Early Potty Training? Update w/ a question about daycare

[crystal_buffaloe]

Is anyone else potty training early?

We have a 19mo girl, and I had a few weeks off for Christmas break and she seemed interested, so we decided to just go for it.

This has been our plan:
1) Let her run around naked/bottomless as much as possible

2) Let her watch us pee and narrate what's going on; sit one of her dolls on the potty and watch it "pee" (it's actually not a peeing doll, but it can go in the bath and so has a drain? some kind of hole to let go of the bath water)

3) Anytime she stops what she's doing and grabs her vagina, to sit her on the potty

4) Run the water in the sink and sing songs while she's on the potty

5) Yea! You peed in the potty! And clapping when she goes

She's peed 5 times in the potty so far -- the first four times, we waited for her signal (and she's started saying "pee" too) but the last time, I put her on the pot and she went when I asked (it could have been a coincidence)

I guess I'm just wondering what the next step is. How much longer running around naked? Where do you even find 12m underwear? What about poop?

Any tips or advice would be appreciated
Edited by crystal_buffaloe - 1/22/12 at 11:07am

[Snapdragon]

I'm just enivious is all! Sounds like you are the one who could be GIVING the advice lol!

I am trying to train my almost 22 mo son but he won't sit on the potty at all!! He tells me when he has to poop or pee,(or standing and peeing into the toilet) and I can sometimes get him to pee on the bathroom floor (so I clean it right up) or in the tub- but he does not get the idea of sitting on his potty to poop or pee. He watches me and dh do it and knows when he has to but he can't make the connection of sitting on the potty to do it.I am feeling like it is kind of late for him to not be getting it but I am not sure as I have no comparison! I thought we would be at least having him sit on the potty- I wonder if we need a different type of potty? Anyway- so to me it sounds like you are right on track and doing great!

oh- and check out Hanna Andersson for little undies! I got my ds some (size 90) and I think they make little ones for girls too.

[crystal_buffaloe]

Ha! I am not qualified to give out parenting advice of any kind! But thank you, I think

An update:

DD peed in the potty 3 times yesterday AND! It was a 5 hour window (we took off her diaper after she woke up from nap at 3pm, and she peed 3 times in the potty and not once on the floor until she went to bed at 8pm) So ... I was feeling SO PROUD and like we had this covered ... and then today she peed in the potty not once, which kind of put me back in my place (and is much more realistic for her age, I know).

She did poop on the floor today, which actually I think was a good thing -- I was able to say "You pooped!" And then we looked at the poop and I said "Poop!" and I put it in her potty and said "Poop goes in the potty!" and she stared at it a long time like wheels were turning. (A pretty big percentage of the time she has a poopy diaper when she wakes up in the morning or from nap, so I was really wondering about how to get that message across.)

Anyway, I'm still kind of wondering where to go from here ... I'm thinking we'll just do naked time post-nap for another couple of weeks and then maybe try out underwear over Presidents' Day weekend or something.

I'm also pretty clueless about when to switch from the potty chair to the big toilet, but I figure there's no rush. It's fun to see her figure this out.

Thanks for the Hanna Andersson rec!

[JudiAU]

Well, I don't think this is early training. I think this is traditional and not training. Total convert. This is such an easy age and so empowering for little kids. I really like Diaper Free Before 3. I do think a more scheduled approach (these are the times we sit on the potty every day) helps at this age rather than a do it yourself approach which people often talk about for older kids.

And yes, poop on the floor can be a positive. Totally different sensation and one they need to get used to.. Other great things, multiple potties and one near play area, naked time, early training pants, and car potty. CAR POTTY.

And Hanna Anderson panties are awesome. Great fit and coverage for little people, easy on and off, and very comfortable.

[Snapdragon]

I love the idea of a regular time to sit on the potty but----- sorry to jump in on your thread OP w- my question but since it is on the same topic:

HOw do you get the kid to sit on the potty?!!!

My ds won't. Do I need a different potty? Is there one that works for you all? We have a seta for the toilet and with that he is just scared- we put him on it and he says no no no! so we take him down. but the little wooden potty  we have for him- he just uses it as a clii=mbing thing or a toy sometimes but he won't sit on it.

Is there a better type of potty to get him to or a method?

[crystal_buffaloe]

No, that's a good question snapdragon, hijack away

As far as getting your DS to sit on the potty, I read on another thread that someone put the potty in front of the TV, but we don't actually do TV, so that's kind of out for us (at least at this point ... I do understand that desperate times call for desperate measure; heck, DD napped in a swing, in a swaddle, with white noise in the bathroom from months 2-4).

We sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Row Row Row Your Boat," and that keeps her there for a little while. It helps, too, if she's getting a lot of attention. The first 3 times she went in the potty, either my mom and I or DH and I were all crowded in the bathroom with her. (And her grandpa sat in there with her once, and so she's been asking "Paw-paw?" recently.)

What was really helpful was just watching her closely -- if she grabs at her vagina, I pick her up and book it to the bathroom!

I think I'm going to Target tonight to get another potty to put in the living room -- or maybe just to move around -- right now, the only one is in the bathroom and there has been at least one time when she didn't want to go because she didn't want to stop what she was doing -- though that might be the case even with the potty in the livingroom or whatever.

What do you mean when you say "car potty"? Would I just put the potty in the seat in the car and see if she wants to go before we go in somewhere?

[JudiAU]

Depending on the personality and attention span, we've mostly done books on the potty and also some singing. (And er, snacks too.) The kids are tv free but if they aren't, I can see that working.  We've usually just had a potty nearby and then for DS, just took down his pants and put him on it, he LOVED to hang out on the potty. DD was really independent and likes to do her own pants etc. She likes to spend 30 seconds on peeing and an hour getting ready and finishing.

We have the smallest bjorn potty in the car. When the kids are learning, we use it all the time. It is almost always pee and that goes into the gutter. You get over your reservations quickly. If I know there is going to be poop, I just tuck a plastic bag over the potty and then I can bag it and put it in the trash. Just have some wipes on hand for a quick wipe.  Car potty is much better than the alternative like a fully potty trained kid needed to poop and no chance of toliet and having them really REALLY upset. We had to sacrifice our halloween pumpkin trick or treat bag one time as a makeshift potty and I will always have a potty in the future.

[sk8boarder15]

I just wrote a long response to you and then my son came over and hit the keyboard and now its gone... anyway... yes we are "potty training" early. Here is my blog I recently wrote about our experinces at 15 months old. http://5dogsandababy.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/potty-training/

[crystal_buffaloe]

Originally Posted by JudiAU 

Car potty is much better than the alternative like a fully potty trained kid needed to poop and no chance of toliet and having them really REALLY upset. We had to sacrifice our halloween pumpkin trick or treat bag one time as a makeshift potty and I will always have a potty in the future.

I can see that! I'm glad you had something, though

Originally Posted by sk8boarder15 

I recently wrote about our experinces at 15 months old. http://5dogsandababy.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/potty-training/

That was a really nice blog post, sk8boarder! We didn't EC, but I share many of your sentiments -- it really is learning (though saying we're doing "potty learning" sounds kind of awkward to me -- and I even saw an answer smoewhere that said a kiddo was "PLed" -- "potty learned"?) But that really is more how I think of it, so maybe I should make more of an effort for my language to match up.

[anjsmama]

We did EC with DD until she was 9 months and then she kind of quit? And I guess we did too, to some extent though we've always believed in changing a wet dipe immediately which in some ways falls in line with EC. But anyhow..

She's 12 mo now and we started back at it this week. She's doing well although it's kind of hard because she loves her potty so much she just wants to sit on it all the time! Drives me nuts! Also, the sound we've used for pee during EC (the traditional "psss") is like her favorite sound in the world, so she'll just sit there on the potty making that sound and laughing. Sometimes it takes her a couple minutes to remember she's there to pee!

FWIW, I have a 3.5 yo DS who JUST finished PL a few months ago, and I blame my disposable dipes & conventional potty training attempts. I am already so much more pleased with the process of helping DD learn to take care of her bathroom needs no matter when she graduates than the way I did it with my DS! 

[Snapdragon]

anjsmama- what kind of potty does she have that she loves so much? We have a little low wooden one and ds doesn't care for it- he uses it as a step stool- we are lloking to get another for upstairs so I would love a recommendation.

[crystal_buffaloe]

Update!

DD has peed 2 times in the potty and POOPED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER in the potty this morning! I am super duper excited. She's 20 months and 1 day old today I'm hoping to catch one more pee before her nap Seriously, it's ridiculous how excited I am about this.

We switched to the bumpo potty seat thing that goes on the big commode -- I thought that the froggy potty on the floor would be better, since she could get off and on by herself, but she seems to like us putting her up on the big commode just fine (plus -- no cleaning poop out of the toddler potty!)

