Potty Training Advice - Colonia,NJ

If she has an accident on the floor, make HER clean it. I did that for my first daughter, and she has been accident-free ever since!

Google 3 day potty training. I think the author's name is Lori Jenson. I was in the same boat you are. My husband and I are both teachers, and wanted to potty train over Thanksgiving break, and didn't know where to begin. My husband was REALLY skeptical about potty training in three days, and I was wary. But it really worked. I have passed the book along (it is an ebook) to other people, and it has worked for every person who has tried it. It is amazing. No fights, no battles, and in really two days my daughter was potty trained. She was just under 2 1/2 years. Good Luck!

P.S.. No watching clocks, or putting her on the potty every 15 min. or so. Which is what I really liked. You watch your daughter not the clock. My daughter was potty trained in 3 days, it has been a few months now and she doesn't even want my help to go potty anymore.

I pretty much did the same thing with my daughter who was same age and in same time frame(I was teaching before I had my 2nd). I followed the advice of my friend who is a professional nanny. I put her on the potty every 2 hrs and as well as abt 20 mins after she ate & drank. (She suggested every hour, but I found that excessive) She did not always want to go or would say she didn't have to go, but more often than not she went once on it. I did potty stickers at first which she put on her body then started a chart on the bathroom door, but I didn't keep up with it. I decided that it was rewarding her for something as necessary as breathing!! Occasionally she would ask for stickers when she went on her own, which I did not deny her, particularly if it was for a #2. Singing songs abt potty while she was on it helped when she did not want to go. I put her in underpants immediately and after a few days of using potty I took her to store to let her pick out more pairs of her liking. My dd was in day care while I worked so I spoke with her teachers and they were supportive and kept up with the potty training at her school. I also never scolded her an accident and made sure I had a few extra dry pairs in my bag as accidents seemed to happen more when we were out and busy than at home. I forgot - I used pull ups for nap and at night, but we gave up the nap pull up pretty quickly. Good luck!!!

Definitely look into using Lora Jensen's 3 Day potty training method. I used it for my son and it worked great, although keep in mind that most kids are still going to have accidents now and then, even after training. You have to be patient and it's a rough first couple days when you feel like they will never stop peeing all over the house, but it's worth it. Here's the website:

http://www.3daypottytraining.com/

my daughter was fully trained (day and night) in two weeks. mostly trained in one week.

i did a lot of prep...make sure you have all the supplies. get a doll that pees, or just use another animal or doll, and pretend. give the doll a drink, then reward her for keeping her diaper dry. then, take it to the potty and pretend it goes. then give it a reward (a small one. we used one or two m&ms.) then, your daughter will get the process. the next day, put her in underwear. have lots of yummy drinks, like juice, choc milk, etc. you WANT her to drink, so she'll have lots of practice going on the potty.

i put my daughter into underwear (she picked) and easy to remove cotton pants. i had a stack of undies and extra pants on the counter for easy access. you will need them at first! we stayed in one area (tiled) with the potty close by. have lots of activities to do, so you don't get bored. you'll have to stay home for several days (play doh, a bucked of water or rice with toys, stickers, crafts, new books, etc.)

when she has to go, put her on the potty. if she starts going, put her on quick. if she gets anything in the potty, make a big deal and give her a reward. tell her, next time try to get on the potty first.

my daughter did not like being asked to sit on the potty if she didn't have to go. and, i thought that it didn't help her to learn the feeling of having to go if she was just coincidentally sitting while she went. i just put her on the potty when she started going. she quickly learned the feeling. she had 4 accidents in the first few hours. but, the trick is, DON'T GIVE UP. it got better each day. reward her occasionally for keeping her pants dry. DO NOT USE PULL UPS. it is confusing.

my daughter wore diapers at night. the VERY last thing before bed or nap, i put it on and took it off IMMEDIATELY when she woke. after a few days, she was dry after nap, so i didn't use the diaper. after a week, she was dry at night, but i kept the diaper to make sure for another week or so. i just told her that they were night night diapers until she was dry at night. pull ups are no different to kids. save your money! then, she was done with them at night. very shortly, she would tell me when she had to go, and i only make her sit on the potty before we leave the house and before bed and nap.

i recommend waiting to leave the house until you think she will tell you or take short trips at first. pull ups are convenient for you, but will not help your training.

this was a tough two weeks for us, but has been great ever since. was totally worth it. hang in there!

Commend her on a job well done and don't be mean about accidents because they will happen. Persistence and consistency are the keys. The training pants they have now are too much like diapers and don't let them feel accidents so the kids feel they can get away with it. You're smart to use ones where she feels wet when she goes. I used the old kind which were just thick underwear for my 3 girls with plastic pants over top. My oldest trained in 1 week and my twins were in competition with each other and took about 5 days.
It sounds like your daughter is ready to learn and that is crucial as well. You'd know whether or not she is ready. There's nothing harder or more frustrating than a parent fighting to train a child that isn't ready. Pooping may not happen right away but it will come soon after she gets the hang of peeing, so don't worry. It scares some kids to sit there for too long or to see it after. Make it fun with a story or chat while she sits. If she doesn't want to sit too long, don't make her or she'll develop a fear of it being a punishment. If she isn't too bad with it, let her help dump it after and clap with her about any small accomplishment.
My friend even went so far as to get those color dye pills for Easter, and had her kids make pretty colors. This urged her kids to try even harder to go when asked. I thought it was a good idea.
Keep going, don't give up on her too soon and you'll be able to figure out when her usual times are by keeping mealtimes on time as well. Good luck.

