Potty training

I will be ready to start potty training my 2 yo DD in about 2 weeks. Any
tips, hints, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated. I've
never done this and am a bit nervous. Thanks all!

"ChitaShines" wrote in message
I will be ready to start potty training my 2 yo DD in about 2 weeks. Any
tips, hints, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated. I've
never done this and am a bit nervous. Thanks all!

Is your daughter ready?
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

ChitaShines wrote:
I will be ready to start potty training my 2 yo DD in about 2 weeks. Any
tips, hints, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated. I've
never done this and am a bit nervous. Thanks all!

Personally, I think the biggest key is timing. What
timing works for you depends, in part, on how much work you're
willing to do. I freely admit to being lazy, so I don't really
deal with potty training at all until I'm *really* sure the child
is ready. They have access to the potty sooner if they want it,
but I don't do anything until I'm absolutely sure they're totally
in control. I don't relish months of having to take them every
half hour, or dealing with accidents, or mad dashes to find a
restroom on a toddler/preschooler's schedule (i.e. need it NOW).
That means I deal with diapers longer than strictly necessary,
but on the other hand, the potty training itself doesn't really
require any effort. For #1, he had a negotiated deadline and
just went from diapers to no diapers overnight. The second
decided that he didn't need diapers anymore completely on his
own initiative and went from diapers to no diapers (and no
accidents, and no rushing about) overnight. Number 3 will
turn 3 this summer and really needs to be potty trained for
preschool next fall. I figure she'll likely do it on her
own before then, but if not, I'll start taking her to the
bathroom frequently about halfway through the summer.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"ChitaShines" wrote in message
m...
I will be ready to start potty training my 2 yo DD in about 2 weeks. Any
tips, hints, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated. I've
never done this and am a bit nervous. Thanks all!


You may be ready in 2 weeks. Will she?

Hi --

If you want to train your daughter, go ahead. What worked for us (both
times out) was the "bare bottom" approach. We waited for warm weather,
then had them run around with a long-ish t-shirt and nothing else. It
took about 4 days for the kids to figure out the connection between
their body signals and the results. (We had the kiddie-potty handy all
the time when indoors; outdoors we didn't bother.) We cleaned the
floors for those 4 days and then the kids figured it out and we were
over the hump! (We also gave them TONS to drink during that time so
that they'd have plenty of opportunity to figure it all out ...) (Also,
be sure that your child has plenty of fiber to keep her stools loose.
There's nothing like painful stools to make toilet training traumatic.)

My suggestions:

- Many parents fret over whether their children are "ready". Our
experience has been that if the child doesn't get distressed over
accidents on the floor, then there's no harm in trying to train.
- If it takes over 5-7 days, back off and try again later. Likewise, if
your child seems distressed about the project, or if YOU find yourself
getting frustrated, back off and try later.
- Keep things low-key! NEVER get angry at a toddler for having
accidents, but offer a low-key hug, an M&M, or whatever for success.
- Once you get rid of diapers, get rid of them 100% except when the
child will be sleeping. Don't use pull-ups, don't use diapers when
going out of the house, just don't use diapers!

Training comes in stages. The first stage is the child understanding
the connection between the physical sensation of needing to go, and the
fact of going. This is where the bare-bottom approach is
needed. (Modern diapers prevent kids from figuring out that connection
otherwise.)

The second stage is preparation. Your child may take some time -- even
weeks -- to get to the bathroom in time and be able to remove enough
clothing to be accident-free. But if your child has passes stage one,
then stage two is just a matter of time and physical dexterity. You can
help this along by giving your child easy-to-remove clothing, such as
elastic-wasit shorts or pants and a shirt that doesn't attach.

The third stage is peeing on-demand. That is, you say "We're about to
get in the car. Please go use the bathroom now." (You probably heard
this yourself through your entire childhood ...) You take your child to
the bathroom, and she empties her bladder. Not all children acquire
this skill right away. Some may take a LONG time. Of course, other
children acqure this skill instantly.

It's a wonderful, free feeling to have your baby out of diapers, but if
it doesn't work now, it WILL work later. I don't know of any healthy
babies who stayed in diapers into adulthood!

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

I will be ready to start potty training my 2 yo DD in about 2 weeks. Any
tips, hints, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated. I've
never done this and am a bit nervous. Thanks all!

do it when she is ready, not when you are ready, it can be difficult enough
when they are ready, but if they aren't, then it's heading for disaster, but
if you are both ready to go, here is what I would do.

