Potty Training - Newport, NC

Hi M.,

I think every child is different with potty training and boys and girls aren't that different from each other. I thought my daughter was easier because she could watch me go and imitate. My daughter was almost 4 before she was fully potty-trained, but we never had an accident after that, either. As for public bathrooms.... I always wiped the seat first and used the paper seat cover if they had them. Actually, the toilet seat is the cleanest part of a public restroom because no one wants to touch it! The sink water handles and the door handles have the most germs. We just sit on some toilet paper if that's all they have. My mother-in-law, a neat freak, actually carried a sample size lysol to clean the seat before sitting. A little extreme, but she knew the seat was clean! You're biggest problem is that she'll probably want to pee standing up like her brothers! Good luck. L.

My two girls were trained round 1 yr of age. My little boy was 3 1/2. I have always heard that girls are easier than boys. My grandma had 5 boys and 1 girl. She said she would rather train 20 girls then 1 boy. Maybe since she is the "baby" she is playing up the role. Give her incentive by introducing her to the potty and some character undies. She may grow some interest if she sees these things. Just let her know that only big girls that dont pee their pants get to wear cinderella and that cinderella will go to someone elses house if she is peed on too many times. It worked for my son and "green man" incredible hulk.
As for public restrooms. I am never comfortable with them but we travel state to state a lot. My youngest daughter is still horrified thanks to Walmarts starting the automatic flushing toliets. She is afraid of being flushed. As far as diseases...honestly unless you see urine, poo or blood you are safe taking a wet paper towel to clean the seat or baby wipes are better and then drying with a paper towel. There are some very clean public restrooms and some very nasty. With my 4 kids I have learned which are which.

Girls are usually actually EASIER to train than boys. (Having 2 boys learning together -- at once -- probably weighed in your favor, on that count!) Just put a piece of toilet paper on one side of public toilets & let her sit to that side facing the wall, & the large handicapped stalls even have a handrail she can hold on to. (We even had our boys to sit to pee as does their dad when he's here at home -- and I appreciate it SOOO much. NEVER a 'tinkle sprinkle' on the seat nor the ring left up!)

Anyway, just put her on her potty when you 'go', and praise every success! And, no, 2 isn't too early. All 4 of ours were thoroughly trained by their 2nd birthday. The boys both wet the bed a few times thereafter, but not the girls. (They're now 20-31 & we have 3 little 'Grands').

I have a 5 yr old daughter and 2 1/2 yr old son. My daughter self potty trained (I think because of seeing the kids do it in daycare) at 26 months. But she was showing signs of being ready - telling me she was wet or removing her diaper. I was not in a hurry with her and never forced her or show that I was upset when she was training. I started to put her on the potty at about 18 months - she liked to copy me.

My son trained at 2 1/2. He was ready, but I was not! He is my last child. I just decided to put my mind to it and he was potty trained in a week.

I keep a potty chair in my car in case he has to go when there are no bathrooms around. Plus, I have public restrooms.

For my daughter, I have her put tiolet paper down on the seat or the liners.

My 92yr.old grandmothers'advice...(She had my daughter potty trained by 18 months old)
You should introduce a potty to a child BEFORE they can even walk...Place the child on the potty with clothes on or naked or with a diaper,then let them sit on the potty and read to them.(place the child on the potty,first thing in the morning,after eating and drinking,after a nap,before and/or after a bath.) This way you introduce the potty early so they are not scared of it or they will be scared of the potty and will not train until they are 4 years old.
I have a potty that sits on the floor..I've heard that if they sit on the adult commode with thier feet dangling,that their legs/feet will fall asleep and when they stand up,the legs will feel weird..So if they are on the adult potty,use a potty seat ring with a step stool under their feet for support.Also,I travel with a small potty in my truck (with toilet paper,wipes,
new underwear,hand sanitizer,etc.)so that if she needs to go in a public place like Walmart,we can go out to the truck,instead of going to those germ-infested bathrooms.(She says "Mom,I have to pee,I need to go in the truck.")
Also,especially in the warmer months or if you have hard wood floors,let the child pick out her favorite panties and put them on her and when she has an accident,she will realize that the underwear is not absorbent and they will not like that feeling.If she has an accident,DO NOT make a big deal out if it,just say "you had an accident,that's o.K.",then get a clean pair of panties back on her. Our daughter wanted to pee in the big potty with seat,then wanted to wear a pull up to stinky,so we told her that she had to stand in the bathroom(not wherever she wanted to)so that she would acclimate stinkying with the bathroom. After insisting on standing in the bathroom,she eventually would just climb up on the adult potty with ring and go by herself.
Good Luck! (P.S. Girls DO train faster than boys.)
(Mom of 1 daughter,age 3 1/2) I am so thankful for my grandmothers' advice about raising children.She is a GENIUS!!

