Potty Training and Carpet

Updated on August 24, 2008
L.E. asks from Buena Park, CA
9 answers

I am trying to potty train my 25-month-old. Some people say that the most effective way to potty train is to keep the toddler in underwear, not diapers. As I live in a rented apartment, whose floor is covered by wall-to-wall carpet, for the most part, and being a nursing mother of a 10-month-old and the wife of a man who is out of town over half the year, I am concerned that I will not be able to help my toddler make it to the toilet in time and thus will pee on the carpet. Can you suggest any strategies or products that will minimize the number of accidents? Can you also suggest a way to clean pee out of a carpet?

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E.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi Lynne,
This is what I did when my DD was potty training and had accidents on the carpet:
I sopped up the wet, scrubbed the spot with some liquid detergent, and then sprinkled baking soda on the spot and let dry. Vacuumed it up and there was no trace of any smell or stain.
Good luck mama-you are busy! I can relate. You are doing a great job!

E.

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N.J.

answers from Los Angeles on

These are the best training pants. I am currently potty training my 2.5 year-old and although her accidents are infrequent, she's had a few. These training pants catch all the pee and the floor does not get wet. I'm not sure if you have a boy or girl, so I'm leaving the link for Potty Scotty, for girls its called Potty Patty.

http://www.pottyscotty.com/Potty-Training-Pants.html

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K.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

I potty trained my daughter at 30 months with a 3 month old baby. The key to my success way twofold: potty training "boot camp" and my mother in law! If you can spend 3 whole days focusing on JUST potty training in underwear, your child should do it. Stay in the house and make a BIG deal about the potty training. I used stickers when she went... one for pee and two for poopy! I had a family member help me because my daughter, of course, always had to go when I was nursing the newborn! My daughter only had two accidents the whole time. My mother in law took her to the supermarket in panties on the second day and she was fine.

I would suggest a common area in the house and use the inserts you put in the crib under the sheets. (you know in case the baby has an accident?) I put them on my daughters chair and on the floor. So she could sit.

I use good old Basic H when picking up urine stains of any kind. It's made by Shaklee and is a natural cleaner that is good for everything. (It even got Balmex and Vaseline out of the carpet when NOTHING else did including professional steam cleaning!) I also have a little green steam machine. It helps take up the additional wetness out of the carpet.

good luck!

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C.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

Hi Lynne,
I did both...I have a 25 year old who potty trained long before the days of pull ups. She peepee'd on the floor and I had to clean it up as best I could and at best, not 100%. Now I have a 2.5 YO and we used pull ups. We introduced pull ups to her and told her they were big girl pants for learning to go potty. I have always told her she was potty trained just for sitting on the toilet, because that is step one in the chore. After she was used to sitting on the potty, then it was time to start reminding her every hour, still in pull ups. Soon enough she accomplished peepeeing in the toilet. Now you (mommy) have to learn her schedule. They will almost always go potty first thing in the morning, but they are a little grumpy to be waken, their warm jammies be pulled off of them, and then sat on a hard uncomfortable toilet, but you will have to just work with it. Once she is telling you she has to go potty and no longer potties in her pull ups then tell her it is time for panties and away with the pull ups!!!! They work just fine and I had 2 accidents on the carpet which weren't accidents, they were fits!!!! She stood there and pee'd when she was mad. If you can afford keeping her in pull ups I say keep her in pull ups. Some people don't believe in them, but my little one is completely potty trained by 4 months before her 3rd birthday...I can't complain.

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E.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

First, does you lil one show intrest in potty training? If not then don't push it wait till he/she shows intrest otherwise it may be a waste of your time. Underwear is best. I bought the SpotBot by Bissel for cleanup. Its this great machine that you put over the mess and it shampoos and vacuums the space dry. I used it for all messes including any spills. Check it out online I definitely recommend it for anyone with kids and carpet. So easy and you just fill the tank(holds enough solution for 4 or 5 spills so you can have it handy anytime) put the machine over the spot and walk away. It scrubs and cleans the area so fast 6mins and it beeps when its done. It also comes with an attachment for your couch. I love it. Can't get any easier to clean than this product!!!

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi Lynne, People are right, NO DIAPERS or PULL UPS, if you use diapers while trying to potty trian, it is to confussing, becasue that is what diapers are for, and pull ups are nother less that a diaper without the tape. I too lived in a rented apartment with wall to wall carpeting, when i potty trained my first two boys, this was in the 80's and I used regular think traing pants, I also had the potty chair in the living roon against the wall, When you first start potty traing you don't wait for them to tell you, you just sit them on the potty, every so offten, I know for me my first was 20 months old and loved the price is right, so I would sit him on the potty and let him watch the price is right, it's an hour show, I knewin that time something was bound to happen, so at 20 months not only was he getting potty trained he was learning how to reconize numbers, if he has an accident on the carpet, just keep a spray bottle of carpet solution, and clean it up right away, Now I think at wal mart you can by training pants that are terry cloth on the inside and plastic on the outside, those are what I require in my daycare if I am going to potty train the kids, because the babiea play/crawl on the carpet. Hope this helps. J.

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S.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi
I agree that you should use underwear, not pull-ups. My son knew pull-ups were really diapers so he would just pee. You should probably expect a few accidents. Buy some good carpet spot cleaner. You might have to have the carpets cleaned after the potty training is completed. Since it is summer, try to spend some time outdoors to minimize the carpet damage.
Good luck

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B.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

oh wow, you are busy. Depending on how close your 25 month old is to being actually potty trained, use the underwear. If you are just starting, keep him/her in the diaper but be consistant in your training. I run a day care and have kids that are just starting out and kids that are a little more advanced with potty training (they go poop or pee in toilet). It's very time consuming and your patience will be tried. They say have to go all the time you'll sit them sdown and they just look at you. It's like a new toy for them when they get the general basics and praise for getting those basics. And be prepared, if you ahve a boy, it may take til he's 21/2 or even 3+. I have a 3 year old that still will only poop in the big boy toilet, and pee in his pull ups. OH!!! if you use the special potty training toilets, be careful of the ones that play music, they tend to scare the kids. I have a littel girl that was on her way to potty training, she sat on her little toilett(at home), tinkled and it played a song, she ran out screaming and now hides every time she has to go potty so she doens't have to go on her little toilet. If I think of anything ewlse I'll write ya...
Good luck

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D.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

I found a carpet cleaner/stain remover at the grocery store called "Kids n Pets" Instant All-Purpose Stain & Odor Remover. It seemed to work pretty well. Pull-ups are a good option when you're away from the potty or can't monitor closely, but use them sparingly, because they really are more diapers than underpants, and the kids know it.

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