Potty Training Help???

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tcsteeves
tcsteeves Posts: 59
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Hi everyone,

I know this has nothing to do with fitness and weight loss, but this is the first place I thought to check when it came to potty training and needing help. My daughter is 2 and this is the first time I've ever had to potty train a child. She is showing signs that she is almost ready. She knows where the potty is but doesn't quit understand what to do once she's there and sitting down. Sometimes she let's me know by pointing that she needs to be changed or when she gets a certain look in her eyes. lol My question is, can anyone recommend a really good potty training book that may have helped you through this process? Any suggestions would help, even if you don't know of a good book but can give me tips. Thanks everyone!

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  • ltlhmom
    ltlhmom Posts: 1,202 Member
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    Have her pick out underwear. Do award chart.- get a sticker every time she goes and have award when she goes X # of times. Give her M&M after she goes. This many for pee and that many for poop. Or wrap small prizes and let her pick one after going. Have her sit for so many minutes before bath time and read her a story. Just have to make it fun. No stressing.
  • Airbear3
    Airbear3 Posts: 335 Member
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    i know this is not conventional but i have 3 little girls and they were trained within a week! no pullups! let her pick out her panties and if she doesn't make it to the potty, she will the next time! little girls don't like to be wet or yucky. my sister did the same and it also worked but found it does not work for boys as they do not care!
  • tcsteeves
    tcsteeves Posts: 59
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    Thanks to both of you. Those are great suggestions.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
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    This is how my mom potty trained her three children, and all my aunts learned to potty train theirs.....tape a coloring book page to the back of the toilet, and sit them backwords, and let them just sit there and color until they go pee.

    what i did(the kids i watched were like 2.5 and 3) was everytime they used the potty i would give them stickers like spiderman or princess stickers, and we would put it on a piece of paper on the fridge so they could look at it and see how good they did. But when they did something bad, i would remove a sticker and they would have to go to the bathroom to get it back
  • deeharley
    deeharley Posts: 1,208 Member
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    i know this is not conventional but i have 3 little girls and they were trained within a week! no pullups! let her pick out her panties and if she doesn't make it to the potty, she will the next time! little girls don't like to be wet or yucky. my sister did the same and it also worked but found it does not work for boys as they do not care!

    This is how I potty trained all of mine, too. It worked for one of my boys actually - he was trained in twelve hours. The other one was more like a year - ugh! The girl took a couple days.
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
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    You could try putting a little water in the potty so she hears noise when she goes - you can point out the sound of accomplishment.

    Don't worry if she doesn't train right away, even if she is showing interest. My daughter started being interested when she was 2, but wasn't actually ready for a year. Then, one day she got up and announced she was potty trained- and she was! Just be low key and encouraging, and she'll figure it out.
  • MrsVagus
    MrsVagus Posts: 82
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    I have a 2 year old too- and we did the no undies thing as well. Worked great and she got the hang of it very quickly. We also watch an Elmo potty DVD now and then and read Once Upon a Potty.
  • angp7711
    angp7711 Posts: 324 Member
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    I'm big on ditching the pullups and just letting them run around in panties until they learn. We did pullups at night or if we were going to be in the car but all three of my kids got the hang of it really quickly. Girls especially get pretty upset if they get Ariel (or insert her favorite character) wet or dirty.
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
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    We did the naked bottom way. I started at about 18 months after she seemed interested. My plan was to have her wear skirts with out anything underneath, but she preferred completely naked. Watch for signs of needing to pee and stick kid on the potty often (I preferred a kid's potty ring that fits on the toilet to a whole kid sized potty) I didn't put any pressure on her to pee in the potty and still used diapers out of the house. I did lots of praise when she did use the potty. When we got pretty good at peeing in the potty, I added panties. One day, not too long after her second birthday, as we were getting ready to go somewhere and I was going to put her diaper on, she looked at me and said, "I wear big girl panties today Mama."
    She's been in panties ever since. We've only had 2 accidents in public, but the car seat was our kryptonite. I can't tell you how many times she peed in the car seat. Of course if I had always remembered to have her pee before I put her in the seat then that might have been a lot better.

