# Potty Learning Tribe!



## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Anyone want to join me? I thought it might be nice to have a thread to share our successes, frustrations, confusions, methods, and anything else potty learning. Maybe start with introductions? Have you done this before? How old is your potty learner? What are you doing, and is it working?

I have a first question too - if you have used waterproof potty training pants, which ones are the most absorbent and leak-proof?

This is my first experience with potty teaching  DS is 24 months and we have been doing part-time EC since 13 months - sometimes with success and sometimes not. We are using waterproof training undies at daycare with some success, and some leaks. At home, DS is nakey bum or in cloth undies. I usually don't ask if he needs to potty, because he just says no. I say "it's potty time" about every hour and we read, blow bubbles, and get stickers on the potty. He is doing very well at home - dry overnight for many days now! But, we're having some setbacks in daycare as of late, so I'm looking for a more leak-proof trainer.

I hope to find some fellow potty teachers to commiserate with


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## Mal85 (Sep 3, 2008)

I'll join in. DD is 25 months old and the potty is something we started introducing several months ago. I started out by sitting her on the potty if she woke up from naps/nighttime dry. For a while, she was going on the potty pretty well at those times. But it's been a long time since she's gone on the potty.

She has some big girl underwear and loves to wear them. She is becoming very aware of pee and poop. She always tells me when she has gone in her diaper and wants it changed right away. And she'll often ask to sit on the potty during diaper changes and wants lots of naked time, which we do a lot of during the day. But, she just hasn't seemed to put it together yet. She's very interested in it, has lots of questions when I go to the bathroom, flushes the toilet. The other night she started to pee while she was having naked time. She did stop herself and looked at me and said "Mommy poop!" (she calls all of it poop, she's always pooped in her diaper according to her, even though it's just pee) But she only held it for a second and peed all the way to the potty.

It doesn't seem like she'll be totally potty trained anytime soon, but I'm just waiting for her to have her aha moment. When I can see she's put it together and I have a feeling it'll be fairly easy from there. She really wants to do it.


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## anjsmama (Apr 6, 2011)

Goodness I'd love to join you and your first post already helped me! I'm Megan & my DS, Austin, is 31 months and he is my first, so I have never done this before. He has been part time on the potty since 18 months, but is still nowhere close.

Our frustrations are countless - there are weeks where he will go on the potty all day everyday and weeks where he will literally scream just going IN to the bathroom. We are really trying not to force him, and to just let this be a positive thing for him in his time. I have a new DD who is 10 weeks and certainly seeing his baby sister in diapers has been a huge step back for us. "Me baby too! Me baby, mom, need diaper" - Ughhhhh! So right now we're really working on encouraging all things "big boy" and "big brother". Also, he had the flu in February, and though he got over that, his digestive system never returned to normal and he is having bouts of diahrea and constipation which makes learning really hard! Becuase sometimes he doesn't know he has to go, and sometimes he has to go and tries really hard and just CAN'T. It's awful. So he is now seeing a GI doctor and hoping to get this stuff worked out so we can get back to learning.

DS wears waterproof training pants at home (I think they are Gerber? I'd have to check them... we got them at Target and they look/feel just like regular underwear everywhere except that middle liner.. I love them). He wears pullups in public, mostly because if he leaks, it's kind of impossible for me to clean him while I have DD and all of their stuff, by myself! He also wears pullups at night, although I have noticed he is typically dry overnight. Any leaks usually happen mid-day. We do books and stickers on the potty and that works pretty well. He definitely needs to be distracted. We also just use TONS of positivity - high fives, hugs, kisses, telling Dad all about how many times he went potty and didn't leak when he gets home, etc.... The more excited we seem about the potty, the more excited he seems too.

I am glad to read what you said about "It's potty time!" though... I think I need to start doing that. Because I ask him and he says no, even when I know it has got to be time. Recently it seems like he is afraid to go poop on the toilet and I think that is because he is afraid it will hurt (due to current GI issues).

...... Children DO eventually learn right?! Haha.


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## Theresa787 (Apr 5, 2011)

Thank you for starting this thread. It's important to give and get support during this time.

We have 14-month old twins (girl/boy). We started part-time EC almost a month ago. When we first introduced the potty, we caught several pees and poops a day. It was impressive and I naively thought this is going to be a piece of cake. Oh, how wrong I was. Two weeks ago they decided to stop peeing and pooping on the potty. In fact, they will sit on the potty for five minutes or so, then about two minutes after they get off the potty there is a big puddle on the floor (if they are diaper-less) or their training pants are wet.

