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jen5/03
I want a 2 year old who is potty trained!!!! How'd you do it?? I haven't even read much on this topic yet...but I am so impressed that yours is (mostly) potty trained!! Can you give us a run down of how you did it?
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Re: jen5/03
Ah thanks
I feel like this is my reward to balance out all her crappy sleeping over the last 2 years. Here's my novel on how we did it.
I started out putting DD on the potty before and after baths and immediately after naps. We started this really early, like 14mo, because she kept pooping in the tub and that just had to stop. So she got used to the idea that sitting on the potty was fun (we read books and we sing silly pee-pee/poo-poo songs when she goes), and got used to the idea that poop and pee belong in the potty. She got used to flushing. I haven't changed a poopy diaper since Christmas, though she would sometimes poop in a diaper at school.
We also used cloth diapers so she's been aware of feeling wet and also that poop goes in the potty for a very long time. I do think that seeing me put the poop in the potty was useful.
We just did this semi-PTing for months and months and didn't push it at all until she was 22mo and we had the long Easter holiday to be at home together and try the 3-day PTing thing.
It actually took 14 days to get a zero-accident day, but she went from maybe 10 accidents the first day to just 1 per day by day 3. So I still consider it a success.
Before we starteded the 3 day PTing, she didn't seem to have any idea when she was about to pee. We did sit her on the potty about every 30 minutes the first day and a half (I didn't buy the book, just read about it online), but I think that feeling the pee down her leg probably helped her figure it out faster. Plus she seems to feel bad about peeing on her Elmo or Dora panties ("Oh no!!! I pee-peed Elmo!! Oh no!!!!!!") even though I've tried to never make a big deal about accidents.
Within the first 5 days of PTing I was taking her out to the library and grocery store without diapers even though she was still having 1-2 accidents a day (I was super nervous though). I just made sure to sit her on the potty before leaving the house and ask her if she needed to potty about every 30 minutes. I just put her on the big public toilets and hold onto the small of her back to keep her steady.
We also went straight into trainers and gave up diapers at home completely except for nap and night time. I did this because her daycare does not allow pullups, you have to go cold turkey into trainers, and I figure they've trained a lot more kids than I ever will.
However, E had just started a new classroom at the beginning of April and wasn't too fond of her teacher and did not talk to her. So the teacher did not want to try PTing at school and E was still wearing diapers those 3 days a week. This went on until 2 weeks ago when that teacher quit and we got back E's favorite teacher. Last week she started pottying at school too and didn't have any accidents for the first 4 days, but did have one this morning. Ah well, it happens. None of the other kids in her class are PTd.
Personally, I think that sometimes people keep waiting for the perfect time and for all these signs of readiness. I just don't see the harm in trying earlier. Most of us were PTd earlier because that's just how they did it back in the day. I wouldn't push my kid if she had resisted, but I think it's always worth trying.
Oh, and I put a waterproof pad and cloth diaper in her carseat to catch any accidents and still avoid diapers for car trips. So far she's only had one accident in the car and that was way back in the beginning.