For a few days stay at home, don't put any clothes on the bottom half,
always have the potty within sight. If within 2-3 days they haven't got it,
give up. If they are basically getting the idea, then it's time to start
going out, be prepared for accidents and don't wear trainer pants, use big
girl pants and encourage good habits, such as going to the toilet before you
leave the house and after a meal and so on. We have very very rarely had
accidents when out, a couple in the car seat and once, sat on my knee,
accidents at home have been more frequent when we've been more relaxed.

Anne

is ready. They have access to the potty sooner if they want it,
but I don't do anything until I'm absolutely sure they're totally
in control.

all very well Ericka, but someone should have told my toddler (a few weeks
older than your DD) that when I had an 8 week old baby was not a good time.
Because he was that bit younger, we probably had more accidents than we
might have hoped for, but in the end within a fortnight it was much easier
dealing with potties and trips to the loo than changing nappies full of
toddler poo would have been!

Cheers

Anne

It's a wonderful, free feeling to have your baby out of diapers, but if
it doesn't work now, it WILL work later. I don't know of any healthy
babies who stayed in diapers into adulthood!

Beth, what a wonderful summary, really clarified the whole process, though
I've done it with one child, I just didn't have it clear in my mind how it
happened.

Thanks

Anne

Sue wrote:
"ChitaShines" wrote in message
I will be ready to start potty training my 2 yo DD in about 2 weeks.
Any tips, hints, suggestions, or advice would be greatly
appreciated. I've never done this and am a bit nervous. Thanks all!

Is your daughter ready?


LOL! That was my exact thought!
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03
Addison Grace, 9/30/04

Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password: Guest Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up
your own User ID and Password

Beth Kevles wrote:
Hi --

If you want to train your daughter, go ahead. What worked for us
(both times out) was the "bare bottom" approach. We waited for warm
weather, then had them run around with a long-ish t-shirt and nothing
else. It took about 4 days for the kids to figure out the connection
between
their body signals and the results. (We had the kiddie-potty handy
all the time when indoors; outdoors we didn't bother.) We cleaned the
floors for those 4 days and then the kids figured it out and we were
over the hump! (We also gave them TONS to drink during that time so
that they'd have plenty of opportunity to figure it all out ...)
(Also, be sure that your child has plenty of fiber to keep her stools
loose. There's nothing like painful stools to make toilet training
traumatic.)

My suggestions:

- Many parents fret over whether their children are "ready". Our
experience has been that if the child doesn't get distressed over
accidents on the floor, then there's no harm in trying to train.
- If it takes over 5-7 days, back off and try again later. Likewise,
if your child seems distressed about the project, or if YOU find
yourself getting frustrated, back off and try later.
- Keep things low-key! NEVER get angry at a toddler for having
accidents, but offer a low-key hug, an M&M, or whatever for success.
- Once you get rid of diapers, get rid of them 100% except when the
child will be sleeping. Don't use pull-ups, don't use diapers when
going out of the house, just don't use diapers!

Training comes in stages. The first stage is the child understanding
the connection between the physical sensation of needing to go, and
the fact of going. This is where the bare-bottom approach is
needed. (Modern diapers prevent kids from figuring out that connection
otherwise.)

The second stage is preparation. Your child may take some time --
even weeks -- to get to the bathroom in time and be able to remove
enough clothing to be accident-free. But if your child has passes
stage one, then stage two is just a matter of time and physical
dexterity. You can help this along by giving your child
easy-to-remove clothing, such as elastic-wasit shorts or pants and a
shirt that doesn't attach.

The third stage is peeing on-demand. That is, you say "We're about to
get in the car. Please go use the bathroom now." (You probably heard
this yourself through your entire childhood ...) You take your child
to the bathroom, and she empties her bladder. Not all children
acquire
this skill right away. Some may take a LONG time. Of course, other
children acqure this skill instantly.

It's a wonderful, free feeling to have your baby out of diapers, but
if it doesn't work now, it WILL work later. I don't know of any
healthy babies who stayed in diapers into adulthood!

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the
milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be
construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical
practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you
would like me to reply.

We did the bare bottom approach last Spring, Taylor was 2.25 years old. In
some ways she was ready, and in some not. She could pee on demand, but she
couldn't comfortably get on and off the little potty, and she couldn't
easily take her pants/pull-up down. Of course the being nekkid helped that
last part. My strange child somehow mastered pooping on the potty right
away, but still prefers to pee in a pull-up. So we've pretty much just let
her be in pull-ups since last year, but she's been pooping on the potty
every time since then. She will pee on the potty if I ask her to, but is
not consistent. I figure once it gets warm enough here again, we'll go back
to the bare bottom days, and see if we can master the pee, once and for all!
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03
Addison Grace, 9/30/04

Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password: Guest Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up
your own User ID and Password