Hello everyone! I want to start talking to my 14 month old son about potty training. I want to know some appropriate names for number one and number two when we are out in public. Yes, I know he may be to young. He has started to get a diaper when he needs a diaper change. At first I thought he just wanted to play with it but I figured out that he wanted his diaper changed. When he was several month old we (my husband and I) would ask him if he had pooped his diaper and he would smile. We knew he had used it because we could smell it. So we tested him. When he had passed gas we asked him if he had pooped and he wouldn't smile. We still do that today and he smiles when he has pooped and doesn't smile when he has passed gas. So I figured if he is able to associate a smile with poop and no smile with gas then we could start telling him an appropriate name for number one and number two. My mom says that when I was young and being potty trained I used to publicly announce when I needed to use the restroom and she would get embarrassed and would have to take me to the nearest restroom. I just want to be ready incase he does that to me. I would really like to hear what names a lot you have used or are using to potty train your kids. Thank you in advance.
Peepee (2)
I have to go potty (5)
Excuse me (11)
BRB (13)
The lexicon changes with time, but any mom who's been there will reminisce, regardless of what they call it.
S.
I am SAHM to 2 little girls currently ages 6 years old and 3 years old. I worried too much about this & I so did not want to loudly hear my children proclaim to the whole of any store or restraunt that they needed to go POOP right now! I also had images of children saying potty words for fun...
In reality, when something is treated as perfectly normal and ho-hum children learn it and move on. Both my children say they have to "Go potty" which is general for anything. I went ahead and used "Pee" and "Poop" because that's what it is. Both of mine don't bat an eye when they say it.
Chances are though that no matter what you use-there will be a moment or at time when your child/children may embaress you. It's ok. It happens to all of us and when it does- all the other moms, grandmothers and the like with in hearing range simply smile to themselves knowinly and recall when it happened to them. Don't sweat the small stuff!
What you choose to call it isn't a big deal. Staying consistant in potty training IS. You'll learn that quickly enough though. Best think I can tell you on potty training is to move at your child's pace. Pursue it as an interest for now and don't push your child to do as you want them to. Also-it helps to find others who have potty trained the same gender and can give you tips since different genders react differently.
You are the mom-you know your child-so do what you feel is best no matter who tells you what. Blessings to you and yours!
Here's a question for you - WHY would you be embarrassed about your child needing to use the restroom? You do it, your husband does it, every person that could possibly be within earshot does it, and every mother within earshot will smile and laugh a little to herself remembering when it happened to her. There is no reason to be embarrassed. It is a fact of life. You eat, you poo. When he does announce himself, smile and say "Well let's go to the potty then!" if you want to get him potty trained, then you can't make him feel shameful for having to use the toilet, right?
I think restroom is more appropriate then other names I have heard. I just ask my kids if they have to go to the potty and they tell me me me me. I have two children in my day care that stay dry all day. I do not think it about what age to train. It is about what they get. If he shows and interest then by all means get to it. Some are really easy. My problems are the parents tell me at home they do not do it for them. I take them about every 45-1 hr. The round of diaper changing and potty breaks. Also watch when he eats and how long it takes for his body to go and gear your potty breaks around that. He takes water then give it 15 min and go potty. So forth. You may be the lucky ones. G. W
Maybe I'm completely uncouth and insensitive, but I've never worried about appropriate public words. We've always said peep and poop, at home and away. Or we'd ask something like "do you need to use the potty?"
Our daughters both showed some interest in the potty about 18 months of age. We just put potties in our bathrooms and allowed them to come with us when we went; we didn't make a big deal of it but we made them available. Our eldest was using the potty full-time at age 3 and the other at 2; and they did it all on their own, with no pressure or stress for any of us.
You'll find lots of cute potty themed books out there.
Kind of silly to think about now with my kids so much older, but we used to use Tee-Tee and Stinkies. My soon to be 13 year old would just die to hear me call it that in public now! :0)
Oh they grow up so fast!
