Potty Training Help - Orange,CA

I have a boy who at age 2.5 or so began to express an interest in using the potty so I introduced it. He did pee and even pooped once in it. All of a sudden same thing. I actually backed off because I had heard so many folks saying that boys take longer and they aren't even ready til age 3-4 etc. WOW... so I definitely wanted him trained asap but felt like pushing him was just going to delay the issue. By age 3 he was wearing underwear all day, he was pee trained, even overnight trained, but not poop trained! So we started to slowly introduce it again, I got this great advice and it worked in 3 weeks! I am a SAHM so daily reinforcement is crucial!

Step 1- allow her to use her pull-up BUT she MUST be inside the restroom (this is especially important if they are used to going and hiding in the closet or doing poop whereever)
(1-2 weeks)

Step 2 - allow her to use her pull-up BUT she MUST sit on the toilet. (I chose to train him to sit on the big toilet using a padded seat.) So they are still doing poop in the diaper, but they are sitting on the toilet. I took it a step further and actually took the pull-ups off, dropped the poop in the toilet and cleaned and changed him back into his underwear right there in the restroom. (1-2 weeks)

For us, by week 3 he had seen that the poop belongs in the toilet and he just woke up one morning and said he had to go poop and he didn't need a pull-up because he was a big boy and could go in the toilet. There has been no looking back since that day! No treats, no bribery, nothing. Just realizing that he is growing up and was a big boy now.

Best wishes to you =)
C.

www.HelpUstayHome.com

If she was sitting on the potty and using it at 18 months then I would say she was ready for it. I'm not sure what you mean when you say you started training that weekend though.

It sounds like you were already encouraging her to use her potty and making it a normal thing. My daughter is 22 months and will sit on her potty before her bath and she will sit on it while my husband or I go potty on the big potty. We have never been shy about what we do in the bathroom so she knows this is a normal thing that everybody does. It's not scary.

What did you do differently that weekend?

Also, for some children it can be a control thing. When they realize that you are asking them to use the potty, that they have a choice, they can show that they are in control by refusing to go.

I was a nanny for ten years and one of my charges was about your daughter's age. She was fine on the potty to go pee but refused to poop in her potty. I realized over the course of a week that her behavior seemed like a control issue. That and she was having trouble getting past using a diaper to make poopies.

I told her one afternoon that it was time to potty and took off her diaper. She said she had to poopy and begged me to give her one. I told her that it was time to use the potty. She cried a little and was having trouble letting go of pooping in a diaper. I told her that if she could put it one, she could have a diaper. I know it sounds odd, but it worked for her. She finally went into the bathroom and sat on the potty and 'made poopies'. She didn't go in her diaper again after that. I don't know if she just needed to do it once to feel like it was okay, but after that she didn't fight using the potty.

I'm not suggesting that you force your daughter to use the potty, you don't want to traumatize her, but being firm and telling her when it's time to use the potty is a good, supportive thing for a parent to do. You're teaching her remember.

I hope this helps! Good luck Mama! I'd love to know what you did differently that weekend.

S. M
www.storksbestfriend.com

Hi M., it sounds to me like she's in control instead of you, at 2 years old I would say she is ready, it's a matter of discipline and training. I would not give in, it's not good hygene for her to be in diapers. Diapers after they older promotes lazyness in some kids. I used M & M's with my kids. But i started much ealier 19/20 months, it was very easy we had no battles, M. you need to lead she needs to know mommy is in charge, and she needs to obey you, like any thing else you tell her to do. If you ask then they can say no, if you tell her to do something and she says no, then it's talking back. I have potty trained own before the age of 2 and I have potty trained many many daycare kids over the past 12 years, and in my experince I have learned that sucess or lack there of in potty training is more about the parents than the children. Be firm take control. J. L.

Quick version: Remove her diaper and let her wet and/or poop on herself. Each time she does, take her to her potty and tell her that her pee and poop belong in the potty. Be patient and consistent. OR you could just take her every 1/2 hour and see if she wants to sit. I tell my son (2 years, 4 months) to "tell me when you are ready to sit" and then I back off. He's making some progress- it's hard because I work full-time so I am NOT consistent and that is a BAD thing. So, I am waiting until July when I have time off to really go at it. The important thing is for your child to have conceptual understanding, to see a model (so you sit on the toilet and tell her what you are doing) and that you be patient and consistent.
Best of luck,
F.