Potty Training????

I trained my 3 year old boy in less than a day after trying many methods. My goal was to stop having 2 children in diapers (my daughter was 1 yr. at the time...sounds familiar). Answer: "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day", book by Arzan & Fox. Amazon has it. I followed it to a 'T' and it worked. In fact, so well that I trained my daughter at 23 months! But, you must do it exactly like the book advises. Basically, they have you use multiple motivational methods at the same time WHILE making staying in a messy diaper worse than going potty. If there is no discomfort (especialy with todays super absorbant diapers & pull ups), then why should a child be motivated to change? A child being 'ready' is not a factor for this method. It is about you taking control and motivating at their developmental level. Good Luck!

My oldest didn't potty train until about a month after he turned 3, and then it didn't take any time at all, but we had a lot of frustration until I decided to leave it alone until he was ready. Also, with a baby sibling due in just a couple of weeks, it would probably be best to wait a little while anyway, as she would likely regress with the baby's arrival anyway. I remember a period after my 2nd was born that I had to change my oldest's diaper EVERYTIME I changed the baby's, regardless of whether he needed it or not! Also, my 2nd was potty trained when my 3rd arrived (and had been for several months), and there were definitely times that I wished she were still in diapers rather than potty trained--it would have been so much easier, especially when we were out and about or when I was nursing, if I didn't have to pick everything up and rush her to the bathroom before an accident. I don't know how many times she has yelled for help on the potty just as I got the baby latched on and happy. Having 2 in diapers isn't that bad, really! :) Anyway, my best advice for potty training is not to stress about it and to wait until the kid is absolutely ready. When the kid is ready, potty training is super easy, but it can cause a lot of frustration for both parent and kid when he/she isn't, and I just don't know that it is worth that frustration to push it. Best of luck to you.

Hello, I'm a mom of two little girls (3yrs and 16 mos). We went through potty training for a very long time with my 3 yr old. She started training early at about 18 mos becasue she was asking all the time to be on the tiolet, so we thought great, we will get her trained young. However she would do great and then any change (new baby, vacations, visitors, etc.) would set her right back to not going & having accidents. Finally, about two months before she turned three, I said o.k. enough of this back and forth and I told her anytime we were at home she had to wear her panties, not pull ups. Once I did that she only had one accident and was going on the tiolet everytime. She loves Dora, so we got her Dora panties and told her she didn't want to get Dora wet and she has done GREAT ever since! She turned 3yrs the beginning of May and is fully trained. We still use a pull up at night, just in case but always panties during the day. Hope that helps, I know how long the road can be and especially when the new baby arrives it can be challanging but stick with it and when she's ready it will happen quickly. And congratulations on your new little one on the way!!
M. - www.FollowingOurDreams.com

Hi C., I kind of went through the same thing. The only thing I can tell you is be patient! It sounds like your little one is not quite ready to be potty trained. If you push the issue (like I did) when your new baby is born you can have it even tougher. My daughter now 6 regressed when her baby brother was born. My children are 2yrs 3 weeks apart. I found myself crying because I thought she was pretty much trained and she kept having accidents everyday. Having T. kids on diapers is tough. All you can do is incourage her and tell her," big girls use potty chair."

Good luck,
Elisa

We went through 2 moves within a year of each other when my son was 3 and 4. He was almost completely trained before then, but after the moves we had to start all over again. Don't underestimate what a trauma a move can be on a child of any age. Mine also stopped eating almost all his favorite foods, and became very thin. Eating and pottying were two things HE could control, and he did. He's now 7 and just starting to be advenurous and try new foods again. And remember, having a new sibling in the household will also be a "traumatic" event even though it will be an exciting and happy one!

2 is a little soon to be potty training, although some kids do. Don't force the issue - and rest assured that she will eventually! II think you should just resign yourself to the fact that you will have 2 kids in diapers for awhile. I did with my kids. They were 27 months apart - all 4 of them - and I always had 2 in diapers for awhile. One thing my mom told me when I was frustrated with potty training - "They won't wet their pants forever!"

