Potty Training Preparation

I too trained my son at 18 months, because he asked. I bought both, but he viewed the small one as a toy, and would only use the big one to go potty on.

1) Training: I *strongly* recommend waiting until your child is wanting to train, and not listening to any "they should at (x) age" advice ... because you *can* train them, but it is SO MUCH EASIER if they are interested and wanting to 'be big' that way ... and anytime remotely around the birth of a sibling is probably *not* going to be an easy time (unless your child decides to do what almost none of them do, and differentiate themself by acting *older* instead of regressing ;) ).

We tried to train #1 when she was "ready" (physically developed and intellectually capable), but she wasn't interested, really, and unless we put out the emotional effort, she sure didn't invest the energy. #2 and #3 went SOOO much better, both around age 3.

2) Equipment: I got the Potty Pal (only through licensed dealers last I checked, we got ours through Tidee Didee in SE Portland) -- it replaces the regular seat+lid. It's three pieces instead: a regular toilet seat+kid seat+lid ... thus removing all need to dump or clean a stand-alone potty, but providing all the security of being actually *attached* to the toilet. There's a stool they sell, too, that is curved to fit around the toilet, and I've found it very stable.

Our first did once lean too far forward and literally somersault off the toilet--but that is a hazard with any toilet-seat potty trainer ;), and once I knew to watch for it I've caught the next two when each of them started to lean too far forward ;).

Let me just say that potty training is a huge time consuming, emotionally draining endeavor. Sometimes people luck out but usually it takes lots of planning and a great amount of patience.

After having potty trained 3 I cannot for the life of me imagine training any of them at the age of 18months with a newborn. It gives me the shakes just thinking about it :).

Do yourself a favor. Wait until #2 is sleeping through the night-- at the very least.

L.,

I wouldn't hold my breath on potty training an 18 month old with a new baby in the house. The majority of older siblings with regress as soon as the new addition in the house arrives.

Unless your current baby is showing signs of really being ready to potty train right now, which I doubt, trying to force the issue is just going to backfire and blow up in your face.

That being said, for each of my 2 kids we have gotten a safety 1st free standing potty seat that can be used independently, can sit on the toilet seat, and also has an attached step. We don't have much space in our house so those many-in-one functions are great for us.

Melissa

HI there-
I bought both and my daughter uses both. I bought the simple 5.00 floor potty at Ikea and then a toilet insert. They have these potties that are both, the floor one and the toilet insert in one, and I got one and hate it. I think it is by first step and it is hard to use - the insert snaps onto the little potty and the toilet and it just is hard to get on and off. So that is why I suggest two separate ones.

You are very brave to try to do all of that with a newborn. Potty training is a lot of work and honestly I would wait, unless your daughter is seriously showing signs. My daughter showed signs around 20months, we got all the stuff and it wasn't until she was 26 months old that she actually was ready. She told me. Before it was just a game to her, which is completely fine because you want them to feel confident at the potty. I asked her daily from age 20 months to 26 month, do you want to wear diapers or panties and then one day she said panties and that was the day we started. We have been at it for almost 3 months now and just now getting close to having no accidents. The first month is difficult as you are trying to gauge timing and constantly in the bathroom and cleaning up messes. (well maybe not if you use pullups-but we didn't have success with them because they were like diapers.) The second month was easier, but still consuming and just now we are getting everything worked out.

So get the stuff and get her use to it and if it works, then good, but if she doesn't really take to it quite yet, save yourself the stress of potty training until a little later.

We have both, but never used the little seat. My son sat on it (with a diaper on) when my husband or I went to the bathroom, or whenever he wanted...but when the time came for him to actually go to the bathroom, I decided that I didn't want to clean it every time he went...so we used the one that covers the regular seat (which was also nice because he could use it when we went out). 18 months seems a little young...if she is ready, that's great, but I have heard MANY stories of kids training and then regressing (especially if she has a sibling in diapers). My son was ready just after he turned 2 - he has only had 2 accidents in the past 1.5 years...

