Potty Learning - Page 2

[Ruth]

I would not recommend this to anybody other than Motherin Magazine readers, but I started potty training my baby before she could sit up. Actually, she started potty training me! She slept with us and we never did disposable diapers so even before she was 6 months old she would first squirm alot, enough to wake me up. I would then go to the edge of the bed, put another cloth diaper under her, and then change her wet diaper and go back to sleep.

I know why the books started recommending potty training at later and later ages. Or, I think I know why. I think parents took potty training too seriously. Or maybe the disposable diaper had something to do with it. With a disposable diaper the baby doesn't know it is wet.

So obviously she was not completely potty trained at 6 months. I just started putting her on the potty at around 7 or 8 months when she could sit up. At the beginnning, I got a 10% success rate, then it increased gradually slowly to 100%. Same thing with night training. Again, I would not recommend this method to parents who do not have the patience because this method takes months. Friends tell me this is crazy and that they don't have the patience and they don't want to work that hard. I tell them, I just didn't want to change so many diapers so the fewer I got the better.

[laelsweet]

we started 'potty training' at 7 or 8 mos and at 13 mos we have days of mostly pottying, it has been so much fun and brought us closer


if you do a search on the net for infant potty training, elimination training/communication

or check out
http://boards2.parentsplace.com/mess...raining12.html
particularly look for the links to texts by laurie boucke

probably your friend in india did something like this, this is how the rest of the world does it.... i read about it here in the boards' previous incarnation

if the sites don't give you enough information do email me [e-mail], we'd be happy to talk about our experience with e-t

ruth, it sounds like this is what you and your child figured out, that is wonderful. i think that it isn't any more work than changing diapers, and soon will be a lot less work! and we love it

[KFH]

I also researched this one a lot. I also read up on it on www.epinions.com . I too was VERY big into the easy to clean feature. I was not about to get one with a pull-out-from-the-back-bowl that I would have to get in there and get pee and potentially, poop out of the cracks and crevices. Ick. I don't have time for that. I hardly have time to clean my own toilet.

From my research,I ultimately chose the 2pc. baby bjorn as well. I let my daughter choose the color. We love it. It is very simple and so easy to clean. It is about $30 (about 2x most others), but the fact that it is so easy to clean has saved me well over the added $15 in saved time. Oh, and we also turn the bowl around backwards so the sheild isn't a hindrance to sitting down. It's not made to do this, but it works just fine.

Ditto on the in-the-seat insert. I chose the baby-bjorn for that as well. It's also more expensive, but is guaranteed to fit all toilet seats, and is easy-to-clean hard plastic, with a nice, contoured hump in the front which catches most overshots (yes, even with a girl). I've never thought that those squishy toilet seats were very sanitary, whether they're for big people or little people. Ick. By the way, for what it's worth, I did read somewhere that it was healthier, muscle-wise to learn to poop by squatting with ones feet on a hard surface (the floor), rather than having them dangle (as from a big toilet). However, sometimes my dd wouldn't go on one, but would on the other, and for a while it was poop on one, and pee on the other. Now she's pretty much exclusively back to the potty. I know we'll eventually get years of use out of the insert though.

We've been happy with both.

I also want to put a plug in for "naked time." Or, as my dd calls it "nakey jakey!!!" She will, with very few exceptions, use her potty without reminding, if it's accessible, and she's (un)dressed for the occasion.

[fishy]

potty

my boy is only 14mnths, however, ive heard that boys just take longer on average. i dont know that going cold turkey will do much, except create more laundry

[Deb]

It sounds like you're ready for them to be out of diapers, but they're not ready for it yet - frustrating, isn't it?.

Here's how it worked for us:
My son was 3.5 before he would finally agree to pee on the potty. Once he started, he never had an accident. He resisted pooping on the potty, however, and finally started doing that when he was 4.5. From the information I gathered (much of it here at mothering), many children will take their time and will do it when they're ready (especially boys for some reason). My son still wears a pull-up at night and has just recently started staying dry on occasional nights - he's 5.5 now. It was a process and he was in control. Especially with the pooping thing, the more I pushed, the more he resisted. I had to back off and let it go - then he decided when he was ready.

