If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
Hi all,
My daughter is almost two, and all of a sudden has started asking to sit on the potty. She prefers to do it fully clothed, and while one of her parents are sitting on the toilet, but I figured it was time to start reading up on the topic. My guess is that she's still a bit young for this - she is starting to show some signs of readiness: She tells me when she poops, and is asking to be changed (a huge change from 18 months of HATING to be changed), but she isn't showing other signs - she doesn't hold her pee consciously as far as I can tell, or even understand the concept of waiting. My guess is that she's starting to be aware of the function of the toilet and is copying us. I got the potty out because she *asked* to poop on the potty (I about fell over in shock!). She's sat on the potty (mostly because she follows one of the adults into the bathroom several times, a couple of times with no diaper (at bath time) but hasn't actually gone in the toilet. She even "wiped" and threw the toilet paper into the potty! Now, long ago, after watching a family member go through a difficult potty training, where using the toilet turned into a power struggle (and as soon as they gave up - she decided to use the toilet), Chris and I decided that we would let Kivi train herself. When she was ready, she would ask US to train. The reasons go back further than that - Chris's mom had a lot of difficulty potty training him, and we decided that potty training should be child-led. However, that doesn't mean we know what we are doing with regard to the topic! My stepson trained easily when he was about 2 years 8 months, but his Mom did it while we were on our honeymoon, much to our relief. She just told us what to do when we got back. Are there any good potty training books or resources out there that follow our philosophy? Cathy Weeks Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01 |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
Cathy Weeks wrote in message
om... My daughter is almost two, and all of a sudden has started asking to sit on the potty. She prefers to do it fully clothed, and while one of her parents are sitting on the toilet, but I figured it was time to start reading up on the topic. snip She's sat on the potty (mostly because she follows one of the adults into the bathroom several times, a couple of times with no diaper (at bath time) but hasn't actually gone in the toilet. She even "wiped" and threw the toilet paper into the potty! You're right, she is copying you, because she's interested in learning this new behavior. This sounds just like what Julie did. Don't expect Kivi to start actually using the toilet anytime soon, but encourage her interest. Julie went through several phases of interest starting when she was 18 months old where she would practice each component of toilet use (pants down, sit, get toilet paper, drop in, pants up, flush, wash hands) over and over for a while, then lose interest completely for a while. Then one day when she was two-and-five-months old, she simply said, "I want to wear underwear" one morning so I gave it to her. She had two days of no success, one day of fifty-fifty, and by the end of the week was completely dry. So potty training can definitely be child-led. I felt at a complete loss as to what to do, as it sounds like you feel, but it turned out I didn't really need to do anything but model the behavior and provide positive reinforcement whenever she tried it herself. No gimmicks like sticker charts or M&Ms. -- Cheryl S. Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 7 mo. And Jaden, 2 months Cleaning the house while your children are small is like shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
Cathy Weeks wrote: Hi all, My daughter is almost two, and all of a sudden has started asking to sit on the potty. She prefers to do it fully clothed, and while one of her parents are sitting on the toilet, but I figured it was time to start reading up on the topic. My guess is that she's still a bit young for this - she is starting to show some signs of readiness: She tells me when she poops, and is asking to be changed (a huge change from 18 months of HATING to be changed), but she isn't showing other signs - she doesn't hold her pee consciously as far as I can tell, or even understand the concept of waiting. My guess is that she's starting to be aware of the function of the toilet and is copying us. I got the potty out because she *asked* to poop on the potty (I about fell over in shock!). Good grief,exactly WHAT would indicate readiness if not all this??? Why is she too young? Plenty of kids have historically been at least partially trained by this age. However, that doesn't mean we know what we are doing with regard to the topic! It's not as big a deal as soooo many people seem to make it. If she's copying you, then talk about it, and when you go in to the bathroom to use the toilet, let her mirror you, take her undies off, sit her on the potty, and chat about putting pee and poop into the potty or toilet and "go through the motions" with her. Take her after meals, or when she ordinarily poops, even if you "miss" it, and just sit her there after a poop, and put the poop into the potty for her to see. Let her go nude if you want, it helps them gain awareness of what the feelings lead to and what happens. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
Yes.
