Potty Training - Folsom,CA

This article was the one that really got us motivated and worked really well for us. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/category?blogi...

Hi J..

You've gotten lots of advice already, but I thought I'd add our story.

My son is almost 4 now, but he potty trained a month after his second birthday. There were lots of signs he was ready though, not the least of which was that he just didn't want to go in a diaper anymore (he would take it off and pee on the floor, yuck).

Anyway. I picked a weekend where we didn't have any plans, took off his diaper (and pants) and he stayed that way all weekend. Had a potty chair in the living room and he used that. He went to "school" monday in underwear (with a couple changes of clothes) and we never looked back. he continued sleeping in a diaper (or pullup) for about another month (although he was waking up dry through most of it, I just wasn't ready to be changing sheets). We used a sticker chart for "dry days" and he loved it.

My advice would be that when you're ready to do it, really do it. If you don't think he's ready to go all in (ie wear underwear) then don't start the actual "training," instead, give him time to get into the idea of using the toilet but don't push it untill you're ready to really take the plunge.

Hope this helps,
T.

I potty trained my son at 22 months using the naked from the waist down and it worked!!! I committed to staying home with him and just focused on him - praising him when he did it. When he would start peeing on the floor I would quickly and calmly tell him pee pee goes in the potty while walking him to the potty.
The first couple of days I had the potty right in the kitchen/living room area and stayed all day in that area and as he learned I would move his training potty closer to the bathroom each day until it was in the bathroom. By the 3rd day he was pooping and peeing on his own in his little potty. By the 8th day he could wear underwear and not have an accident. On the 6th day I put him in underwear and he would just pee right in them so I knew he was still relating it to a diaper so i did 2 more days of naked from the waist down and he got it by the 8th day!!!

Hope this helps and good luck. The key is you being patient and letting your son see how calm and relaxed you are!!
Sara

I potty trained both of my kids using the "naked and $60" method. Before you launch into this, make sure YOU are ready. You can't give up on your child halfway through.

Ok, so here's what you do. Tell your son that tomorrow he's going to start using the potty for all his pee-pee and poo-poo, and you are throwing away all the diapers (and let him see you do it). Then, tomorrow morning when he wakes up, take off his diaper and have him run around naked from the waist down. If you even suspect that he MIGHT have to go potty, run him to the bathroom and sit him on the toilet. This will require you to focus on him all day long, and he will make mistakes, and so will you. But that's ok, if he pees on himself, just clean it up without making a big deal and tell him, "Next time you'll make it to the potty!" and be sure he does. When he goes in the potty, praise him and tell him how proud you are that he is becoming a big kid!

Will he resist? Sure! He's spent his whole life peeing in a diaper. Peeing in the toilet will seem weird to him, but just keep at it and whatever you do, don't back down on this or potty training will be a long, long road for you both. You may want to have both a potty chair and a potty seat that goes on the big toilet - different kids prefer different things. Best to have both available. I've found that it takes about 3 days to potty train a child using this method. In general I don't believe in giving anything but honest praise in return for a child using the potty. This is really all about them growing up and learning a new skill. I didn't give my kids candy or stickers for learning to ride a bike or tie their shoes, all I've ever given them is praise, hugs and kisses for these things. After all, it's not like they really had a CHOICE about learning to use the potty, right? We all have to do it! It's not that big of a deal, and once it's done, it's done and you'll never have to think about it again.

Ok, so that was the "naked" part. The $60 is to rent a carpet cleaning machine when you're done with potty training, so you can get the pee-pee out of your carpet. =)

Be sure he is really ready - 2 is pretty young. Make it relaxed
- no pressure/ battles. I used cherrios in the toilet for my son to aim at - it was great fun.

I highly recommend www.3daypottytraining.com. It works like a charm!

Look up 3 Day Potty Training and buy their method - it's excellent!!!

Hey J.,

We're in the process of potty training our little girl, and we've received so many recommendations. One was just spending the weekend, starting friday with them wearing underwear, and letting them soil themselves. We tried that, but i think grew impatient unfortunately. Rewards are always good. When Mia goes in the toilet she gets a stamp and a sticker. When we started we would usually put Mia on the toilet about 20 minutes after she ate, and just let her sit there for a while. We would read books to her, so we can keep her attention.

We now have her at a point where she'll tell us she has to go #2, but we're still working at #1. We have her in pull-ups, and we take her to the potty just about every hour, and if we go anywhere our first and last stop is usually the potty.

Good luck,

J.

Probably the most important thing is that the child is ready. If he is ready, it will be fast, and painless. If he's not, it will be very stressful. I would make sure he is really ready before you put either of you through it. Some kids are ready at 2, some aren't. I could always tell my kids were ready when their diaper would be dry for a really long time - showing they could physically "hold" it. Or if they wake up dry from naps or in the morning. Once you know they are ready, it is just a matter of putting them on the potty every 30 minutes or so to have them go. This might mean spending a week at home, not running around. You need to be ready, too - because it is way more work on your part than his! I am lucky - I have 4 kids, and they all trained really easily.

we're training our 2 yr old now. only advise is be patient. we tried a little while back because daycare wanted to have her potty trained and she just wasn't ready. when she goes, we make a big deal out of it, clapping and cheering, and after she wipes, gets a new pull up on and washes her hands, she gets an m&m. that really motivated her for a while. she had dry diapers for 3 or 4 days, but the novelty wore off and now i have to remind her and ask often. good luck!

HI J.,
One of our kids was very easy to potty train and the other was not. I think personality plays a role in it, but also whether the child is ready. If he is ready, it won't be terribly hard, but if he isn't I would only start by gently try to encourage the idea with books and videos. A few good book are " A Potty For Me", and " Once Upon a Potty"

Our very independently minded daughter was able to go on the potty long before she would do it. We didn't pressure her. The Elmo "Potty Time" video was recommended to us and we watched that with her and talked about what was going on while it was on. We made a HUGE deal out of it EVERY time she went on the potty. Cheering, hugging, telling her how proud we were of her. We would ask her often if she had to go potty and if she said no we didn't force it. If she had an accident we didn't make a big deal of it. The positive reinforcement worked for us.

As far as the pooping part... we took her out of pull-ups or diapers except for nap and bedtime. She didn't like pooping in her underwear at all. Somehow it feels much different in underwear than in pull-ups. Two accidents and that was it.

Some kids master the peeing part, but then continue to want to use a pull-up or diaper to poop in even though they know when they have to go. After your son gets the hang of it a bit and you want to get rid of diapers all together, you could prepare him for the day that little boys don't wear diapers anymore. Set a date for yourself and let him know that it's coming and have a sort of special big boy day.

Positive encouragement works better than shaming or punitive methods. I think we put too much pressure on kids to potty train. They are all different and some take longer than others.

Also for boys, cheerios in the toilet work well for aiming if he's learning standing. Or talking about "making bubbles." We taught our son to pee sitting down first, and he decided he wanted to pee standing up a little later.

Good luck!!

I found that boys are a little more difficult to "train". That being said, I think a NO PRESSURE method works the best. Both my second and third children (one boy, one girl) trained very quickly and easily because I told them I didn't care if they did or didn't. The girl trained just after her 2nd birthday (in just a couple of days), the boy a few months after turning two (it took him about a week).

I just told them if they want to, they can. Told them how, showed them, etc. With my first, he knew it was us (the parents) who wanted him to "train" and he resisted A LOT and it took months longer!

I also found it helpful to begin reading them books about using the potty about 6 months BEFORE you think you want to train them.

Good luck.

I highly recommend the book, "Toilet Training in Less than a Day". It really works!