Tips on potty training

xHannahx

Wait until they are ready. It makes it a lot less stressful than them wetting everywhere. Both of mine were between 2 1/2 and 3 and waited until they wanted to. No stress and much easier compared to my friend who tried before hers were ready and just seemed stressed with the child wetting everywhere.
The youngest was easier as she wanted to copy big sister,

thriftylass

I agree with not doing it half and half. Sounds like yours is going to potty after a bath but otherwise is in pull-ups/nappies? Didn't work for us as it was confusing. We tried a few times before he was three and he just didn't get it/wasn't ready. Said he didn't need to go and then wet himself 2 min later. So we just waited. When his sister was about 3 month old I told him that's it, no more nappies (he had just turned 3). He maybe realised his baby sister had them and he was the "big" brother. He was dry day and night from that day, most times he went straight to toilet and only on the potty if it was urgent. So we had on in the kitchen downstairs (stone floor, easier to clean) In Germany they do when they are 1!! (no idea how). I'm definetely an advocate for waitning till they are ready otherwise it takes ages including loads of accidents.

Mrshaworth2b

It's a question posed to him after a bath, which as I said isn't every night. "Do you want to do a wee on the potty?" Generally yes and then he will sit and do one. If he says no then his nappy goes on. The potty has been around for a long time so he knows he can use it if he wants. This morning I asked if he wanted to use the potty today and he said yes but then wet the kitchen floor, so I asked again do you want a nappy on, and he said yes so I will now wait longer. It's not a problem, he knows what he wants to do and like said he may see his little brother having to have nappies and decide he's not a baby and doesn't need them to.

I think it's great he knows his own mind enough to know he doesnt want to try yet, rather than me spend all day mopping up accidents

Mrshaworth2b

Thanks to all for your comments though, great to have some advice. Minus the comment about leaving them to wet themselves... let's hope if you ever need caring for when old, your carers don't do the same to you that would be so mean haha

Fireflyaway

I didn't use a potty at all as in my mind I would then have to teach use of the toilet so it was 2 steps instead of 1. I purchased one of those seats that fits over the main toilet seat so there is a smaller gap and a little step to use to climb up / rest feet on. I made quite a big deal out of choosing some 'big girl knickers'. i think they had pepper pig or something! That helped too.

bouicca21

When I did it with mine I waited for a. Signs they knew they needed to go and b. Summer and a weather forecast for warm for at least three days. In the garden all day, no nappies. Took no more than a day or two for them to be totally reliable.

LittleMoog

We potty trained our DD recently, at a similar age to your little one. We got her some pants, and then explained that she needed to do her wees and poos on the potty if she wanted to wear them. Then we started taking her every hour or so, and giving stickers and lots of praise if she did something, we asked nursery to do the same but keeping her in nappies in between. After a week she was doing pretty well, so we ditched the nappies for daytime and she's not been too bad at all. She prefers to sit on the toilet than use the potty though. She has been a bit slower with poos, they seem to take her by surprise sometimes, but we've started making a massive fuss when she does do one on the loo and she's pretty much there now.

Mrshaworth2b

Hello all, so we are on our second attempt at potty training. It got to the point that we were having to bribe him to have his nappy changed and battle for sometime half hour to change it. So last Friday I said "if you don't want your nappy changed then you need to start using potty" and he's been using it. I let him run around with no bottoms on, the first couple of days it was mostly hit with a little miss, but no poo until his night time nappy went on. Then yesterday he pooed on the floor, twice. Today he's been mostly hit however twice he has walked up to the radiator or his toy box and just wee'd against them.

I don't know what I'm asking really just maybe need telling that this is OK and will get better. I've cleared my diary over the weekend to make sure we can get the hang of it in a easy setting however I have a few jobs to do over the next few days and I'm worried it's going to be really stressful with lots of accidents. Also my partner is off all next week and we want to take my son out. I'm more than prepared for accidents and many trips to bathrooms however it is overwhelming thinking whether he will give it a good go.

Kaye1

You can't force it- they will do it when they are ready! I know you have a reason for getting it done but sometimes making a big deal of it makes it worse.
We started, then stopped totally. Just came back to it and this time she is much better- she is ready this time.

ciderwithrosie_2

Have potty trained 3 boys and they were all different, apart from they did it to their own agenda, not mine :doh:

Without wishing to sound like a doom merchant, if you do succeed by the time the new baby puts in an appearance - expect to have some regression. Others have mentioned him seeing the new baby in nappies and therefore wanting to be a big boy, I would say the opposite could happen, he may display more babyish behaviour for a time - all perfectly normal and par for the course when there is a new sibling in the house.

I would concentrate more on the bedtime routine for now, you're going to need every extra second of sleep you can get!