I also have a 2 yo (and a 5 1/2 mo old). I had decided to potty train before our son arrived and it just never worked. After he joined our happy family, I just decided to do it...I woke up one morning and told my daughter..."today is panty-day" and made a huge deal about it with lots of excitement. I put her in panties and have not gone back. She started out having 2-3 accidents a day, but HATED the feeling of wetting her panties. It really worked well for us. The only exception to panties that we make is during bed-time as we don't feel she's ready to make it through the night yet.

Kids often show great progress then revert. I am afraid there is nothing you can do to make her potty train. I seriously would save yourself a lot of grief and leave it along. I am really upset at my son, it is just so inconvenient and he can bring me a diaper and tell me he is "poopy" so why can't he get on the stinking toilet?" OK that said, I know that kids will decide on their own when they are ready and any "program" or reward system may not do it until they are ready. I used m&ms as an incentive or mini marshmallows...worked for my first daughter at two (barely) but my other daughter was 3 1/2 and my son is almost three and has no interest. Just find other things to stress about and leave the training to her!

When she is ready it will happen almost overnight! My daughter will be 3 May 29th and on May 5th she started training and by the 15th she was trained! We used the timer set it for 15 minutes and told her it was time for her to sit on her potty. (We didn't ask or the answer would have been no every time!) We let her have the potty chair in the living room where all the activity is at- so she didn't put up a fight. Now she just goes potty when she needs to. I still ask her from time to time if things get busy. Also, when she was 2 she was training and then she regressed b/c we moved back to Houston. I also found out baby #2 was on the way. I wanted her trained by the time my son was born but that was not going to happen. My son is 5 months old and I think my daughter finally decided diapers were for babies. Bella will train when she is ready. Good Luck & congrats on your son!

Sounds like alot of change is going on in your Bella's life. Just take it slow. Try keeping her diaper off - it makes my 2 year tell me more often when she needs to go potty. Read lots of potty books together.

Good luck.

I recently potty trained my 2year 4 mo. old little girl. What worked for me, was sitting her on the potty every 30 minutes. If she went - fantastic! If not, then we tried again in 30 minutes. We did that for about two days, and then went to every hour. On the fourth day she was telling my when she had to go. Oh - don't forget the rewards when they go those first few days. Stamps, and stickers did not work for me. I had to use candy - sugar free of course. And on the second day of doing really well, I went out and bought her a bunch of bubbles and told her that it was because she was doing to well going pee pee in the potty. Another little trick I used, was taking the potty chair with me - like when we went to the park. Good Luck!!

K.

Hi C.,

It sounds like she is on track. After they get the idea, it takes them a while to get the hang of it. Moving from Germany probably did throw her off and she may sense your urgency even though she might not realize why. Sometimes when we stress about something, they react. I had my second when my first was 2yrs and 4months and I have to warn you that the birth of the second child set us back alot with potty training the first. This might not happen to you, but you may see a regression and a desire to be back in pampers. In fact, for your own sanity you might want to just stick with pullups for the first few weeks while you adjust to being a mom of two.

Hi, C.! I hope you're liking it here!

My suggestions are these: take her with you when you go to the bathroom. Every time she goes in the potty, praise her. Don't say anything if she has an accident, 'cause really it's okay. Read her books about going potty, and let her potty train a favorite doll or stuffed animal. My daughter even got her favorite bear a pair of underwear, and she had to "help teach Aura" to keep her panties dry!

My son didn't potty train until after his third birthday, but when he decided, he decided, and it didn't take long at all!

I wish you luck!

