Remind me how to potty train

[AnnaE]

I dont remember, but I woke up this morning saying to myslef that DS2.5 is going to learn how to go in the potty.  I missed his first poop getting the other kids bfast.  Ive brought him to the potty every 20 mins since and I miss his pee EVERY single time.  He has been in disposables, but I am using cloth diapers that snap now for the training so he can feel that he is wet.  

[maize]

I wait until they are old enough that all I have to do is say "you're too big for diapers, time to start using the potty" and they can make the transition without much help. That was somewhere between ages 3 and 4 for my older four kids.

 

I'm just too lazy to do it any other way ;)

[AK_Mom4]

Patience was always the key for us.   And you have to MAKE time for it (tough I know with little ones).  If you want to get him trained, then you have to make it a priority.  Set a timer and keep it in your pocket to take him every 15 minutes if 20 is too long.

 

Be patient and it will come together.

[barnwife]

i am the opposite of pp. We practice EC part-time from birth. It's easy for us as our whole house is tile floor, so it's easy to clean up any messes. 

Our oldest 2 have been day-trained by 2. The youngest (so far) is heading that way.

We just put potty chairs all over the house (yes, we have many). And repeat "You're pottying/pooping. Potty/Poop goes in the toilet" over and over.

Super easy and low stress for us.

[Joanne]

I wait until they are old enough that all I have to do is say "you're too big for diapers, time to start using the potty" and they can make the transition without much help. That was somewhere between ages 3 and 4 for my older four kids.

 

I'm just too lazy to do it any other way ;)

 

This; I never potty trained.

 

Mine were all in underwear around 3, and overnight by 3.5.

 

Never did the "regular trips to the potty" thing.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I also used the "when he's ready, he's ready," method. Somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 each of my boys got this all learned within one week. I think most of them got through it in the summer, running around in the yard wearing regular underwear or swim trunks and no diaper.

 

Once they seemed ready, I would take them to the potty at regular times - in the morning, before meals to potty and wash, before and after naptime, bedtime. (IIRC) My boys did well with routines, and this was just another routine.

 

But that's very, very different from trying to "catch pees" or take them every 15 minutes, which I would never have had the patience to do!

[SparrowsNest]

I wait until they are old enough that all I have to do is say "you're too big for diapers, time to start using the potty" and they can make the transition without much help. That was somewhere between ages 3 and 4 for my older four kids.

 

I'm just too lazy to do it any other way ;)

 

This, and we're doing it right now with The Baby, 3y, 3m old.  On Monday, I just said, "Hey, no more diapers, let's put on some big boy pants."  Day 1 was a rousing success.  Yesterday was not quite as good, but he was dry this morning, and has peed in the potty all morning, even coming to me twice to ask to go. We'll get there!

[SKL]

My kids were younger, but I used to have them sit on the potty at intervals based on when I observed them going.  One of mine quickly came to prefer being dry and would hold it / ask to go potty without further training.  For the other I did the 3-day boot camp when she was able to hold it long enough to get herself to the potty every time.

 

My kids were morning poopers too, so during training, I would give them their milk in sippies while they sat on the potties first thing in the morning.  Worked for us.  :P

[NoseInABook]

I put underwear on them and took them to the potty every 30-45 minutes. I also carried copious amounts of underwear and pants with me... *shudders*

 

Don't forget to stock Mom with coffee and chocolate too. Also, a hidden box of brownies and a bottle of wine for the day that there are no successes ever. Or if he's like my last child to potty train, a full darn week with 0 successes before he got it.

[umsami]

I wait until they're ready and then I bribe.   

 

I use the mini M&Ms.  One for pee, two for poo.  

 

Nighttimes are more difficult...it's more of when they're ready.  Sometimes I have to offer a big incentive.  With DS1 it was a new Gordon for his Thomas set. I think he needed to wake up with dry undies three days in a row, and Gordon was his.

[dirty ethel rackham]

My best success was during warm weather, just go without pants for 3 days and have a potty nearby.  I gave rewards for making it to the potty.  Not wearing pants meant they got to feel the consequences of being wet, plus clean up was much easier.  

[Mimm]

I'm a fan of not pushing early potty training but my almost 20 month old is showing readiness signs. I'm kind of torn about it. I hate potty training and would just as soon put it off... But if she's ready, summer would be a great time to get it done.

[Starr]

Different kids, different times but it was easier to train one at 18 months than the other at 3.

[Rachel]

Mine just turned three. I have him use the toilet at certain times like before we leave the house but other than that ask him if he needs to pee. He was staying dry for 3-4 hours at a time though so I know he can hold it.

 

I haven't figured out the poop thing with him yet. My other two always went at a certain time, he's not as consistent but is using his diaper at naptime which I'm fine with for now.

[AnnaE]

After reading the threads, I think he might not be ready yet.  He shouldnt be peeing every 15 mins.  He should be able to hold it until one big pee happens.  Im going to wait till then.  The 15 min thing drove me crazy today.  I think I did that with my first, but with my third, and have 2 olders and a 2 month old that needs me, I just cant do it!

