Potty Training for Twin Boys

Hey Densie
This is what I did with my Twins is temp tattoo's we would sit on the potty one on the portable one on one the big one with a cushion seat and hold a warm wash rag on the tattoo and it took just as long for the tattoo to be ready to stick as it did for the boys to go potty. Then when it came to BM it was usually about 30 min after they would eat so I would wait for the 30 min mark to hit and we would do it again with the tattoo's yes they did look a lot like bikers or pirates but after 3 weeks fully trained day and night with no accidents yet. It did take a lot of pratice and patience but it is what worked for me and my boys. I also let the pick out their own big boy underware to wear when we started, this too helped them out with the process.Good luck to you

I had a friend who potty trained her son by having him do target practice in the bowl with Cheerios. Also, dad would go in with him and they would shoot for the cereal together. It worked so well that it only took about a week.

Hi there....I know what you are going through!!! I have a little girl who will be turning 3 in two weeks. I am also a nanny for a little boy of the same age. So I understand the concern of potty training two kids at the same time. I had thought that I was doing all of the right things too when it came to ditching the pullups and diapers....rewards, praised, bribing, etc. The only way to do it is to just put them in underwear. I know it sounds scary, but it works. There was a total of 3 days of cleaning up acidents, but after that....they both are potty trained. The little boy that I nanny for is even wearing underwear during naps and at night. I made a cleaning solution of carpet cleaner and water in a medium bowl with a rag and a scrub brush. I also used fabrez when I was done cleaning. It really was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. You have to just do it and stick with it.

Good luck!!!

My grandmother threw cherrios in the water and had my brother "target practice" he enjoyed it after that and started going poop in there soon after.

Once my boys showed they understood how to use to potty, I just put them in big boy undies. The first day or two there was alot of accidence. To help alleviate the mess factor, do it on a nice day when you can spend most of the day outside. I would keep pull-ups for night until they wake up dry for at least 2 weeks straight.

My advice is to take is slow and let them lead the way. In general boys take longer to potty train and although they are twins they may need different approaches. The good thing is they can help each other out. My son is almost 4 1/2 and he still has an occasional accident. Buy cheap underwear. I bought some at Big Lots. That way if they have a poop accident in them you can just throw them away. Save the expensive underwear for later.
what I did with my son was to put him in underwear around the house and remind him to go on the potty. The worse accidents he had at home were pee and it was easy to clean up. If you are worried just put towels on the furniture. Don't push too hard or they may rebel and not use the potty. Make it their decision to use the potty by giving them a chart where they get stickers or whatever to earn something. Doesn't have to be a bought item. It can be movie time or whatever their interests are. Good luck!

My son trained pretty early, just after 2...It was completely non-stressful, and he has only had 2 accidents since he started training (he is now 3.5, and the accidents we very random). I had him wear a diaper UNDER underwear (can you tell, I didn't want the mess either...and I wasn't sure if he was really ready). I emphasized to him that the character on his underwear (happened to be elmo) didn't want to get wet, and for the first 2-3 days I had him sit on the potty every hour (this was a lot, and might be hard with twins, and he definitely didn't go EVERY time). Then, gradually, I let it go to 2 hours, and finally I took the diaper off, and continued to tell him that Elmo didn't want to get peed on...It worked just fine - he was obviously ready to be trained (or terrified about getting Elmo wet!) He also knew when he had to go, so after a week or so, I trusted him to tell me if he had to go - I still asked every hour or so, but I listened to him if he said yes or no. Good luck!

I guess I would just encourage you to remember that sometimes things have to get a bit messy for our kids to learn. The messes may not be as bad, or as numerous as you think! In fact, I much prefer cleaning up an occasional pee puddle than changing diapers regularly.