You'r eon the right track! I also love the video Potty Power! I borrowed it from library and Netflix.
I agree with other mom, make her clean it up(and of coruse help etc).
Also have her go shopping with you to pick our "big girl' underwear!
And don't give up :)
My first daughter showed signs og rediness but then just plain refused to go so I waited until summer time, we were outside more and she was running pratcically naked in the backyard, it was funny.
As my mom said, they won't go to college with diapers. :)
There's a book i read and potty trained my 2nd daughter right after she turned two, when i can remember the title I'll send you it. It's is about potty triaining in a day. It worked but I started out very early in the morning and stayed in the kitchen with my daughter.
Also rewards charts can be googled and printed out, that helps later with staying dry. I didn't give big gifts or food but they could pick any mommy n me activity after 7 days of staying dry. Ended up playing candy;and or something like that.
Good Luck,
Pammy

sounds like your in for smooth sailing good luck

I tried when my daughter was 2 and it didn't work... so just a little advice on what NOT to do.... She was doing great for a few days and suddenly people around me (husband and MIL) expected her to be a "big girl". There was suddenly so much pressure on her, like she had to do it. She suddenly became very resistant and after a while it became apparent that we had to leave her alone about it completely. Now she is almost 3 and no where near being willing to use the potty. I really regret being so pushy so early on. So, if it works great, but if it doesn't, just be relaxed about it. She is young and she should be expected to be potty trained yet. Be careful about saying things like "diapers are for babies" and "big girls use the potty".

Congrats to you for doing it earlier and not later! I think so many people have problems (or it takes forever) because they wait until the terrible two's hit and then the child is too resistant. Doing it earlier is definitely better!
My son was completely (day and night) trained in less than two weeks. We did have a doll that peed, and we did watch the Elmo potty video, etc. I think those helped a bit. My son was very motivated by Matchbox cars, so when we had trouble getting him to poop (peeing was fine) on the potty, he would get a Matchbox car for pooping. Before you knew it, he was trying to force out a poop every time! :) I think finding a great motivator/ reward is key. Stickers didn't do it for my son. We also cloth diapered, so he was able to feel very well when he was wet.
We did pick out some fun undies for him. We kept him in a diaper at night/ naps for only a few days because we noticed he was waking up dry and holding it overnight. As soon as that happened, we stopped the diapers at night. In my opinion, pull-ups can be a crutch for some, so lose them as soon as you can.
The hardest thing for us at first was going out and having to have him go on a big potty. So, we bought one of those folding travel potty seats and used that for a while (he got cars for using that), then started having him sit right on the potty (and got cars for that). Every new challenge we gave him, we gave him cars for, and he was willing to do it. We weaned him off the cars rather quickly (they get expensive!) and he was fine with that. I do believe it's important to reward kids. It's a lot of work for them to learn to use the potty, and so many people think they should just "want" to do it, and that doing it should be reward enough. I don't think it works that way, at least not for my kid. The way we did it was perfect- and the fact that he was totally trained in 2 weeks says enough to me. ;)

Good luck! Prepare for accidents, and I hope you have as much success as we did!

T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com

I was just about to post the same question. I too am an educator. I will be off in two weeks as well. I have twin girls and plan on potty training them to during that time. I read the advice from others and plan on dong the exact same. I was going straight to underwear and pull ups at night. Good luck to both of us. What do you plan on doing if/when you go out with them that week? Pull ups? Let me know. I like reading the advice from others.....except I would clean it up when they get messy..

I had to remember that I am the one being trained. I had to watch the clock and take her to the potty. Still do a year later. She very rarely tells me she needs to go. We also used a sticker reward system so there was a pay off for being told what to do and when. Best wishes.

Hi J.,
My suggestion is to pick up many pairs of multi layer cloth training pants. Some have a waterproof outer layer, others you need to buy plastic pants for over them (like the type for oldschool cloth diapers with pins). These let her see what happens when she pees - she gets very wet - and to start to recognize what it feels like just before that happens. Take her to the toilet every hour or hour and a half, she doesn't have to sit there til she goes, but have her sit a few minutes. Dont ask her if she has to or wants to go, don't give her a choice, just make it a routine. Also, don't expect her to tell you that she has to go for a while, we often expect that's the sign we are waiting for that they are ready, but it's usually one of the last steps of the process
Good luck, wishing you success!

My son was potty trained in a weekend a few weeks after his second birthday. My advice is to go without underwear or pants for the first day or two. Just make sure the house is plenty warm and keep her naked on the bottom. Try to confine yourselves to one room/area (or livingroom and kitchen were connected so that worked well for us) and bring her little potty seat in there with you so she doesn't actually have to GET to the potty to go.

When she's got the hang of it, THEN give her the panties.

I disagree with the pp who says to make her clean her messes. I think that makes sense with an older child who is resisting potty training, but with a little girl this young, I'd recommend against any kind of punishment. You don't want to make her anxious. Just keep the potty close and put her on it if she even LOOKS like she might go.

Hope this helps.

T.

PS We also LOVED the Elmo Potty Time dvd :-) The "Accidents Happen" number is hysterical!

I too am thinking about potty training my son after he turns 2 - showing signs of interest as well. I read "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" by Azrin and Foxx. It's very interesting reading and most of what they talk about is mentioned here. I recommend reading it, I feel like it has a lot of great ideas, even if it is a little dated (written in the 70's). I also bought the Elmo Potty Time DVD and plan on watching that with my son soon. Good luck!