Potting Training - Sioux City,IA

Pull ups are the worst thing to happen to potty training children. They make the child too comfortable to care of they are wet or dry. Using cotton underwear and plastic covers have worked wonders for my daughter!!!!

I had a problem with my youngest too. She was almost 3 before she was potty trained I was getting SOOO frustrated NOTHING was working... One day I just put her in underwear and from that point on she went in the toilet...we rarely have any accidents. Who knew it would really be that easy for her but it was just that simple...I worried at first and would make her go before we left the house before bed...the usual but from thta day on even at night she would just get up on her own and go...she was actually fully potty trained before the other one.

I'm not quite at potty training yet, I am planning on attempting it in the next few months, but my mom said she did 3 things that made it go relatively smoothly...1st, she gave us lots of crackers to eat so we would drink a lot of fluids and have more opportunity to actually have to use the potty. 2nd, no diapers whatsoever once she started the training process (she cut off fluids after a certain time and put us in underwear and plastic pants for night time to ensure that sheets were dry in the morning). Pull ups are just diapers for big kids, so there is no incentive for going in the potty. 3rd, she took us in and sat us on the potty every 15 minutes, whether we said we needed to go. If we went, we got a treat (M&M's worked for us, but you can use whatever kind of treat your daughter will love). If we didn't go, we didn't get a treat. We weren't punished or anything like that, and we weren't punished for accidents, but she made us wear underwear and experience wet pants, as further incentive to go to the potty. Wet pants actually help potty training in a way because the sensation to pee is followed by wet pants, it helps kids identify what it feels like to have to go. I think you just have to accept that there will be lots of underwear changes at first, but it's important in helping kids learn how to use the potty. I hope this helps!!

M.

Have you tried to just put her in normal underwear? We bought my daughter princess underwear(threw out all the diapers, she helped). We told her that it wasn't nice to mess on the princess's. The underwear don't have to be princess, just something she loves. Forget pullups, it just makes it ok. If they mess in pulbic they feel bad, it takes just once(bring back up clothes). My daughter was potty trained in about three days.

I am in the process of potty training my 2 year old daughter. She is much harder than my sons were. She too will let us know when she needs to be changed... but has had a rough start to actually sitting on her potty chair. I have a sticker chart hung up above her potty chair. Every time she goes in the potty, she gets a sticker. (1 for Pee, 2 for Poop)and then when she goes in her pants, she has to take a sticker off. I swear I ask her every 5 minutes if she has to go potty... but if I don't then she goes in her pants. The stickers work great because she loves them. I have used gum balls before too. Get a cheapie gumball machine, and every time they go, they get one. (You can use jelly beans instead of gum too). I don't know if this helps... but GOOD LUCK!

H.,

My son is only 4 months, but I have worked in Child Care for 10 years. What seems to work for alot of moms is just putting the child in underware. It sounds as if she doesn't like the feeling of having a wet pullup...imagine how much she will hate the feeling of wet pants. :) I know this may make for more laundry, but I have seen it work. I believe that with pullups kids know they don't have to stop what they are doing to go potty...so they just go in their pullups, that just isn't the case with underware. Good Luck!

This may be kind of a repeat to some of the other advice, but here goes! First NO PULL-UPS!! They are diapers in disguise! Go nudey booty or let her pick out undies to wear. You will need a lot of them so get some fun ones but also some plain quantity packs. If you wait for your child to just come up and tell you she has to go potty you will be waiting a long time!! LOL TELL, DON"T ASK! You decide how often you will take her in and just take her, no question, "Do you need to go potty?" That gives her the right to tell you no! If she wants to take her toy with her let her, it'll give her something to do while she sits. Find an incentive that will work for her, small toys, pennies, m&m's, skittles, stickers, whatever. The idea is to make it something she wants to get! Then just be patient and consistent with it. It could take up to a month, but she will get it. It's kinda like that whole you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink....you can take her to the potty and provide all she needs, but then it is up to her to go potty. Another thing I always stress is having her clean up her own messes. Some people think that's crazy but she is old enough to take off her wet undies and get out fresh ones. If it becomes HER responsiblity it will make the process go much faster and smoother. (of course she will probably need help with the poopy ones, and most times, not always, pooping takes a little longer to get).