We have decided to have one baby wear a cotton training pant (we're using Potty Scotty and Potty Patty) and the other one be diaper-less. When we're not practicing, we're wearing good old fashion Pampers.

I've been showing them the ASL for potty, working on cuing (psssss) and saying the word "pee" and I created my own sign for pee (the ASL one is too difficult in my opinion for a 14 month old to use) - four fingers facing down by the crotch of the pants (to look like a pee shower).

Side note - My cousin potty trained her 2 1/2 year old using the old method of the toddler training a baby doll that wets to use the potty. My cousin said her daughter had a good time "teaching" her doll to use the potty.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Oh, the pottying doll sounds like a great idea! I think I'll try to find one for DS. We used the ASL sign for the letter T and moved the hand back and forth. I think that means toilet? Not sure, but that one was easy for DS.

So, what is the deal with the peeing 10 minutes after getting off the potty? That happens often here and it gets so frustrating! When they're really little, I'm sure that just don't realize they need to go while on the potty, but my DS will hold it for 3 hours and then pee 10 minutes after getting off the potty. Ugh!!!


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

I did some experimenting this weekend with a more relaxed approach to potty learning. I never asked DS if he needed to go. Every 30 minutes I reminded him to "remember to tell me if you need to potty so you can keep your undies dry" Then every 2 to 2 1/2 hours we did mandatory potty trips. To my surprise, he only had 2 accidents all weekend with this method. My big thing right now - how do I get him to tell me? He's holding it and waiting for me to put him on the potty. How do I get him to initiate? Maybe I'll try telling him I need to go, everytime I go to the bathroom. He copies everything I do and say , so maybe he'll copy that too.







Any ideas?


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

Oh I'd love to join this tribe. DD is 25 months and we've tried to potty learn on and off for about 6 months. I wouldn't have started so early, but she wanted to sit on the potty and do all the things along with it. Since she was so young, we took a very mild approach to it. We've never really tried for more than a weekend because I figure if she hasn't made it in the potty by then, she must not be ready. Now I'm wondering if all the back and forth was confusing to her.

So once my semester is out (next week, yay!) we're going to really give it a go. I'm still going to keep relaxed about it, but we're going to try for longer. I'll be at home all summer with her, so even if it takes weeks for her to get make it in the potty, it'll be fine. I feel like she's so close to that "ah-ha!" moment and once she actually gets it in the potty, she'll be golden. YKWIM?


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

I'll join.

DD is 20m and has about one wet diaper a day. Mostly potty. Still working on poop. We are switching to underpants this week. Assuming I get her to the potty quickly after nap or nightime she is dry then too.

DS is almost four and is more or less potty independent. He still needs someone to wipe his bottom. He has been in daytime underpants since 2.5 and nightime underpants since 3. Switching to gdiapers, then early cloth training pants were really helpful.

I like the imse vimse training pants. You must wash them 3-4 times before use because they are organic cotton. Using cloth diapers with DD has accelerated the process.

I really like Diaper Free Before Three which outlines more or less traditional potty learning.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

Basically, there are two camps of potty learning. You hit the sweet spot right before 2 for a parent-led let's sit on the potty every so often way. Kids learn predictablity and bladder control pretty easily. This is how most of us were potty trained and why giant diapers didn't exist in the 1970s. This is what busy body grandparents are advocating. It works.

Traditional potty learning doesn't have punishment or shaming at its core, although some people think that it does. It is just a different approach.

The other camp is the do you need to go do you need to go do you need to go where the child is expected to more less express themselves, have control over their body, their pants, and their access.. This kind of expressive control usually occurs at a much later age.

Nightime bladder control seems to be a bit different, with bladder size and quality of sleep playing a big role. My kids seem to have inheited big bladders and that seems to help. This is the primary reason we started potty learning when DS was just 2 (and we had a three week old!) We would have an unholy mess every morning because he could hold his urine until he woke up and then have a flood and then ten minutes later, have a massive daily poop. The only real solution was to put him on the potty. And THEN I read the book.


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## Greenlea (Apr 21, 2010)

I will join you!

