Potty Training Essentials

I second the patience answer. There's nothing worse than a power-tripping two year old when you've lost patience. A couple of good potty books are worthwhile too. I made a cool chart with some color printouts of his favorite characters and used stickers for rewards -- all was great and I couldn't believe how easy it was until after another week or so, it all went down hill. Good luck -- most useful too would be a support group. I did not have that and wish that I did. GOOD LUCK!

We made sure there was a stool available to them. I will be going through it again soon so will be going out to get one. Our first toilet was pretty low so they were easily able to get on but used the stool to wash their hands after. They hated the "potty" and preferred the regular. Also make sure the paper is within her reach, sometimes you don't think about that. A friend of mine put a "special" roll closer for her son.

I remember as a child my parents reading "once upon a potty" to me. So when the time came to potty train my son I made sure I had that book. I really Think kids learn well from picture books. This book is a classic.

we purchased several of these seats from amazon.com (safety First potty seat that spoons the lid of the toilet seat) - doesn't it elongated toilets very well. We also went to Ikea and purchased several sturdy plastic step stools and used those to help the kids sit on the toilet without help from us. (they are white with colored non-slip dots on the top side) and cost all but 3.00 or so.

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Most of all-the kid has to be ready, you can potty train yourself to get them to the bathroom on a schedule, but if you wait for them to be ready, it save a lot of clean up, effort and frustration.

My second daughter did better recognizing she needed to go when she wasn't wearing a pull up or underwear. She wore dresses to cover up (and we stayed home for a while), but when there was nothing to catch it, she realized she needed to get to the potty.

M&M's. Seriously. DD was potty learned by 22 mos. And we read a few potty books to her. I gave her 1 M&M when she went no. 1 and 2 for no. 2. She wasn't extremely verbal then, so, she'd raise 1 finger and say, "One . . . one" when she had to use the toilet! She wanted 1 M&M. Fortunately, this method did not turn her into a candy maniac and still at 4 years old, can make a single bag of M&M's last more than a week. She'll only eat a few at a time.

the only thing i can say is making sure she's ready. i tried at early 2 and it wasn't worth the fight. a couple months later she was fine. also think hard about rewards. if praise is enough, go for it!! it wasn't with my daughter and my parents got her hooked on lollies (against my wishes). that's hard to break, but we're getting there. i wanted to do a jelly bean or m&m (something small and gone quick - lollies last longer and then she was having so many a day)

Just went through potty training our son at 2-1/2. We have a few books: "A Potty for Me" and the Sesame Street (Ernie not Elmo) "Too Big for Diapers" and a Karen Katz flap book about potty. Rewards help, and the right reward is key. We used Thomas stickers, and my son wanted to put the stickers on the potty, so now it's covered in stickers. Make sure you have underwear, too. I wasn't sure how long to use training pants, but my daycare said that if he can pee in the potty every time then to switch to underwear after 2 weeks. Seemed quick to me, especially since he was having poop accidents, but accidents can be a big motivator in getting them potty-trained. We used diapers at night, and now that he's dry most mornings, I switched to overnight pull-ups. I read an article that said not to tell kids that accidents are okay, so we did that as well. For better or worse, he gets very upset now when he has an accident. My son also loves songs, so we made up a song: "Pee pee and poo poo go in the potty, not in my pants!" Good luck!

I found it was all up to child's desire to be potty trained. I potty trained at 2 and she was great for a week or two and then she lost interest. I did the first round of potty training going naked from waist down. When she lost interest, I let it go and we went back to diapers and then at around 2 and a half I got her a singing potty - it sings when you pee or poop and that got her all excited about potty again and also her montessori was training them. She definitely wants to be a big girl and to wear big girl underwear. She still isn't the best at saying she wants to go potty and so I have to ask her quite often. She still has accidents and she is more likely to poop in her pants. We just take it one day at a time - no big deal :) Enjoy.

Hi A.,

I have two girls (6yrs and 2 yrs). I tried potty training them when I wanted to and well that didn't work. We constantly had accidents and I could tell it was not good for the girls. Then I said I am just going to let them tell me when they are ready. Both did before they turned three. My two year old after months of struggling and then me deciding to let her decide when she was ready is now potty trained with only one accident in 2 weeks. We had talked about it and read stories so she understood the concept but she just wasn't ready. I even have her sit on her potty as I sit on mine so she gets the concept. One day she just decided to sit on her little potty and go (she has a chart that she puts stickers on). She got to put a sticker on her chart. Then later that day she went again but with #2. Well that was 2 stickers on her chart. We have filled up 4 pages with stickers (stickers she picked out). She now goes whenever she wants and tells me after she has gone so I can clean out her little potty. This morning she woke up at 5:40 to go potty. Then she came in to tell me. I was shocked to say the least. Just remember she will get potty trained but it just may not be when you want her to. Good luck and be patient.

The MOST MOST MOST important thing you NEED is a good sense of humor. A pile of rags for clean ups is very helpful too. Make sure you get enough sleep so you have the mounds of patience that you need for this process. Also, stay away from the people who have claimed that their child was potty trained in 3 days. Although for some kids it may be true, it is not true for every kid.

Did I mention, a good sense of humor? And relax. Don't set your kid to your own expectations. They will do it in their own time.

Also, after re-reading all of the responses, keep in mind, not every thing works for all kids. If you are determined that it be done, you may need to try multiple things before finding something that works. Rewards never worked for us for example. There was nothing I could find that would get her excited enough to consistently use the potty.

Thus, I stand by, what you need is a good sense of humor. And Loads and loads of patience.

I'd make sure to have some great rewards on hand. We stocked up on stickers, fun little plastic animals, gummy bears and (in our case) Matchbox cars. I cannot say enough about finding the right reward! We were able to potty train my son in a little over a week after his second birthday because he LOVED Matchbox cars and was willing to do (just about) anything for them. If they are motivated, it will make your life a LOT easier!

My son also really loved the Elmo's Potty Time DVD. It's a cute one, with lots of fun songs. You can probably find it at the library, or at Target.

Good luck!!!!
T.

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