Potty training megathread

[Justin Smith 10]

We`re having big problems potty training our lad (2yrs 11 months), and that`s despite showing him to the potty (or toilet) every time we`ve changed him for the last year ! Secretly I thought he`d pick it up real quick when we stopped using nappies (he`s pretty advanced in most things) but no, it`s dragging on and on, 7 weeks now and it`s improving only slowly. Sometimes he can go the whole day fine, others it`s an absolute disaster area.

My advice to any parent, particularly if you have a boy, is, unless you need to have him potty trained for a particular age, I`d leave it until you`re pretty sure he`ll pick it up. Ignore anyone telling you "he should be potty trained by his third birthday, my boy was potty trained at 18 months" (or some equally unlikely age).

Patience is the name of the game, or you`ll just make your life harder......

[Love2print 10]

We`re having big problems potty training our lad (2yrs 11 months), and that`s despite showing him to the potty (or toilet) every time we`ve changed him for the last year ! Secretly I thought he`d pick it up real quick when we stopped using nappies (he`s pretty advanced in most things) but no, it`s dragging on and on, 7 weeks now and it`s improving only slowly. Sometimes he can go the whole day fine, others it`s an absolute disaster area.

My advice to any parent, particularly if you have a boy, is, unless you need to have him potty trained for a particular age, I`d leave it until you`re pretty sure he`ll pick it up. Ignore anyone telling you "he should be potty trained by his third birthday, my boy was potty trained at 18 months" (or some equally unlikely age).

Patience is the name of the game, or you`ll just make your life harder......

 

I think is best to not worry, we started potty training our eldest when it was about 2yrs 4 months ish. It took him time and a plenty of accidents on the way but he managed it. I found having more than 1 potty a good idea, so 1 upstairs, 1 down and possibly another somewhere if you feel the need. He also didn't wear bottoms in the house for months - that was the bigger hurdle getting him to pull his trousers/pants down in time. It is easier if they are naked to start with.

 

Another thing I would recommend is forget pull ups, there too much like nappies (well lets be honest there are nappies and I don't think most kids are fooled to think there pants!). When we went out I would put washable training pants on him, these are good because they hold little dribbles but also feel wet so it reminds them to go.

 

One of my nephews is 3 and I took him to nursery once. He would be fine on the toilet sometimes and then other times totally forget. I read him a story at nursery while he was sat on my knee only to get a warm feeling on my leg shortly after. He was just too absorbed in me reading to him to notice that he was doing a wee.

[Justin Smith 10]

I think is best to not worry, we started potty training our eldest when it was about 2yrs 4 months ish. It took him time and a plenty of accidents on the way but he managed it. I found having more than 1 potty a good idea, so 1 upstairs, 1 down and possibly another somewhere if you feel the need. He also didn't wear bottoms in the house for months - that was the bigger hurdle getting him to pull his trousers/pants down in time. It is easier if they are naked to start with.

 

Another thing I would recommend is forget pull ups, there too much like nappies (well lets be honest there are nappies and I don't think most kids are fooled to think there pants!). When we went out I would put washable training pants on him, these are good because they hold little dribbles but also feel wet so it reminds them to go.

 

One of my nephews is 3 and I took him to nursery once. He would be fine on the toilet sometimes and then other times totally forget. I read him a story at nursery while he was sat on my knee only to get a warm feeling on my leg shortly after. He was just too absorbed in me reading to him to notice that he was doing a wee.

 

There are two views on this. It does make it easier for the little one to go on the potty, but on the other hand, if he/she does a poo and you don`t realise instantly, it could end up all over your three piece suite ! It`s easier to wash a pair of trousers than remove poo from a suite or carpet or wherever. Worst case scenario, there could be poo stains where you can`t even see them, just smell them.......

[Justin Smith 10]

I don`t know whether anyone else has discovered this method of removing the effects of a "missed potty visit" from one`s carpet, but we`ve found it brilliant. We only wish we`d known about it earlier...... We`ve now got old ice cream tub (or similar), an old spoon and an old dustpan set aside. Once the little terror has deposited said poo and/or wee on the carpet speed is of the essence. You put some warm water and detergent (or washing liquid) in the tub. You pour it onto the affected area. You scrape the spoon up and down the affected area of carpet, mixing the deposit with the water. Now here comes the clever part, you use the spoon to scrape the mixture into the dustpan. If you make the movements quick enough it flicks almost all of it into the dustpan which you them pour into the aforementioned tub. If you`re really good at it the carpet is actually cleaner than it was before ! The area is still damp but only damp, it would usually dry out in 24 hours or sooner. If you want it drier even quicker use kitchen roll to blot the area.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Justin Smith

[bigbird92 10]

Chocolate buttons was always a great incentive for my kids. And some children do.prefer to go straight to the big boy/girl toilet.