to sit there. She was a bit scared and cried a little bit when she started pooping and wanted me to pick her up, but I just did a huge song and dance and made a big deal out of her pooping on the potty and then she realized it was a good thing. Hasn't had any trouble since going poop on the potty. I've heard from other moms that it only takes one poop on the potty for them to get it.

 

[Rainbow82]

Gracie is back in nappies 😩 she only made it to the potty once in three days. She also held a poop for pretty much the entire time.

Aww I’m sure she will be ready soon just try her again at half term or in the summer holidays. We found the hardest thing was finding time when we could just stay home to do it as during the holidays we like to get out together.
We had issues with poop too, he’s been a few times on his potty but mostly he asks for a nappy on to hide and poop then asks for it off again.

 

[xMissxZoiex]

I think its important to find something that really motivates your child, my son has a really bad sweet tooth so I bought a small packet of sweets, a potty book and a sticker chart put the potty in the sitting room where he could get to it all the time. For the first few days he would get a sweetie and a sticker after ever potty use and then it was at the end of a successful training day. He was fully trained both pee and poo in just over a week.

I think its important to really think if they're ready, don't be hard on yourself if you start and its not clicking give it a few more weeks and try again.

 

[MrsC10]

So we've been at this for a week and a half now. If we put her in the potty every hour then she'll go wee/poo no bother. If we don't remind her then she'll just go in her pants. If she wets herself she'll say 'ew!' But if she's poos she won't bat an eyelid. I said to her tonight that maybe we should just put her back in nappies which she wasn't happy about at all. I'm going to try a reward chart. If that doesn't help then it'll be back to nappies for a couple of months.

 

[Babybum35]

Just wanted to chime in. Dd wI'll be 2.5 in about 6 weeks. We started potty training last month but we've hit a bump. She pees in her potty no problem, but has started pooping about once per week so we have to go to the doctor tomorrow. She doesn't have any accidents and even stays dry overnight.
We have her come with us when we pee or poop and let her flush. But if they aren't ready you can't force it. The first 7 days were the hardest. She had pee accidents days 1-3 and then day 4 and 5 she only peed twice and held it to the last moment.

We still struggle with poop but when it comes to potty training every kid is different. Read lots of potty and poop books to your kid. Give them time without the diaper and if they can tell you they need the potty then they might be reafy. Just don't force a time table. It's such the luck of the draw....