Potty Training Advice Please!

I think they kind of just do it on there own, when they are ready. I was told, start at 2 be done by 3, start at 3 be done at 3. That was pretty true for my son. He was kind of doing it at 2 and by his third bday, he was trained.

you can lead a child to the potty, but you can't make him pee.
my son was potty trained just before his 3rd b-day. i think what really helped was reading lots of books to him and putting his name in place of the child's name and just being very excited and talking it up alot!
don't rush things though-it could backfire.

My best advice is not to push it. It will be much easier when he is ready. Try not to think that just because he's 2 or even 3 that he "has to" be potty trained. I heard alot of stuff, especially from my own mom, about why wasn't my son potty trained. Just because you've recognized his cues, doesn't mean that HE knows what he's doing. We tried on several different occasions to try with Ben, but only after he knew what he was doing, was it a breeze. He also learned how to control it, but I found that didn't mean that he knew that initial need to go. We used rewards. We tried the Cheerio trick for aiming, but Ben just thought that it was fun to throw the food in the potty. Dad should also be a lot of help, especially with the aiming. Give it lots of time & patience & strangely, have fun.

Honestly, go through the requests that have been posted here regarding potty training. You might start to see a pattern of 'common problems/issues' emerging and can learn from what other mothers went through. I tend to make little mental notes when I read stuff, especially about toddler/preschool behavior, teething, babyproofing the house, breaking bad habits, etc. because I like to try to stay ahead of the game and have some sort of idea of what to expect out of my 6 month old. I read what some moms are going through and think to myself "man I never hope I have to go through that" and read the advice given to try to avoid the problem in the first place.

You should find a ton of stuff on potty training here, from potty chairs, books, dvds, bedwetting, reward systems, etc, along with people's experience on implementing various techniques.

It's a great thing to be prepared! I have 4 children who are now between the ages of 10 & 15. Because of this I can't recall the name of the book I read but whatever it was it was the absolute best! The things that I will point out are what I did with each one of them. The first thing to look for was to watch to see if your child is ready for potty training. One of the first signs is that he/she wakes up with a dry diaper. Another thing to make sure of is that he/she is actually ready for potty training. Some parents try to start too soon and this (as I read) leads to frustration for both you and your child.

Once I was sure they were ready,(all on their 2nd birthdays) I threw out all diapers. I took my child and bought their very own new potty chairs & new underwear or panties. I never bought any kind of substitute diapers. As I recall reading, this allows you to get lazy in watching your child and allows your child to do the same and they wind up going on themselves...in other words it just becomes a diaper again. Once we were ready, we went to training. During the first couple of days, they went every hour during waking hours. Eventually they will tell you if they have to go. When they would first go #1, I became extremely excited and offered lots of praise. Once they went #2...well, then I reacted as if they just saved the world and called grandma and whoever else would listen and offer the same excitement and praise so that he/she knows what a great thing they had just accomplished!

If my child(ren) ever had an accident, it was okay. They were never scolded or punished because (as I read) this would discourage them from wanting to go. Well, that's it. That's how I did it and although I can't recall the exact amount of time it took, it went very quickly and before I knew it, we were done potty training. It was never very long but within 2 weeks of training they could tell me when they needed to go potty without any prompting or would go on their own. This was true of all 4 and this is the same advice I give everyone who asks. So far all good results. For the boys, I also used the trick of putting cheerios in the potty and having them aim. Hope this helps when the time comes but be careful and wait until he/she is actually ready for potty training.

The best advice I never took and regret not taking (well I actually did take after a year and half of potty training and wet clothes and such) LET HIM DO IT HIMSELF. My son at 3 1/2 just one day said "Ok I'm done with diapers now mommy, I will go potty for you from now on" and has done great ever since. Up until then I was taking him every two hours to the bathroom and getting no where. I finally gave up a week before that. Didn't say anything, didn't do anything except change diapers and just dropped it and THEN he decided he could do it. You don't see normally developed Kindergarteners in diapers...it is something they will learn to do on their on.

Here's what worked wonders for my first child. Before I ever brought a potty chair into the house, I went and bought a few little children's books on the subject for her. I started reading them to her and we talked a little bit about it. But I didn't act like it was a big deal. Then one day in the store she saw a potty chair and got very excited about it and she asked for it. It looked just like the one in her book. We brought it home and she started using it pretty much right away. As for pull ups, I like them as a back up (like if you're going out, or on a trip) but kids use them just like diapers. I put her in underpants when we first brought the chair home and she messed them a few times. So then I let her run around naked. Yes, she messed the carpets a few times, but she was trained in a few days.

I repeated the same techniques on my second daughter and she followed pretty much the same. I'm about to start training my third child, a boy this time, so I'm curious to see how he'll be!

Good luck to you -- A.

My sister read a book - something like "potty train in one day" - the basic jist is you have a "potty party" - almost a rite of passage party celebrating their being out of diapers - they get presents, etc... & they get a doll with underwear and a potty also - so that when they make a mistake, they then show the doll how to do things correctly. I haven't read the book yet (my son's 21 months) - but my sister was VERY pleased. Of course her daughter still had some accidents over the next week or two, but she had tried a few things before the party and her daughter just wasn't into it.

If you need me to find out the real name of the book - let me know.

C.

Whatever you do, start early. My daycare provider always had the kids trained fully by 18 months. The trick is to start him around 11 or 12 months just by sitting on a little potty before his bath every night. Just tell him what it is for, give him a book or some small form of entertainment. When he wants to get off, let him. Eventually, he will go, especially if the bath water is running while he sits there. Get excited when he does produce. Over time, introduce the possibility of going at other times of the day. My older 2 kids were out of diapers at 14 months and 18 months. I got lazy for my third child and did not start until 18 months and he was 3 1/2 before he was totally trained. I waited too long and it became a battle of wills.