Good luck!

We use the Baby Bjorn one with the insert in one bathroom, and the toilet with a stepstool in the other. Neither one seems preferable to our kid.

Unfortunately our daughter, now two, showed MAJOR interest at 18-20 months, we put her in cloth training pants, praised the heck out of her, followed other training advice, but by the time she turned two--totally phased out of the interest. She didn't mind being wet in cloth at all, she didn't even mind being poopy in cloth! Her daycare provider has her on a 60-90 minute "check" to get her to use the potty.

We're about to have our second child, and I asked her pediatrician what she recommends for potty training at this point. Her advice to me was, if she is not interested or showing enthusiasm, it will most-likely become a battle of wills, especially with a newborn getting diaper-changing attention. She did say she has also seen big siblings who did NOT want to be seen as the "baby" anymore, finally embrace potty training. So basically, play it as it seems fit.

It's wonderful that you are prepared and ready to get one out of diapers! Best wishes for Baby #2!

A small potty chair that goes in your bathroom is nice for early training, because you can put your toddler on it whenever you go to the bathroom. You don't even have to take their pants down initially. Just put them on the pot when you're on the pot.

However, for later stages a portable potty seat is nice for consistency. My best friend had better success than I did by buying two matching seats. She kept one at her house and one in a bag with antibacterial wipes for the road. Her son felt like he had the same potty seat wherever he went. It helped him deal with the huge public toilets, because all he saw was his elmo seat. After each use, my friend would wipe it down and put it back in it's cloth bag. One more thing to carry, but worth it, because he boy was fully potty trained by 2 1/2...!!!! She had another infant when he was 22 months, so her situation is similar to yours.

I prefer the little potty seat that fits on the big toilet because it uses less resources to make than a potty seat, it takes up less room in my bathroom, it means I don't have to bend over and take care of whatever is left behind in the potty (I just flush!), my son is used to regular toilets so when we are out and isn't afraid to use them with me holding him on. That's why I chose to go this route. Also, when I put him on he's sort of stuck on there till I take him off, he's not very patient so I think this facilitated potty training because he just had to sort of sit there and couldn't run away. I brought a little stool into the bathroom and would sit in front of him and read him books while we were potty training--a trip to the library for books on his newest obsession (busses!) really kept him happy on the toilet. And of course after he went (every time for a month) we acted like we had just won the Publisher's Sweepstakes and gave him a potty treat. My son was so easy to potty train (we did it at 18 months), but even with his extreme ease I don't think I could have done it with a new baby! It required putting him on the potty every 15 minutes for a the first couple days and then every 45 minutes for a couple more days and even now (4 months later) it requires some vigilance--when he says pee-pee we all move into high gear. So I don't want to discourage you because personally I do think kids can be very motivated, willing, and easy to potty train at this age, but just keep this in mind.

Make sure to use cloth training pants. Pull ups only pro long there desire to get trained. This is the absolute best advice I can give to any mother about to start potty training their child. They are thick enough to prevent any accidents from leaking but allow the child to feel the accident so that they will want to go in the potty next time. Pull ups are just as convenient to go potty in as diapers so the child has no real motivation to use the toilet. Would you if you weren't uncomfortable and had someone else to wipe your bottom :)?

My daughter tried both potty types and in the end she wanted to go like everyone else on the big potty. The two small potties were a big waste of my money.

Good Luck!

i would recommend getting both a free standing baby bjorn potty and a toilet reducer that goes on top of the grownup toilet seat. i have had good luck with using a combination of the two because you can use the little potty as a portable potty and take it with you from room to room. i have a "little potty" that they make because my girl is still very tiny but be warned it is very small! also i have found after using other toilet minimizers that the only one that doesn't get pee inside of the plastic casing is the baby bjorn model. it is a little bit more ($30) but totally worth it. it doesn't slide all over the toilet seat like some of the other common seat reducers and is much more sturdy.