I'm all for the mama takes control, cold turkey method - not the relaxed, let them do it when they do it approach, which is a lot of the advice you are getting (diapers at 5? I feel badly for that child). And it has been a very positive and successful experience with my kids! Potty training is not a developmental hurdle that our kids cross on their own like learning to crawl or walk. We actually are responsible to TEACH them this one!! :-) Would we wait until they were 9 or 10 to have them start reading, because they just "didn't show much of an interest at 5"? Kids can be lazy about potty training, or just be afraid of making mistakes. They need us to show them that it's ok to make mistakes, and give them the confidence to try again and succeed. I trained my son (my oldest, now 4) at age 3. I was soooo nervous, he probably was capable sooner, but I kept putting it off for the same reasons you mentioned - accidents, he resisted, treats weren't enough motivation, etc. When I put him in underwear cold turkey, he got it so fast, and was SO proud of himself that I felt bad I hadn't given him the opportunity to do it sooner. And my daughter (2.5) was trained just a few months ago. And she probably could have also done it sooner, but timing was complicated with me being pregnant, then her baby brother arriving, then moving to a new house. So we finally tackled it Jan 1, a month after our move, and haven't looked back. She still has an occasional accident, usually right next to the toilet because she waited a bit too long.

Maybe to keep messes contained, play in one room with the door closed, the rug rolled up or a dropcloth out, and a potty chair in the corner for a day or two, while they adjust to wearing underwear. Then gradually venture out into the rest of the house as their success grows. You can set rules about sitting on furniture, or use waterproof mats on the couch if you feel better. Or keep them mainly in the kitchen or other hard floor areas. Reserve pullups for naps and nighttime only, take a foldable potty seat out with you for use in public restrooms, or some people even keep a spare potty chair in the car for use on the go. Just put a bag in it to catch the contents.

Don't let your fear of cleaning up a few messes hold your boys back from something that they really need to learn! They'll figure it out and be on to other things before you know it.

Agree with Gina B - it will happen soon! It's not something that you can force; that can actually cause more problems.

Also, it is not normal for your 3 year old boys to have loose stools, this is due to a poor diet. It may be something worth discussing with their pediatrician, as this might also be a factor affecting their willingness to potty train.

Good luck!

D.~
Just because your boys are three doesn't mean they are ready. They will let you know when they are interested and ready to start training. Boys seem to take a little longer, need to be a little older before they are ready. I know it's frustrating with all of the diapers and such. But if you force it, it may backfire. They are normal, they aren't behind. I wouldn't worry about. Give them another few months or so and see if they are ready to try again.
Good Luck
PS. I have a four year old boy. I've been there!

I know you probably already have lots of responses, so here is another one.
When we potty trained our boy at almost 2 yrs old, we had a 10 day marathon of potty training. We went to the store and bought 12 new pairs of big boy underwear (our have dinosaurs on the back, which he loves). Then we talked to him about what was going to happen, that he was not going to be wearing a diaper during the day anymore (we are still doing pull-up at night time for now), and that we expected him to go pee-pee and poo-poo (or what ever words you call it) in the toilet. We started by setting the time on the microwave for every 15 minutes and would take him to the bathroom. We also told him that we use the bathroom after every meal and before and after naps/night-time. It was exasperating, I will not lie about that. we went thru all 12 pairs of underwear on the 1st and 2nd day, but then it went down each day there after. By the end of day 4, he only had 2 accidents. Getting the poop in the toilet was the hardest part for us, but it only took a few more days to consistently get that part right too. If you are worried about any accidents, you can try to get those rubber pants to put on over the new underwear, but probably best if those are only for nap times. Good luck!

Hi D.,
Twins yea - lifelong friends.

I may not be the norm here.. but I never intended to have my kids trained by 2. my youngest is now 2 3/4 & is not fully trained. He has been using the bushes outside since last summer and does go on the potty at least once a day or so. But - for me personally - I won't be carry him up all the stairs to the upstairs potty chair quickly enough to stress over it, he is not one that will hussle when asked. & you know this is one of those areas where you can't force them or it likely will become more of an issue/control/ power struggle. He enjoys his big boy 'pull-ups' as if they were real underwear for now.

Frankly I'm just not that worked up over it. My older son made the transition in the same way at the same ages and at 3 to 3 1/2 ish we were not using pull-ups anymore (well i still did at night for awhile but not much longer.)
If my idea is hidden,.. guess what i'm saying is.. i let my boys wear pull-ups as underwear until they had the ability to understand the situation.

You didn't say when your boys needed to move up to the next class exactly.. but the warmer weather will help with 'outside' naked training - but that's a couple months still away.