My just turned three year old boys are actively potty training. It caused quite a giggle from several people the other day in Ritzy's restraunt in Grapevine when both of my boys came running back to our table after daddy had just taken them potty yelling "Mommy, I pee-peed on the potty!" LOL
To answer your question, they say, I need to potty or I need to pee-pee or poo-poo at home or in public.
I suggest you use whatever words you use at home. There is no need to be embarrassed, and you wouldn't want your child to be embarrassed about asking/going. Personally, I think the little cutesy names sound sillier than just asking to potty or poop or whatever... Good luck!
Right now you child is learning vocabulary that you are teaching him. If you say for instance poop and he understands that then use that word. It is not embarrassing to hear a child tell his/her mother I need to poop at such a young age. It becomes embarrassing when they are 3 or 4 year old when they have a larger vocabulary. As they become older use the phrase we use when excusing ourselves to use the restroom. Children are sponges and we are their only source of learning until they start school. Remember what they see at home and when you go out may have some instances when urgency takes over on their part. while they are learning the differences between urinating and deficating keep the words on their level. Using poop and tee-tee are very acceptable. Remember they sometimes wait until the last minute to tell you and panic and holler out Mama I need to tee-tee in public. I know from my experience with my three. I learned to schedule potty breaks for them when we were out and that helped. I would tell them okay we are going to the restroom now and we are all going to try to tee-tee. That helped me alot. I hope this helps you!
older mom,
J. Graham
Do not inquire if your child has to urinate or excrete. Ask him if he has to "potty" or use the "bathroom". Simple.
We started potty training our son at 14 months. He is good about letting us know he needs to go #2 but does not indicate if he needs to go #1. My sister works in a daycare and b/c he was so young and has such a limited vocabuly she recommened we use a word he can say. Well we tried to get him to say several different words and the one he could say was caca (spanish kiddo word for poop). It is not the prettiest word but he can say it. We still don't have a word he can say for pee. I say don't worry about what are appropriate words for now. He is so young just being able to communicate about the subject at all is a mirical. I was raised thinking caca was a gross word and was concened about what people would think if they heard it. Now I realize most people have no clue what he is saying and they just assume it is baby talk. Unless your child is perticularly articulate at 14 months I wouldn't worry about the word choice you use. As he gets older you can adjust to more appropriate terms but for now to be able to communicate effectively with each other about any subject at all is a miricle. Potty training at such a young age is great! I hope he sticks with it and so do you. Don't stress too much if it doesn't always work out though he is still very young and there will be set backs. That happens at any age though.
I am probably about at the same stage as you guys are... My daughter (15 months) is showing an interest and we have a potty for her. When she sits on it she makes "potty" sounds (my fault- I was trying to get her to try to use it and made the sounds that those things make and viola- she went- but now she thinks you make those sounds while you sit there)
I however find the embarrassment endearing. I saw the cutest child at Toys R Us getting a reward and he repeatedly annouced "I poopied in the potty" to everyone he passed. I didn't think that was anything but adorable.
I wouldn't worry about what "other people" think--after all, it's a normal bodily function that we all have; it's the way God made us. Just make it a simple "I need to go potty." If anyone is offended by that, then they are WAAAAY too easily offended, and it's their problem anyway. Learning to say it in an "inside" voice rather than shouting it to the rafters is something children need to learn about all conversation, not just about potty-time. Trust me, we Mommas sometimes get overly-embarrassed about things our kids do, and it's often not warranted. Most people are too self-absorbed to worry about what our children say when they need to use the restroom.
I think most people would appreciate the advanced way your child is already saying he has to go, and if he said in public he needed to go potty, it wouldn't be anything to be embarrased about., You could ask him to come tell you quitely, and not ANNOUNCE it, but otherwise, if you have to make a difference between #1 and #2, you can call it by # or say potty big, or little, but he may just need to say potty, and you can figure out by the time you get to the bath room which.
We call it "shooey". It comes from when he was a baby and I would change his dirty diapers, I would say boy that is shoooweee!! So it stuck. He tells me, "Mom, I need to go shooey in the potty". I think that sounds a little better!
