Potty Training - Frisco,TX

Updated on August 31, 2009
B.C. asks from Frisco, TX
15 answers

I was wondering if it is a bad idea to let my 2 1/2 year old son potty in the TV room, on his little potty, where his toys are? Or do we need to make him do it in the bathroom? He will sit on the potty for longer with his toy around. I bring a book into the bathroom and he will be intrested for just a few mins. He will sit on the potty in the TV room with his toys until he goes. We are going to do the four day training starting this weekend! I don't want to start bad habbits! I will give him rewards (a cookie and a sticker or something)and only allow him to watch his shows after he goes potty!

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K.S.

answers from Dallas on

I never let my little boy use the potty anywhere but the bathroom. I didn't want to creat a bad habit. I just brought toys & books in the bathroom to keep him occupied while in there. I only had to give rewards the first day for trying. After that, he went w/o a reward after he got used to sitting in there & I only gave rewards for actually peeing or poop. After he got good at peeing w/o accident I went to rewards for poop only b/c that took a little longer for him to tell me when he had to go. Good Luck!

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H.D.

answers from Dallas on

My sister allowed my niece to do that and it ended up being a nightmare. She wouldn't go anywhere accept in front of the TV. She wouldn't use any public restrooms or go at friend's houses. Plus there were a few "accidents" that occured in the tv room. My sister's carpet ended up getting soiled a couple of times. Everytime my sister would put the potty in the restroom if company was coming over she would drag it out into the living room. Maybe your experience would be different but it ended up being more trouble for her.

My pedi recommended using a reward system but something that can be used up. Candy is usually the most common. For example don't tell your son if he uses the potty he can have a toy because once he gets that toy there is no incentive to keep using the potty. If you use candy your son will eat it and it will be gone so in order to get more he'll have to use the potty. He might sit long enough in the bathroom to go if he knows at the end he's getting a treat. You eventually wean them off of it. Once he got good at peeing I only gave him candy for pooping. Then eventually I got rid of it all together. I hope this helps.

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U.A.

answers from Dallas on

we did the same thing and it did not create a bad habit. "what to expect the toddler years" book suggests putting potties in several rooms while training.

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E.C.

answers from Dallas on

As long as you are okay with a possible mess on the floor. I can't tell you how many times I was so thankful that our little girl went potty in the bathroom! Good luck.

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V.B.

answers from Dallas on

Absolutely no potty anywhere except in the bathroom, including privacy training and washing hands after every use. You can have books or a toy in there and thus, you are teaching manners and proper behavior at the same time. He will soon learn to do it where everyone else is doing it-public and private. Why reward with food or anything for a normal function???? But if he stands to potty on a step stool or your feet or whatever, putting a cherrio in the bowl helps with aiming, etc.

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T.B.

answers from Dallas on

I trained all 4 of ours like that. They went bare bottom and whatever room they were in I brought the potty and put it on a towel. After 4 days they knew when they had to go and we then moved thier little potty into the bathroom. If they're ready to train, then it should go really fast. We have both boys and girls, so it worked for both sexes. I didn't have any rules as to having to use the potty before watching a show or getting a snack, we just went about our regular daily routine and praised alot for the first week. We also never used pull-ups, we went for it all the way. We only one had an accident and it was my fault. Good luck!

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M.C.

answers from Dallas on

I had a situation like Kat's below. I had a little potty in the playroom, in front of the train table and TV. I had bigger potty in his bathroom. I had a seat reducer in my bathroom. So, he had several to choose from. This started when he was 27 mon. When he got trained and he got too big to go on the little potty, I got him to use his bigger potty in his bathroom and took away the little potty in the playroom. We had an Elmo potty training book that showed Elmo dropping his toys and running to the the bathroom when it was time. So, that's what we try to mimic.

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T.M.

answers from Dallas on

Not at all! We were at our whitt's end and had tried everything. Finally we put the potty infront of the tv and got him so potty toys (that he loved) and told him he could only play with them when he was on the potty. AND IT WORKED!!! It's been two months and my 3.5y/o is finally potty trained!

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M.A.

answers from Dallas on

My suggestion is to move the toys into the bathroom instead of using the potty in the playroom. Better to be safe than sorry. You can much more easily remove the toys from the bathroom gradually. And even if he gets spoiled to having the toys in the bathroom in order to go potty, who cares! Let him. I would go for cancy as a reward instead of tv show or a special toy. If you just refuse to give your kid candy, give him something like candy (real fruit snacks, real fruit popsicle, etc).

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C.L.

answers from Dallas on

We used a potty in our living room in the very beginning just because that is where my daughter usually played and it was easy for her to get to quickly. At first they don't understand that you need to go to the potty as soon as you get that urge. Once she became a little more confident and could make it to the potty in the living room on time I started moving it further away from the living room and closer to the bathroom until eventually we were all the way there. Then we quickly switched to a step stool and a seat reducer on the toilet because it is such a pain to constantly clean out those little pottys. Good luck.....be patient! :)

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A.B.

answers from Dallas on

I have 3 year boys and have just recently gone through the potty training fun. We started at 2, just letting them sit on the potty where ever they wanted to (even in front of the T.V.) I don't think it is a bad idea. I would suggest putting a towel down just in case there are any dribbles from him not making it to the potty in enough time.
Another piece of advice that I would like to offer is if you do not have success after a couple of days...STOP. Revisit the subject a couple of months later. I so wanted my boys out of their diapers (since I had 2 at the same time) and got very frustrated. Right after their 3rd birthday, something clicked and one of them was potty trained in less than 2 days! My other son decided about 2 months later and he was done in 3 days. I also started a potty chart. My kids LOVE my dad, so NoNo (as we call him) was included on the potty chart. So we all documented our bowel movements and it made it more fun for them because they felt like we ALL were playing the game. Still to this day we all laugh about the chart thing, but I do think it helped! Please what ever you do, don't stress out about it. It will happen, you just have to figure out what "reward" works for your son!

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K.G.

answers from Dallas on

I think it should stay in the bathroom! Kids need to learn right away that we stop what we're doing and take time to go to the bathroom! I used to put a basket of toys/books by my sons potty, and rotate and clean them after a few days. That way items got sanitized and his attention stayed because there was always something new in the basket. Good Luck!

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A.C.

answers from Dallas on

we kept ours in the living room for about 6 months- she never had an accident because it was easy for her to stop playing- do what she needed to, then get right back to playing. When we moved it to the bathroom she had a few accidents, but adjusted quickly and well. She still has a few accidents when she is too busy playing to stop, but that's pretty normal for 2 year olds I think. I just got tired of having a potty in the living room, nothing wrong with it though(we did put it away when we had company though). I kept a towel under it, just in case- but we never once had an issue where that was actually needed.

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K.P.

answers from Dallas on

My son is only 20 months, but he has a couple of little potties that make their way all over the house. He may go in the living room, but not as often. Usually it's his playroom, his bedroom, his bathroom, my bathroom, my bedroom... I want him to have a potty nearby since he's so early in the training process, but he's not tied to any one room. I also let him play with a toy, read a book, watch TV or anything else he wants as long as he's sitting there and doing his business.

I will say we are having an issue with public restrooms, but mostly because he's still so small that he has a hard time balancing on the seat when he can't reach the floor. I attribute that to his young age, and assume we'll cross that bridge when he's a little bigger and more sure footed.

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S.C.

answers from Dallas on

My opinion is he needs to go in the bathroom after all that is where we go as we grow up. I wouldn't allow toys or anything else to be around that will distract him. He needs to learn that these things don't go to the potty with him. Don't start something that will be another habit to break later on.

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