Potty training after arrival of new sibling...do I bother?

cs1007 · July 2012

DS #1 just turned 3. He starts preschool in the fall, and while he does not NEED to be potty trained to start, I would like him to be...

Thing is, I have an 8 week old baby. We have had the potty, potty books for DS to become familiar with the idea, underwear, we ave talked about it for a long time...and he has not shown any interest, so I never bothered to really push the idea of training while I was pregnant with #2 because I expected regression with the new arrival. And just as I expected, DS #1's behaior has been AWFUL since the baby arrived. So fresh, not listening, hitting, throwing things, etc....(that is another story/post).

So my question is, do I even BOTHER to try tarining, or am I just going to drive myself crazy at this point? The baby has reflux and is so fussy/hig maintenance...I am not sure if I can do this PT too. Anyone with thoughts/similar experience?

blaze99 · July 2012

I think given everything else you have going on I wouldn't add PT to the mix if you don't HAVE to. I don't think it will be overly productive if your DS is in an oppositional stage. In our experience we had to devote 100% of our attention to DS during the training so unless you have some awesome helpers that can assist you I wouldn't do it right now.

dragon_chica · July 2012

No way! It's bad enough that he has a sibling to "compete" for your attention and then he gets PT and THEN in about a month he starts preschool? If I was in your situation I would wait until closer to the holidays when you might have some days off as well as him.

triplenine · July 2012

I'm in the same situation...but my LO is 4 months.... I was going to start my2.5 yo right away when she was born but with pumping/feeding schedule I couldn't bc I wasn't available for him. We started this week and went cold turkey with underwear...we are on day 5 and so far so good. I had to start on a Saturday bc I needed help from DH. On Monday be went to camp w underwear! Give yourself a little time. Most preschools help with pting too.

megann831 · July 2012

I wasn't going to but when DS was about 2 weeks DD started taking off her diaper and asking to be changed so I went with it. I spent the week outside with a little potty outside so it made clean ups alot easier. It probably wasn't the best timing but I love not having 2 kids in diapers, I felt like I was running a daycare for those 1st 2 weeks

LoCarb · July 2012

Is he showing signs he's ready?

I have a conflicting opinion. At the age of 3 and he's going to PS w/other peers who are PT...yes, begin trying for the following two reasons:

1. PT was so much easier after DD2 was born b/c it really solidified DD1 was big girl and no longer a baby.

2. Your son will befriend other children in PS who are already PT and you'll find out peer pressure works in this situation. He will probably take an interest in being a 'big boy' modeling others in his class.

It was the combination of the above two that DD1 became PT so quickly. She also showed signs of readiness.

*LrCg* · July 2012

Our son was 17 months old when we PT him when our DD was 4 weeks old. We had no issues. In fact, I thought it was very easy because a 4 week baby sleeps a lot of the time so I didn't feel guilty about giving him extra attention for 3 days. And he really enjoyed being different from a baby and doing a big boy thing like the potty. We never had any regression issues, etc. and it was very easy to do.

aglenn · July 2012

I have not been pushing it with DD because she's had some issues, too, with the arrival of DS...plus I have enough going on! It is OK to let it go for a while, IMO. DD is just now starting to act somewhat interested, so I'm making a point of working with her on it a little more seriously, but I expect it to be a long process. I get her on the potty first thing in the morning and at bath time, and make a few attempts in between, but I am not clock-watching and making a big deal of it for now. It will happen in due time, and DD is stressed enough as it is (as are the rest of us). I don't see much value in forcing the issue.

Cgilb · July 2012

I'd wait. You may find that once he starts pre-school he's more motivated to start PT because he'll be seeing some of the other kids using the potty. This may make it a little easier on you too.

MsNessa · July 2012

I'd wait. We're working on potty training and I have an almost 4 month old typical baby (and DD1's behavior has improved since DD2 arrived). It's really hard. I didn't even want to attempt it until now.

stdldb29 · July 2012

We did! DH started PT DS when DD was 3 days old. DS LOVED, LOVED all of the extra attention. Our baby was a complete pain-the reflux-crap like that. He did awesome and got it in 3 days. He was only 23 months at the time. There were many times after the initial 3 days that I had to lay the baby on the floor outside of the bathroom or on the bathroom rug so I could help DS, but it was a good timing for us and I would do it all over again.

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