I seem to be in between most of the other situations in the potty training questions. I have a 23 month girl who has been interested in the potty for 3-4 months. What I mean by this is that she would go 3-4 times a day on the potty and would want to stay sitting on it for a long time. She has decreased the amount she indicates she wants to use the potty lately and usually if I ask her she will go 1-2 times a day--max. She does pretty good with pooping on the potty. I tried treats for going recently, I was hoping to just get her back to the point she would be excited about the whole idea. Well, now I am afraid I missed the boat and now will have a harder time. So, what's next? Do I set a timer and sit her on the potty every hour? I also read you should make it a power struggle, well, I imagine after just a few times of that she will decide it is not fun. I put off training b/c we thought we would have moved by now, and here we are months later and I am still looking for a job, so I can't see wasting this good time at home with her and not working on it any longer. However, I just realized I don't know what I am doing. Thanks for any help.
B.,
I used the book "Toilet Training in less than a Day" with my first three and about to use it with child #4. You can find it online at eBay or amazon or B&N. It works like a recipe - so don't pick and choose ideas and expect results. But it does work very well.
Good luck,
S.
My advice would be to build the times you use the potty into your daily routine. For example: First thing you do when you get out of bed, sometime during getting dressed brushing teeth etc., before leaving the house, before or after meals, before nap, etc, etc. Whatever works for your routine. Also providing a stool she can climb up to the big potty by herself (if you have a potty seat on the toilet), gives them a big sense of accomplishment and independence. Hope this helps! Good luck!
J.
We sort of had the same situation. My daughter, who is 5 now, was interested for a while, then not, etc. I recommend getting the book called Potty Training in a Day (or something like that). The concept is throwing a "Potty party" one day -- it's super fun for the kid, LOTS of work for the mom. But, in my opinion, worth it. We did it when may daughter was between 2 and 2 1/2 and she literally was fully potty trained immediately-- we did the party in a day and a half, though, because we ran out of time. She only had one accident the week we did it and that was it.
But, I think it's totally normal for them to go in and out of interest for the potty. You definately didn't miss any window. Most people I know trained their kids between 2 and 3, not before they turned 2.
Good luck!!
this happened with my daughter... So we just stopped. I didn't push it anymore and we were at a standstill. Right after she turned 3 (a month after) I reintroduced it to her and we hit it fast...she knew what to do and finally took off with it. That was it. Night training kind of happened in time, i never pushed the night thing, i just had her waer pullups at night. She eventually started waking at night to potty and that was it. hope this helps, W.
I have a 5 mth old, so I haven't tried really hard with my 2 1/2 yrd old son. But a very experienced mom (of 11!) told me that when I was ready, to make it totally uncomfortable for them. Remove all diapers, make it a big happy deal, but don't go back. Plan to stay at home for a couple of days, and have let her go nakey. I've got a squermy one, so if u want more i reply more later!
Hi,
You don't mention if she is in underwear. If she is able to be dry for a few hours at a time, then she is ready. I would put her in underwear and deal with the accidents. She'll learn quickly enough that it is uncomfortable to be wet and that the expected place to go is the potty. Don't make it a power struggle. If she has an accident, don't get mad - have her help you clean up the mess, put her on the potty and reinforce that this is where she goes. I would continue putting her on the potty on a schedule and gradually lengthen the time between reminders.
Good luck,
K.
I say don't rush it.
Our son started showing similar interest around 22 months old. We switched to pull-ups so that we could do the up & down "like undies" thing. We too went through an excited phase and then a not so interested phase. We just stayed persistant, but didn't push it.
About a month ago (son = 29 months old) we bought some "fun" undies and told him he could only wear them if he used the potty. Since then we have had MINIMAL accidents and he even does great at daycare all day. Honestly, it was the EASIEST thing to do. We still use pull-ups at night --- he is not night trained.
*Note -- like many people, when we made the switch to undies we didn't go back and forth with the pull-ups. At first I felt that maybe we were shooting ourselves in the foot with the pull-ups, but now I can see they were a useful stepping stone for us. You just can't expect the kids to "stay dry" in the pull-ups like undies -- it is different.
We do give "potty treats" -- 2 jelly beans -- and although they used to be an everytime occurance, now they are only when he remembers.
Good luck.
Hi B.,
I would say go for it and don't look back. Your daughter seems ready and she is ideally at the perfect age to start ptty training from everything I read. My daughter is 32 months and I just potty trained her. I did the 3-day potty training method and it was a total success. My daughter is totally potty trained. I got rid of all diapers and put her in underwear and a t-shirt for three days. I kept a close watch on my daughter at all times to watch her signals and ran her to the potty if she started going. I also told her that she's a "big girl" now and she gets to wear big girl underwear. The first day was crazy with lots of accidents, but the second and third days, it was all clicking. Potty training is very stressful and intense, but so worth it! Let me know if you want more info regarding the 3-day potty training method. Good luck.
