Potty Training 101 - Middletown, DE

Well, it sounds like your youngest is ready to start. My son was alittle over 2 when I started with him and he was done in 1 week. I think alot of it has to do with timing and making sure that the child IS ready to start. First, I recommend NOT using anything like pullups (except for naps/bedtime). When we ran out of his diapers I decided it was time and that was it. I went out that day and we bought him some big boy underwear. I put his little potty in the hall way, outside the bathroom door. I let him play as usual but I kept a close eye on him and kept asking him if he had to go. If it had been a while I would congratulat him for still being clean and that take him to the potty to "try". I always made a huge deal when he went on the potty but I also made a big deal just for him being dry/clean (even if it was only a few minutes) I think alot of praise and encouragement is the key. I would walk into his bedroom ever so often and just say, "are you still clean". He would smile and say yes. Then we would high five, clap, dance what ever! The first 2 days he had 2 or 3 accidents a day. I did use pullups but ONLY at naptime and bedtime. We called them his nighttime underwear. By day 3/4 he was starting to understand the signals his body was giving him right before he was wet. During these days he would start to pee in his underwear, stop himself and RUN to the potty. We still had to keep changing his underwear but he was doing great. By the end of the week he was completley trained with NO accidents at all. During this time I also never used pullups when we left the house to go somewhere. I just made sure he peed before we left, took a plastic bag, towel and change of clothes. I feel that it diminishes their confidence if you don't try to trust them out of the house as well. It tells them, "I don't think you can do it" We NEVER had an accident out of the house. I think it was only day 3 of potty training when we were shopping in Target (farthest part of the store from the bathroom) and he started yelling and dancing, "I have to PEE" We RAN as fast as we could and he did make it. We had a party right there in the store and I ended up getting him a new toy because I was so proud.

The bottom line is....once you start, be consistent, have patience, give lots of praise and encouragement, use regular underwear NOT pullups (they are just fancy diapers) and make if fun!

Good Luck and Happy training :-)

It sounds to me that you did exactly what you should have done with your first daughter. MY daughter is 2.5 and she has been potty trained since she was 16 months. There is the ocasional accident as with all children but i did pretty much what you did. The thing is you really really have to be committed, not just training here and there if you are looking for immediate results. I went to the store bought underware, a potty seat and some pull ups which I DO NOT RECOMMEND! Put the potty seat where she normally plays, let her know it is there and what is for. If she uses it, give her a treat (I used tic tacs and my daughter seemed to respond very fast... IT was almost as if she went just to get a treat, infact she did b/c sometimes she would ask for one and i would explain they were only potty treats and she would go over to the potty and go). I also bought her one of those potty dolls and let her run around the house naked. Expect a lot of accidents but after each one put her on the potty and tell her that is where she goes very calmly. Do not get upset or it will just push back the process. Clean the mesh up calmly, and most importantly stick with it even if it seems it is not working try it out for at least a week staright b/f giving up. I hope this helps. Good Luck

Hi C. I have four children three were potty trained day and night by the age of 18 months. One took until he was 2 and a half. He wasnt as vocal as the other three. I also am a daycare provider for 14 years i ahve potty trained more kids than i can count. I have taken kids shopping and allowed them to pick out panties they like. I also have the potty that sings when you go. I started putting them on the potty every half hour. I gave them lots of praise even if they didnt go. You have to make a big deal they love that. Once i put them in panties i never put a diaper on them not even at night i stopped them from drinking an hour before bedtime and had them go potty right before going to bed. My kids and the kids ihave baby sat were potty trained within two weeks. It was really an easy thing for me to do with them. Good luck steph

Hello C.,
I'm sorry but i have never heard of a child being potty trianed in a week!!! That seems a bit too exterme. I have a friend whose mother swears that she was potty trained by the time she was 12 months old. I don't believe that one either. This is what i did with my daugther, when she was one and a half i introduced her to the potty chair in the summer, she would go with no problems because all she did was run around the house with just a diaper on, when winter came she really didn't want to do it any more because she had to wear clothes so i didn't force it on her, about two months before her second birthday she started to show signs of not wanting to be in a wet diaper any more, so i put the potty out again, but she didn't want to go on the potty she wanted to use the toilet, so that's what we did, so in two months she was out of daipers during the day, but still needed them for bed time, when she started waking up dry in the moring, that was when we tried it with no daipers, she was completely potty trained by the time she was 2 and a half. Of course we had about a hand full of accedients, but sometimes that still happens today whne she really gets into playing something and she doesn't remeber to go, but that isn't very often. But when she was two i would ask her all of the time, and i would take her just in case it seemed like it had been a while since she went. And so it went really well for me. I hope that this helps.
S.

There is a book called HOw to Potty Train in a Day by Azrin and Foxx, I used it with my third child, adn I think it was very helpful, you'll find it familiar bc Dr. Phil stole just about everything from it, I think the book is better because everything is written down for you and it covers a lot of "FAQ"...Good luck

IT'S FUNNY, I JUST GOT DONE PUTTING IN A REQUEST ABOUT MY DAUGHTER POTTY TRAINING AND THEN I LOOK DOWN AND READ YOURS. I GUESS I AM GOING OT HAVE A LONG COUPLE OF MONTHS CLEANING UP AFTER HER.

My advice is that if she has an accident you wait another year. There is no rush.

I potty trained both my boys when they were each 3.5 and they had no accidents. All I did was put them in underwear and that was that.