Hi, moms. I have just purchased a little potty for my 19 month-old. He's been giving a few cues that he might be ready to begin potty-training (pulling his diaper off occasionally and going behind his little play tent to poo). But he's my first, and I want the experience to not only be a positive one for him, but also to get some tips on how best to introduce the potty so it will begin to make sense to him. I would really love to get some tips from anyone with experience in this area. Thanks!
Thank you for the responses I received about beginning potty training. I'll be sure to take it very slowly. The sticker chart and mini M&Ms are great ideas too. Thanks!
Keep the potty in an area most played in, if its the living room keep it there until he starts using it consistantly. Let him sit on it clothed and bare bottomed while watching tv or reading a book so he can get comfortable with it.
We started, unintentionally, with our son around 18 months. We just made it so natural. He was always in the bathroom with my husband and I and we just started talking about what was going on. We would talk about if we were peeing or pooping, that we were flushing, etc etc. He then started watching and saying pee pee, poo poo, and watching "it" flush down the toilet. We also, during this process, had a potty in there. So he would sit on it and we could pretend that he was going when mommy and daddy were going. After awhile I started having him sit on it naked before bath time every night, then he started going right before every bath time. He had shown so many signs of readiness that we started formally potty training around 25 months. He is now "poop" trained and can go long stretches of keeping his pull ups dry. So I think what we did helped move the process along. If you have other questions or more specific ones just let me know and good luck.
We showed our son his potty and let him sit on it both with his clothes on and bare-bottomed. We read books on the potty. At this point (24 months) we ask him if he wants to sit on the potty (usually "no", but sometimes "yes") and if he does, we pick out a book to look at while we sit. If anything comes out, very exciting, it gets dumped into the toilet and he gets to flush. If nothing comes out, no big deal - good job sitting on your potty - and we go about the day. Only problem is sometimes he wants to sit there FOREVER while we read book after book.
We also have a copy of "My Big Boy Potty" by Joanna Cole (had to get it off Amazon b/c none of the local bookstores had it, but we like her stuff) and he likes to read that book.
We've been trying, more recently, to show him that when he makes a BM [in his diaper] it goes into the toilet and gets flushed, so that's where they belong.
I have definitely not pressured it at all for now. He went in and out of phases where he was more or less interested in sitting on his potty and I figure that's fine. Sometime in the next 9 months I plan to have him potty trained, but I get the impression that pushing it doesn't help, and that kids will basically train themselves once they make the decision to do it.
Usually when he pulls off his diaper, he is ready. I have had 5 children and all I did was sit them on the pot each time my husband and I went to the toilet, we took the children. Also another thing that helped, when we sat the children on their pot, we turned the tap water on, I don't know why, but this helps the child pee-pee in the pot.
S. H.
I have no advise but want to thank you for asking this. Im going through the same thing with my son whose 20mos. Im going to keep checking your responses. I did also look into BootyCamp, though they only accept kids 2 1/2 +, and they have to carry out 3 tasks. While I can get my son to carry out simple tasks, they aren't advanced enough for the course.
My daughter has kidney reflux and has recently had a lapse with potty training and her urologist gave me a couple of suggestions:
1) Put soap or bubble bath in the toilet water and have the child "make soap bubbles".
2) Keep some cheerios on the back of the toilet; throw some in and have the child try to "sink" them.
3) Use o foot stool so they can be completely relaxed up on the toilet.
Hope these suggestions are helpful for you! Good luck!
You are doing the perfect thing. Just having the potty and putting it in it's spot in the bathroom area is a great introduction. In my experience with potty training 2 boys, soon to train my baby girl....do not push them or punish them if they don't want to start going on the potty yet. You are doing a perfect job of just letting your little one explore the whole concept and figuring it out. He will let you know when it's time. Another really good tip is to GoodSearch (instead of Google...they make a donation to your charity of choice everytime you search!!) potty training reward charts. There are a lot of free charts out there....print one off and just tape it to the wall next by the potty. Every time my guys would pee, they would get one sticker of their choice and 1 mini M&M. Those little M&M's come in little containers perfect for storing in you bathroom cabinet. If they go poo, they would get 2 stickers and 2 pieces of candy. Every time they filled up their potty chart with stickers, they would get to go to the store (usually somewhere like Dollar Tree or Dollar General) and pick out 1 toy. It really works. Also, after they make the potty, clap and holler or whatever little happy party you want...it really makes them feel so good about themselves. Once they get it down to a science..start tapering off the stickers and candy. It will all come very naturally to you. Another HUGE help is to go to Barnes & Noble (or just order online...anything over $25 is free shipping!!) and look at the kids books for potty training. My kids STILL love reading them even though they have been trained for a while. Also, you have kitties....show him where the cats make thier potty. He will love it. Good luck, if you have any questions....would love to hear from you. Take care,
B. :)
I stuck mine in the bathroom where he takes baths. Just before bath time I would let him set on it naked and read books and just be excited and proud for him that he was sitting on it. There was no pressure for him to go it was just pure exploration and being proud. Though, we did have those times where he would go and we would make a big deal out of it! This worked pretty good for us. Good luck!
My daughter showed an interest at a year and we had her potty trained by 14 months. We gave her books to look at while on the potty and praised her anytime anything happened. Then it was just natural to her. And if nothing happened while she was on there, it was no big deal. Nothing was ever forced. But get a potty that sits on the ground. If you get one that at first attaches to the toilet it can be scary to be up that high for them. Some things not to do..don't wait to long. As they get older they realize that the potty can be a subject of control that they want to win. Also my sister ended up going to a child psychologist because her son won that battle, but anyway she told her not to use Pull-ups. Because it gives them a choice of what they want to do, and then they get confused. Good Luck!!!
I just had the best experience in the world!!!!
Our daughter has been trained (COMPLETELY) since class on Saturday -
and she's a different child - she's carrying herself differently and I can't say enough about Miss Wendy and her potty training in a day course!!!
She's going to be on the TODAY show on Monday (I think) so if you want to see her on TV and see what it's all about you can check it out there!!!
GOOD LUCK.
