Potty Training - HELP! - Folsom,CA

K., I have 4 boys. The first two were trained at daycare, so when it came time to train the third I was nervous. they do not get to watch much TV so we let him watch Clifford on PBS-it's a 30 minute show with 3 6-8 minute shows in it. After every show (about 6-8 minutes), he had to get up and go try to go potty. We would go in with him and read him a potty book (we have several). The only consequence of not peeing or pooping was that we told him maybe next time he would pee or poop. Once he tried (for a couple minutes), then he could come back and watch another episode. During this time, we pushed liquids to help him need to go. After a while of this (30-60 minutes or one-two successful potties), the diaper went back on and we would go about normal activities, but I would keep asking him every 10-15 minutes if he had to go potty. Later in the day we would go through this again. After he got the hang of the feeling of needing to go, we extended the time between having to sit on the potty. We also started added a reward for every time he went on his own-he got a treat (a small one-like a couple M&Ms or chocolate chips) when he did go. The kid is smart, he figured out how to go just a little so he could get more treats. After he got it down, we told him that he was good at this so got a treat every second time he went, then every third, then fourth and fifth. After that, we had a hard time tracking when he was supposed to get a treat, but he was pretty much potty trained. It took 2-3 weeks I think in all.

I don't use pull-ups because they cost more than regular diapers and most kids can remove a diaper on their own or someone is around who can help them.

Good luck!
M.

K.,
Looks like you got alot of great advice. Just wanted to share one last thing that helped my daughter finally make the transition. Briefly, we started out on the big potty at about 2 1/2 at bath time (after she had shown some interest). We started to reward her with stickers on her potty chart(a piece of poster board decorated with princess stickers and her name on top) after that point we made huge deal that once she reached a certain number of stickers she would get a reward (small toy, movie, etc.).Then we tried the potty party. We told her we were going to give up the diapers and that we would celebrate at the end of the weekend with a cake for her success using the potty. We got the fancy underware on and we reminded her to use the potty all day at regular intervals. Accidents were treated as accidents "oops" - help me clean up etc. We watched potty movies and read potty books too. My point is that almost all our efforts were parent driven. She didn't seem that motivated to use the potty without direction from us. Finally, we gave her a "job". We told our now 3 1/2 year old that it was now her "job" to be in charge of the potty. As you know most kids like to be in charge! So, after we gave up the control she really took ownership of using the potty...paying attention to her own bodies cues and there have been very few accidents. We did use pull ups for a while for car trips and at night and rest time but now use pull ups only at night "just in case". Good luck!

I'm definitely not an expert on this, but somehow my son is pretty much potty trained and I will tell you what I did...
First of all - there is so much good advice you will get from moms on this website, it's great. One piece of advice that I used from a mom who posted to another's request was to put underwear on UNDER the pull up; that way they could FEEL that they are wet without making a huge mess for you to clean up.
With my son, I found something that he really wanted and used that to "Bribe" him... for my son it is fruit snacks. He gets 2 fruit snacks if he actually pees and 4 if he poops. I think that you need to decide what drives your child and work from that angle... In between potty trips my husband & I talk so our son can overhear us about how proud we are (he is quite driven by praise.....such a first-born!!!) and what a "Big Boy" he is... It has been five days and he has had zero accidents, but I still put a pull up on him at night and during naps (I tell him that I do this "just in case" so that he doesn't think that it is an excuse to pee in it) He always wakes up dry, but until he has about a month under his belt, I'm not taking any chances... My son just turned 30 months (2 1/2) - i first introduced the potty back in December....so I definitely had to wait until he was really interested... We had a baby in APril, which delayed any real aggressive training... But I think that it's true that if they are not ready, it's not happening. Now that I think of it, we use multiple rewards - fruit snacks, praise, big boy underwear, picking out which foam hand soap to buy at Bath & Body Works.
Let's see....oh, and you had asked what we would do if there were accidents. Well, i would show him the pull up, and say, "Oh wow, that's so sad that you pee peed in your pull up." and he would not get any reward, not only that, we would say that he didn't get to wear his big boy underwear until the next day. And he really likes his underwear because he feels big like daddy.
All of this combined may have potty trained my son ~ or maybe he would have just done it anyway, but I like to think I had something to do with it!!!

Good luck to you... I'm sure you will receive wonderful advice from the great moms on this website!

Hi K.,

Here's what worked for us (DS day trained at 25 months, nap at 26 and night at 29).

Since you are home with your kids, this will be even better (I had to go back to work on Monday so it was a bit of a time crunch).