One thing that we did with my daughter was she likes Dora and I just bought her underwear or panties and she put them on and she doesn't like to get Dora wet. And that helped alot and taking her to the bathroom with myself is a good example so she understands it all asked her to flush the toilet so maybe she would potty so she could flush it for herself?

yes i wrote a remark on may 6th and recieved a fkower for it go to the aschives i think it will help you also
laneiie

C. G.,

Do you sit her on the potty for longer than 30 seconds? Does she wear pull-ups? Remember, pull-ups have the same feel as a diaper so it will probably take her longer. I bought my kids panties/underwear and those plastic things that go over the underwear when I did my training. They would peepee in their undies and have the nerve to tell me that they were wet. So I told them, if they could tell me when they were wet, they could tell me they had to go to the potty. Most of the time they would forget or just wasn't quite sure when it was time to go to the potty, because they were so use to doing it in the diaper. So I would ask them about every 10 minutes until I got on their nerves and finally, they got the message. Even when they said "no", I would sit them on the potty anyway. I would tell them to just try. It's gonna take some time, but 3 years old, I feel, is just ridiculous. Especially, if you're at home all day with her, that's more than enough time. She should've been potty trained at 2, or even 1 1/2. I'm a single working mom with three kids and my youngest daughter and son were both potty trained at 2. My oldest would go to peepee in the potty, but not poopoo. So, I would have to put a diaper on her just so she would poopoo and she would go and hide to do that. But I guarantee, she was fully trained by 2 1/2. Diapers were expensive then and still are. To me that's a waste of money, especially if the child understands well and can verbally articulate to you. Just try sitting her on the potty every couple hours for about 1 or 1 1/2 minutes. But always ask her if she has to and if she says no, put her on it anyway. Also, you can show her by letting her see you. That is another thing I did. Put her pot right beside yours or in front and when you go, have her go, too.

oh, the potty training woes! My daughter will be 4 this week but was not potty trained until a week or so before she turned 3. My mom and grandma keep her while i work so we decided to start trying to potty train around 2 yrs old. She got the concept and would go sometimes but she is such a strong willed little girl, if it was not her idea then we could forget about it!! Since the majority of the training fell on my mom and grandma, finally I just told them to let it go for a while and not even mention it. I was not too concerned, i figured she will do it on her own and as long as she is not wearing diapers in kindergarden, she will be just fine! The only time I thought I might be doing something wrong was when people(strangers, not friends) would ask if she was potty trained and why not, I basically told them it was not an issue and she was right on track! Anyway, one day I picked her up from my moms and did not notice she had on panties instead of a diaper because we live around the corner and she put her in the car for me. She wanted to play with our neighbor so they played while I went inside to start dinner. When I went out to get her, I scooped her up again and said, wow you are wearing big girl panties, i am so proud! Then my neighbor started laughing and said that she wanted to go potty when she took her little girl who is a year younger so she took them both and they both went and then she gave them a milk dud for doing great and my daughter has never worn a diaper since or had an accident! that was the easiest potty training yet so from now on I tell my friend & neighbor, if I ever have any more children that needed potty training, i would send them to her potty training boot camp! I guess the moral of this story is to not stress out about it especially with the new baby and she will be just fine! She will probably want to be like her baby brother with the diapers and such so maybe just humor her and she will get over it and be ready to be a big girl again. Diapering 2 is a pain but cleaning up accidents at home or out in about is much more trouble with a brand new one in tow! Good luck and congrats on the new baby.

Dear Christina - I do think it had a lot to do with moving as the same thing happened with one of my children who amazed me by training herself by watching her brother - at the young age of 11 months. We moved and it was all the way back to the beginning.
Is your little girl on a bottle? If so, get rid of that first because the more they drink, the more they urinate so you will fight a losing battle. If not, try getting one of those musical reward potties or reward her yourself every time she goes with a nice piece of fruit or something else that she enjoys. Good luck, I hope you manage it before the baby comes but don't be surprised if there is even more trangression after the baby arrives. Don't worry about it....you could even leave it until she is older altogether if that's what your instincts tell you.

