Sam will be 2 years old on December 8th. A lot of people start thinking of potty training around this time. I see Sam as a late bloomer and so I am not going to push it, but I am curious as to what you all think. It would be great if it could be completed by the time he is 3 so that we could then start applying to colleges. Ha! Ha!The advice I've heard is wait until he starts telling you he's wet and shows the signs he's ready to proceed. He will occasionally point to his wet diaper when he wakes up, when I ask him if he stinks he'll lead me back to his bedroom to be changed and he does put his own diapers in the trash already. He also knows how to flush the toilet. These are the signs that I've seen that are telling me he may be ready to move forward, so I went ahead and bought a singing potty for him and it's in the bathroom by the toilet.
Questions:
1. What age did you start with your child(ren)?
2. What kind of a seat did you use?
3. What kind of incentives, if any, did you give?
4. How long did it take to be fully trained?
5. What do you wish you had known when you started training your child(ren)?
4 comments:
Megan was 2.5 when I started. I probably could have started earlier, but honestly didn't expect to start when I did. I made the decision it was time when I would put her on the potty in the morning when getting dressed, she would go. So, we started over a school holiday so we could have it pretty well done before she went back to school/daycare.
I hate potty chairs, so I just got one of the seats that sit on the potty. I've never regretted that decision. Ever. We used Elmo stickers for an incentive. I'm all about the "not using food for a reward" thing. She loved Elmo at the time...and she LOVED stickers. So, that's what worked for us.
It took about 3-4 days, but it look longer for #2 probably a couple of months. It's been almost a year and she's very aware...and does awesome...even on our long car rides she does great.
We went cold-turkey panties...no pull ups (except sleep time, which we still do, she's never dry in the mornings and about 50% of the time dry after naps). If we went out of the house (after about day 3 or so), we'd put a pull up on, just in case. Otherwise, no pull ups, only panties. We went through all 12 panties on the first day. THAT was rough! I wish I had known not to start the training until AFTER nap! Then it's only a few hours of frustration/trying to catch on rather than the entire day. And the next day they have some clue of what they are supposed to do. No, I started at 6am...and by 9am, we'd had way too many accidents and I was ready to quit! I'd set the timer for 15 minutes and we'd go, but she wouldn't always go on the potty--or not very much--then would have an accident. SO FRUSTRATING!!!! But keep at it...unless it seems like he's not ready, then try later. This is the first major thing they have control over...and YOU WILL NOT WIN, so don't even pick the fight. If they aren't ready, they are not ready.
My nephew was 3 (or maybe over 3) before he was potty trained, but his parents would put a pull up on him if he had an accident (b/c it was more convenient), so it took forever. I think if it wasn't for his daycare provider, he'd still be in diapers at 4. His parents are pretty lazy..or at least his mom is!
We are waiting with Decs until he's interested and/or 3 years old. Hoping for the cold turkey + awards approach.
We have not really started with Joshua yet...he turned 2 in August. He has a potty chair, the kind that you can remove the seat part and put it on the adult toilet. He prefers sitting on the big toilet. He occasionally wants to, but most of the time doesn't. our doctor said to wait until he was ready or we'd just be in for a struggle.
Just leave the potty in the most convenient location and let him guide you. Some boys will get it right away and not ever have a problem again. Others can have accidents way beyond what you think is normal (8, 9, and beyond) and that is actually normal too. Don't push it because you'll end up more frustrated than him AND he'll catch on that he has the power. Never good to have the kid know that he has the power.
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