Potty Training - Boise,ID

Hi Kim,
You might want to google "potty readiness" and look over the signs. Let him get used to having the potty chair around, let him see you/dad use the toilet, flush the toilet, etc.
O. really good book (I think they have a DVD too) is Once Upon A Potty (boy version). He can start looking at that, you can read him the book.
I know some kids train very young but I think my son was around 2-1/4 to 2-1/2. Usually they get the pee part mastered then the poo.
It really depends on the child. Most preschools ask for the child to be 3 and potty trained so you have plenty of time. The secret is waiting until HE is ready, then he's "get it" faster! Good luck!

YOU have to explore the various methods and decide what will work for you and your son, each child is different and there's no one right or easiest way.

Some children like all the fuss and hoopla over their peeing and pooping, some are embarrassed that anyone pays attention.
Some will try for the sake of being a "big" boy or girl and some will want to stay a little boy or girl, and tell you so.
Some like stickers, or candy as rewards for trying or succeeding, some could care less.
Some will love the thought of wearing big boy or big girl underwear, some don't see the need.
Some will fuss, even cry if they're wet or poopie and beg to be changed, some will sit in it as long as you let them and fuss when you go to change them.
Some will train completely for day & night in 4 days, (as my grandson did) and some will take over a year.
Some will love their potty chair, others will want to sit on the BIG potty (toilet.)
Some will love to flush, some will be scared of the flush.

And, if you're a go-with-the-flow type person, and they like structure or vice versa...see what I mean? There's no one right way to do it ; )

Start talking to other moms to see what worked for them, research the different methods, observe your son to discover his personality traits that can help you come up with a plan that's best for him and the way he learns. Does he follow by example? Is he stubborn? Does he fuss when needing to be changed? Is he organized?

Set the potty where he can see it, let him sit on it if and when he wants, with his clothes on at first. Start telling him that's where he's going to be peeing and pooping when he's bigger.

With my grandson they had the potty seat out for about 8 months before they actually began to train. When he was 2 years, 8 months Mom let him go without a diaper during the day and took him and put him on the potty seat on the toilet (she chose this as she didn't want to train him twice) at various times to try. He had some peeing accidents and a pooping one (she caught him running it in his hands to the toilet) but by the end of the second day he got it. Dad showed him how to pee standing up. She put him in a diaper that night and he stayed dry that night and the next so the 4th night she stopped using diapers totally and he was in regular underwear that night and from then on, she never used pull-ups since she thinks they're just expensive diapers. So he was trained in 4 days and never looked back. No rewards other than Mom and Dad clapping and praising him. He's a guy who aims to please.

My guy is 26 months, we have the potty chair sitting where he can see it, he's sat on it and danced around it but hasn't used it to pee or poop in yet. He IS into rewards so I have 2 sticker books and stickers just waiting. He knows what pee and poop are, but hasn't yet told me when he has to go, and he's not particularly in a hurry to get changed when he's wet or pooped. I think he's still at least a month or so away from being ready.

Whatever method you choose take your cues from your son, when you see signs he's ready encourage him, if he balks don't force him. Don't try to train him when there's other stuff like a new baby arriving, a move to a new home, or moving from his crib to a bed. Know that he will do it his way, in his timing.

Here's some links to info I've found helpful:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/toilet_tea...
Toilet Teaching Your Child
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/par...\
Toilet Training Your Child
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/parenting_tips/potty_train...
Potty Training
: )

Here's the best website I've ever found on the topic. It gives a few variations on"readiness" checklists, plus tips on various training strategies, the best ages to start them, and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach: http://www.parentingscience.com/toilet-training-readiness...

You can probably recognize the "style" that suits you best as you read through. The single most effective strategy I've observed among many, many young families is waiting until the child is actively expressing interest. At that point, training can be successful in a week or less.

Greatest book ever is "Potty Training In A Day" The whole concept is based on great research but the main thing I loved was that the goal was to stay dry rather than to reward production. Rewarding staying dry helps potty training not be about the process of going to the potty and producing but that when they actually keep their pants dry by producing you don't end up spending the whole day in and out of the bathroom. On the first day, you focus on the process all day long. The book is available at the library and I read EVERYTHING on potty training that I could get my hands on. This book was the most logical in my opinion.

God bless you,

J.