[Jish]

My son was very anti-potty. He wouldn't even sit on his potty chair with his pants on. When he was 37 months I conveniently "ran out" of diapers one morning (I still had one left ) so I told him that I was going to let him run around naked until we had a chance to go to the store later that morning. I told him that if he felt like he had to go to let me know and I would show him what to do. He let me know and I showed him how to sit on the potty and pee. We have old carpet and I wasn't really worried about accidents. He went a couple times that morning before we headed to the store. I asked him before we went if he wanted to start using the potty all the time and wearing big boy underwear, or if he wanted to wear diapers again. He chose diapers. Unfortunately, when we got to the store their were virtually no diapers left in his size. The only ones in his size were Luvs, and I hate the way they smell. I told him that they were out of diapers and we would have to get pull ups instead. We got an off brand without the disappearing stars. I believe that whole trip was devine intervention. I still let him go naked at home because as long as he didn't have pants on he used the potty every time, but if I put a pull up on him he peed in it.

We were out of town one day and I ran out of fake pull ups. I stopped at Kmart and all they had were the real thing with the dissappearing stars. I always swore that I would never use those, but by golly, they worked like a charm. He LOVED them. We went through 3 packages of Pull Ups and then we were able to move him to real underwear with Pull Ups at night for a few more months. I'm not saying that he never had an accident, he had many and I had to start carrying extra underwear and pants for him when we went out, but he used the potty most of the time unless he was really involved in something and forgot. I pretty much let him go at his own speed and didn't push him to do anything he didn't want to do. He liked the pull ups and chose to continue to use them after we started. He liked that he could pull them up and down. I did make the commitment that once he decided he liked them that I wasn't going back to diapers. We would only move forward from there.

Of all of my friends children (I am talking more than a couple dozen children) I only know of one who was fully potty trained before their third birthday, but I know of several who have just potty trained and are well into the middle of their fourth year. My neice just potty trained when she started a new day care a month ago, and she will be four in May.

My advice is not to worry. If you wait until they are ready, you will save yourself a lot fo headaches. Look for the signs and let them run naked when you can, and the rest will come.

Good luck!

[Jish]

Not a problem, Dana. I thought it was much easier just waiting until he was ready. A step sister started training her daughter (my neice I mentioned) shortly after she turned two (our children are five days apart). My son was trained six months before her daugher. I saved myself a year and a half of frustration by waiting. I'll give you a couple more tips if you want them. My son was urine trained in a month, but it took three months to be poopy trained because of what we call the "poopy incident." Those darn potty chairs are designed so that boys have to sit so far back on the seat to pee, that if they are pooping and sitting like they do to pee, the poop goes straight on the seat rather than in the hole. He was pretty regular so I usually knew when he was going to poop and tried to stay home, but I kept him in underwear and changed him after he would poop in them. I was afraid to confuse him by putting him in a diaper to poop. He did learn that it was uncomfortable and would want it changed right away. I did make him help me with the laundry (just putting it in and adding detergent.) Those potty chairs are great for girls, but they need a design change for boys. After about a month my son decided he liked to pee standing up. He was great at it and it made it so much easier for him.

FYI, about 75% of my friends kids have had a relapse in their urine training after we thought they had been trained for about a month. It lasts for about two weeks, and ends as soon as it started. My MIL has nannied for several families in her retirement and potty trained all the kids, and said that all of them did the same thing. It's pretty bizarre. If it doesn't happen, great, but if it does, don't worry, it's temporary.

If you ever need any helpful hints, or want to vent frustration let me know.

[kezia]

please help me choose a potty!

Actually, I'm trying to decide if I should get a potty chair, or one of those seat things that goes on the big toilet. We have a tiny bathroom, so I would rather get the seat thing, but I read somewhere that they need to have their feet on the floor rather than dangling (?). Would a stepstool in front of the toilet work?

Ds is 21 mos and has started telling me when he needs to pee/poop, and I wasn't prepared for him to start this soon. I've tried sitting him on the toilet a couple of times, but he protests. Should I take this as a sign that he might prefer a potty?

Help!

[beccaboo]

For my ds and several other toddlers we know, the flip-up seat that fits onto the potty is what they prefer. We have a little molded plastic Baby Bjorn one that he has never actually used. As you said, we just keep a step stool right next to the toilet and move it in front when he's using the potty. Good luck!