My son turned 2 at the end of March. I have tried getting him to sit on the potty, he usually arches his back and says nooooo! I've tried making it fun, making it routine, making it like Daddy, but its not working. He hides in a corner when he poops (in his diaper) and will sometimes hide afterwards. If I find him, I try to get him to go on the potty to poop, but he pushes me away and says noooo! Is it just too early for him?


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Hey Greenlea! My son turned two the end of March as well  Maybe you could change his role for awhile - make him the teacher. I know my son likes to show me things and drag me around by the hand making me do what he wants. Maybe your DS could teach you and DH and a wetting baby doll how to use the potty. I think I might try this with my son too. Like, "Oh, Ds's name, I feel like I need to potty! What should I do? Can you show me where I should go potty?" I think he might like having some control over this process and your DS might too.


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

My son turned 2 in January and we will start potty learning once the weather is warmer (maybe another month?). My plan is to take away diapers, let him go naked, and hope for the best! He already stays dry through the night (although I still put a diaper on him). That's my initial plan anyway, if it doesn't work I'll move on and try plan B.. whatever that is


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *JudiAU*
> 
> Switching to gdiapers, then early cloth training pants were really helpful.


Switching to gdiapers from what? DD has been in gdiapers since she was big enough to fit into them (they didn't have the newborn size out yet when she was born) so I was just wondering what was helpful about them in regards to potty learning.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

We used gdiapers for a few months when he was smaller but used disposables for the most part. When we started to potty learn he was at the far end of the size range for large (which I still had) and we also used the newly introduced gcloth inserts which I thought were terrible but still had more absorbancy than a trainer. So a diaper cover that is too small with a not very absorbant cloth insert was big change from a disposable but still saved my couch. We did it for a month or two and then switched to imse vimse trainers. Really helped him make the connection.

I am guessing that if you use gdiapers you either use disposable inserts or prefolds or something and that it works well for you? Maybe the gcloth got better. One idea would be to use a less absorbant insert. We currently used sized fuzzi bunz and I toyed with trying to find less absorbant inserts to mimic the gdiaper but velcro diapers would last about two seconds on her.


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## anjsmama (Apr 6, 2011)

Hmm - I am FINALLY having some potty success with DS (32 months) and it came in the strangest way! I wasn't an AP parent of any sort when DS was little, and we have had a lot of medical problems with DS that are directly related to potty learning, so certainly it's been a tough thing for the little guy to learn. DD (10.5 weeks) and I are using EC... and now watching his baby sister go potty has DS inspired to do the same! I can't believe it. You'd think the older one would teach the younger one, but I think watching the way DD & I communicate, and then how I cheer with her and put her back into the same (still dry) diaper, he is viewing potty time as bonding time (and it is!). A few days ago after I helped DD go, he just came in and said "Mom, my turn go potty." and hopped up there and went! He has gone several times a day for the last 3 days and is dry most of the time. If he keeps this up, I'm going to use the cotton training pants and try to ride this interest strike... very intriguing!


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## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

Yay, I need this thread right now! It's so helpful to hear what other parents are doing and how it works. This is my first attempt, my daughter is 29 months old and I have another one due in August. We have been working with her for months now, I think we first got her a potty a year ago! She is getting the hang of it, she knows how to tell me she needs to go, but she doesn't always. Isn't that so frustrating - to go several days or a week when she tells me every time and then suddenly she stops?!? I have no idea what the difference is.

At home she can usually be fine in undies, but I still put a diaper on for nap and nightime. The harder part is when we are out and about. I like to go out every day (library, park, playdates, etc) and it's much harder to get her to potty then. I have a folding potty seat in the diaper bag, but it is kind of a pain to use public restrooms. Plus, she hardly EVER tells me when we're out having fun somewhere that she has to go! How can I get her tell me when we're out in public? I would love for her to be out of diapers before the next baby is born, but it's looking unlikely.


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

I'll join!

I've been in the potty training business for a couple of months now. DS is 21 months old and we first got the potty seat when he was 19 months. Once he figured out what it was for he was totally into using it. We started with naked time and went from there. He got the hang of it quickly and now he is dry pretty much all the time. He still pees every time he takes a nap, but for some reason he can consistently make it through the whole night dry







.

He is an interesting case because he is nonverbal, but is still very good at letting me know when he has to go (if he is paying attention...sometimes he gets distracted by having too much fun). He now has one word he says all the time...peeeeeeeeee...whenever he goes in the potty. It's too freaking cute.