DS pretty much trained himself by the time he was 2 and a half. We just followed his lead, put him on the potty when he asked or pointed, and had the underpants ready. We also let him watch us (privacy? What privacy?) so that it would seem normal to him. When I had taken nothing but dry diapers off him for about 2 weeks solid, we asked him if he wanted Bob the Builder underwear, and he said yes. We had a few accidents here and there, and a few incidents of him wanting to imitate the dog and poop in our back yard (we moved a potty out there :-) ), and we did use a positive reinforcer for making it to the potty in time (jelly beans), but within a month he was dry all the time, even at night. We didn't use a book, we just followed his lead, but I've heard people reccomend "Once Upon a Potty". Sounds like you're doing just what we did, and I imagine it will work similarly. -Shannon "Cathy Weeks" wrote in message om... Hi all, My daughter is almost two, and all of a sudden has started asking to sit on the potty. She prefers to do it fully clothed, and while one of her parents are sitting on the toilet, but I figured it was time to start reading up on the topic. My guess is that she's still a bit young for this - she is starting to show some signs of readiness: She tells me when she poops, and is asking to be changed (a huge change from 18 months of HATING to be changed), but she isn't showing other signs - she doesn't hold her pee consciously as far as I can tell, or even understand the concept of waiting. My guess is that she's starting to be aware of the function of the toilet and is copying us. I got the potty out because she *asked* to poop on the potty (I about fell over in shock!). She's sat on the potty (mostly because she follows one of the adults into the bathroom several times, a couple of times with no diaper (at bath time) but hasn't actually gone in the toilet. She even "wiped" and threw the toilet paper into the potty! Now, long ago, after watching a family member go through a difficult potty training, where using the toilet turned into a power struggle (and as soon as they gave up - she decided to use the toilet), Chris and I decided that we would let Kivi train herself. When she was ready, she would ask US to train. The reasons go back further than that - Chris's mom had a lot of difficulty potty training him, and we decided that potty training should be child-led. However, that doesn't mean we know what we are doing with regard to the topic! My stepson trained easily when he was about 2 years 8 months, but his Mom did it while we were on our honeymoon, much to our relief. She just told us what to do when we got back. Are there any good potty training books or resources out there that follow our philosophy? Cathy Weeks Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01 |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
Cathy,
In response to your subject line: YES! I have raised 4 kids, and I must say that the difficulty of potty training is the most overrated part of child raising. We NEVER made any attempt to have our kids spend time sitting on the potty. Our earliest potty trained at 22 months. Latest at about 30. We had a potty available, and they would ask to go in the potty, but not at our urging. However, there are some things that we did do that I think were VERY important and made it a lot easier. The main think was to let them run around completely naked when we thought they were ready to toilet train. This gave them an idea of their bodily functions, and what was going on. At first they would start announcing that they had to go before doing it. They they would squat down in the back yard or whatever. It was not long before they would actually run to the potty when they felt the need. As soon as they were completely in control naked, then we knew we could put their clothes back on them (without the diaper) and that they would ask and not have an accident. When we reached this part, we went to the nightime diaper only routine. We continued this until the child ASKED to not go to bed with a diaper. At that point we would insist that the child go to the potty immediately before bed. This was the point at which we considered him/her completely trained. Of course there would be an occasional wet bed incident, but we never made a big deal of it. Hope this helps, Larry |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
"Dawn Lawson" :
It's not as big a deal as soooo many people seem to make it. Why HAS it become such an enormous deal? I can't help wondering who's funding the research I keep reading about that shows toddlers aren't ready until they are 2.5-3 years old. It's not Proctor and Gamble is it by any chance? Or am I too cynical? ROSIE |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
"Rosie" skrev i en meddelelse ... "Dawn Lawson" : It's not as big a deal as soooo many people seem to make it. Why HAS it become such an enormous deal? I can't help wondering who's funding the research I keep reading about that shows toddlers aren't ready until they are 2.5-3 years old. It's not Proctor and Gamble is it by any chance? Or am I too cynical? I think it differs very much. DD left the diaper at 27 mos, DS somewhat later. They have both had difficulties (still have at 11 yo and 6 yo) in always reaching the toilet in time. DS left his night diaper between 5 and 6. It would have been ridicilous before. Tine, Denmark |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
|
#9
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
My 2 potty trained when they were ready - at just before 3 and just after 3.
Both showed interest at various ages before then, but never for long. You could say Lewis is interested now. He loves to flush The idea of trying to potty train Lewis now is just well, nuts really. Good luck if you think Kivi is ready and keep us updated. Sophie #4 due 7/18/04 |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
OT - Potty training - can it be child-led? (xpost)
Cathy Weeks wrote in message om... Hi all, My daughter is almost two, and all of a sudden has started asking to sit on the potty. She prefers to do it fully clothed, and while one of her parents are sitting on the toilet, but I figured it was time to start reading up on the topic. I don't think it's too early. Dd#1 asked for the potty and I followed her. She was trained in about a week at 21 months. Would have been quicker I think if I hadn't gone out on the second day and put her in pull-ups. She had been asking for the potty for 2-3 months before I thought I'd give training a try, because she had older friends who used it. Debbie |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Extremely shy 3 yr old. Plz Help | screamingchild | General | 22 | October 20th 03 01:32 AM |
Stop killing Innocent Puppies! (Petition) | The Puppy Wizard | General | 0 | October 10th 03 06:59 PM |
potty training | lynn | General | 8 | August 6th 03 10:37 PM |
Frustrated - Potty training | Infocus | General | 8 | July 16th 03 05:04 PM |