Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

I want to start potty training DS this summer. He will be 2 toward the end of June.

My oldest is 9 so it's been a long time since I potty trained and I can't remember much from that time since I HATED potty training time.

So I thought this would be a great way for soon to be potty training moms to get some tips and advice from the fellow BTDT Mamas.

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

I bribed DD ever step of the way

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

Just remember when you take those diapers off, dont put them back on!!!!

And dont give up

and YES BRIBES ALL THE WAY

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

IMO, let them take the lead. When they are ready, they are ready, and they get it in like a day.

Until they can tell you before they have to go, they aren't ready.

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

Buy undies with his/her favorite character

I tried to start training DD a few months ago (she was about 22m) and she had 6 accidents within a few hrs A few days later we started renovations on the house and had strangers going in and out all morning while we were home so I couldn't exactly leave her undressed on the potty so I put it off. She's been asking for her Gabba undies since then though.


We started again last week and she's doing awesome! She has accidents- but now it's once a day (if any at all). We went food shopping last night and she told me she had to go- and actually went when I took her to the potty. I was SO freakin' proud

We use pullups at bedtime- but I keep her in the undies until 8pm or so

I don't really have to bribe her...I think the more ready they are- the less you'll have to bribe. I also found that making her sit on the potty every 1/2hr or whatever was a waste. If she needs to go she'll tell me or say yes when I ask.

ETA: I also HIGHLY recommend this book- both my niece and DD love it (and it comes with a sticker chart!)

Message edited 4/17/2012 3:37:56 PM.

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

I could have written myself...DD will be 2 end of June and I have a baby on the way mid-August.
Do I start training her so I only have 1 in diapers or some are telling me she may regress and have accidents once the baby is here and I'm better off waiting til after baby.
Any advice is appreciated...sorry to crash I should start my own thread but figure I'll ask here since same question basically.

My only concern on waiting is if I wait too long she'll lose/have no interest - I saw this happen with my niece who was not fully trained until she was 4+....I certainly don't want that (DD always wears the biggest size diaper they make ).

She knows about the potty, tells me when she's gone #2 and has gone #2 on the potty before.

TIA!

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

When she was ready, she was ready. She was dry all night long fairly consistently and going less through the day. She was very regular with poo and would find a place to ‘go’ so she could ‘go’. She was immediately uncomfortable with the poop in her diaper.

Our bribe was stickers (I refused to use food and I hate the idea of candy). She got stickers for sitting on it for 5mins straight with or without pee. But we timed them pretty far so that she pretty much HAD to go then anyway. She had a few accidents but we kept those to a minimum in drama. Accidents happen. No “OMG, NOOOOOOOO or HURRY!” I got angry when my aunt would freak out and make AJ run to the bathroom or scream if she peed in her pants. I didn’t want her afraid of peeing or pooing.

Stick with it unless it’s a fail, if so give it a month or so then try again. Its when THEY are ready that its easiest. AJ was trained in a week. We went with undies under diaper for a day then went to training pants another day but she hated them being so thick and crinkly on the outside (like plastic?) so we made a huge deal about cute cool undies. That helped.

Otherwise…

Sit child on Toilet
Grab Glass of Wine
Encourage child to use the bathroom
Drink Wine (all of it so you don’t spill any)
Cheer child about the success of sitting on the potty
Pour more wine from the bottle you brought with you
Drink Glass two
Bribe child with stickers by showing the stickers
Pour another glass and drink
Start putting stickers on yourself. Wonder if it would work for removing eyebrow spots
Laugh with your child at the image of you sitting on the bathroom floor with stickers on your face as you pour another glass of wine.
Drink some good stuff and ask your kid if they used the bathroom
If not, get them up, dressed and go out of the bathroom with your wine in hand wondering why you bothered with this potty training stuff to begin with.

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

I started out by making DS pee on the potty every night before bath. After about 2 weeks I did my own version of PT boot camp. (it was the dead of winter and we really weren't going anywhere anyway). Started off by leaving him undressed from the waist down. Set the oven timer for 5 minute intervals and when it went off he had to sit on the potty and pee. Within the first 15 minutes I pushed the intervals to 20 minutes. Then to 40 minutes, etc. By the second morning he was allowed to wear underwear.

Poop was a whole other issue which we had problems with for 6 months. But he eventually got it and have been going strong ever since.

Oh, I should mention he was about 2 years, 3 months when I started PT boot camp.

Re: Share your BTDT Potty Training Tips and Advice

Wow, I had no idea so many people started training around age 2! My DS would never have been ready.

I let him take the lead. The best advice I got was that when he is really, truly ready, it will be easy - and it was! Three days, three accidents, and that was it.