Potty Training - San Antonio,TX

First of all, I would suggest working on potty training over your spring break, even if only just to start. I read one book that suggested getting started earlier (before age 2) because once they hit the terrible two's, it's harder to train them, and they can get very obstinate. So I started training my son around 22 months, very casually. About a week after he turned 2, he was ready. After a week of rewarding first pee in the potty, then poop (he would do anything for a Matchbox car!), he was trained AND holding it overnight. He turned 2.5 today, and I am SOOO grateful that he is completely trained (never did pull-ups, even at night) because he is now in that "terrible two" stage, and I KNOW, had we waited, that he would not be as willing to go along with potty training as he was when he was younger, and that it would be taking us a lot longer.
So, I would encourage you, and whoever watches your child during the day, to start introducing the potty, and the idea of going on the potty now. :) Have her sit on the potty, and read books to her. Start watching the signs that she needs to go, start watching Potty movies (Elmo has a great one), and reading potty books. Get a baby doll that drinks and pees and put her on the potty too. I read The Potty Training Boot Camp (you can download it online for $5.95). I wasn't a fan of the "drills" she suggested every time the child has an accident, but I think that could work well for older, more resistant kids. Good luck- I hope your daughter catches on as quickly as my son did. It has really been the biggest gift! :)

Good luck!
T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com

Hi R.! I am a teacher too. :) My son is three now and he was harder to potty train than my 5 year old was at that time. I got the potty chair that goes on the toliet that is made for their size...easy to use and clean...plus it gets them on the toilet. I would start off with incentives like fruit snacks and remind him every 30 minutes to go. That worked for a little while but then it got to where he was fully capable of going to the bathroom but did not want to stop playing so I would have him sit on the couch until he needed to go to restroom again. If he was playing then he was not thinking of going to the bathroom. I know this method sounds strict but with him it worked and it made him think about it. He is three now and has not had an accident in a while. I hope this helps!

If potty time is fun they will love it. I looked on you tube to see videos of actual kids potty training. Some look like they are having parties singing and dancing. DO IT! I ended up doing a rap in a white girl version. Elmo potty time is great. I tried to buy the froggy potty because it was cute. Never thought that was the reason my daughter didn't go. We had to buy another more traditional looking potty chair. My daughter loves going through the ritual of washing hands and using her own towel.

My son went to day care at that age and this is what they did. The 18 month/2 year old room room he was in had no doors on the bathrooms so the younger ones could see their classmates go in there and what they did. Each time they went, they would get 1 Skittle. At 27 months they told me he was ready for underwear. I had switched him to pull-ups a few months prior to that. I always said I would never use them, because I have seen too many kids get used to them and lazy, then they don't want to use real underwear. But he never was one to pull the tabs on his diaper, so I switched him over so he could pull them up and down. Since the Skittle reward worked for him at school, we kept that reward system at home. He was trained in about 2 weeks. We kept him in diapers a could of months longer, but he would always stay dry, so we eventually quit.

At home we had a potty chair that had been passed down to us. We used it a little, but he was more interested in the "big potty". Of course he had trouble sitting on it, so we got the potty seat that sat on top of the "adult" seat. He was much happier with this, and I didn't have to continue cleaning his potty chair. My cleaning consisted of emptying out into the toilet, then wiping thoroughly with lysol wipes to disinfect.

I would think your plan for summer training is a good one. But, I have heard people having trouble with regression when school starts back. So, don't be surprised by it. All of this training went on right at the same time that I started back to college at night. So, we did have a bit of change in our schedule, but my son did great with it. All kids are different. I was stressed, because I had always heard boys were harder to train than girls. If she is headstrong, she may train early or later. Does she give you any indication now that she is interested? What type of day care does she have? These are all factors to consider. Good luck, have patience, she'll get it.

Well reading the other responses I see that most of theses mothers had it easy! I have 2 children. My 1st (a boy) was easy and smooth like these other moms but my 2nd (girl) not so easy or smooth! with child I found some information on pampers.com that said put a training potty in the living room and let them sit on it with clothes to get the child comfortable with it. then transition to leaving clothes off (waist down) around the house and sitting them on the toliet every 15-30 min. till they use it. Then reward with praise and or treat. There will be accidents on the floor. This worked well for my boy but not so well for my girl. She kept putting her feet in the training potty! So I took off the seat (removalable seat for the big toliet)and put it on the regular toliet and kept taking her there (but still kept her clothes off). Keeping their clothes off helps you to see when there are going to the bathroom and you can rush then to the toliet. They will start to realize the sensation of needing to use it after a while. Like I said every child is different. My son was trained very quickly while it took my daughter a lot longer. Just stick with it! Try all the different methods you find till you find one that works for you and your daughter. One major tip though is to keep a potty in the car. Girls can't just go anywhere like boys! If you buy a training potty buy one that has a transitional seat to use on the big potty. Nothing is more frightning than the thought of being swallowed up by the big potty if they fall in!

Try these suggestions on potty training
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2009/09/22/...
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2009/12/13/...

I trained my daughter at 22 months in 9 days. I used the potty seat insert because I did not want to empty/clean a potty chair. (I carried a potty chair in the back of my SUV for when we were out and about.)

When I first started to train her I took her to the potty every 25 minutes. I set a timer. I soon figured out that she could hold it up to 45 minutes to an hour. I did not plan any extra activities for those 9 days. We were home with potty training as our mission. I feel like I sat in our hall bathroom for 9 days. I was always very enthusiastic when she tinkled, tried, told me, pooped, anything positive. I did not use pullups. I put my daughter in real panties. I did not change her into a pullup or diaper when we left the house. She had one accident when we were out and about. She was trained in 9 days. She had a few accidents that next week while playing outside. I never made a big deal out of accidents. We just cleaned her up and changed her clothes.
Good luck with it. You must be persistent and she will get it.