1. Have a play date with a potty trained or training friend. Let DS watch his friend use the potty and take a turn if he wants. On the way home, talk up the potty using friend and tell DS that you have decided (or suggest depending on personality) that Saturday (whatever is a day away) be a "No diaper day."

2. Remind DS that tomorrow is a "No diaper day" and that he will be using the potty all day long! Go shopping for big boy underwear which are a reward fo no diapers all day.

3. No diaper day. Stay home and keep your DS naked from the waist down. Keep a potty chair nearby if that's what he uses or stay in a room with a bathroom if he likes the big toilet. Make sure you have lots of potty books and dvds on hand cause staying by the potty gets kind of borring. Give him lots to drink and have salty snacks so that you won't have to wait so long between potty trips. If he starts to pee or poop, run to the potty and have him finish there. Suggest bathroom trips if he hasn't gone in an hour otherwise watch for physical signs that he needs to go (my son gets a little erection when he has to poop and grabs himself when he needs to pee! It's easier to notice when they're naked)

If he has an accident, don't stress him out. I taught my son to say "oh well accidents happen!" then help me clean it up.

4. Underwear! For doing so well with the no diaper day, today he gets to wear big boy underwear (still no pants, they just lead to accidents in front of the potty). Same kind of drill as yesterday. Lots to drink, and don't get to far from the potty.

5. Try to have a more normal day (but don't schedule a gymnastic lesson or play group or anything). Stay around the house but do more regular activities.

I hope this helps. It's what worked for us. I think it's pretty recipe like :-) Try to focus on "no diapers" rather than "no accidents" and then on keeping the underwear dry. Be prepared for a bit of laundry the first couple of days, but it will all work out in the end.

Good luck,
T.

K.,

I trained all 3 of my kids in one day.

I took them potty every hour. If they didn't go potty I took them again 20 minutes later and then that became my new hour time. So your hour is constantly changing. It is a long and grueling day, but it definitely works. Also, I was advised by a child psychologist to put them in big underwear and not pullups or diapers ever again. The reason for this is because they tend to get confused about when it is ok to go in their pullup/diaper or when they have to go on the potty.

You acaully never ever put a pullup on them again. Not even at night. The only accidents we ever had were with # 2 and I hear that, that is pretty normal. For some reason it as though they are departing with a part of themselves and is a bit harder to come by. Of course you know the big YEAH you did it. I'm so proud of you and so on. I actually didn't do any treats or toys.

This worked for me and my 3 kids. I know I have passed it along to others and has worked for them also. It actually was passed along to me by someone.

Good luck, whatever you choose to do.

Hi K.,
My daughter will be 3 in a week and has been using the potty on and off for almost a year but would rarely sit on it if I asked. I too didn't want to push it as my daughter is a very strong willed, independent child who doesn't do well with pressure. My therapist told me that I needed to find "the" thing that motivates her. I didn't want to reward with candy or chocolate but found some "biscuits" at Ikea that she LOVES and as she doesn't eat many crackers, cookies or chips they are a big treat. I also bought special Dora and Tinkerbell panties, though she REALLY wanted the Cars ones (new favorite thing) but they only make them for boys. Try explaining that to a 3 yr old! I then decided to spend a week at home and put her in panties during the day. I ask her every hour or so, sometimes making a big deal that I have to go, and remind her that she doesn't want to pee on Dora or Tinkerbell. It has been 6 days and we have only had 1 accident on the first day. She even woke me up last night to go pee and woke up with a dry diaper! I expected some relapse as she has a cold but so far so good. I hear that boys are harder than girls but my nephews were easy. It happened to be summer with both of them so we spent alot of time outside and they LOVED to pee in the backyard. Whatever works! I saw in the One Step Ahead catalog a "potty watch" that they can wear that reminds them to go potty at regular intervals. As to the reward, I only give it to her if she goes potty.
Good luck!
L.

Here's what I did:

I started sitting my daughter on the potty at about 18 months, I gave her treats to just sit there until she got the idea of it all. Then we moved to actually going on the potty, I gave her one treat for pee and 2 if she actually went big potty (very rare at that age). I did that for almost a year. Last month I decided she is old enough to really potty train (she's 21/2), so we tossed the diapers during the day (and surprisingly during nap time). She wears panty's all day. I am not really good at paying attention to when she needs to go, so I started by setting a timer every 30 mins. After a few weeks of that she really started getting the bladder control, so now I just try to make sure she goes every hour or so. I no longer give her treats for going unless she tells me she has to go, or if she goes big potty (we are still having a little trouble with that one). As far as accidents, I try to let her know that it's not okay, especially since usually her accidents are big potty and that takes effort in my opinion. Anyway...I hope this helps :).