I have been looking into starting Leah's Potty Training soon.. I found all kinds of good advice and great ideas for helping the process.
She is only 19 months, and starting to take interest in Potties, and underwear.. ;) I wonder if the time is right. Plus in April/May we will have a new little one, and my time to have with Leah one on one will be limited. I'm not expecting her to be fully potty-trained by the time baby is born, I would just LOVE it if she was at least well on the way trained, maybe even day-time trained! But I'm not over-expectant.
One piece of advice I have read is no matter how early you start, each child will consequently finish whenever they are ready. Hence: you can start the race early or late, but your finish time never changes.
Here's a great readiness checklist on Potty training, for those in the same boat as me.. I found it helpful.. but I'm still trying to decide what to do.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_toilet-training-readiness-checklist_4384.bc
What do you all think?
1. Is it too early to start training? Or will it be beneficial for her?
2. What are your potty training stories and advice?
3. Did you use rewards/bribes? If so how did they work?
5 comments:
Hey Laura! You sound like you are in the same boat as us! Dawson is now telling us when he messes his diaper, and he can't stand having a dirty diaper (never has) so, we have started sitting him on the potty. Once we got over him saying, no potty, it's dirty he will sit there.(I must have brainwashed him before as I didn't want him to try to play in it) Nothing yet so far, but keeping my fingers crossed. They always say boys are harder to train then girls! If you hear any good tips, let me know. Jessica gave me a good one about setting a timer and putting them on the potty when the timer goes off to get them into a routine. We may try that, gets me trained as well! Keep me updated on your decisions! And any advice you hear!
1. Is it too early to potty-train? Not if she has a strong interest in it! Many people (including my sis-in-law Kandi) are doing the whole infant potty-training thing. However, this often ends up being a ton of work for the mama.
Ali trained at 23 months and she did it because she saw the neighbor girl I was babysitting that week do it all the time. However, starting early meant that she took a while in learning not to have accidents and it was another 4 or 5 months until she was dry during naps. She still has a nightime pull-up for insurance!
2. Potty-training for us was one of the most frustrating parts of motherhood. Your child will always ask to go when it is the most inconvenient time for you. They will have accidents and having a potty-training kid is MUCH, MUCH harder than changing a diaper. I was hoping Ali would be trained before Jer came, but thankfully she wasn't ready until he was 2 or 3 months old. Boy, am I glad looking back! Changing two sets of diapers is nothing compared to having to jump up and down to help them in and out of clothes and onto the toliet and wiping and re-dressing and washing them and you, all at a snail's pace! If Leah is ready, then do go for it; it'll save money on diapers and eventually she'll become really independent and need less supervision. However my friend who has an almost-3 year old couldn't get her daughter to train until a couple of months ago, but when she did, she was completely trained with in a week or two, much faster than Ali. You know best whether or not Leah can control her bladder and understand these concepts.
3. We used skittles since my mom used to with me. She'd say, "Piddle for a skittle!" You may find that the child starts going a teaspoon 13 times a day just for the candy. In those instances you may want to say, "After 3 times of going pee-pee you can have a candy." or "You have to put a bunch of pee-pee in the potty for a skittle" (this worked on Ali when we had this problem). We used two skittles for poo-poo. After the skittles ran out we used chocolate chips. If you're not into candy, use stickers or a small toy after a whole day of going potty. Rewards and praise are really important at first because they give the child that extra motivation and help them to feel so proud of themselves. After a few days they will forget about going potty all day and taper it down more and more until it is only 3-6 times per day. After a while they even forget to remind you about giving them their candy.
4. Funny stories: Ali would often proudly announce to everyone and anyone she came into contact with, "I went poo-poo today in the potty!" She would always watch us go potty and then clap and say, "I'm so pwoud of you!" or "You get a chocolate chip now!"
5. Random tips: Don't ever think that girls will naturally hit the target. I have seen my daughter drench her outfit, the floor, etc. way too many times. If they have chubby thighs, the pee-pee can run down their legs like a river and onto everything. The best way to get it in the pot is to have them spread their legs as far apart as they can and lean forward. Have her watch you go potty and watch little playmates who are potty-trained. Good peer pressure!
Best wishes as this can be a harrowing experience! I, like Natasha, have heard that boys are worse so I'm not looking forward to all the messes that will no doubt come with Jeremiah!
Hey laura its me El, :) I just wanted to say that for me potty training was awsome!!! i would definatly say that she is not too young, the way I did, I just started taking him potty like every hour or so, if they have a hard time learning to go. start the faucet at the sink and even trickle a little warm water between their legs. it makes things start up, :) I always took him after a meal and after a drink, If you do this faithfully they will learn it in only a few days or week or two. and the more they stay dry the more they like being dry, also i got a few washable diapers and started him in those, they feel much heavier and wetter when they are wet, and then when he wet i made a fuss and told him he has to be wet for a little while to help him remember, you wouldnt beleive how affective this was. :) ask her often if she has to go potty, instill it in her little mind. :) goodluck I know you will do great and it WOULD be nice not to have two babies in diapers when baby 2 comes along. we are expecting baby 2 June 1. we cant wait either. :) but aj is almost 3 now and has been trained for probably about 9 mo. I love it. !
Wow! Thanks for all the great advice! I'm still observing and watching Leah to see if she is "ready" yet to start.. because I'd hate to start and have it be a year-long thing. I'll just start it later then. :)
I like what you said about 2 kids in diapers Lindsey, being easier to change and such. I remember after Leah's hard birth/Csection not being able to hardly move for weeks afterwards. I'd hate to be chasing a potty-training girl around and cleaning messes, etc.
Leah has started calling her potty chair her "potty" and sitting on it when I go to the bathroom.. (Its kinda cute!) But so far she hasn;t had any real schedule for going poop/potty that I can see.
I might try what you said El.. and just try a few times a day, after meals/snacks etc. She is such a smart girl, and I know she can do it! Thanks for your help! :)
I hope potty-training goes well fro you Tasha.. I love the idea about the timer.. I will have to use that!
I'll keep you updated on the process.
Hi Laura, I happened upon your blog through my husbands family's sites (related through the Berge/Trosens).
My son never seemed interested in potty training so one day I decided it was time. I bought pull-ups so he could "feel" when he was wet/dirty - they didn't really work at all. Finally I just said 'that's it!" and I put real underwear on him, he had one accident in them and that was it, never an accident since! I did for a while continue to put pullups on him at night and then finally gave in to the fact that he will have night accidents, well it has been almost a year and he's only had an accident about 3 times! Just go for it and see how she reacts to being really wet. My son was so excited to pick out his own 'big boy underwear', also every time he went he got either an m&m or a quarter, that always helps! good luck!!
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