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Potty Training Advice
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So DS #1 is 2 1/2 now and honestly PT has been something I haven't even wanted to attempt since DS #2 came along, just wanted us all to get into a good groove, then think about it closer to when he's 3. I've of course heard - "they will do it when they are ready", "pushing them is more frustrating on both parents and kiddo", then I've heard others decide on the day, do it and there's no looking back. I will say I've done little to no research yet, shame on me I know, but daycare it talking more and more about it, as well as DH, however I don't think DH realizes how much work it will truly be. So I guess here are some of my initial questions:
1) How did you PT your kiddo? 3 Day Method or whever else is out there (again I've done zero research)
2) Did you bother using pull ups? From previous posts I've seen many of you said at night primarily, which I'm sure is a route we will go since DS is still in his crib.
3) Did you train using the regular toilet or a kid potty? Are there pros / cons to one over the other?
4) Any advice you want to share, would be FABULOUS!
TIA!!!
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Re: Potty Training Advice
I am interested to see answers to this as well...
I am wondering if it is worth trying anything before DS #2 comes along, as I have heard regression is common with new situations.
1. I tried the 3 day with Bailey and it was the worse few days EVER. It did not work for us and he HATED the potty after that. We just let it go for a while. I put his big boys in his drawer with his pjs. A month before he turned 3 he all of a sudden wanted to wear them. Put them on him and he's had hardly no accidents since he switched. Also daycare had been taking him to the potty with the other kids but he was still in diapers. They told me just to talk to him but not to push it and he'd do it in his own time. They were so right. It was the easiest thing ever. The only people I know that had success with the 3day PT is people with girls.
2. We used pull-ups only at night. Right before thanksgiving Bailey decided he didn't want to wear them anymore and he's been in underwear full time since. No night time accidents at all.
3. Regular toilet but Bailey is very tall and big for his age. He can get on/off the toliet himself even before 3yrs. Plus school uses regular potties and we wanted no confusion. He does sit to pee as well. We haven't started the standing up yet. Not sure what we will do for Bryce since he's a shorty
I started PT Graham about 4 months before he turned 3. We tried using the 3 day method. It was a nightmare and he was a terror. It did not go well but it made him aware of everything that needed to happen. I gave up after the 3 days and just let him do whatever. Some days he wanted a diaper and some days he didn't. I just let him tell me. One day(about a month after the 3 day experience) he decided on a big boy underwear and never looked back. Pee and poop on the potty with no regression... so far so good. Fingers crossed.
We use pull ups at night.
We used the real potty with a kid seat on top. He only used that for a month or so though.
Not us, unfortunately
It worked pretty well for us. Although I read the document and used the general ideas without following it to the letter. It was more like it took 3 days for the idea to click with her, and then a few more days before she really got the hang of it.
From what I remember we still did pullups at nap time and night time and she held her poop for then for a while. But honestly, I think it's because she is super sensitive to smells and poop grossed her out! But once I finally caught her getting ready to poop in her pullup and got her on the potty in time for it to end up there, it wasn't a big deal.
My kids are very different though, Emma was mostly PT'd at daycare, I just did whatever they did. But she is very heavy sleeper and we struggled with nighttime accidents for a long time. Tess is a light sleeper with a bladder of steel. She hates change though, so the 3 days really helped us with getting her to give up the diapers and accept that she was going to wear big girl panties.
We had success with the 3 day method but I also just used the general idea and worried about daytime PT first with naps and night to come later.
Benjamin was 2 1/2 when we did it and Noah was 2 years and almost 10 months. The only reason I waited with Noah was due to timing issues with school and camp and vacations. He was ready for months prior to us doing the 3 day bootcamp.
We had a kid potty out from about 18 months on so they could get used to it and we also had the kid seat for the big toilet. When it came time to do the bootcamp, both chose the seat on the big toilet.
Like I said, we just worried about daytime pt and used pull-ups for nap and night. Noah is now just using pull-ups for night and like Benjamin, I'm not really worried about it. Just waiting for him to be consistently dry before we switch to just underwear at night.
The 3 day boot camp is hard and very, very frustrating but it does work - at least it did for me and I have two boys! I think the key is making sure the kids are ready for it and are showing you signs of being ready.
