My view of the 3 day pt

LIBride6-16-07

I tried the 3 day pt and think it set my expectations too high. It may have worked for some but like I said this is MY view on it. I think it is unreasonable to think it can be done that quickly. I started seriously pt 10 days ago and have been told by some close friends that have gone through it recently that it will take 2 weeks if you are serious about it. I did have some breakdowns (from frustration of unrealistic expectations) but am seeing the bright side now. DS is 27 months and we have had a small potty in the house for him probably since he turned 2 but haven't stressed about it. Yesterday I started seeing real progress but today on day 10 I think we are there or really getting there. The reason I decided to write this post is because I didn't want other moms to give up if the 3 day pt doesn't work for them. It might be a good start but don't give in and go back to diapers after 3 days if they aren't where you expected. And in no way am I a "know-it-all" on this and wouldn't mind reading others experiences whether they are the same or different than mine. Also, I tried following the underwear only thing and bought a spot cleaner for the carpet which hleped with the frequent messes on the carpet but my mom kept telling me to get the old fasioned rubber pants and training pants. I ignored her at first since I was so into the rules of the 3 day process but now I am glad that she bought them for me. (or DS I should say lol) I felt more comfortable leaving the house with them on him and with the cotton training pants underneath the rubber pants he still felt it when he went. Good luck!

LaLaSweets

I completely agree with you. It's been about 2 weeks and I can say we are there. 99.9% at home and 85% when we are out. The poop is another story. lol

lmdbww

I read the 3 day PT method and for some reason it scared the bejeezus out of me. Like If I did not do it to the letter as she spelled it out, I was a failure, DD was a failure, and she would be ruined for life if it didn't work in those 3 days.  I think that it is definitely not for everyone. I did not want it to be as strict as that. I did not want DD to feel like she was in potty jail. lol

DD is so easy going, I just kind of knew it wouldn't work for her.  That being said, I did like a few of the things she suggests in there, and have used some within my own made-up method of PT (which seems to be working beautifully.)

And I have used rubber pants on DD, only in the car on the way to and from work. We have a half hour commute (she comes with me) and that is a long way to hold your pee if you dont really know how yet. I used the rubber pants over her big girl panties for 4 days and tried a day without them to see what happened.  We're on day 9 and to my surprise she hasn't had one accident in the car!

LIBride6-16-07

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt this way. When I first came onthis board I thought that the 3day PT book was gonna be some heaven sent pt miracle by how everyone was asking for it. I would have been mad if I had paid for it. lol

Soter1

We are halfway through day 2 and so far I think things are going awesome! But I know that I didn't set my expectations too high.  I am using this as a kick start.  We truly went cold turkey with no potty expperience before at all.  He is already holding it and telling me when to go.  It is A LOT of work but I think if we keep up this pace in another 2 weeks we should be good to go.  Like I said, I am following the plan to a tee, and using it as a jump start, but in no way do I think that he will be "adult like" by Saturday

LaLaSweets

It's like a great guideline. It also made mee feel like a failure because at the time it was working for a lot if women.

willogirl101

I never read the book. I just put him in undies and took him to the toilet / potty frequently. I didn't have a car at the time, so I was hard core potty training for 5 days. He is really good now but not perfect. We started about 3 weeks ago.

LauraandMatt

It DID not work for us at all.  All it did was make DS afraid of the potty.  He just holds his pee and poop now, even though I have gone back to diapers because he was so anxious he was running around for hours trying to hold it b/c he is so afraid of the potty (my kid is pretty anxious to begin with, so I should have known that this wouldn't work!)

 

I am going to try PTing again later but NOT with the 3 day tactic! I think it is good for many and many kid's personalities, but not everyone.

thomas&lynn

We did have success by the 4th day but I can honestly say you have to get right with messes to help this work! lol I am super anxious when my  house is a mess....I hate that I get that way but it is what it is so this method seriously posed a challenge to me. I had to think ahead to her making these meses in different situations and how I would handle them (lol....I'm nuts). When I did that it made clean up no big deal and I am more apt to shrug off any accidents...which in turn helps DD do this w/o stress.

I am also so thankful I have only wood or tiled flooring so all messes could be cleaned (and sanitzed) perfectly and right away.

In full disclosure, it took a week to get her to wake dry from sleep times (we put a potty in the bedroom) but I didn't factor that part into our success anyway. She's 100% on peeing in the potty otherwise Pooping is our present challenge...she's not even once gone on the potty and it's been 3wks.

LaLaSweets

LauraandMatt:

It DID not work for us at all.  All it did was make DS afraid of the potty.  He just holds his pee and poop now, even though I have gone back to diapers because he was so anxious he was running around for hours trying to hold it b/c he is so afraid of the potty (my kid is pretty anxious to begin with, so I should have known that this wouldn't work!)

 

I am going to try PTing again later but NOT with the 3 day tactic! I think it is good for many and many kid's personalities, but not everyone.

Sorry this back fired Laura!

skittles_123

I was about to post about what all the fuss is about this 3 day pt. I mean when the kid is ready, the kid is ready, why force it on them. My ds got severely constipated when we first tried to "force" him to pt. It was a time I would rather not recall, I feel like a terrible mom for that. He still gets constipated on occasion to this day and it is been two years since we 1st tried. Mind you, it turns out he has autism, and was delayed anyway, so he just now is officially pt at age 4. My dd, she pulled out ds underwear from the clean laundry one day and asked to put them on, I knew she was ready then. She has been cake to train, just put her in underwear and we haven't looked back since. That was about 5-6 weeks ago. She had her share of accidents, but today, we consider her PT with the exception of bedtime and nap time. I figured when her body is ready to hold it while she sleeps, she will start to become dry, then we will go to underwear. No pressure, no time lines . . .how many untrained kiddos have we seen entering kindie? Not many.

octbride2006

I think this method sets your expectations high, and does make you feel defeted if you don't have success with LO.   My LO is 18 months, and yes the book says 22.  Whatever, we tried it anyway.  I didn't expect her to be adult like by day 3, but I expected the"click" at least.  I can't say we've had no success but I just thought the plan was a little rigid. 

I went out and bought the rubber pants and training pants.  They are working so nicely!  LO is too young to tell me every time she has to go.  She does sometimes, but still has 2 accidents a day.  I guess that isn't bad for day 5.  Thanks for this post!!