Toilet training with new baby expected

[Dov'sMom]

DS2 is just two years old, and over the past two weeks or so he's started occasionally talking about needing to urinate. In the bathtub one evening he stood up, announced that he was going to urinate, and then did so. He's made the anouncement two more times in the bathtub since, and both times I asked him to wait until I could put him on a potty, and he did (and was very proud of himself for it).

He's also mentioned that he needs to urinate when we've been in the car or such where I can't take him to the bathroom right away, and this morning when he woke up he asked to use the potty and did.

Sounds great, right? This is exactly how DS1 was trained (albeit a few months older) -- he started asking for the potty once in a while, after about a week of occasional requests we started asking him if he needed it, and a week later he was in underwear during the day.

At this point with DS2, I would want to start asking him regularly if he needs the bathroom, and hopefully he'd start using it regularly over the next couple of weeks and we'd be able to transition to underwear.

The complication? Baby #3 is due on Sunday. Everyone I speak to says not to start with the potty right before a new baby because he will regress, it will be harder to do it all over again once he's regressed, etc. Is that true? It seems to me that it will be harder to do it at all if we teach him now to ignore the urge to urinate and just do it in his diaper.

Thoughts?

[serenbat]

Are you also planning to stop feeding your child because you are due on Sunday?

Going to the bathroom is NORMAL, I see no reason and have read NO medical reason why one should not go, thus train a child to do so. Eating and going to the bathroom are normal functions, they go hand in hand.

I assume you and your family will be around the child, simply take him when you go, one family members go and when he requests.

If he is telling you he needs to go- by all means respond to his needs and for all those who tell you there will be a problem, invite them to help you out at this time so you can bond with the new baby.

[COgirl19]

I don't know if you are CDing or not, but if you are using sposies anyway, pull-ups might help. That way it will be really easy to take him to the bathroom when he asks or when you go even with a newborn and if he has an accident or regresses or something it's not a huge mess to cleanup. When he is really ready with it even with the new baby you can switch to undies. Hope that helps.

[Dov'sMom]

Originally Posted by serenbat

Are you also planning to stop feeding your child because you are due on Sunday?

Going to the bathroom is NORMAL, I see no reason and have read NO medical reason why one should not go, thus train a child to do so. Eating and going to the bathroom are normal functions, they go hand in hand.

I assume you and your family will be around the child, simply take him when you go, one family members go and when he requests.

If he is telling you he needs to go- by all means respond to his needs and for all those who tell you there will be a problem, invite them to help you out at this time so you can bond with the new baby.

No one suggested ignoring him when he asks to go. Of COURSE I/we will take him to the bathroom whenever he asks. The question was whether to go the next step and encourage him to use the bathroom instead of diapers rather than simply following his lead. The question was whether it would be more difficult for him to navigate the newness of new baby at the same time as trying to figure out the world of bladder control.

[Dov'sMom]

Originally Posted by COgirl19

I don't know if you are CDing or not, but if you are using sposies anyway, pull-ups might help. That way it will be really easy to take him to the bathroom when he asks or when you go even with a newborn and if he has an accident or regresses or something it's not a huge mess to cleanup. When he is really ready with it even with the new baby you can switch to undies. Hope that helps.

We tried pullups with DS1 when we realized that being in underwear at night was not working for him, and my boys call them "funny diapers." I didn't find them much easier to remove than diapers, truthfully, and since DS seems able to "hold on" at least a couple of minutes, I think we'll probably have time with the diapers. I know we will have to deal with accidents the first few weeks in underwear, and accidents don't really bother me (probably because we have no carpet...and in any case, I wouldn't anticipate putting him in underwear for at least another couple of weeks).

[junipermuse]

I think it's important to go with his interest right now. I've heard a lot of horror stories about missing a child's window of opportunity with potty learning. I've heard of tons of these stories in real life, whereas I hear lots of reccomendations not to potty learn around the arrival of a new baby, but I know plenty of people who have done it and its worked out great. My daughter transitioned to underwear a few days after our 2nd baby was born. Rather than regress, she actually made a big leap forward. Also regressions in potty learning are fairly normal, they may happen anyway, and as long as everyone stays relaxed, things return to normal. The only reason I might avoid potty learning right now is if you feel that with the new baby, you'll be too stressed or distracted to deal with pl-ing. There will be accidents and you'll need to be able to clean them up with out any emotion. Will you have help after the birth (your mom or dh or some friends)? Will they be willing to help clean up after any potty accidents? If so, then definitely follow his lead and let the potty learning begin.