Good luck!
Adelaide has been interested in potty training since her 2nd birthday, but with the baby coming right at her birthday, I didn't want to have her regress. Now at 2y 9m we did it and followed the advice of a friend that worked with special need pre-k kids and potty trained them. I think that it's similar to the 3 day method, but I've never read up on that. We had already been talking about, she had a seat to put on the potty and sometimes wanted to sit on it, and we have the video Potty Time (Two Little Hands which created Signing Times that she LOVES.) After each success she got to "call Rachel" (a free potty time app that goes with the video), add a sticker to her chart (also on the app), and get an M&M. I had the Christmas break off, so it was now or never.
Day 1 was ROUGH. Every 15 minutes an alarm on my phone would go off and we would go to the potty. We only had 1 success and 5 accidents, but I figure you have to start somewhere. We do not use Pull Ups. She still wears her diaper for naps and at night.
Day 2 was better. Timer for every 20 (since day 1 was so rough). Only 2 accidents.
Day 3 timer for every 30 minutes and 1 accident.
Day 4 timer for every 40 minutes and no accidents.
Day 5 timer for every 50 minutes and no accidents.
Day 6 timer for every hour and no accidents.
Day 7 and on... every hour and we still have accidents every now and then, but the good thing is that she catches herself, and will go finish on the potty. She still doesn't want to poop on the potty so she gets her "poopin' diaper" when she says she needs it, poops, and we change her. She knows when she has to go, just not ready to do it on the potty.
I went with the potty seat because cleaning out a chair just grosses me out. My only advice, have plenty of sleep, lots of patience, and an extra set of hands to help out. We put a huge tarp on our living room carpet and kept her contained in there so accidents were easy to clean up. I had spare panties, socks, and leggings handy for when she had an accident. (She didn't wear pants for the week.)
Good Luck!
photos by Jody Lynn Photography
Girl, we are just starting out PT with Sophie and I am so much more reluctant this time since we had such a battle with Gavin. Her teachers are actually doing a potty bootcamp this week which basically means I have exactly 7.5 hours to get myself in the right frame of mind to keep this going over the weekend. Right now, I'm not enthused AT ALL. But as long as she's doing it there, I guess I need to reinforce it at home...
1. With Gavin, I did 3 day method. At the time, his teachers were just not going to do it at school and I was pregnant and needed to get it done. It worked for pee, poop took WAY longer- like several more months. Honestly, I do believe this method is the best for the parents. It's a brainwashing for YOU as much as for them. You throw those diapers away so there really is no turning back. I can tell you right now with Sophie, as long as there is a single diaper or pull up in this house, I will cave. And she KNOWS it.
2. Yes, with both b/c daycare asked me to. It's easier for the teachers when they are putting 15 kids on the potty 15 times a day if the kids can pull up/down themselves. Plus it teaches them how to do it themselves- which is actually a skill that is harder to learn than I realized. Gavin tended to pull it up in the front but his butt cheeks were hangin out the back- lol. But as far as actually helping them learn to USE the potty... completely worthless. Bedtime was actually not an issue for Gavin. He wet the bed a few times but I don't remember it being a huge issue. I always layered his bed- waterproof pad/sheet/waterproof pad/sheet so that I could quickly tear off the top layers at night w/o remaking the entire bed.
3. Gavin had the singing potty and was scared of it. He used the big potty with a potty seat and that worked well for him. Sophie uses that too. I think that's good b/c it also helped him not be "scared" of the big potty out in public. But you also need to help him learn to sit/balance w/o the potty seat or that can become a crutch. Oh and for boys, Gavin learned to pee sitting down and it took a LONG time for him to decide to stand up. But finally he saw the other boys at school doing it and decided to give it a go. Of course, Sophie tried to pee standing up once as well... it did not end well.
We did the 3-day method, which I definitely recommend. She was in panties whenever she was awake but we did do pull-ups at naps and night. We bought her a little potty, plus put the toilet seats on our regular toilets that have the smaller kid ring built into them. She ended up preferring the regular toilet, so that is what we primarily used.
Just make sure your daycare is on board with whatever method you are using, I think the key is consistency. Good luck!