OT~ potty training

[smjmekg]

Ok ladies...I need experiences and what worked for you. I haven't really started potty training yet, DS is only 16 months old, but I would like to start trying when he's 18 months. We have a potty, and once in a while we will put him on it when we go to the bathroom, but as expected he doesn't do anything with it. So how did you start potty training, what worked?

[Victoria01]

You really need to wait until your child cues you in that they are ready. Waking up dry, not liking the wet diapers, telling you that they just went, things like that. My son wasn't ready until almost three, but once he was, he was potty trained that very day and hasn't had any accidents since. I never used pull-ups, except at night, and that only lasted a week or so because he always woke up dry.

I've known a lot of parents that try and force the issue when the child is not ready (not saying you are one of those) and it usually backfires on them. Their child may start out using the potty but will eventually regress into not wanting to use it at all and they have to start over, usually having a more difficult time of it making that much harder for child and parent.

Just watch for cues from your son and he will let you know when he is ready. :)

[blueeyedtabbycat]

Well my 2 older boys were completly trained by 2.5. I just kept putting them on the toliet everytime I or DH went in the begining. I also let them run around naked (maybe thats why they dont like to wear clothes now, lol) But then when they did go we ALWAYS made a big deal out f it.  We would cheer and yell and let everyone know that "childs name" went potty!! Every now and then I would offer treats but it wasnt an all the time thing. I also heard it is easier to potty train girls, hmmmmm..................I wonder if there is any truth in that:-)

[Limonada]

DS is 3 and has been potty trained since July.  Once he was a year old, we had potty seats in the house (but didn't really put him on them, realizing he was pretty young) - it was more so he got used to seeing them around.

As the months wore on, we started placing him on the potty before bed - but it took a long time (he was at least 2) before he started doing anything on it....no. 1, first.  When he did, we praised him and rewarded him with stickers.

By 2.5 years old, he was showing definite signs of readiness: clearly not enjoying being wet/dirty (he started pulling his pants and diapers off when he was) and he was consistently going no. 1 on the potty when he was placed on there - by then, we'd started putting him on in the mornings after he got up in addition to right before bed.

We had some vacation one week at the beginning of July and decided we'd try to train him "hard core" then since he seemed ready.  We started putting him in training underwear and placing him on the potty every half hour.  There were a lot of tears the first couple of days, but by mid-week, he was having very few accidents....and even started going no. 2 on the potty, too!

Now, he will initiate going by himself - he either tells us he has to go, or just goes on his own!  He's wearing regular underwear throughout the day and training underwear at night (no more pull ups!)  

What they say is true:  you really have to read your child, wait for their cues and for them to be ready.

[JoyRenee]

My 2 1/2 year old is just now starting to ask to go on the potty... but she doesn't do anything yet. My first daughter started at 2 1/2 and has been trained since she started! I mean, of course we've had accidents, but for the most part she didn't have any issues when starting out.

Having a reward system really works. I gave her a sticker to decorate her potty with every time she went. When she went poop at her Nonna's house she got peanut M&Ms.

[Sasha80]

i started training my first at 18 months but she wasn't ready.  we tried again at 21 months and still not read.   We tried again right after her second birthday (last Dec) and she did well.  it took 3 days for her to really catch on but once she did she loved going to the washroom.  i used a sticker chart and smarties.  she got 1 smartie if she went pee and 2 smarties if she went poop.  i bought small star stickers for her to put up when she went pee and larger stickers (I used planets as she loves moons) for when she went poop.  Using 2 different sizes of stickers allowed my DH to see her progress as well.  My dd did not like her toddler potty.  she wanted the big girl toilet.  i went and bought a dora seat to put on the toilet to make it easier for her.  I also made a big deal everytime she used the potty.  She was fully day time trained within a month.  She is almost 3 and has only had maybe 2 accidents since the beginning of Feb.  Good luck!

[mamaofonetrying42]

1st thing is that only your son knows then he is ready. With my 1st son we started with him at 18m as well, he was not ready so we just kept trying every few months...but once he got to be 2.5 we really kind of put our foot now. We found that giving him candy everytime he pee'ed worked good and just putting the potty in the tv room letting him walk around naked work as well.... and with in 3months he was 100% potty trained! Also making it a BIG deal eveytime he did use the potty worked good, as they it excited and happy that they did it! We now have a 16m as well, and I dont think we will start as early as we did with our 1st, he is just "there" yet....but Good Luck!