[lilyka]

I am feet firmly planted on the floor kinda girl. Baby bjorn makes a potty that is really low to the ground and only one piece. I refer to it as the squatty potty because they just sorta squat over it, which is thier natural position anyway. I figure learning to get your pants down and find the potty when you have to go is one skill and pooping in an unatural positon is another. One thing at a time. Of course I can't find one of those potties for my girly where I live and even on the potty we have her little feet don't touch the ground completely.

[kezia]

The Baby Bjorn is the one I've been looking at, too. I found it online:

http://store.babycenter.com/product/...056?sku=104058

They also sell the Baby Bjorn toilet seat, but iit's $30. I really don't have the $$$$ right now to buy both, so I may just start with the potty, then get the seat later.

[rocketmom]

Wow that baby bjorn potty chair looks great! I hated the one I had for dd1. I really like the idea of letting your child pick out his/her own potty and training pants. I wish I would have thought of that the first time around with dd1, perhaps she would have been into it more if I had given her more options....
Dd2 is starting to get interested in the toilet, and she is almost 21 mos. She is interested way sooner that dd1 was I think it is because she sees her big sis going to the bathroom and wants to sit up on the toilet too....

[lilyka]

http://store.babycenter.com/product/..._training/3061

This is the one I was talking about. I have also seen them in the shape of animals and dragons.

[youngnhappymamma]

My son is 3 1/2. He knows how to urinate on the toilet really well...he urinates every time we put him on it (well...he get's on the toilet by himself now) and has ever since he was about 24 months. He just doesn't want to have to bother or doesn't really even realize when he is wearing a diaper that he is urinating. And he has explained to us that he does not want to poop in the toilet. He even goes into his room and shuts the door to be by himself to poop in his diaper, but does not feel comfortable with the idea of pooping in the toilet. But, as I said...he loves to urinate in it. We've never used a potty chair...never liked the idea plus the hole is usually way too small for a 2 1/2 year old and older....plus it may be confusing for a child to go to the bathroom in a different place than his mom and dad go to the bathroom. Or maybe I'm wrong...maybe the child will think it's special. It just sounds a lot harder to me to do the potty chair thing....and once your child is older...harder for them too...especially boys. So I don't anticipate my 3 year old potty training anytime in the next month or so...but I think a few more months and he will be ready and will probably just about train himself....maybe his younger brother (now 22 months) will want to follow suit and be like his big brother. That is what I am planning, anyway.

[Sierra]

Just bumping this for more suggestions and going to move this over to the Real Life With a Toddler forum.

Sierra

[PM]

Potty training...how close are we?

Sorry for the additional potty training thread! I bought my dd a potty trainer (can't really remember what they're called in English) about 2 months ago. She is now 21 mos. She knew immediately what it was, since she had seen other children using them. So she kinda avoided it for a while. Now she sits on it every times she makes "caca". But only after. And fully clothed. But she does consistently pull out the potty trainer and sit on it when she poops. Are we close? Should I start pulling her pants down, etc. when she starts to say she wants the "caca"? She usually will run off if I try to do that. Any tips? I'm not in a hurry, just wanna do things the right way.

Thanks!

[Alexander]

You're doing ok. we found "caca" was harder to achieve at first than P P . But it turned around soon.

We also had a lot of nudy days / weeks so they could sit down anytime! Best done during the summer Brrrr.

Hope this helps.

a

[peggy]

I think it is really inportant to let her 'lead" you on this. Sounds like she's really starting to make the connection. Now try dumping the contents of the diaper into the potty, so she can see that it belongs there.
If she's not interested in sitting down to actually go yet, let that go for a while.


peggy

[PM]

Oh! Great idea Peggy! I hadn't thought of that. I haven't done anything yet, and I mean anything. She's totally leading the show here! I'm just wondering, I mean I'm gonna have to help her eventually, but I don't know when! KWIM? But I love your idea, so that'll be the next step. Thanks!

[KFH]

Sounds like you're doing fine. Peggy's idea sounded like a good one for your scenario.
How close are you? WHO KNOWS??!!??! My dd's been quite interested in this since 15-16 mos., (23 mos. now) but since she can't take down her own pants, what's the use? Alexander's mention of "nudy days" seems to ring true for us. In our house it's "nakey jakey days", and these are the times when she almost uses the potty without fail for all her "business". We are to the point now, where every so often (not too often--no nagging!!) we excitedly mention that if she decides to use the potty all the time, she can wear underpants like mamma and daddy. She seems to respond as if this is a 'cool' idea.