Potty Training Tips?

[thanka2]

From the beginning of his life, our son has spent a lot of time around his Chinese grandparents and they started putting him on his potty to use it when he was around 3-months-old. When he has been at their house they put him on the toilet in the morning and he can go there.

I haven't been especially pushing the potty-training issue with him but now, at 22-months, he has started telling me almost every time he is going pee or poo. He'll say "pee pee" or "poop" and grab at his diaper. So, I take this as a pretty clear sign that it's time to start focusing on potty training.

So, I'd like to hear how you all have gone about this. I've witnessed potty training in action with only a couple of my friends. What they have said is that they pull up all the rugs that can be pulled up and clear the floor. Then they strip the child from the waist down and stay home for a few days with a potty prominently placed in the room. So, the child becomes aware of what is happening when he/she goes.

I'm sure there are many other ways to go about it. My son is not resistant at all to using a toilette so this might be a good time to really take on potty training.

If you would, please leave me a comment detailing what process you went through to potty train your own child. Thanks.

[Neha]

If ur son tells u u are lucky. When our son started telling us we took his diaper off during the day and initally we had his small potty in our living room but then we hid it so he would use normal toilet which he does. he is 34 months old when his diaper was off during the day he refused to wear diaper at night and since 2 weeks he is diaper free. Initally we used to ask him if he needed to go but now as he is older he can go between 2-4 hours before he needs to. At school teachers take them every hour so no accidents touch wood

[wwg2102]

We watched the "once upon a potty" DVD. I have a son and a daughter and we watched the boy and girl versions respectively.
I would give them a star each them they went successfully in the potty. And they get to choose the sticker/star and paste it on the sheet of paper, which was put up on the wall somewhere prominent. This process was rewarding. It was an easy reward system and didn't involve any elaborate gifts for going potty.
When your child is ready, it shouldn't take long. once he is able to control his body and recognize the sensation, it is a matter of practice. Also, doctors recommend that if the child doesn't want to cooperate within a week, stop and try again one month later - but it sounds like your son is ready so you'll be saving money soon.
Also, i use pull-ups when we go out in case i can't get him to a clean restroom in time.
I think that it is more 'potty-deciding' than 'potty-training'. In other words, let your child take the lead. And that for those people who 'train' their child, the child cannot recognize when to go, but only go on demand when an adult tells them to.

[Buckeroo]

Take him with you to buy new underpants; let him pick out which ones he likes. Ever since we did that, our girl doesn't like to wear pull-ups anymore and would choose to wear panties instead... and because she's wearing panties, she doesn't want to have any accidents in them. :) We've used the Baby Signs Potty Training Program and getting the underpants part has helped seal the deal, so to speak.

Good luck.

[thanka2]

Thank you for the tips, ladies.

I really think that I must "strike while the iron is hot" on this one because my son has really been faithful about telling me when he is going poo and pee and he has no negative things toward using the toilette.

This morning he told me and I thought he only had gas (because he thinks that anything that comes from that area means "poo") but actually, he really was going to go poo.

So, tonight when we were reading a book before bedtime he told me again "poo" and I put him on the toilette with his training seat and he went poo and pee on the toilette. Yay!

As far as buying underpants for him and letting him pick them himself, I don't think that would have much affect on him because he's not even 2-years-old yet and isn't really attached to items--he would probably not even remember that he picked them out.

I don't think he's quite ready for underpants but I think next week when I have some time off, I will pull up the rugs and let him run around the house bottomless and spend a few days really doing the "potty training" thing and see how it goes.

If he does pretty well with that, I might switch him over to underpants worn around the house and diapers or pull-ups worn outside the house.

For rewards, I think he would totally be into a gold star sticker system so I'd better go to the stationary shop and stock up on those.

How did you go about potty training your child during the nighttime? Do you go in and wake him/her up to use the toilette? My son always has an extremely full diaper when he wakes up in the morning even though he doesn't drink a bottle or anything before sleep.