Potty Training Twins - Winterset, IA

S.,
I have learned (from my 2 1/2 y.o. boy/girl twins) that they will become potty trained when they are ready! I wanted it to happen so badly months ago, but I know that they didn't want it. So, what is a mom to do? What about a day care instead of a preschool? I luckily stay home with mine...

Good luck to you!

I am a mom of four kids, the younger three are triplets and will be turning three next week. The triplets are two boys and a girl. I thought I would train them all at the same time but it was way too stressful for me. :) Typically, girls "catch on" faster with the potty training thing...I think it's easier for them to tell when they have to go. So I started with my daughter, who seemed the most ready at the time, and just put her in underwear right off the bat. She was trained within a week. Then I waited with the boys until about two months later and did the same thing...no more diapers (or pull-ups) and just straight to underwear. I did train the boys together and it was hard (we were constantly in the bathroom!) but I just felt two would be more manageable to train. They were both trained within a week and a half and were excited to wear underwear like their sisters. We did still use diapers at night for the first month, but now, several months later, they no longer even need those! I have not used Pull-Ups with any of my kids as I think it confuses them...I wanted my kids to feel what it was like to be wet if they peed in their underwear and to encourage them to recognize the signals of when they had to go. We went through lots of clothes the first couple days, but to have them all trained so quickly was awesome! So, in a nutshell, it's a stressful period to train them at the same time, but if they both seem ready, I think it's worth it!

Good luck to you!

The first question I would ask is do they show any interest. Go with the one that shows interest. Who know that other may follow.

In the process of gearing up to train my twin girls (turned 2 in April; still just having fun peeing on their potties now and then), I took my usual route and found a book. :) The one I settled on is called _Potty Time for One, Two, or Three! A Parent's Survival Guide for Training, One Child, Twins, or Triplets_ by Maria S. McCarthy. She has some really good practical and down-to-earth tips about how to do things. The biggest thing I took away from it was to work with the child who is ready and making progress first, and once that child is settled in a routine, go back and work with the other(s). We're still taking it slow here, so I can't vouch for her methods, but they at least made sense to me. Good luck!

It will be more work for you in the end if you try to rush potty-training. It will be a long summer. When one catches on, the other will follow. Can you find a more reality-based preschool/daycare center? I think the daycare center you are currently using is not kid-friendly if they're making such ridiculous demands on little children such as that. It really is not normal and it makes me wonder what else they may be demanding of the children in their care before they are developmentally ready.

I have 15 month old boy/girl twins, and I also have a 2.5 year old. My 2.5 year old is almost 100% potty trained, it's just the nights that we need to work on. I never pushed him, and there were times where he would regress, but I would just keep on encouraging him to go in the potty. With my twins, I intend on training them at the same time, but not pushing them to go if they are not ready. I will probably have them go potty at the same time, since they eat & drink at the same times each day, they will be on a similar potty schedule...I don't think it's any different for your girl than it will be for your boy, except that i've heard it's harder to potty train boys. I never had a problem with my 2.5 year old though....he's been doing great, and I just keep the diaper and pants off during the day unless we go somewhere, he just wears underwear.

I have 2.5 yr old twins (b,b) and they dont really seem to be interested yet. I am having my 6 yr old show them to pee in the potty as I am a single mom and I dont have the right equipment to show them :) I have one potty for the floor and one that fits on the big toilet and I have them sit together.
Good luck!
Let me know how it goes!!
~~ANG~~

Five kids? Wow S. - you are way outnumbered! But you also have so many helpers for this particular task :o)

Why not have the older kids help with the potty training - a boy for the boy and a girl for the girl? The youngest in the family are always impressed and want to follow the advice/actions of older siblings.

Have your oldest boy take the boy into the bathroom with him when he pees. Have your oldest girl do the same with the girl. This process of "do as I do" will be very effective. Let them ask the little ones to come along: "Come on Susie - it's time for us to go to the bathroom!"

Keep the potty chair on the floor in the bathroom for these "lessons".

Now that summer is here, the perfect time has arrived for this process to easily unfold before August. The more the little ones see using the potty as the way things work, the more likely they will be to identify the bathroom and the potty as a part of their world.

Hi S.-
Everyone is in a hurry to potty train today ; )
About me- 47 yo. med. prof., wellness coach, wife and mom of almost 7 yo twin girls.
We started when the girls were ready.
Our most vocal told us the day she went to grandma's (down in AZ) she would go on the potty. We smiled/chuckled. She was 3 years old.
Let me tell you- at 3 years and 5 mo- she did it that exact day and never had one accident. All our attempts to try it before, met with resistance.
The other twin followed suit- peer pressure- within the following month- again never having an accident.

Sometimes our desires to rid of $ and stigma of diapers on kids pushes us to push our kids.
Those who force tend to find themselves cleaning after accidents.

Have patience with them and let them be a part of the process and decision.

B. J
____@____.com

When I was assistant director of the day care here, we potty trained six 2 year olds together. We would line them up at the door and have each try and then if they went, they got to put a sticker on the chart. Most kids are a bit compeditive this age and if one got a sticker, each would want one so they learned to go pretty quickly. If one didn't then we would say it was ok, we will try again in a little while. I think it was easier to train the six of them then training just one or two the other years.

So if you get them both when they wake up and again mid morning, after lunch, mid afternoon, dinner time, before bed. Stickers and small prizes work great.

I think I would look for a preschool or daycare that allows them to wear pull ups. If you look around there are some that don't require potty training at that age. Or what about an in home daycare? I think it is a lot of pressure at that age to try to have them trained in two months. Many kids aren't trained until 3 or later and it can be an ongoing process over the course of months. From personal experience with my children, I found that the harder you push them the more they resist. If you do want to keep trying there is a method I've heard about, but haven't tried, where you let them run around naked and they supposedly learn to get to the potty. Now that it's finally warming up you could try that outside. Good luck whatever you decide.

I potty trained my twin girls at the same time. Maybe it will be different with a boy and a girl, but chances are when one of your twins does something the other would like to do it also. I think it adds incentive for them too. But in the end do what feels right or whatever makes your life easier.

I don't have twins, but I do watch Jon & Kate plus 8 on TLC. I know that she potty trained the girls before the boys because girls are usually easier to potty train. I would try your little girl first, and if your son wants to work on it too, let him. But if its your willingnest to do both of them at the same time, you might just end up with more head aches then anything. Good luck, just remember do not force, that will just back fire!!!

Pushing them to potty train is definitely not a good idea and usually backfires. Watch their cues because they will show you when they are ready. My daughter showed me she was by taking off her diaper and running to the potty. I put her in panties and she's been doing great since. Give them opportunities to use the potty though and when they use it, give them a sticker or other rewards. They do need to be at least able to tell you they have to go potty, know the words involved, be able to remove their clothes, and be able to get to the potty chair or the potty. They also need to be able to stay dry for a periods at a time.

I have twin boys, and I have found that if I take both of them to the potty at the same time they will sit there willingly, but if I try one at a time they throw a fit half the time. So you might want to try having two potty chairs next to each other, and taking them both at the same time. Also my boys usually go every time my husband takes them, but only every once in a while when I do. So another sugestion would be if when your husbands home having him take your son potty, and you taking your daughter.