I've potty trained lots of kids due to home daycare, close to probably 15, plus my own, so if you have more questions you can send me a message!

I don't know if this will help at all, but here is my advice. I am a stay at home mother of 3 girls ages 14, 11 and 2, I am in the middle of potty training my lil Angel and what has really helped me alot is 1) she would rather be naked than have any clothes on, I only use pull-ups when we go somewhere or at bed time, that way she doesn't relate to them like a diaper, and 2) to get her more used to the potty I set it some place where she sees it alot, if she is in the family room alot sit it there, if she watches t.v. much sit her on it in front of the t.v.I guess what I am saying is make her potty chair very accessible for her. If she uses the potty really praise her alot, we clap and shout and really get excited about it every time she goes. I hope this helps.

With my son, I got him some underware and told him they were his friends big boys underware and that he would be mad if he went potty in them. It worked until we had the baby and he started pooping them again. Then I told him it made mommy really proud to have him go potty in the toilet and really sad when he went in his underware. and that seemed to work, and he only has accidents occasionally. If your daughter doesnt have any friends her age, then try a favorite charactor, like spong bob or princesses. and tell her it would make you proud, cause they want us to be proud of them. give her lots of love, and if she doesnt pick it up right away, maybe give it a while. don't get frustrated, it will happen eventually.
good luck to you, and if you use my idea, please let me know what happens. I have given this idea to a couple of people and as far as I know it has worked. by the way, with my son he got the hang of peeing before pooping so good luck, and we didnt use pullups we put a cover on the bed. but then again, i dont know your situation, and I'm a stay at home mom with nothing better to do than laundry. lol no it saves money.. haha

I have a 2.5 year old and a baby on the way. I am hoping he will be potty trained by the time the baby gets here. So what we are doing is, like everyone else says... no pullups. Which is a good thing because he refuses to wear them anyways. When we are at home, he goes "comando". Yesterday he actually wore chones (underwear)!! He did not have an accident during his nap and I couldn't believe it. Now what worked for my older one (and I gave this secret to my sister and everyone we both know used it also) is a candle. Kids love to blow out candles and instead of rewarding them with candy or spending money on toys, let them blow out their "potty candle". It will work wonders. Hope it works for you, too!!

I tried the every hour thing too and my son just wouldn't go. He would go 5 minutes after I sat him on the toilet though. I ended up just spending one whole day (which was a very long day) in the kitchen with a potty training seat. I made him drink as much as I possibly could and didn't put a pullup or diaper on him. He just wore a shirt and nothing else. Also, he was not allowed to play with any toys until he went a couple of times. Each time he went, I would make a really big deal out of it and give him a hug. By the next day, he had figured out how to tell when he had to go and he would let me know. He hasn't worn diapers since then. If you have the time for a whole day, it really works. good luck!

have you tried just getting rid of the pull ups?
just put her in panties - let her pick out her own panties then she will be proud of her own panties and maybe not wet them. We did the timer thing too. Every hour it went of she had to go try. She has been trained since about 2 or so.

Don't know if that will help you.
A.

Hello there!

Thought I would share something. I have a 2.5 yr. old (3 in May) and she started telling me every once in awhile that she needed to go. I figured it was close enough to time that I would start trainging her. Well since Pullup are WAY to expensive to be going through like diapers I jsut bought some real "big girl" underwear and she loves them..She feels like a big girl and she hasn't had too many accidents. I do however ONLY let her where them when we are at home. I am a SAHM But when we go to the store or something then I use a pull-up or just a diaper!