When we are out and about I try to remember to put him on the potty every couple of hours. If we are in a quiet space (like eating somewhere) he will remind me. I have a potty I keep in the car, or if I have to we will use the public toilets...but that is a big production. We don't have many accidents while out which is great.

The best part of the whole process is that he can comfortably poop in the potty; something he was never able to do in a diaper post-solids. He had major constipation issues when he was younger to the point of being hospitalized and now he goes poop every day (sometimes multiple times!) and is almost completely weaned off the laxative. Yay for that.

At home I just keep him in trainer undies without a waterproof liner, but I do use plastic pants over the undies for when we go out just in case. He was tough to find undies for because he's so young, so they're all too big, but what can ya do?


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *JudiAU*
> 
> We used gdiapers for a few months when he was smaller but used disposables for the most part. When we started to potty learn he was at the far end of the size range for large (which I still had) and we also used the newly introduced gcloth inserts which I thought were terrible but still had more absorbancy than a trainer. So a diaper cover that is too small with a not very absorbant cloth insert was big change from a disposable but still saved my couch. We did it for a month or two and then switched to imse vimse trainers. Really helped him make the connection.
> 
> I am guessing that if you use gdiapers you either use disposable inserts or prefolds or something and that it works well for you? Maybe the gcloth got better. One idea would be to use a less absorbant insert. We currently used sized fuzzi bunz and I toyed with trying to find less absorbant inserts to mimic the gdiaper but velcro diapers would last about two seconds on her.


We have some of the gCloth inserts, but they mostly piss me off. Good to know it's not me. Actually, a big reason we went with gDiapers is that I can just sew the liners for them and then they end up being WAY cheaper than other cloth diapers. My liners are pretty awesome at soaking. :-D


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Birdie B - that's fantastic that your DD tells you when she has to go. I think the telling you in public places will come in time. I'm elated when DS tells me even after he pees. sometimes he'll get upset that he's wet and other times he doesn't care at all









I'm going to end up with quite a collection of training undies soon, so when I get them all here and get to use them, I'll do a little review. I'm currently using non-waterproof gerber training undies (sometimes 3 pair on at once for extra aborption), and waterproof tot wraps transition trainers. I have a pair of waterproof potty scotty's, waterproof bummis, and waterproof stuffable super undies on their way. So far, I like the tot wraps trainers, but wish I had gone up a size. They have a very low rise. When DS has had accidents when out and about with me, I haven't had any leaks. Daycare isn't having the same luck with them. I think he drinks more there and holds it longer and then soaks through.

Anybody used the waterproof potty scotty pants? I'm wondering if I can cut a slit in the liner in the back and turn them into a stuffable trainer for daycare. It would be much cheaper than super undies. Cloth diapers just don't work well for us because most are stay dry and don't pull up and down easily.


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## Gretchen_PDX (Nov 17, 2009)

I'll join! Our son is almost 1 1/2 years old. We did a little EC when he was younger, and that worked great. He is at a toddler day care where almost all the kids that can walk are starting to potty train. He wears little undies at school, but isn't having much success actually going on the potty. We're having a conference w/ his "guide" in a couple weeks, and I'm excited to hear about how we can better support this at home. He just gets right up when I put him on the little potty at our house


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

I need help! We did EC religiously until she was 9 m/o and she was telling me almost every pee and poo, then I went through some depression stuff that kicked my butt and gave up on EC for a while, once I got better I tried to do it gain and she refused.

She's 18 m/o now and will not go on the potty! I swear I will put her on it and she will get right up and go poo in the kitchen or something! It is definately frustrating when she wants her diaper off but then won't do her stuff in the potty.


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pranava*
> 
> Oh, the pottying doll sounds like a great idea! I think I'll try to find one for DS. We used the ASL sign for the letter T and moved the hand back and forth. I think that means toilet? Not sure, but that one was easy for DS.
> 
> So, what is the deal with the peeing 10 minutes after getting off the potty? That happens often here and it gets so frustrating! When they're really little, I'm sure that just don't realize they need to go while on the potty, but my DS will hold it for 3 hours and then pee 10 minutes after getting off the potty. Ugh!!!


That is the sign for potty! Super close to yes.

I am so in this tribe! Thank you for starting it!

