I am not the type of mom who pushes my children developmentally. I figure if they can walk, talk, and be potty trained by the time kindergarten rolls around, there is no need to worry. (That is exaggerating a little.) I think we may be at the potty training stage, but I am not sure. I don't want to push this onto Princess, because I have seen several moms get stressed with the whole potty training thing and I don't really care to have that stress right now. Personally I think diapers are more convenient than going to the potty.
What's going on in our house? - Princess tells me when she has poop in her diaper. She doesn't like to sit in it. I tell her about going to the potty, but she always says "no". She hasn't ever said anything about pee though.
So my questions for you are:
1. Everyone says "You will know when she is ready." Well, how will I know?
2. Do you have any suggestions on how to begin this process? Please tell me what worked for you.
3. Do I need to buy anything in particular? I do have one potty chair, but we have a two-story house. Would you recommend a 2nd?
Please just give me any advice that you have. Thank you!
What's going on in our house? - Princess tells me when she has poop in her diaper. She doesn't like to sit in it. I tell her about going to the potty, but she always says "no". She hasn't ever said anything about pee though.
So my questions for you are:
1. Everyone says "You will know when she is ready." Well, how will I know?
2. Do you have any suggestions on how to begin this process? Please tell me what worked for you.
3. Do I need to buy anything in particular? I do have one potty chair, but we have a two-story house. Would you recommend a 2nd?
Please just give me any advice that you have. Thank you!
6 comments:
We didn't do a potty chair. Mostly because I thought it was icky. I also thought that it was wierd for me to tell Scarlett that that was where she did her business and then tell her that everyone else did it over in that one. But hey, I know that potty chairs work for some folks.
When will you know? To tell you the truth, I don't remember. I'll have to ask you this question when Bubba is ready.
Before I say anything else let me say that I have two boys...and I've heard that things are different with girls.
Practically speaking we did have a potty chair - one where the seat would come off and fit on our potty. I would suggest having the potty seat on the level where you are throughout the day. The clean up is a bit "icky" but it helps give them a sense of independence to be able to go all by themselves. Upstairs we had a potty seat insert and a stool. I strongly suggest the Baby Bjorn stool. It is a little more money but has a greater area for the child's feet to stand and grips very well.
Regarding readiness...it depends on the child. Jeter trained himself largely by 2-1/2 but Barber had no interest. He would tell me when he needed to be changed but viewed the potty as an alien lifeform. He became ready this past summer and was fully trained in less than 2 weeks.
I am a huge advocate for NOT stressing myself out and for making sure that I wasn't the one who was trained.
Be prepared with towels...but here is how it worked best in my house. Let her run around in just her panties to get the feel of them. PULL UPS DO NOT WORK, they feel too much like diapers...use them sparingly at night. Every once in awhile (20-30 minutes) put her on the potty and praise her like crazy even if just a few drops come out. She will still probably pee/poop in her panties a few times until she gets the hang of it. After 2-3 days and she is not making progress, put the diapers back on and wait another month or two to try again. #1 and #2 got in on the first try and #3 got it on the third try. I think she took longer because I got scared and tried to use Pull-ups on her when we would go out! Toddler training underwear is good for trips outside the house, it is a bit more absorbent, but try to use regular ones at home.
I know this sounds like hard work, but it is the quickest method and all of them were trained well before their 3rd birthdays (even through the night). If at anytime she gets frustrated and mad, stop for awhile, it should not be stressing either one of you out! She just may not be ready.
And, as my good friend, Deb, says they aren't really potty trained unless they can do it all themselves, including wiping and putting their pants back on! Seeing as how I still help with the occasionally "messy" ones, I guess #3 is not officially potty trained, yet!
We switched to cloth diapers with velcro covers (no pins) at home to train our son. They had elastic on the back so he could pull them down himself. Before we switched, he had no idea when he was peeing.
This would work to handle the panties from Melissa's comments also: Just fill a narrow pail with lid 1/2 way with water and some bleach or oxiclean (not both)... just toss wet diapers in... for soiled diapers, just dump whatever falls out into the toilet (she'll get to see where her business goes) and put the soiled diaper in the pail (oxi clean works great at breaking down the stuff remaining on the diaper). When full, just dump it, water and all, into the washer and run the spin cycle to drain the dirty water before washing them.
For the potty chair, I also would recommend an insert, and not a second potty. Potty training is quite a jump on independence, and some kids will insist on using the big toilet like everyone else... others are afraid of the big one and prefer the chair.
As far as completeness of training, I've heard that many children's arms aren't long enough to reach to wipe well until they are four years old, and some snaps are still too hard for my four-year-old, but I think that you will want to see that your Princess can pull her pants down so she can quickly get to the potty on her own when needed.
I agree with Melissa. I found that it was easier in the winter months because you are confined to the house more, but they don't realize that they are wet with disposable diapers. Switch to training pants when you want to try and follow the guidelines that Melissa used. For Princess, since she is so tiny, I'd probably get a second potty chair because she tends to be afraid of things that are bigger than her. If she insists on the regular toilet - that's fine. Lots of luck!!! But if it doesn't work on the first try, give it a break.
This one is not good for me. Both my boys were 3 before potty training was complete. Z is three and not even close to being completely potty trained.
I will admit that after reading everyone elses comments I am considering pushing him a bit in the next couple of weeks.
Who knows!
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