s/o potty training
sbevmc09
member
What are the signs of readiness? I know the traditionally mentioned ones that all the experts reference (like interested in potty/underwear, making you aware that they are peeing/pooping, staying dry for longer periods, getting upset by wet/dirty diapers, etc.), but I'd like to hear some real world experiences. I'd like to wait for DS to be ready before we start potty training, but I'm also not 100% sure what it's going to look like and I don't want to miss the window to start.
How did you know when it was time? And how did you start?
So far we've bought a potty seat (which we let him pick out), 'we've started talking about using the potty and reading books about it. I've asked DS a handful of times whether he wants to sit on the potty and he says no, except for once. He did sit on it, for about 2 seconds, and then was ready to get off. I feel like this is a delicate balance between waiting til they're ready, not pushing too hard lest it become a power struggle, but giving enough nudge/motivation to actually get them to do it! Just not really sure how to go about it all!
Re: s/o potty training
"Ready" for my girls was when they ASKED for underwear, said they were big girls and wanted to actually use the potty.
My DS probably would have trained this summer if I hadn't done it in June. He was ready since he didn't want to go back into diapers, but he didn't "get" the potty training for 1.5 weeks.
What were there ages at the time? (And I fully realize this will look different for everyone, just curious.)
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DS started asking a month or two ago to use the potty like his two friends who are fully PT'd (one is 6 months older and one is 2 months older). We have had a little potty for quite some time and let him sit on it whenever he wanted to just to let him get familiar with it.
So when he started asking to use the potty and wear underwear, I started PTing. By the end of week 2 we were having zero accidents at home. However, he was holding his poop for 3-4 days, and having accidents when we left the house. I talked to his pedi who said to wait 3 weeks and try again.
So we still let him use the potty whenever he asks (which is consistent at home) but we're not actively pushing him to PT. When we go out, he wears cloth training pants because I didn't want to go back to diapers and confuse him.
So, IMO, just because they ask they may still not be ready. My son is only 2.5 though, and that's young for PT.
We had some of the signs of readiness, but not all. We started at the exact age your son is at. He had some interest in the potty, was staying dry for a while and told us after he went. However, he couldn't have cared less about being in dirty underwear/a diaper but we still successfully potty trained in 2.5 days.
We did a lot of prep work beforehand. I really talked up how big boys use the potty and told him how his friends used the potty (luckily he plays with older kids!). We bought a pop-up book on potty training which went through the steps. We reminded him that the day where diapers were all done was coming and let him pick out his big boy underwear the day before. On the day of, we did a combo of underwear/naked time and made a huge deal when we took off his last diaper. The first day he mostly peed on my floor. lol. Day two was about 50/50 and by the third day he had 1-2 accidents. No regular accidents after day 3 and he was telling me when he had to go and holding it until he got there all the time.
B was 3Y1m, and E was 2.5. L trained at 3.5.
My DD would literally tell us she was going pee/poop. She also couldn't stand to pee herself and started getting upset when she would. I brought her into the bathroom with me every time I went hyped up how big girls used the potty and not diapers. I know she was ready a few months before we decided to do it. I was just afraid of the mess.
What I did (which definitely would not work for everyone): Took DD to pick out some big girl panties with her favorite characters on them. We talked multiple times about how she could only wear them if she went pee in the potty. We started out with her toilet in the living room so she wouldn't have to go far. After putting her in underwear, she was using the toilet with no accidents in 4 days. Oh, we also used a rewards system. She got 1/2 a gummy for sitting on the potty, 1 gummy for going pee, and 2 gummies if she pooped.
Good luck!
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