We have 4 and one of my girls was trained in a week and one of my boys. The other two a girl and a boy took forever. And both of those two have ADD/ADHD.
If she is around 2 I would start putting her in the potty at intervals during the day. Definitely put her on right before bath and bedtime. If she is dry at night and tells you she is wet she is ready.
I never had any issues with public toilets, my kids never got any diseases because of them. Just make sure she washes her hands after using the toilet.
I would, however, watch the instant flush kind. We had one flush on my daughter when she was 2 ish, she freaked out if it was an insta flush. I would hold my hand over the sensor until she was almost 6 years old.

first off 2 is kinda early but not imposable. second is SHE showing any signs staying dry all night staying dry longer periods of time, and letting you know when she has a dirty diaper? if so then start working on it if shes not showing signs then you just arnt going to get her trained no matter what you do! good luck as for public bathrooms dont worry about it. they are cleaned more often then the ones in our homes unless you are a clean freak and clean the toilets everyday....

When my daughter was around 2 we started potty training her. Actually, she may have been 2 and half because I like to train them during the spring and summer because they practically run around naked! LOL! Anyway, what I would do is just put underware on her and that's all (and a shirt, of course) and take her every 30 minutes to the little potty. She like the little potty, while my boys would rather have the seats that sit on the regular commode. My daughter trained quicker than the boys because when she would wet, it would run down her leg and she didn't like that. The boys for some reason didn't mind the running down the leg part and it took them longer. I would actually take them outside and let them pick a tree to water and that's how I trained the boys! LOL!!

Anyway, for public restrooms, you can buy a seat that folds and fits in your purse or diaper bag, but to me that was just nastier because I needed to wash it. Target and Wal-mart have these little paper seat covers that work better because they flush when done. They are in the travel size sections. Also, you can buy little cans of Lysol and carry those with you to spray the seats down before you put the cover down. To this day, and my daughter is 11, my husband has a tough time taking her into the men's rooms because they are so nasty. Sometimes, my husband will stand outside the women's restroom and listen very closely and make sure no one goes in while he is waiting. We just don't let our kids go to the bathrooms by themselves and when the boys are with me they have to go into the women's with me. We had an 8 year old boy in the Charlotte area who was molested in the men's bathroom at a Walmart. The man climbed under the stall when it was locked!!! So be very careful when allowing them access by themselves.

Boys would be the late trainers usually! Little girls are pretty much easy and at her age I'm surprised she hasn't started the process herself! I used a timer for my little girl. Set it for every 35 minutes, put her on the potty for a few minutes, sometimes she went, sometimes she didn't. I also got her the Muppets Baby Miss Piggy book "No More Diapers" and Bear in the Big Blue House potty time DVD. This combo of things had her trained in like 2 weeks. She does have a little potty seat for the big toilet though and a little step to get up there on her own.
As for public restrooms, I ALWAYS carry a "on the go" pack of wipes. I wipe the entire seat off and line it with toilet liners or toilet paper. She has no problem waiting for this to be done. I also have her hold onto my arm while on the potty instead of the seat. Scour her hands afterwords and we're done! Good luck!!

The book Toilet Training in Less Than a Day worked like a charm on my 27-month-old son (after about 6 months of me trying before finding the book). Don't let anyone tell you she's "not ready" yet. Those are the same folks with four-year-olds in diapers still - that is gross, and an insult to the kid's intelligence. The book should work just as well on a girl. You can find it on amazon. Some people are put off by it because part of the training is teaching the kid that going in their pants is gross and unacceptable. Again, those are the people whose "genius" children are so trained to go in their pants, that it really is a chore to re-train them to go in the toilet so they can start kindergarten.

There are little toilet inserts that you can buy (one is collapsible that can fold up and go in a bag in your purse) to put on a public toilet, so her bottom would only be on that. They feel a little unstable (the collapsible kind) so my kids were afraid they'd fall in. There's the padded kind meant for home use (with elmo on it) that could also be put in a bag in your large purse, and wouldn't feel so shaky.

60 years ago, virtually all kids were potty trained by age two, or soon there after. Parents expected it of their kids, and just did it. That book tells you how to know she's ready, which is simple. You do have to follow all the steps for it to work. They tested the method in a research setting, and had 100% success as long as both parents were on board (hard to imagine that a parent wouldn't be all for it, but those are the same sorts referenced above). In preparation for training her with that method, you could be teaching her the difference between wet and dry, and teach her how to pull her pants up and down, and stock up on panties that she helps you pick out (loose fitting, that she can get up and down), and since she is so small, a little potty seat that she can empty herself. If you are short on time for reading the book, you can skip the first three chapters (they talk about the research methods and such). The training starts with chapter 4. The method teaches them to go to the bathroom independently, without your help. People were amazed when we'd go to their home, and my little tiny guy would get up and go to the bathroom by himself, without asking for help or anything, and finish with washing his hands and everything (if they had a stool in there). It's well worth the effort of one day. Good luck!