DS is 22 months and we have been EC'ing part time since birth. The first post helped me as well, thank you. We ask DS if he needs to go and it is always, NO! Ah... no. Learned that from us telling our pets.







I dig the idea of just saying let's go instead of do you have too.

We have 3 pottys around the house and he is naked most of the day. I usually can "feel" when he has to go and I'd say we catch about 1/3 to 1/2 these days. Easier when he was littler.

I too never digged G-diapers. We have used Fuzzi Bunz and those fit DS best. I have been interested in grabbing an Antsy Pants diaper to see if it would be easier for him. Anyone use those at all?


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Hi mamas,

I'm going to join you, even though my DD is nearly 3 and still not potty trained. I feel like a failure. She has a new DCP who she loves and who is attempting to potty train all *8* kids in the class simultaneously. Brave woman. She has now scaled back her attempts to trying to train the 3 oldest in the class, my DD included. They don't wear diapers in the class and in the past few weeks, DD has managed to pee and poop in the potty several times a day but there have also been several accidents.

When she gets home with me though, that's another story. If *i* suggest the potty, she downright refuses. It's like she's opposed to ME asking or suggesting it. If she comes up with the idea on her own, usually AFTER she's peed or pooped in her diaper, then she'll happily sit on the potty and read to herself or play. It's a nice effort but it doesn't "yield" anything so she gets frustrated. I've tried putting her in big girl undies on the week-end, but it usually results in many accidents and tears. Just this morning, she woke with a BIG poop and freaked out when I suggested she sit on the potty. 

My new plan of attack is to take the entire 4 day week-end for Easter and go bare bum. Hopefully, she'll have her AHA moment then and start to understand *when* the potty is useful.


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## anjsmama (Apr 6, 2011)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Halfasianmomma*
> 
> Hi mamas,
> 
> ...


Welcome! And I feel you. DS is 32 months and we have similar issues. I have also been thinking about doing a naked weekend. He also seems to really hate the idea of potty when I suggest it. However, I am using EC with my new DD and watching her go seems to inspire him to do the same. We are now catching a few pees a day, but he still wets his training pants too, and poop is just a big forget it. He will only go if DH takes him (and DH works 8-5) or in his diaper. I know what you mean about feeling like a failure. I just want to help him achieve this and have him feel really good about learning to do something new and grown up, but at the same time, I feel like losing it!


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

When DS get totally resistant, I do lots of naked time with his potty in the middle of the living room. He likes to be independent and take himself, but I have to watch closely because he also likes to pick the potty up after he's gone and try to carry it to the bathroom to dump himself







This is worse than if he had just peed on the floor. At least then it's in one spot, not a trail down the hallway and possible all over him.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Yay!!! Accident free day at daycare yesterday!!!







Crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath for another one today.


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## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

That's awesome! I am so inspired by this thread! I have been getting more determined (initiating more potty trips, naked time, etc), and my daughter has been responding well. She's still having a couple accidents a day, and it seems to be really hard if she is playing and having fun to want to stop and use the potty. But I'm glad to be making some progress.


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## Greenlea (Apr 21, 2010)

I think I'm trying too early. My DS turned 2 on 3/26. I've been trying to get him to go on the potty but to not avail. Last night he wanted to be naked, so I let him and kept his potty chair in the middle of the living room and checked on him to make sure he didn't need to go.

Despite that, he peed on the floor. I caught him and put him on the potty right away, but then he stopped going and wouldn't go again until I put the diaper back on him. How does he not get to go in the potty when he's standing right next to it??


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Last night, I got a report from DD's DCP who told me that DD is her "potty training star" and that she went *3* bloody times yesterday, without any accidents. Of course, as soon as she gets home with me, she wants nothing to do with the potty and demands a diaper....and then WAILS because she realizes that she's peed or pooped in that diaper.

I don't know. I give up. I'm a potty training failure.


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## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Halfasianmomma*
> 
> Last night, I got a report from DD's DCP who told me that DD is her "potty training star" and that she went *3* bloody times yesterday, without any accidents. Of course, as soon as she gets home with me, she wants nothing to do with the potty and demands a diaper....and then WAILS because she realizes that she's peed or pooped in that diaper.
> 
> I don't know. I give up. I'm a potty training failure.


*hugs* No you're not! I'm no expert, but teaching toddlers to use the potty consistently is freaking hard! She is starting to get it, that's great! Keep it up!


