3 Day Potty Training? - Campbell,CA

I just tried the 3 day thing with twins and it didn't even come close to working. Maybe with one kid it would be easier, but it was a frustrating nightmare.

I tried this method for both my daughter and nephew (she was 19mths, and he was 28mths). It does make for a very busy 3 days! You have to be able to focus solely on the potty training, or your just going to wind up with a very confused, frustrated household! What worked best for us was an egg timer (have an outside influence signaling when it's time to go potty), treats (reward successes, immediately), poster board with stickers (keep track of each time she has an accident, what time she went potty and what time she had a bowel movement), and a lot of positive reinforcement/encouragement! I also suggest doing this over a long weekend when both parents are available. On the first day, we set the potty schedule for every 20 mins. Set the egg timer and everytime it buzzes, everyone heads to the potty. I did 1 treat for trying, 3 for potty, & 5 for BM (M&Ms or smarties work great). The basic ideas for this training technique are to one, learn your child's internal schedule; by day two, you should be able to notice a pattern in the time your child needs to go potty, so in effect, your training yourself! Second, to make her aware of the "urge" to go. Ask often if she thinks she needs to go potty. On the second day increase the time incriments to 30-35 mins, but also look for those patterns, and you should be able to get her to the potty before she has an accident. And most importantly give her as much encouragement and positive feedback as possible. Potty training is a huge feat for someone who's only 2, and should be something to be proud of. I definitely recommend a littly potty chair if she's afraid of the toilet. My daughter found it much easier to sit on that than to climb up on the toilet. I also suggest buying those padded panties for at first, they absorb more, so there's less puddle to clean up, which reminds me, Clorox wipes would be a good thing to have on hand to keep everything as clean as possible. One thing to do is to take her shopping for her new big girl panties, and make as big a to-do about learning how to go potty like a big girl as possible! Good Luck!!!

Hi-
I wanted you to know I have a 2 1/2 yr old little girl. and I have been trying to potty train her for 5 months now. She too had a great couriosity about using the "big girl" toliet. Well, when we started she was going GREAT. Then the poop happen. And the water splashed her, and was mortified!!! After that, she will only pee in the toliet. "No pooping", she tells me. So now we are trying to get her to go in the little toliets with no water.

As for the 3 day training. I have heard of this and heard it did NOT work. and that it frustrated the child. My sister actually bought a book with instructions. I would not recommend this or count on it. Consistency/time is what will work.

Hi,
The 3 day potty training worked wonders for us. I used it in my 2 1/2 year old daughter. We went cold-turkey to absolutely no diapers (even at night). The first 2 days can be VERY, VERY difficult, but once it clicks you are done! She is now over 3 years old and has had only 2 night-time accidents since her potty training. Daytime accidents have been a bit more common (maybe 10 in the last 7 months) and they have only happened when she is very exited and "forgets" to go to the bathroom. Be consistent.

Hi Kristin,
My son was pottytrained in a weekend a couple weeks after his second birthday. I spent a weekend at home alone with my son. He spent all day Saturday bottomless (no diaper, no pants, no nothing). We read books about the potty and watched the Elmo Potty Time dvd. He went a couple of times on the floor, but got the hang of the potty quickly.

Sunday he wore underwear but no pants to practice pulling them up and down and Monday he went to school in underwear.

I dont' think it's worth getting the books and following a plan by someone else because you are the one who knows your child. If you want to do it in a weekend, I would say do it. Make sure you have no other plans (no trips to the store, visits from friends, nothing) and spend some time really focussing on using the toilet. If it works it works, it can't hurt and you'll get some special one on one time together.

T.

