Potty Trainin

With my son...who is know 12! We used to leave a stool in front of the toliet with the toliet seat up & light on so when he was ready to go he could go in there & do it himself. At first though my husband would go with g=him & throw a piece of toliet paper (one sheet) in the toliet & tell him they were aiming to out the fire out. So they would both aim for that piece of paper to see who could put the fire out first. That with the stool & light on worked. He was so easy to potty train b/c he felt like he could do it all on his own. We also made up a peepee dance where when he did all by himself we would all skip around in a circle singing Jeremy made peepee Jeremy made peepee. he felt like such a big boy. I know every kids is different but I would definitely try the stoll & leave the light on then go from there. If you have any questions or concerns I am here. Good luck...just make it fun & be consisitent. We even took the stool to friends or family members houses. Try it & let me know how it works out!

S.

Potty training is such an individual adventure for each child. I do know however...that until around 2 years of age, a todlder doesn't have control over his sphincter muscles (the muscles which help to hold your bowel movements in), so when they need to go, they need to go immediately. So I would definitely wait until at least that benchmark. After that, it's how hard you are willing to work. Potty training is not easy. It can take months if your child is not ready, or if they are ready it can happen over night literally. I have had both extremes. My 4 year old woke up one Monday morning when she was about 2 1/2 and threw a royal fit because she didn't want to wear diapers and we went on the toilet, and have never looked back. My younger daughter on the other hand, is a hit and miss game. Although once you do decide to officially potty train don't look back. That is a huge culprit for unsuccessfully potty training. The going back and forth between diapers and big kid underwears just confuses them! Good luck and happy pottying!

wait till he is communicating well, probably closer to 2 1/2- 3 for boys.

I would wait, if hes just playing in the potty now then he's not ready yet. My son didnt show signs of being ready until he was 2 1/2, and unfortunately, we are STILL TRYING to get fully potty trained. You have a long road ahead of you, but if your son is in a daycare or child care service, they will assist in the potty training once you start, just talk to them and tell them whats going on. But I would wait a little bit longer, better to wait than to start now and get set back even longer. Hope all goes well with your husband, and with your being a stay at home mom.

There is no point in even tryint until he shows interest -- and boys tend to potty train later than girls so I would wait until he's at least 2 before doing anything more than maybe buying a potty chair and letting him get used to it....

Hi J.,
I have a 27-month old girl and an 8-month old girl. I started off around 18 months by just putting a little potty in the bathroom and occasionally sitting her on it. She slowly began to take to it more and more. A lot of it has really just come naturally. As she began using the potty more and more I started taking her every hour or whenever we thought about it. She is to the point now where she uses the potty many times a day but sometimes has accidents or goes in her pull-up. She also goes to daycare 3x a week and they work on it there. I think that has really helped b/c she sees all of the other kids going potty, too, so she wants to. Hope that helps!

Hi J.,
Near 24 months is the time that I potty-trained my five children.
My oldest daughter, now 18, took near 6 months to complete potty-training. She was in day-care. I worked with her a while, she did not adapt well, so I stopped and waited a few months. We tried once again, successfully.
My middle daughter, now 15, potty-trained in one day!(She has been and is the over-acheiver in all areas).
I found that the summer months were easier whereas less clothing could be worn.
Best of luck to you and your child. Calmness and patience are what I suggest. Also - I used the type of potty that folded out with steps that sat right onto the home toilet seat.

Sincerely,
T.

I had many of the same fears as you, being a full time working mom and having to rely on the day care to help with potty training when they have so many kids to deal with at once, BUT I soon discovered that them having multiple kids actually worked to my advantage because my daughter was more willing to use the potty correctly when she was able to follow the other kids her age. Not to mention daycares are fully equiped and prepared to assist with potty training... every single kid there has a mom in the same situation as you so every single mom is forced to depend on the teachers at daycare to help enforce the potty training you've decided to implement. Don't feel bad about accidents or them having to clean up his messes, that's part of what they get paid to do; just be sure you send a couple sets of extra clothes (including socks and shoes) and be sure to specifically tell the teacher that he is potty training and let her know whether he's wearing a pull-up or undies so she is prepared to clean up the messes when they occur.
BUT with that all being said 19 months is still young and if he's not showing any real interest in pottying correctly now might not be the time for you to stress out about it. Most kids don't even start serious potty training until 2-3 years old.... My daughter, in particular, just completed her potty training journey a few weeks ago and she turned 3 in November. The good news is that you have until he starts real school before he NEEDS to be potty trained so there's no need to rush now. He'll let you know when he's ready...in the mean time you may want to ask the daycare workers to maybe let him sit on the potty when they take some of the other kids just to help him get comfortable with the idea but other than that just let him go at his own pace... All the best!!

The best time is 2 weeks before they are 2. I have three children of my own and worked in childcare for several years with 2,3, and 4 yr olds. I have even had to potty train a 5 year old. Just remeber to congradulate and be excited and they will do the same. Good luck.

i would really wait about another year my son is 2 years and 7 months old and he is just now getting to where he will go in the toilet ive heard from alot of people that 3 is a good age to do it but he will be 3 in aug and will be starting pre-school so we gotta get it done now