    I would say be patient and flexible. It can be infuriating, but by the time you finish, not only will you have a potty trained kid, you'll know where all the decent restrooms are in your area. (Like I know that the dillards family restroom has a toddler sized toilet. My 3 year old loves it so we always pee there when we're at the mall.)
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
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    My daughter started showing interest at 18-months, but didn't begin using the potty regularly until 25-months. She liked a video that was given to us by a friend called "Go Potty Go!" We used the Bjorn insert that goes on the regular toilet, and she also used a potty seat that we bought for $2 at Ikea. For months, that Ikea potty sat in our living room, and she would sit on it watching TV or coloring but never go in it. But when she was ready, she did. I guess I don't have any real advice, as with my girl it was a long evolved process. I knew she was getting close when she began to request diaper changes, and woke up with dry diapers every morning for a couple of weeks straight. I allowed myself to be a supportive cheerleader, but never an enforcer. And though it felt like six months of getting from "interest" to "going," she was still trained early compared to many kids. But that has everything to do with her and not me, I'm afraid.
  • Swimgoddess
    Swimgoddess Posts: 711 Member
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    Yeah, start from birth: This is my daughter at 8 weeks once we got the hang of it...

    http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb222/Lizzie5831/Elimination
    %20Communication/
  • Jaedynmoon
    Jaedynmoon Posts: 280 Member
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    My daughter will be 3 at the end of June and she's been potty trained since the end of March (going out with just undies). We started early March and she caught on in no time. Most important thing is to make sure she is ready. We introduced the potty around 18 months and never really pushed it until we figured she was ready. I agree with the other posters about letting her pick out undies of characters she likes. We spent a few days around the house in undies (her...not me lol) and just every 2 hours we'd try it and sometimes she'd go and sometimes she wouldn't and we'd try again. We did a calendar posted on the wall in front of the potty and she gets stickers every time. She still gets them even though she's potty trained because it's fun for her :) Good luck. I was dreading this whole potty training thing and it really wasn't too bad once she was finally ready for it!

    OH and for a book...we have this Abby Cadabby potty book that makes sounds that she really loves. We also have a Princesses Use the Potty book. When we introduced her to the potty around 18 months she would sit on it and we'd read the books while she tried.
  • louell33
    louell33 Posts: 85
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    I would defo try the no underwear thing. My daughter was 18 months when she started and was dry during the day within 3 days. I stayed at home for a day with her and the following 2 days we didn't go far but she never wore pull up or nappies again during the day. However, when we started the night time she wasn't so quick, but very few accidents now.
    Good luck and go with what suits her, as long as she is happy and not worried at all, it will happen.
  • charliebird
    charliebird Posts: 168 Member
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    I have boys so slightly different. My key advice is don't start it until YOU are ready and you can dedicate the time! Its really easy if your daughter goes to nurrsery as peer pressure helps!

    You need the patience and the time. Its no good trying to do potty training if you have lots of things planned as the kids get side tracked and forget about going to the toilet. You will have accidents - so get plenty of carpet cleaner!!

    If it gets the slightest bit stressfull give up and leave it a bit longer. The more stressed you get the child picks up on it. The more ready they are the easier it is. Don't be pressured into potty training too early.

    As for books Gina Ford wrote a little one on Potty training. I didn't follow it to the letter - but it had some good ideas (pick one up off of ebay)

    Hope that helps
  • tcsteeves
    tcsteeves Posts: 59
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    Yeah, start from birth: This is my daughter at 8 weeks once we got the hang of it...

    http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb222/Lizzie5831/Elimination
    %20Communication/


    Wow, that was incredible. Thanks for sharing. I have never heard of anyone potty training at birth. Kudos to you!
  • tcsteeves
    tcsteeves Posts: 59
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    Thank you everyone for all the wonderful advice and suggestions! I hope I'm as successful as you all were.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    Here's what worked for us. We read "Once Upon a Potty" (they make a girl version and a boy version). It explains things pretty well, and it's cute. We read it about a bazillion times a day, no joke, but she loved it. We did have her pick out underwear, but we quickly realized that when she wore underwear it felt too much like a diaper, and she'd forget and go in her pants, so she went commando for a while. If you can, try having a few naked days where she just doesn't wear anything on bottom while she's awake. You'll clean up some messes, but it will help her recognize those cues that she needs to go.

    For both of my kids, we kept a potty in the living room because that's the room they spent the most time in. If they dont' have to travel so far to get to the potty, they're less likely to have an accident. I also used M&Ms as incentive for my daughter, but they didn't help at all with my son. If you find some kind of currency, something that's important to them to reward them with when they go potty, that can help. It might be as simple as a song and dance every time she goes, or it might be a special treat, or whatever works for your child.

    Most of all, be patient. If you can, plan to stay home for about a week until she gets used to using the potty. It'll make things less frustrating for both of you while she gets used to the new routine.

    Good luck!

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