Hope this helps!!

B. W

When I was training my daughter, she did the same thing. Don't use pull ups, they are confusing to a child. Children consider them to be equal to a diaper, because basically they are diapers. Just ones that you can pull down instead of un latch.

Anyways, I tried puting underwear on my daughter. We went to Wal Mart and I let her choose her favorite print, she chose my little pony or something like that but the point is it gets them excited to wear them. Tell her she can only wear them if she tells you she has to use the potty because if she doesn't she will dirty them and then she will have none left to wear. Also, try rewarding her with a small treat like some skittles or m&ms or something she really likes when she uses the potty. Make a big deal of it when she goes like it's a party and she will be excited to do it again. Try occasionally letting her run around without anyh bottoms as well, a little crude yes but sometimes when children do not feel fabric or padding against their tushie they will not go because it does not feel normal.

Hi H.!

I am a mom of a 4 1/2 year old boy and a daughter who will be 3 in 5 days. My daughter was difficult also! I tried the pull-ups and it just was allowing her to feel too comfortable as though it was a diaper. So, finally I put her in big girl underwear and hid her pull-ups. After about a week, she was fully potty trained. It's frustrating at times because the kids' doctor told me to leave her in the wet underwear so she knew that it wasn't ok and eventually would get sick of walking around in wet underwear. My goal was to have her potty trained before 3, and she was right before the end of the year. Good luck, but it worked!

I had the same problem with my oldest son. He wasn't ready to be trained at three. I struggled for months and finally gave up. He wasn't completely trained for a year or more. I don't mean to make you groan but it's true. Give it a rest for a while and she may change her mind. Some kids just get stubborn about it. Good luck!!!!

My dd was pretty easy - we gave her a few m&ms every time she went. However, my son was very much against being potty trained. He wouldn't even tell me when he was wet. One day I wanted to go shopping, but did n't wwant to get him redressed. So I sat hiim on the potty and told him if he went pee he'd get a car. He pee'd immediately! I stocked up on matchbox cars. He got one car a day for going. a month later I made it 2 cars a day if he went #2 as well. He has a good collection, but worth it!

Find an incentive and run with it

when my first son was an infant, even before he was born, i had it all figured out! potty training was amust and it would be done by 2. HA! my first son actually did ok, he potty trained fairly easy by 2 1/2 but then relapsed. right around his third birthday he got out of bed one night, went into the bathroom, went #2 and has never had an accident since. My second son, who is 3 now had no desire to go in the toilet. He has litterally told me so. "I am a baby mom, not a big boy." Nice, huh? but recently i banned him from clothes. underwear, pants, and pullups. anything hugging his bottom makes him feel he can just go, but something about being exposed and he is on that toilet every time he needs to go. when we leave the house and i have to put clothes on him i make it a point to stop the second he looks or acts like he might have to go. this has been going on for about 4 days, and yesterday and today he has worn underwear with no accidents. my advice to you is 1st, don't push yourself too hard. a lot of people are judgemental of children who aren't poddy trained by a certain age, i say pooh on them. they aren't YOUR child's parent, when she is ready you'll know and so will she, and i promise she won't be starting school in diapers. Far from it. next, ditch the pullups, except for MAYBE at night. underwear are great if they don't give her a sense of i can go in my underwear security. maybe try going naked, and try keeping the training seat in the bathroom. it's ok if she goes better in a different room, (whatever works to give her a sense of accomplishment) but this might cause another habit to break. one last thing, when you put her on the toilet to go pp turn the water on. if she is going pooh make faces with her, tell her to push with her tummy and be patient. ok, there is one more thing, this worked with my 3 year old, if she does go in her pull up, underwear, or on the floor, transport it to the toilet with her watching and show her how cool and neat and clean it is to go in the toilet and then FLUSH IT. i hoped this helped, but truly, every child is different. and a late poddy trainer doesn't make you a bad mom.