If your LOs did the 3 day PT method...

NJLH

I'm embarrassed....humiliated...to admit that my 3.5 year olds are still not trained. THey fight it tooth and nail. I think I'm past the "not ready" excuse. I tried a few stay in the house in underwear weekends which didnt work. And I know I'm mostly at fault for not committing to staying in the house for days at a time.

Anyway, I'm planning to dive back in next week when school is over. Any advice how to introduce it (although I've already warned them). And should I do undies or go full-on naked, which I've avoided. I have to shop for good prizes since stickers and candy no longer do it for them. Thanks for any advice.

Jim&Jaime

DS wasn't interested in PT until he was ready, and that was about 2 months ago, when he was at 3.5 years. Prior to the switch flipping, he'd fight any sort of discussion or push to use the potty. We tried putting underwear on him, he'd throw a fit. One day, I mentioned, not even trying to push, just talking out loud, that we were out of diapers, and his unsolicited response was, "I guess I have to wear underwears". Here's my point, please don't feel humiliated. Kids find their own way on their own time. Not to say that others won't have great advice, are there aren't methods proven to work, but I look back on the frustration DH and I felt, and laugh at the waste of effort. 

NJLH

OK, good to know. I actually have a scar on my arm from my DD scratching me while trying to get her on the potty.

Randa&Jerm

We had success with the 3 day method with both of my girls shortly after they both turned 2yo.  I pretty much did exactly what was taught and it worked like a charm.  I did take DD1 a little past 3 days, but by day 4 she had it down.  DD2, was a miracle and was done in 1 afternoon after 2 accidents. 

I suggest going with underwear and make it all a big deal but a FUN big deal.  It truly is a test of your patience and you must show your kids LOVE! Its so frustrating, but in the end it is SO worth it!  Hang in there! 

WestCoastMommy

I did it with my son at 2.5 years old. You have to follow it or it wont work and that means throwing out all the diapers and never turning back. Do not diaper them up at night, you shouldn't have any diapers in the house to do so anyways. They may be a little more defiant since they got their way the first time but stand firm. I'm sure it will be a really rough first week! Stay strong

Randa&Jerm

Randa&Jerm:

We had success with the 3 day method with both of my girls shortly after they both turned 2yo.  I pretty much did exactly what was taught and it worked like a charm.  I did take DD1 a little past 3 days, but by day 4 she had it down.  DD2, was a miracle and was done in 1 afternoon after 2 accidents. 

I suggest going with underwear and make it all a big deal but a FUN big deal.  It truly is a test of your patience and you must show your kids LOVE! Its so frustrating, but in the end it is SO worth it!  Hang in there! 

I should add that the only thing I didn't do was at night.  When I potty trained DD1, DD2 was a newborn and I did not want to be up nursing and taking care of baby AND changing sheets and taking DD1 potty every night so we did end up using pull ups at night.   I was compassionate with her since I know I peed the bed occasionally until I was 7 years old.  She had never woken up dry so I knew that was going to be more of a struggle than I was ready to deal with at the time so we had "ni-night panties" and do so now for DD2.  DD1 in just the past month has been able to stay dry and now is wearing her big girl panties and has only peed the bed once. (but wakes me up to take her potty at night, which is good because most of the time I have to go too! lol)

 

 

Court0026

I agree with the not feeling humiliated thing! We just PTed at 3.5.  I tried it over the summer at almost 3 and he cried and cried and peed and cried.  He was not ready and he had no idea when he was even going.  This time he was showing 0 signs of being ready, but we figured WE were ready to try again.  We did underwear only and he was trained in 2 days.  Very minimal accidents. 

I disagree with the no diapering at night.  My kid still wakes up with a full diaper and that is not usually an indication of a kid who is ready (from what I have read).  If he is awake, he gets up and takes his diaper off to go, but for the most part, I see night time as a totally different thing. 