There is a book called Toilet Training in Less Than a Day by Nathan H. Azrin, Ph.D. and Richard M. Foxx, Ph.D. I'm going to try their method when my baby is ready. The book (which is cheap!)is probably on Amazon.com...it's worth a shot! (It would probably be a good idea to try this method with each boy separately, should you decide to try it.)

I just started getting serious about potty training for my 2 1/2 year old son. We started with pull-ups, and he was doing good with pooping on the potty pretty quickly. The key was a stroll through Target to pick out which toys he would want... One toy for the first time he went - took him there immediately after he went. Then, a sticker chart with another toy as soon as ten spots were filled on the chart, which happened the next day (pee and poop). From there, pooping in the potty continued, but pee'ing was a struggle. I think the pull-ups were not at all motivating. Yesterday morning, I decided to put him in real underwear with a pull-up over them, just in case, hoping he would feel the wetness... That didn't work - we ended up going through 3 pairs of underwear in like 30 minutes and quickly figured out that naked was the way to go. He had a few drops of pee hit the floor and the couch (3 times total) yesterday morning, but the bulk of it went into the potty. (I used resolve carpet cleaner) After yesterday morning, no problems. He figured it out really quickly. So, I'm staying at home, keeping him naked and the potty chair accessible, rewarding him with stickers and jelly beans and big celebrations. Today we ventured out to the library, and he wore real underwear only. I'm going to keep this up for the next week, avoiding pullups (long outings) as much as possible and hope that we can get it. He is not supervised all the time, because I have a 4-month old baby, but he sprints to the potty and tells me right away if any pee hits the bathroom floor or his leg or anything. I don't say, "it's okay" when it hits the floor. I say, "darn it. Pee goes into the potty. Thanks for telling me right away so that we can cleaned this up." And then I really focus on celebration and rewards. Good luck!

Hi D.-

I had my daughter potty trained before three and am now working on my son (just turned three). However, though I'd continue to encourage your boys to use the potty, I wouldn't go to training pants (or underwear) until you notice they're keeping their pants dry for longer periods of time and you're able to catch most of their bowel movements in the potty. Though I'm for the cold turkey method (I just put my kids in underwear when they show readiness and don't go back) if you do that before they're ready you're just going to make yourself miserable.

Try to put them on the potty at regular times throughout the day...especially when you know they usually poop. I shamelessly bribe, but only in the beginning and only for poop in the potty. We used gummy bears or M&M's. Once you notice some good progress, then you can try letting them pick out some underwear they like (my kids hated training pants). If they show that they're able to keep the underwear mostly dry, don't go back to diapers again. Cleaning them off in the shower when they do have an accident is a good consequence and gets them away from being treated like a baby.

Hang in there! Potty training can take time, but once they're really ready it can be so easy!

-J.

Hi! D.;
This is what worked for me..I had my husband take the boys to the bathroom..he showed them how big boys go potty..and it worked..all it took was several days of consitency on the big toilet..afterwards..there was just one time that he had an accident..so when starting you might want to do a nite time pull up in the beginning..for nite time..
Good luck to you..this can be tough with two..Once one learns..the other will follow..
C.

You can't do much if they are not ready. Actually by using "force" (even the nicest one) you might prospone their potty training. So, why don't you relax now and just wait for them to let you know that they are ready. My son got trained about a month after I stopped all the attempts to potty train him. One day he just asked me to put his big boy underwear as he was very hot in the dippers. It was 110. I just reminded him that when he needs to go he will need to use the potty, he sad OK and that was it! Good luck!

Sounds like they aren't ready. I tried to PT my ds just after his 3rd birthday and it only made him cry and me cleaning up TONS of messes - including washing couch cushions!!

Do they show an interest in the potty? If not, then they aren't ready.
Do they tell you when their diapers are wet/poopy? If not, they may not be ready.

Personally, I'd back off the PT for now. Not being moved in their daycare for another 3-4 months isn't going to harm them.

About 4 months after I quit trying to PT my ds, I took him to a park just after his nap. However, I totally forgot to change his diaper and didn't bring any (on accident). At the park his diaper was soooo full it was leaking. I took it off and told him that I didn't bring any with me. I said that he had to be a big boy and tell me when he had to go potty b/c if he wets his pants, we'll have to go home. He peed twice in the bushes that day!! We never went back to diapers again.