[SereneHome]

The lazy one here also.  Waited until they were ready.

 

Although, I couldn't believe that I waited that long bc where I am from kids were potty trained by the time they were 1, so I always looked down on all the american parents who had their kids in diapers until 2-3 yrs old.

 

karma bit me hard, I FINALLY got the youngest one out of diapers last month and he is almost 4!!!

 

However, I literally didn't do ANYTHING.  Within a day, they were done and may be had 2-3 accidents in total, including nigh times.

[OneStepAtATime]

With DD she had sequencing and EF issues. She wasn't ready and I pushed. Then others pushed her too and we ended up regressing. She was 2 1/2. I should have waited til she was more developmentally ready.

 

DS was very ready at 2. I found a doll that could poop and pea, made sure all people were out of the house for several hours for two days straight, and we spent the day with me training him and him training his doll. We played a lot of fun games in between times with timed play sessions then we would run back to the toilet to "train" again. Worked really well. He was day trained in those two days and rarely ever had an accident. Nights took a bit longer.

 

Would that method have helped DD? I have no idea. :)

[Melissa in Australia]

the younger the better. then they haven't developed the habit of just weeing whenever. all mine were toilet trained  before 18 months.

I just waited until warm weather, stripped them off and kept them outside . if they did a wee against the lemon tree or in the toilet they got a sticker. after an A4 page was full they got to pick out a toy  in the toy shop. All mine were trained within a month, some within a week.

 

 Apart from the twins. they came to me at 3 1/2 still in nappies and it was a huge battle.  It took 6 months  of hard slog work.

[Guest aotientieat]

 I would give them their milk in sippies while they sat on the potties first thing in the morning.

 

[Lolly]

Another fan of the outdoors. A shirt and a pile of undies outside to play. A potty chair nearby. A pitcher of water for accidents if we were on the driveway. Wet undies just get changed. You can even have a rinse bucket to rinse them out and lay them out to dry for reuse. A reward each time the potty is used. Let everything else slide.

[G5052]

Mine went to training undies with plastic pants over when they were 3-ish, and we had a period where I knew we'd be mostly home.  

 

I explained what they needed to do and went with them a few times, then they had to remember. If they wet, I had them change in the laundry room and put the wet clothes in a bucket.

 

Naturally I took them to the bathroom before we left when we had to go out and brought along extra clothes.

 

It took about a week.  I didn't put them into undies at night until they asked.  Here and there they'd have accidents, but I never made a big deal of it.

[cjzimmer1]

I waited to 3 with my boys (my girls were earlier between 2 and 2 1/2, my 2nd daughter actually potty trained her sister who was 20 months younger as soon as she finished training herself.  Little sister wanted to be like big sister and so off they went to the potty together, worked for me).  But anyways my method has always been stay home for 3-4 days, give them a shirt (so they don't get cold) and nothing else.  Try to keep them off the carpet and run to the potty at the first sign of dribbles.  They all hated the feeling of pee running down their leg so after one or times of that, they learned to run to the potty first.  I had surprisingly few accidents to clean up.  Poop was a bit more work but small bribes always worked well in that department.

[MomtoCandJ]

My girls pretty much have/are trained/ing themselves. Dd1 was completely trained (overnight and everything) by 2 years 4 months. If we hadn't moved from GA to MI during that time she would have been done sooner. Dd2 is looking to be the same way, she knows what her potty is for and can get to it but she still has issues getting her undies down (she's 17 months so I think we are doing good).

[busymotherof4]

My almost 3 year old is hopeless. She stays dry overnight. She is reliable to not pee when naked for up to a couple hours at a time. She has been know to walk into the bathroom, shut the door and poop her diaper. She refuses to sit on the toilet. We tried underwear a few times. She will keep them dry and then insist on a diaper. She would change her own diaper if I would let her. After we move I will give it another serious try. I might try bribing her with gymnastics classes. She has wanted those for about 6 months.

[Rachel]

After reading the threads, I think he might not be ready yet. He shouldnt be peeing every 15 mins. He should be able to hold it until one big pee happens. Im going to wait till then. The 15 min thing drove me crazy today. I think I did that with my first, but with my third, and have 2 olders and a 2 month old that needs me, I just cant do it!

 

With the two month old I would definitely wait a bit longer instead of rushing to the toilet every 15 minutes.

 

All of mine have trained at different times (2.5, 17 months, and 3). I think when they are ready it's a fairly easy process and there are few accidents. After my middle trained so early it was a bit hard on my ego to wait until 3 with my 3rd, but there is no way it would have gone smoothly if we had attempted potty training any earlier.

[ChristusG]

Lazy trainer here too. I don't have time or patience to clean up tons of accidents. Around 2.5 I start attempting it every 3 or 4 months. If they don't seem ready within the first few hours on the day that we try it, I let it go and try again in 3-4 months. My third DD just trained a few weeks ago and it was a total breeze. She's dry at night too. Shes 3 yrs, 8 months.