Good luck!  My kid wasn't a fan of bribes.  He took candy for the first couple of days, but then forgot about it.  I had a prize box if the whole day was good, but he only asked about it 2x.  

lcherian

This doesn't answer your question, but thought I'd put it out there for other moms because so often I hear, "my child is not ready." in the 1950's, 90 percent of 18 month olds were potty trained. Now, less than 5 percent of 18 month olds are. We as parents today are waiting too long to train our children. The easiest time period to train a child is between 14 months and 2 years. After that, children by nature are more stubborn and resistant to train. We then have a much harder time training, and eventually delay the process until they are "ready." So now to answer your question. You must get rid of the diapers. That is the only way to train. If you put a diaper or pull up on them, they will know they can rely on the diaper. I put my kids in undies and it worked well. For the first few days, I kept reminding my kids to tell me when to potty. If they didn't, I took them to the bathroom anyway every 2 hours. My dd was trained in 1.5 days, my ds in 4 days. Good luck!

NJLH

My mom always tells me I was trained at 18 months (back in the 70s). I wish I hadnt waited so long. My DD had physical delays and was in all kinds of therapy, so I kind of put potty on the backburner. Now I regret. Thanks for all the advice!

Jim&Jaime

lcherian:

This doesn't answer your question, but thought I'd put it out there for other moms because so often I hear, "my child is not ready." in the 1950's, 90 percent of 18 month olds were potty trained. Now, less than 5 percent of 18 month olds are. We as parents today are waiting too long to train our children. The easiest time period to train a child is between 14 months and 2 years. After that, children by nature are more stubborn and resistant to train. We then have a much harder time training, and eventually delay the process until they are "ready." So now to answer your question. You must get rid of the diapers. That is the only way to train. If you put a diaper or pull up on them, they will know they can rely on the diaper. I put my kids in undies and it worked well. For the first few days, I kept reminding my kids to tell me when to potty. If they didn't, I took them to the bathroom anyway every 2 hours. My dd was trained in 1.5 days, my ds in 4 days. Good luck!

Well good for you.  <<insert sarcastic tone and eyeroll>>

LisaMinFL

Fully naked - don't leave the house for 3 days!

You have to follow it to a T

lcherian

Jim&Jaime:

lcherian:

This doesn't answer your question, but thought I'd put it out there for other moms because so often I hear, "my child is not ready." in the 1950's, 90 percent of 18 month olds were potty trained. Now, less than 5 percent of 18 month olds are. We as parents today are waiting too long to train our children. The easiest time period to train a child is between 14 months and 2 years. After that, children by nature are more stubborn and resistant to train. We then have a much harder time training, and eventually delay the process until they are "ready." So now to answer your question. You must get rid of the diapers. That is the only way to train. If you put a diaper or pull up on them, they will know they can rely on the diaper. I put my kids in undies and it worked well. For the first few days, I kept reminding my kids to tell me when to potty. If they didn't, I took them to the bathroom anyway every 2 hours. My dd was trained in 1.5 days, my ds in 4 days. Good luck!

Well good for you.  <<insert sarcastic tone and eyeroll>>

Please tell me why you are giving me an eye roll?

jellyjellybean

My DS rarely woke up with a dry diaper and only wet the bed the first day during nap time, never since. It was a horrid 3 days (memorial day weekend 2011) and DS was sick 2/3 days but we made it!

We had a bag with a mix of candy and small toys hanging on the bathroom door. He could pick something for every pee and got a special prize for the first poop.

We had to keep the candy/prizes up for about 2 weeks afterward but it was totally worth it.

GL!  

Paigeo

I agree that you just have to throw out the diapers.  We didn't do the naked thing.  Just put her in undies.  We used a sticker chart in combination with the 3 day method.  Every time she used the potty she got a sticker... 1 for peeing, 2 for poop and 1 for going a whole day without an accident.  When she filled it up she got a big prize.  For us it was an outdoor playset which we had planned on buying anyway.  We put a picture of it on the fridge next to the chart.  The process for us turned out to be pretty easy.  By the 2nd day something clicked and she was fine from then on.  We did this right after she turned 3.  Good luck!