Hi D.. I read all your responses so far and people have given a lot of good advice. I too have twin boys who just turned 3 in January so I can speak to your concerns about potty training twin boys at the same time. I do agree that trying to push the potty training before they might be ready is problematic. As hard as it may be to wait (because of the daycare situation), it will be easier in the long run if you wait until they are truly ready to potty train. With my boys, they had been going to a montessori pre-school that took infants (12-36 months) and they started there at 19 months old. They were getting early potty training at the school since they walked around all morning in training underpants and slippers. We decided to "go for it" at 2.5 years old since they had been getting so much toilet-awareness over that past year. We had been toilet training for a few weeks that summer and then after a family vacation we just went for it. It is better to do this when the weather is warmer so that they can have minimal clothing on and the messes are not as bad to clean up. We had only one bad poop accident one day and it was pretty bad, but we got through it and never had another problem. We used a sticker chart to encourage them (smiley faces for peeing, frogs for pooping and a big dinosaur for having a dry pull-up after nap or bedtime). My kids got so into the stickers that for a couple of weeks they wanted to poop every time they got to the toilet. we tried to explain that they only need to poop a couple of times per day and after 2 weeks, it normalized and they weren't trying to poop every time. For us, it really helped to have them watch their daddy use the toilet. They want to do everything that daddy does so that was good for them to see his example. we also made a big deal everytime they used the toilet and really tried hard to make poop not seem like such a yucky or scary thing. I know a lot of kids who have fear of toilets and pooping because they think the poop is scary or yucky. I think the way the parents react to poop has a lot to do with this, so choose your words carefully when talking about the toilet and poop in particular. Like I said, our boys had a lot of exposure to toilet training through their school so I think they were ready at an earlier age then some boys. There is nothing wrong if your boys are not ready yet, and I would wait until they show more interest (maybe until summer?). Also, we kept our kids in pull-ups at nap time and bed time for quite a while until we felt that they were consistently showing us that they could keep the pull-ups dry. I know how much laundry you have with twins, so we didn't want to be changing the bed sheets all the time. just too much work. One of our boys has been wearing underpants to bed and keeping them dry at night for about 2 months now. The other one just stopped wearing pull ups at night and he is having a much harder time. We have found that we need to take him to use the toilet before we go to bed (around 11:30pm) and that helps him to go the rest of the night dry. Don't compare my kids to yours though because I think my boys trained earlier than most (because of their montessori school). I remember having such anxiety about potty training my boys and it wasn't easy, but it went faster than I thought. Also, my boys loved watching each other use the toilet and thought it was super funny to watch the other one pooping. I think it made the whole thing fun for them and not scary. Now they say funny stuff like "turn the fan on, it's stinky in here..." they crack me up.

I have twin boys also and went through the same situation, where they couldn't move up to preschool class at daycare until potty trained. I even tried the "just put them in underwear" method (a few times). Nothing I did worked; nothing their teachers did worked. Eventually, one started using the potty everyday, having no accidents for a week, so he moved to the preschool class. A few weeks later (a very long few weeks), his brother followed. This happened just before they were three and a half. I have no suggestions to offer, just the advice to hang in there...it will happen one day, likely one day very soon, no matter what you do.

D.,

All I can tell you is this.... my twin boys are 17 almost 18 now and I remember this time like it was yesterday. (For Good reason...lol) This was the HARDEST time in my raising them. I wasn't sure if they were going to be able to go to preschool, there were so not interested. It will happen and the frustration is this... not when you are ready... believe me I was ready; they had ideas of their own. I spoke to my pediatrician and he told me that if you force it regret would be part of my future. So I backed off. I let them figure it out. It was hard and I was anxiety ridden but they did it, but not until they were four pushing five. I am sorry I don't have better news, but twins especially boys are really hard in this department.

D. I have 6 Children 5 of which are boys the youngest two are boy/girl twins that are almost 4. Sorry but there isn't really much you can do until they are ready. believe me I tried everything and until they want to go they will not and trying to push the idea can have the oposite affect and prolong the process. My girl twin was potty trained months before my boy twin. and he still wears pull-up at night. Just make it as positve experience as possible for them. One thing I did with my 7 yr old was give him potty presents. I went to the dollar store and bought bags of small toys, balls, dinosaurs sometimes candy and wraped the up as presents when he went potty he got to open one but only when he went potty. that worked for me. good luck I feel your pain. J.

