Need Help with Potty Training My Two Yr. Old, Any Suggestions on How to Start?

HI D.--I have to agree with your other responses. He has to be ready if it is going to be a success. I have friends that pushed because they were ready for their children to be potty-trained and it took sooooo long to accomplish. My first 4 children were trained in less than a week--usually about 2-3 days--and all I did was wait until they showed interest and I applied no pressure to them. When they began telling me they went pee or poop or liked to take their diaper off and pretend--I just got a potty chair for them and put it in the bathroom. Sometimes they played with it--sometimes they sat on it and tried--but it was always their choice. They have very little control of anything in their lives at this age--giving them control of their own body and what they do with it makes them so happy--and makes the process extremely easy. My last child is 22 months and he has begun to sit on the chair and pretend to go potty--he thinks it is so funny that we all cheer him on and clap when he tries. I also let him walk around without a diaper for periods of time--so he gets used to how it feels. Hope this helps!!!
BTW I noticed that you had an interest in photography and I have a friend who has a photography business and has just started an associate division. She trains them in every aspect of photography with all different types of models and proofing and photoshop too. They get to use her studio to do sessions and learn all about the business. If you are interested email me--my address is
____@____.com--I can tell you more about it or just give you her number to call her directly.

Good luck with the potty training--D.

Hey D.,
Totally agree with the idea of just putting the potty out and telling him it's his when he wants to use it--absolutely no pressure. I don't know about YOUR 2-year-old, but with mine, the more she knows I want her to do something, the less she wants to do it!! So we have to play it cool... I also got the plain white one, so it looks just like Mommy & Daddy's toilet. Right now she mostly uses it before or after her bath, when she's already naked.
One more suggestion, until your son is using the potty fulltime, is to buy diapers on Amazon. They show up at your door--so no more lugging them home from the store--and if you sign up for automatic deliveries, you get them at a discount (15% off, I think). Good luck with everything!!

With our son, we had already established a routine by giving him a bath each night before bedtime. Inevitably, he would always potty as soon as we put him in the tub while the water was running....so, we said, "hey, why not put him on the potty while we are running his bath, since he is going to to anyway!" And it worked! We stuck with this for a while until he was comfortable with the toilet (by the way, he wouldn't go near a "potty", he wanted to use the big toilet with a padded seat). Once he seemed comfortable, I started asking him, every hour or so, if he wanted to use the potty. And, it went on from there. He is now 3-1/2 years old and we just got him potty trained at night. He pretty much did it on his own. He would wear pull-ups before then (I just didn't have the heart to wake him at night!). He is doing great! Only one accident so far and it's been several weeks!

As for the expense of diapers, I'll have to agree with the other responses...pull-ups can be expensive too! And, unless you can potty train your son in a very short amount of time, you will have to foot the expense.

Hope this helps! Good luck with the training! Remember that positive praise is the key!

i dreaded potty training and am still in the midst of it but it's actually happening easier than i thought! i just waited til my son was ready on his own..the first cues are when they start taking off their own diaper and want to be naked..it's b/c a wet diaper is uncomfortable on them. so i let him have naked time. i also just had his little toilet out so he got used to it.
ok..ALSO..
i let him see me go..especially when we're out and about..and i use the public restroom..he's usually in his stroller and i say.."this is how big people go potty"
they really learn from watching.
i'm a single mom so i don't have his father to help but when he is around i make sure my son sees him go if he has to go.
naked time is good if you have hardwood floors..
he does have accidents but most of the time he's going in his potty.
i also have a little potty seat for the big toilet and a step.
no pressure i just have his toilets available for him.
i do praise him when he goes in the toilet..and i have him go w/ me to the bathroom to flush..
and we say "bye bye poo poo or bye bye pee pee"
I have the book "What to Expect the Toddler Years" it's great...and i'm basically doing what the book says and what comes naturally.
My son is almost 28 months old.

if the $ for diapers on a main concern/reason for potty training...you may need to refocus. your son may transition into pull ups and from my experience even though you may use them less, they're more expensive and less comes in the package.

anyhooo...i would start off by familiarizing my son with "potty stuff"...showing him his potty, teaching him the words for when he has to go, etc. with my son we put him on the potty once an hour. he generally does #1, but no #2 in the potty yet. praise whether your son potties or not, but when he does...praise full throttle. i haven't purchased anything besides his potty (no books, dolls, cd's, etc.) just the potty and the stickers the one we bought came with.

hope that helps.

rah

Hi D.,
Training a 2 year old boy can be difficult. You do have to wait until the right time or it becomes a battle that your son will win. My son started showing interest in potty training at 2 but then decided it was "too scary". We were not able to convince him to use the potty. At 2 years, 11 months (just before starting preschool, when we knew he was ready but just being stubborn) we forced the issue, told him no more diapers and that it was time to go on the potty. He was trained in one weekend after we took his diaper off and he decided it wasn't scary afterall. We did however, put him in pullups at night because it takes them awhile to learn to get up in the middle of the night if they have to pee.

However, to get your son interested, you should talk to him about going on the toilet or potty. Go to the store and let him pick out "big boy" underwear. Then let him pick out a potty or seat cover for the big toilet ( you'll also need a step stool so he can get on himself). You can buy him a book about it if you don't want to do the whole video thing. We bought "Once Upon a Potty" at Babies R Us. It came with a potty, book and video.

Good luck.

If he's not ready don't push him. He might end up holding in the poopies and become constipated and that is horrible. My daughter went through it so I know. He's only two, give him time. My daughter didn't potty train until after four so I know how hard it is but within a week she wasn't even wearing pull-ups at night. It was much easier. Good luck.