Comments on: Toddler Potty Training. Reader’s Email.

By: erica

erica — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:50:36 +0000

With the girl I babysit for, her parents waited until she was about 33 months and then started with pull-ups. The pull-ups had Dora on them and therefore she would do anything to wear them. She only got a pull-up if she used the potty first. They did this for about a month and then moved on to underwear. She had a few accidents but hasn’t had one in a while, although she still does wear pull-ups at night.

By: anon

anon — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:28:35 +0000

Andrea, if your child isn’t trained by 3 it may not be your kid, but it’s also not the end of the world. It’s about what’s right for your child & your family. It’s about following your instincts, knowing what you and your child can handle, and knowing what you’re both ready for.

By: stacy

stacy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:17:41 +0000

I would be careful not to start too early. At Emory’s age, he is more imitating you than he is figuring out the function. Boys are known for late potty training. I agree with the statement to wait until he was ready and older and could help himself in the bathroom with wiping and pulling up and down his pants. When I trained my boy, I waited until summer, let him run around in just big boy pants, and used a loose method similar to Heather’s. I truly thought he might walk down the wedding aisle in a diaper, but he finally accomplished toilet training ! Patience.

By: autumn

autumn — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:53:41 +0000

My son is 18 months old and he’s about at the same stage as Emory only less successful potty attempts and less verbal. He likes to sit on his potty, go to the bathroom with me, talk about going potty, and having a book about going potty read to him.

I think potty training is just something that happens when it happens. Work from your child’s cues and go from there. He will potty train eventually, right?

I know I’m not in a rush. Diapers aren’t a big deal to me, and since we use cloth, not much money either.

Even if you manage to potty train early kids regress if they are sick or they move or you go on vacation.

I have two friends who mostly potty trained their boys by a year and they still have to wear diapers anyway due to accidents or being too distracted to signal that they have to go.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:17:39 +0000

Just spend the time, and before you know it they’ll pee in the potty like they have always known how. It’s all about you, and if your kid is over three and still in pul-ups in most cases it’s not your kid.

By: DLG in Mich

DLG in Mich — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:11:13 +0000

I used a method similar to what Heather describes. I bought a book called Toilet Training in Less Than A Day and followed the plan. My boys were 2.5 and 3.5 at the time. I worked with my 3 1/2 year old first and it took about 6 hours before he got it. He is and always has been motivated by candy, so the bribery worked with him. With my 2 1/2 year old, who isn’t really motivated by candy, the process took more like a weekend. But, it worked and was fairly painless. Hope that’s helpful!

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:16:39 +0000

For this Heather, I honestly waited until it was more work for them than it was for me and that they could independently pull pants/undies up and down and get the gist of wiping and hand washing. My girls trained at 27 and 30 months and my youngest is 19 months and no way no how am I even bothering until he asks or Costco increases the price of Huggies again.

By: Chair

Chair — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:59:46 +0000

I think Theya was 2 and a half or so and I’d been trying a few different forms of bribery (stickers, M&Ms, sticker chart for books or toys) and after a week or so she’d lose interest.
One day, while visiting the city-owned ranch, my husband suggested that we try a sticker chart to earn a pony ride and THAT clicked (what little girl doesn’t love ponies?!) We gave her an M&M for trying, one sticker for #1 and 2 for #2, when she had a chart of 100 stickers, she could have a pony ride.
Within 2 weeks she was completely trained (by which I mean NO accidents). She wore a diaper to bed for a few more months, though.

By: mihow

mihow — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:31:48 +0000

My pleasure, Momma A. I hope we get some information! :] And I promise you, once we start our trek, I will surely update on here as well.

By: Momma A

Momma A — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:30:44 +0000

Thank you for posting this. (I am the mom who emailed the question) I am crossing my fingers when we do start it goes as smoothly as Heathers experience. I like the idea of having it and talking about it before actually “trying” seems like it would make them more comfortable about the idea.

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:47:18 +0000

Heather, How old were your boys when you did this? Very interesting! Thx.

By: pghgirl

pghgirl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:50:42 +0000

Maybe I’m less ambitious, but it took me a much longer time to take potty training seriously. My daughter was born when my son was 2 so we didn’t even attempt training because of fear of backtracking. My son probably wore pull-ups for a year. When we suggested it he would pee on the potty, but he never volunteered. When he was apprx 39 mos I put him in real underwear. After a few accidents he was fully trained in about 2 days & pooped on the potty w/in 3 days after some concerns on his part. He was even dry at night, which probably means I waited longer than I had to. After that he rarely had accidents. Incidentally, he didn’t stand to pee until he started pre-school at almost 4. Not sure if that’s ‘standard’ but it worked for us. We tried rewards, but nothing worked until we used underwear. At that point we didn’t even have to bother w/bribery. Being wet was enough.
My daughter was trained in a similar way & at 32 mos. Two days before she went to pre-school, after wearing pull-ups & practicing for awhile, I put her in underwear. She was also trained in 2 days & was dry at night. We did keep pull-ups on at night for about 2 weeks but she woke up dry. She had a couple of accidents in school, but it was mostly after she learned to hold it & then held it too long. She just had to learn her limits.
I would also suggest that it’s really hard to train unless they can get to the potty easily AND can get their pants down. If they don’t have the clothing skills it might just be more frustrating & discouraging. In that case there is always the training w/o any clothes at all method which works, esp in the summer!

By: mihow

mihow — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:00:59 +0000

Heather: I think I love you.

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:36:24 +0000

Bribery is the key to happiness.

Seriously.

All three of my boys were potty trained in a day. Here’s how our day went. Loaded them up with soda, water and salty foods that would make them want more soda and water. Hung out in the kitchen playing games all day (Bathroom was right by kitchen.) Every fifteen minutes, we went to the bathroom, where I read books. Several of them, to the tot. This lasted 5-10 minutes. Then, back to the kitchen for more games, drinks, food. 15 minutes later, back to the bathroom. When they went, they got M&M’s, or Small cookies. Something. Praise, tons of praise. Then, back to the kitchen.

Eventually you can work your way up to 30 minutes, then 45 then an hour.

By the end of the day. Boom. One potty trained kiddo.

The bribes continued for a couple weeks after. One M&M if they went to the bathroom and TRIED. Two, if they actually went. This kept them interested in trying to go.