I didn't follow any "Authored" 3 Day plan... i just did it on my own. get the cotton training underwear, and plan for a weekend where you can be at home and focus on nothing but the potty training. i kept her in underwear only, set the timer for 20 minutes and increased over the days up to 30-35 minutes, get a chart with stickers for rewards - we also did stamps on her hands - use rewards what ever she likes - if she's into dress up - get a pack of jelly bracelets and give her one every time she goes Pee (with underwear dry) so then she'll get a stack of them on her arm.... use what ever your child is interested in.

i hampered it a little bit - i was afraid to go out and run errands and her have an accident b/c i also have a 14month old and didn't want to deal with public toilets - so i would put her in a pull up when we went out.... and she completely regressed...... so it'll be tough but once you do the 3 day boot camp, you need to keep her in underwear - the pull ups just feel like diaper and she'll just go in there. she still is in a diaper at night... but i'm planning on cutting that out soon too.

i have 3 potties - (1) in the house bathroom,

(1) outside (we are outside all the time and with her younger brother if we had to go inside each time she had to go, i'd have to drag him in too so it's just easier to have one outside) - i have a rubbermaid bucket that i keep outside with the potty in it, roll of toilet paper, container of wipes, water bottle to rise out the potty, 1-2 pairs of extra underwear etc.)

(1) in my car. the one in my car is a travel potty (http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...) - that the pee goes in a plastic bag so when she's done i just seal the bag up and throw it away. - I have an SUV so she can sit right in the back, but i have a basket with all the extras there too - TP, wipes, 2 pairs of underwear, extra pants.

i have her pee before we leave the house - but if i'm doing errand for more than 1 hour - i have her pee in the car at some point.

i am about to get this potty seat though (http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...) for peeing in public toilets (malls etc).

it is also all about liquid management - if my daughter has a drink she will suck down the entire contents in less than 5 minutes. and she will have to go to the bathroom within 15-20 minutes and then again 20 minutes later. so if i know we have to leave the house for a set time - i try not to give her anything to drink 60-45 minutes before we leave. and nothing to drink after dinner.

i have the Bjorn potty seat and i find that the oval shape is better for trying to poop. the other 2 potties have round openings and it doesn't appear to really have room for the poop to come out easily.

I'm going to try the 3-day method next weekend, so I can tell you after that. Mine is 31 months old and has been more than ready for some time, but we've been traveling a lot and then moved. Anyway, that's irrelevant to you, but I'll let you know how it worked for us. It's the not using diapers at night and during naps that has me anxious.

Yes, I followed Dr. Phil's method. I bought Potty Patty and used her and the method worked for us. 3 days and we were done. Not sure if it was due to the method or my daughter's readiness and personality. My girlfriend bought Potty Scotty and used it for both of her sons and said it worked like a charm.
Here's the link! Good luck!

http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/

Hi Kristin,
I've been through potty training twice now, and I'm not sure what exactly the 3-day method is, but the way I did it does take about 3 days, and it worked.

What I did was to let my daughters run around with no underwear, pants, or pull-ups on (bare bottom). Then you have to watch them like a hawk - when you notice the slightest sign that they might have to go, run them to the potty. Expect lots of accidents at first. But just remember, every time they go pee-pee on their feet, it is a learning experience for them. They will think, "OH! So THAT's what happens when I get that feeling!" So at that point you just calmly clean up the accident and tell them, "Ok, next time you feel like you have to go pee-pee, RUN to the potty!" For most of the first day, you will be thinking to yourself, "This process is just crazy, I'm going back to diapers." But don't do it! Stick to the plan and within 2 days, you will see results. By the third day, your little one will be making it to the potty more often than not. After that it will take a few more weeks of you having to remind them before you leave the house, etc, and if they go to preschool you'll need to pack extra clothes just in case, but after a month they will be reliably potty trained.

So that's daytime training. Night time, you'll probably need diapers for a while yet. My older daughter had to wear pull-ups at night until she was 4.5! (She's a very sound sleeper.) My younger one is going to be 3 in June and she stays dry 4 out of 7 nights, so we still keep her in pull-ups at night.

Anyhow, good luck with potty training! It's a big pain but soooo worth it in the end!