Hello D..
When I potty trained my daughter, I took off her diaper, put her in underwear, and stayed home for about a week. I never once had to buy training pants and she didnt even need a diaper at bed time. She did have several accidents at first, but they were so uncomfortable for her that she really wanted to make it to the potty. I didnt even get her dressed: I just put her in a shirt and underwear and every hour or so I stuck her on the potty for about 20 minutes. When she went, I went crazy with praise and excitement and before I knew it, she was potty trained. Hope this helps.

Hi D.,
I have almost three year old twins (boy/girl) and I just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain. Until very recently I have had the same story playing out in my house. No interest in the potty on their part (well at first there was but the novelty wore off fairly quickly) and it seemed that I had tried everything. I'll be honest there - with two of them my commitment to the training process wasn't all that it could have been so I decided I would just do one at a time. I have since been putting all of my potty training efforts towards my daughter since she seemed to be slightly more interested and I am now dressing her in big girl pants. My son however has not taken any cues from his sister but I'm just now turning my focus to him and I'm hoping for the best. Keep us posted on your progress and if you come across anything that seems to work fantastically I'd love to know about it.

Cheers,

D.,

I am focusing on one twin at a time!! It is the only way I can stay sane. My boys turn 3 at the end of June...I know how you feel :)

I am letting them dictate how fast they train. One is more ready and I am focusing on that. His brother is following nicely.

Whatever you decide will be fine. Just remember that they are only going to go through this once. try and relax and enjoy the changes they are experiencing.

T.

When I was potty training my son at 22 months, I did go cold turkey and put him in underwear. I did not want everything in my house to be ruined so I went to Home Depot and got a roll of industrial plastic and a roll of duct tape. I covered all the carpet and taped it down on the edges. I covered the furniture with it and then threw old blankets so it would still be comfortable to sit on. It took about 1-2 weeks for him to be potty trained. Our house looked strange for the month that I left it down, but it made clean up much much easier. Also Crocs shoes are very easy to wash!

Kristin mentioned the "poor diet" and I wanted to add my two cents. My girls (3 and almost 5) are not potty trained. I think it took them longer to be ready, they are finally showing interest and we are trying.

About the loose stools though, my kids always have had them. I thought it was normal. A daycare teacher alerted me that it wasn't, the doctor said he wasn't concerned because they were gaining weight like normal. Still, I pursued it, with elimination diets. I've found that my kids are intolerant to dairy, egg, corn (yes, even trace amounts of corn starch in a packaged food sets off the stools). They are also allergic, one to bananas, one to tomatoes.

The loose stools can make it hard for them to feel the warning sensations of having to go - and make it much harder to potty train. Now that we are getting this cleared up, we are making more progress.

It wasn't so much that we had a "poor diet", my kids eat pretty healthy, it was that I didn't know what healthy foods my kids couldn't deal with.

Good luck with the potty training!!!

I had a son, who for the life of me showed no interest in potty training.... until the four year old preschool teacher said she wouldn't take him if he wasn't potty trained. He was four and a half then. She said it in his hearing. It took him one day.

My point being, when your boys want to be trained, they will be. There are three things you can't make a toddler do--eat, sleep, and poop--in the toilet. It is hard to wait on your side, but parents have to do a lot of that.

Good luck.

Hi D.,

This worked for my boy and my girl, and only took about a week, but you have to be prepared for a few messes to clean up. I let my kids go naked. They would see themselves start to pee, and would either call my attention to it, or run for the potty. If I saw it happen, I would get all excited and say "hurry hurry, run for the potty!" and they both just kind of potty trained themselves. I did have to clean up a little pee off the floor, maybe a couple of poos, but it was worth it to have them be in control of it, and not me worrying about it. It works even better if it is warm enough to let them be outside with no pants on. That way the mess doesn't matter as much, and you still get them to run for the potty. I realize I didn't have twins, but it worked so well with both of my kids. But they were ready too. Both were asking me what I was doing when I went. And I put out a potty let them show their own interest. My daughter did it at 20 months, and my son around the same time (he was 13 years older than my daughter, so I have a hard time remembering exactly, but I know it was right around the time he turned 2.) Good luck.