Potty Training - Elk River,MN

www.diaperfreebaby.org is a site for elimination communication. My oldest was trained at 22 months using this method combined wiht 'traditional' potty training. He showed signs and we went with it. Put him straight into underwear and took him to the potty every hour, an as he 'got it down' we stretched the time out, and by the time he was 2 he was running into the potty to go, or telling us. My youngest, we started EC very early on, and he was signing to go by a year and by 16 months was in undies during the day, and by 20 months he was dry all night too.

So I would say go for it! Let him pick out some undies and go for it. Take him to the potty and let him sit, make it fun, stay positive! Good luck!

Hi A.. I used a book called "Mommy I have to go Potty". It really was great. My daughter started to use the potty in the morning and before bed from about 20 months. (she wasn't dry at night for a long time after that, so I still used diapers then.) On her second birthday I put her into undies. It took 3 days and she was "trained". If you want my advice, give the "pull-up" diapers a miss. They prolong the training. I used those if we were going on a longish car ride - just for a couple of weeks - and told her they were fancy undies. This was just in case there was an accident and there was not a convenient place to wash-up and change. I am selling the book for $4.00 on Craigslist. If you are interested, just let me know. Good Luck. B..

My son was almost 3 when he was finally trained (which freaked my husband out), but I stand by my method, because it was EASY. Once he showed interest & ability to go on the potty (around your son's age), I would take him with me every time I went. I'd say "do you need to go, too?" and if he did, great. If not, no biggie. Same before baths--I always made him go then. This got him used to the potty being a natural and frequent part of the day. Then, as he got older we started talking about underwear, and bought some for when we was ready. One day I asked him when he thought he's like to wear his underwear, and he said "Sunday." (This was an arbitrary day and didn't mean anything--I don't think he even knew when Sunday was.) But, we hyped it up, and when Sunday came, he put on his underwear and we never looked back. I attribute most of this success to him being older. Yes, we had to wear diapers longer, but I didn't have to make it a battle or worry about as many accidents. One ECFE teacher once told our class that the biggest sign of readiness is if they're able to stop what they're doing (usually playing) to recognize they have to go, and then do it. Too often they're just too distracted and can't focus on the feeling if they're too into playing. One note on the rewards, I know several moms that have used them successfully. This same ECFE teacher advised us to avoid them because the kids will then expect awards all the time, and at some point, you cut them off. Then they're confused, thinking "I used to get candy every time I went, and now I don't so now I won't go anymore." After all, we don't get rewarded for going potty. So, I'd say if you do use rewards, have a plan for weaning off them. Good luck!

He's truely ready when he's waking up in the morning or from naps dry. That is the perfect time to take him immediately to the potty without pressure.And if he awoke dry it's obvious he will need to go. If he's not waking up dry he's probaly not quite ready physically with the bladder but you can practice using the potty throughout the day occasionally.

After he has mastered that start working in more and more potty breaks throughout the day. Until he's mastered potty training.

When he's no longer having accidents put underpants on him.

If he has a accident in his underpants don't rush to change him let him experiance the uncomfortableness and then let him be in charge of changing and cleaning up. Not as punishment but as responsibility. Of course you will be needed to guide him or help but it should be his job. That way having accidents doesn't become a game or attention grabber because he will learn it's more work and not fun.

Pull-ups are a waste of money and make changing a dirty diaper harder. They are to absorbant and make it just to comfortable.

Just don't force it. Many many parents try potty training a few different times before it works.

I try and stay away from bribes as well then it turns into a power struggle because they know you want it so bad yet they have 100% control over this.

Make it fun. Be silly and announce whenever you or if you are married your husband need to go. Leave the door open and let him be a part of your bathroom time. Make a big deal that you have to go and show him how and then act like it's super fun to wash your hands when your done and let him think this is really cool. My daughter and I use to race to the bathroom to see who could get there first worked like a charm.

Good luck!

Our daycare lady put a sheet of paper which you can cut out a pumpkin for October and each time there is activity he gets a sticker. She would also give one sweet tart on occassion along with the sticker. She was daytime trained within 5 months.

A.,

I have used the book "Toilet Training in less than a day" with my three oldest and had good success. The book is old, but the method works. It is the same as Dr. Phil's potty training method and I also had a Childhood Education professor in college who used it, too. (My professor had a day camp that parents could drop their kids off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon potty trained. He did this with 200+ kids and had a 98% success rate.)

Good luck,
S.

My only advice is dont push the issue. He is still young and pushing makes children regress. My son was three before he was fully trained. I was ready before he was. When he was ready it did not take long and was actually fairly easy to do. I basically devoted a weekend and took him potty fairly often so he knew that he needed to go in the potty and thats about all it took. Good luck. Oh and pull ups are not all bad. Its just how they are used that is bad. Some people use them as an alternative to diapers so then it does not help them. Again good luck. Some boys can be very stubborn!