Dont worry I have a two year old too and am also expecting my third in a couple of weeks.. Honestly it is hit and miss, I have a fun song that I sing to her everytime she goes and she loves that, I just try and make it fun and light hearted, she seems to respond. I have also lowered my expectation of this situation... and its okay not to have her trained by the time the new baby comes, chances are that she will rebel when your son arrives anyway.
I hope everythings works out for you.
M.

Hi C.,
I found potty training to be a biggy and it is better to not rush too much. It may pay off to let it go for now and just say to her that you will do it when she is say three. When I potty trained my second child I put little boy undies on him every afternoon for a few hours and let him feel what it was like to be p/t. Wheh he was successful on the toilet he got a treat. He loved it. He was trained really fast. The important fact I think was telling him that when he turned 3 he would do toilet training. Then as it got nearer his birthday I would remind him that it was nearly his birthday, but I did not keep telling him that we would be doing the toilet training. He was toilet trained in one day! I was amazed. He rarely had an accident.
While you have so much going on now diapers are probably easier. 2 years and 9 months is still really young, most kids are more prepared a little older than that.

Best of luck and have a happy birth.
Love,

W.

Well, everything I have read on the subject says to back off when there is a big event so close, such as moving and having a new sibling. They say to either do it 6 weeks in advance or six weeks after the big event. And remember it is ok if they are not potty trained by the time they are three. It took us until our son was 4 for him to be completely potty trained, and our daughter who will be 3 in September is not potty trained either. You also need to take the cues from your child as well. Oh, and if they have had talking issues it can take longer as well.(That is part of why my children take a while. My sone did not talk much until he was three and it looks like my daughter is going to be doing it even later!) Good luck on the new baby and your potty training adventure. And welcome to the US!:)

let her sit on the potty every few hours and keep her diaper off in the day times. sit on the potty yourself and let her see you
do something in the potty and show her and she will follow.

If u can not do it let some one else do it for u

Hello there
I was reading a few of the entrys you have already received and I agree with the ones who say don't rush. My two are exactly 2 years apart and right before my son was born my daughter decided she wanted to potty train. It is no fun dealing with the accidents, the emergencys, and all the fun stuff that goes with it when you have a newborn. I would have not encouraged it. We also moved right after he was born so it was alot of change and I think I was expecting her to just get it and she did physically but emotionally it took alot longer. They can learn really fast to use it as menipulation if they feel neglected and that is no fun. So I really agree with the post that said give her a set time like her birthday, that way she can be mentally prepared and even excited for it, and if its three months away that will give her time to adjust to changes that happen with a baby. Good luck, you are at a challenging but very rewarding stage and it just flys bye!

I am due in September and have a 2 1/2 year old boy. I wanted to try to potty train so that I only had one child in diapers. We've been talking about bodily functions for a long time and including a spot on the potty before bath time every time. About mid April I told my boy that it was time for him to start using the potty and that babies, like the one in mommy's tummy, use diapers. On the advice of a mom of twin four year old boys, I kinda went "cold turkey". When we were home, he was either pants-less or in underpants. If we went out, I brought changes of clothing everywhere. We had a few accidents here and there, but it only took 2 weeks to get him pee pee potty trained.

#1-we used the incentive that if his chart filled 3 full days with stickers, he could have a pinata.
#2-the inconvenience of having to leave an activity to fully change clothes and get cleaned up was another incentive.

We still have trouble with poo. But we're working on it. Good Luck.

welcome to America, and to Texas. at this point, i would put off potty training. i know it seems late, but she has had a huge transition, and is facing another one with your upcoming birth. even if you are successful in potty training before the birth, it is very likely that she will revert back to wetting her pants after your child is born. you can try the "big girls potty in the potty, and you need to be a big girl now because you're going to have a baby brother" but it may or may not work. or it may work some of the time. good luck with everything, and God bless your new baby.