Hi M., you could get a potty chair now and let her play/explore with it. Let her sit on it with her clothes on for a while then when you feel she's comfortable with it, let her sit on it without her clothes. If she shows signs of interest in the potty, you can try to put her on it now. Don't force of course, you probably know that with your two boys. I started with the potty chair with both of my girls. My oldest used the potty chair until she was pee pee trained it two weeks, then I moved her to the big potty. My youngest never liked the potty chair so we put her on the big potty. I got a seat adapter for kids to go on the big potty. I keep one in the car when we go out into stores. I try not to forget it. You might want to do that. Buy 2 seat adapters one for home and one for when you go in public or even when you visit friends or family. That way in public she's protected, you don't have to worry about germs and she won't be scared that she's going to fall in. I hope this helps. Good luck! J. A. P.S. I'm not sure if it takes girls longer to potty train than boys. My oldest was potty trained completely by the time she was 3 yrs. and 4 months old. My youngest is 3 yrs. and 2 months and she's not even close to being potty trained at all. It depends on the child.

Try www.thepottytrainer.com I found this and downloaded it and it was great. My daughter was trained in 3 days! My son is 2 1/2 and still won't even get near a potty.

I too am "afraid" of public restrooms. They gross me out, but I use the seat covers and you can get them at Amazon.com or Babies R Us. I also don't go anywhere with my antibacterial wipes. It's not disease I am worried about.......some people are just nasty.

Good Luck!

M., I have always heard that girls are easier to potty train than boys. I believe it because my son was almost 4 before he would poop in the potty!! (He would pee at 2 1/2) Anyway, start with her as soon as she can tell you that she is wet or stinky. If she asks for her diaper to be changed, then she is ready. As far as the public restrooms are concerned, you can wipe off the potty with an antibacterial wipe and dry it with toilet paper and then put her on the potty. I kept one of those travel size Lysol wipes in my bag. It is not really necessary but it made me feel better. I have seen studies that show that public toilet seats are not nearly as dirty as you would think. But, since the public toilets are raised higher than the ones in our homes, you should stay with her while she is using it.
Best wishes to you!! Have a very Merry Christmas!

Hi Marie,

I only had girls so I have nothing to compare it with but I was told that girls usually train quicker than boys. Personally both my girls did everything exactly the opposite of each other anyway, lol.

I ALWAYS put toilet paper under my little girls bottoms on public toilets. If you've ever done any research on what's on them you'll understand why. I now carry a small bottle of natural disinfectant (kills staph, strep and HIV1 on contact) in my purse because paper doesn't always stay in place.

As far as timing, now is good a time as any. I just put mine on the potty when they woke up and waited until they went. A few "yay"s got them used to sitting there and they began telling me they wanted to sit on the potty. I'm sure there are specifics that might help more but I'm going to let you depend on the other moms for that! :)

God bless,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

I have gone back to school to get a BS in Nursing. One of my classes is on childhood development. In my book, there was a study that was conducted on potty training children. The study found that most parents believe their child should be completely potty trained by 2. In actuality, only 4% are. By 2 1/2, 22% are. By age 3 60% are, and by 3 1/2, 80% are.

I know this was a stressful topic in our house and it would have been helpful to know that it wasn't really such a dire situation that my kiddos weren't making it to the potty....

I have a little girl too (who is three and potty trained) and the stores sell this great portable (and foldable and cheap) potty seat that slips into your diaper bag. They also have packages of disposable seat covers. My strategy was also to make everyone go before we left the house and not to stay out too long... If she had to go, out came the disposable covers. Once we were at a fair and they had disgusting port-o-potties. I just braced her on my forearms so she could pee well above the mess... Kids are great for toning those arms :)

Good luck!

my son trained quicker than my daughter, I guess it just goes to prove all children are different. My 5 year old daughter was not completely trained until she was 3 1/2. My now 2 1/2 year old son is completely trained. About the public restroom thing, I'm not sure I have any great advice about public restrooms. They gross me out, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I think you can buy some toilet covers yourself, go to walmart.com and look up disposable toilet seat covers.

Girls usually train before boys. Start when she seems interested, like the boys. Public bathrooms don't scare me, so I don't really have any advice on that. You may have to hold her on the seat- my girls used to fall through! I taught them to hold onto the sides of the seat to prevent that. Just make sure she washes her hands (and you too) afterwards.