Comments on: Potty Training

By: Andria B

Andria B — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:16:30 +0000

Both my daughters liked sitting on the potty once they could walk. They were happy to imitate mommy. This didn’t end up translating into toilet training though!

My daughter #2 was started in March with potty attempts before she turned 2. She is now 2 1/2 and is pretty good about saying – “gotta go potty!” whereever she is. During the summer, we went out to a restaurant to eat. She had a diaper on, after a long weekend of accidents at the cottage, and when she said she had to go pee, I wasn’t prepared to take her seriously. Daughter #1 said she had to go too, so off we 3 went to the ladies room. Big girl did her thing and then the 2 year old did too! Peeing in a public potty! Now were making progress!

There have been a few public accidents (right through the shopping cart!) yet never in her carseat or stroller. If she is distracted with playing, she may make a puddle, and now she won’t move from the spot because she knows the clean up mess from footsteps upsets me. Tracking the trail with the gleam of sun on the hardwood isn’t always reliable! [wet feet ensue]

When I trust her enough to abandon the diaper bag (spare cloth diaper for messes plus underwear and new pants), I will officially call her trained! It’s around the corner too!

By: Nessie

Nessie — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 22:19:03 +0000

Janette, my daughter ended up potty learning at 30 or 31 months. I stopped pushing her to go to the potty completely after seeing that she just wasn’t getting it. I did keep her in underwear most of the time (except for nights). Good thing most of our house does not have carpeted floors because there were a lot of messes to clean up.

One day, my daughter just decided she’d use the potty and that was that. She pretty much potty trained herself. I would from time to time suggest to her to use the potty, but I would say it only once or twice a day without pushing her to do it. Funny thing is, I bought a lot of potties and she decided to use the small Baby Bjorn one that I bought a VERY long time ago when she was just a few months old.

I would suggest introducing your son to the potty gently as soon as you can so that he can get used to it. Trust me, it’s much easier when your child has seen the potty around and has even sat on it a few times (even if it was with clothes on). As my daughter was getting closer to 30 months, I would let her see me on the toilet more frequently and explain to her what I was doing, so that she would see it’s a normal/natural thing to do. She was afraid to poop in the potty before, so it was very important for me to show her that it’s something we all do and it’s normal. It definitely worked.

I believe that if you decide to go with toddler potty training (as opposed to infant potty training), you have to give them some time. You can introduce/teach them certain things, but in the end they have to decide to take that step towards being potty trained themselves. Some kids can be pushed to use the potty, but most probably can’t.

Good luck!

By: Janette

Janette — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:18:27 +0000

I’d love to read updates on how it’s going. And also to hear what resources you’re using.
My little guy turns two next week, and has been showing an on-again off-again interest. I’d been planning to wait until he was at least 27 months, because of this study indicating that the optimal window is between 27 and 34 months: http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/D/20031735.html I’m torn because I generally like to support my son’s interests, but I don’t want to drag out the process longer than it needs to be.

By: PamJ

PamJ — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:20:23 +0000

My ds is now 30 months and we have been ‘in the process’ of training for what seems like eons now! We started off pretty relaxed thinking that he was getting it, with a few accidents here and there, but still wearing a diaper at night. He even got to the point where he was telling us when he needed to go potty, but would still poop in his morning diaper. Then regressed. *sigh* So trying not to get frustrated we kept up with the training, despite the many more accidents and now he is going on his own to the potty again! Even pooping in it the last few days :) Makes us happy parents and now we only have one in diapers…! Well, not sure when nighttime will be conquered but at least daytime is! Hang in there and don’t give up :) She needs you to stay consistent and will eventually give in and continue the good habits…

By: Tracey

Tracey — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:56:38 +0000

When my little guy was that age i thought he would never be potty trained. LOL. The more I backed off, the more he did it on his own. He could feel my frustration and actually became petrified of the potty for awhile. And he too was cloth diapered. One thing I did was put the old school pull up covers over his undies during the day to contain some of the accidents. That and a good carpet cleaner. LOL Good luck, she will get it. :)

By: Nessie

Nessie — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 00:02:54 +0000

ckpwong, thank you for the comment! We did EC when my daughter was 7 months old and it worked great, but then I started working like a maniac and stopped doing it completely. If I did continue, I’m sure she would’ve been potty trained a long time ago.

You’re completely right, staying relaxed and calm are key to success.

By: ckpwong

ckpwong — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:30:48 +0000

I’m lazily ECing my 14mo. He gets plenty of diaper-free time (just pants, no underwear or training pants) when he’s home and not napping. He sometimes uses the potty when we offer, but recently he has been declining.

While EC is different from toddler potty training, staying relaxed and calm are keys to success. Babies and toddlers are usually more cooperative when you aren’t obsessed about avoiding accidents.