I hope you don't get a million responses tellin gyou it's too early and he has to be "ready"!!! We started my son at 18 months and he loved it - he was very good about using the potty - we had the kind that you put on top of th etoilet seat, none of those that you dump out yourself....
He did great, and when he turned two, he was asking to go potty on his own. THEN he got an ear infection and he felt so bad, we thought it would be better to put him in diapers while he was sick. Then we were lazy about getting him on the potty again, and it's been a nightmare ever since!

My theory is that kids will follow your lead. If this is what you are supposed to do, whenever you introduce it, then they will follow - especially if they aren't old enough to really think about a difference. But once they think that they are interrupting their play or something to go potty... then they want the diaper again. I have no idea what "being ready" for potty training even means - I guess it means you wait until your kid has to go to school and let them deal with it. I just don't understand diapers for that long. Because my son was at the point of telling me he had to go potty and asking to go, I know he knows what to do and when. But now, he just doesn't like stopping his play. Now that I am 9 months pregnant with another, I am tired of fighting with him to go... we'll pick it back up though. Currently I have him in cloth pull-ups which he can feel wet in at least. He also doesn't seem to care about that any more!!
So, once you start, stick with it!! (Gently of course!!)
Good luck - I think the earlier the better!

In my opinion 18 months is too young to start potty training, and I have learned that through experience! When my oldest was 18 months we bought the potty seat and started very gradual potty training. She seemed to understand things so quickly and she seemed to want to be potty trained so I thought she was ready. But no matter how smart a child is at that age, their body is just not ready for potty training. I was hard for my daughter because she KNEW what to do, she just couldn't control her bladder or bowels yet. Are there a handful of kids who can at that age? Yes, but they are a very small exception to the rule. Long story short, my daughter wasn't really potty trained until she was almost 3. So with my second I didn't even introduce the concept until she was 2 1/2 years old. She was potty trained in about 2-3 months with a lot less frustration, and she had fewer accidents afterwards. I have heard that boys often potty train later than girls so with my baby boy I am not going to try till he's almost 3.

I potty trained both of mine "early" by contemporary standards (both dry day time by 2) and found the book "Diaper Free Before 3" very, very helpful. It's written by a young pediatrician with 3 children and basically encourages the slow and steady approach. Introduce the potty the same way you introduce other social skills (like eating solid food or meal times). Find times that make sense to have your child sit on the potty and create a routine around it. (We started with the pre-bath, post-dinner time and then added before/after meals, before/after leaving or returning home; basically times that YOU use the toilet). Performance is not the issue, just practice and positive thinking. Good luck and don't give up just because others say this is too early!

I know that reading my own baby book, that I was dry day and night at 18 months, but for my kids, that just didn't happen.
I have a boy and a girl, and people would say "girls are so much easier to train than boys" but I am still training my 3 year old, my son was trained at 24 months.
at that age, they don't have a lot of control, so it's a question of sitting them on the potty at regular timed intervals, and leaving them bare waist down when you are home.
Don't buy new furniture or carpet for a WHILE lol

My first (a girl) decided she was done with diapers at 2 1/2. Lots of accidents, but she didn't want diapers any more and that meant potty training.

My second (boy) wasn't trained till he was 4. We tried around 20 months because he showed some interest (and I was pregnant and didn't want both in diapers) but he wasn't really ready and moved past the phase. I wish I'd backed off and followed his lead, because we fought with him over it for over a year before I gave up and waited for him to be ready (he would have been ready sooner if it hadn't become a power struggle).

My third (boy) - I honestly don't remember for sure! He was probably about 3, and it helped that he had an older brother he wanted to be just like.

All kids show some interest/curiosity in the toilet around 18 months, but most aren't ready for some time yet. When I child is ready, they are able to hold it until it is time to go, and to release it when it is time to go. There are both cognitive and neurological developments that are required for this. If he tells you when he needs to be changed, that is a step, but not all of it.
I would set up the potty chair in the bathroom. Let him go in with you and his dad when you use the toilet. Let him sit on the potty chair when he wants to (dressed or not). But don't push him at all, don't break out a sticker chart or rewards for going potty, etc. Chances are that in a month he will be over his fascination with potty (for now), so be ready to let it go. If he is one of the extraordinary kids who is ready early, you can mostly follow his lead and just help and support as you go.