I bought her some 18m undies at target and washed them in hot hot and dried them for a long time and they shrunk up okay, with the goal that she can wear those when people are over (we had just been doing a sweater dress, but she climbs and there was still some flashing (it's a good thing the people who come over are family/close friends who love us).

Now, my conundrum is daycare tomorrow. She has just been in a diaper there (she goes from 8-12:30). Probably I shouldn't even mention going naked under her dress, should I? Sanitary reasons and all that. Her day care provider has 4 kids, all girls (actually 5 on Mondays). DD who is 20 months, the next oldest is 34 months, and then a four year old and a four and a half year old. (I'm not sure about the 5th who only comes on Monday, she's only been one week so far -- I think she's 2, but I'm not sure how many months.)

Her daycare provider said that she'd really rather wait until she was going on the big commode (and I can see not wanting to clean up the toddler potty). So, now she is going on the big commode, but she's been running around naked, too. Maybe I could put her in underwear after nap and see how that goes, and maybe leap in at daycare tomorrow with underwear -- I'm thinking that the 2 four-year-olds can help watch out for her grabbing at her vagina. It's kind of frustrating for me (and probably confusing to her) to make so much progress over the weekend and then to go back in diapers during the week).

Any advice would be appreciated. My friends IRL either have kids who are younger, or they waited longer (with more traditional signs of "readiness" -- DD is not very verbal) before starting.

Thanks!

[osker]

Congrats on the poop in the potty! We haven't gotten that far yet, but we're slowly working on potty learning as well. As for daycare tomorrow, I would suggest leaving the diaper on and seeing how your DCP feels about taking her to the potty mid-morning.  Since she's only there 4.5 hours, I would take her when you get there (so you are the first one going with her to try the new potty), have DCP take her mid-morning, and then take her when you go to pick her up.  While it's not the same as following her cues, she should be ok to hold it for two hours or so. I wouldn't have the other kids trying to pay attention to her cues, they'll be unreliable most days because they're kids and I think I personally would just feel weird about older kids being too focused on my daughter's private parts. That's totally just me, though. I'm not sure I would even think siblings should be involved in potty learning, much less peers. 

If your DCP is very interested in potty learning at this point it could be great and fast and easy.. if she's not interested it could take longer and not be as easy.  Have you talked to her about it at all to see where she stands?

[crystal_buffaloe]

Well, we jumped right in on Moday with underwear. I told the DCP that she'd had no "accidents" (I really don't like that terminology) on Sunday and so I sent her on Monday in underwear with several changes of clothes/underwear/diapers. I did take her early and sat in with her on the pot, and she went about 7:50 with me there. I asked if the DCP would be willing to keep her in the undies (she was wearing a sweater dress & baby legs) and sit her back on the pot at 9:00 and she looked skeptical, but said okay. When I picked her up at 12:30, she reported that she'd been "accident-free" all day! Poop and pee in the potty! And so then I think the DCP was sold and is totally on board. She did poop twice in her underwear on Tuesday (and one of those times it got on her shoes, and I was afraid all had been lost and the DCP would want her back in diapers, but she said "You know, I saw her stick out her butt .."), and then Wednesday and Thursday we had no misses , and Friday just one miss at daycare and one at home, then Saturday no misses again! The DCP wants me to keep sending her in a sweater dress and babylegs for another week, and if all keeps going well, we can try pants. I really can't belive how well things are going. (Now that I've written that, something'll change ... but I sure hope not.) My mom and MIL have been griping about a lack of blog updates on the baby blog I keep, but even though we've been at home all the time to focus on potty learning, DD has been bottomless or in undies, and so I haven't posted very many pictures this month. I would kind of like to post a potty update, but I don't want to jinx it, or to invite any of the "she's not trained, you are" variety of comments.

[osker]

That's wonderful! I'm afraid of the poop misses, so we haven't made the jump... 

ETA:  We did it! We decided to just go for it over the long holiday weekend, and E was definitely ready! In a full week of no diapers (except Pull-ups at night), she has peed on the kitchen floor four times, and pooped on her bedroom floor twice (bad mommies weren't watching closely enough!).  Other than that she has been dry and in undies or pants-free the whole week! She stays dry in the car (even up to an hour!), stays dry playing games at the gym, asks to get out of the pool or tub to pee.  It's truly amazing. I am in awe of my daughter!

Edited by osker - 2/24/12 at 2:50pm