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Two accident free days in a row and then 2 accidents at daycare today







So frustrating! Just when I think we are getting somewhere, everything goes to downhill. I keep reminding myself - we used to have 10 wet undies a day. 2 is a major step forward. Man, this process is slow going for DS.

Greelea, peeing on the floor is the first step to learning body functions! Try not to get discouraged- I know it's hard. My DS took a long time to care about puddles on the floor and he still doesn't sometimes. Letting him go commando in some sweat pants actually worked better. Then the pee trickled down his leg and he didn't like that much.

Halfasianmomma - Good for your DD that she's doing well at daycare. The diapers at home are just a habit and habits are hard to break. THey probably make her feel comfortable and familiar, but if she doesn't like the feeling of going potty in them, then I doubt she will want to continue wearing them for long.


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

I accidentally ruined some diapers in the wash yesterday and I decided that's it, I'm done. I wasn't planning on starting until next week, but I think we'll be okay. It's probably not smart to start right before finals, but I don't think I'll need to study a whole lot and I have a lot of help around me.

So what we're doing: we're going bottomless. DD (25 months) treats anything on her bum like a diaper. At least when she doesn't have anything on, she holds it for longer before peeing all over the floor.  She has a little potty. I've been sitting on the potty too when I take her to sit on hers. Every 15-30 minutes I tell her "It's potty time!!!" and get all excited. She gets pretty excited too and runs up the stairs after me. I'm also trying a potty chart where if she makes it in she gets a sticker and every 10 stickers she gets a prize. I don't know if 10 is too many though. Maybe I should make it 5? The prizes are just dinky little things like temporary tattoos, a deck of cards, a slinky. Just basically random things we had around the house that she'd like to play with. There are also a few activities in there (e.g. a small wisk that means she gets to make cupcakes with mommy).

Any tips regarding charts and stuff? I'm thinking it'll be good motivation for DD because she loves stickers. Is she too young to understand this though?

Yesterday we started midway through the day and she had one accident, but no actual times into the potty. She's never actually made it in the potty throughout the times that we've tried, but I think that we didn't give her enough time to get it in the past.


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Another morning of DD wailing because she doesn't want to do her "morning pee" on the potty. She's not a morning person, granted, but I thought I'd save us all from the tantrum she has everytime she realizes that she's peed in her diaper after I've asked her to go on the potty. We're going through a potty hating phase right now, so I'm trying not to push it. I don't want her to develop a bad association with the potty. Gah, I wish I had an older child to help her understand. At daycare, she goes on the potty because all her friends go too. At home, she's the only one...The only time she's interested in the potty is during bathtime, because she's petrified of pooping in the tub (which she's done a bunch of times). So she tries to climb in and out of the tub, and then goes to sit on the toilet, demands a book, reads to herself, plays around and then decides that she's done. It's SO. FRUSTRATING.

Next week-end (Easter) is our bare bum week-end. I hope it goes well, because so far, nothing else has gone well at home with regards to potty training.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Lactatinggirl - No advice on charts and rewards. My ds is 24 months and is just starting to get the idea of "if you do xyz, then you get this reward" The idea of delayed gratification is beyond him









I've been on a mad hunt for the best waterproof training undies. We tried Bummis and Potty Scotty yesterday. I cut a slit in the back of the bummis and stuffed them with a diaper insert because they didn't seem padded enough. DS promptly tested both pair







No leaks with the stuffed Bummis. The Potty Scotty leaked at nap time. I don't really like the way the bummis feel on the inside. They're not very soft, and they didn't feel as wet as say the cotton gerber trainer undies. Both pair are just HUGE looking and poofy. I ordered a small for 25 pound DS and they do fit in the legs and waist, they're just so poofy he looks funny.

I'm thinking of making my own training pants - literally pants! DS seems to really care when the pee trickles down his leg. What about actual waterproof pants with elastic waist and ankles. I'd put regular undies on him and let him pee down his leg - (he,he tricky mommy), but the pee wouldn't be able to escape to the furniture or carpet. I don't care that much about cleaning up messes at home, but he can't be wetting everything at daycare. Hmmm. . . just a thought.


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## mamabear15 (Apr 15, 2011)

Greenlea,

My daughter does the same thing. She is 27 months. She wants to have nothing to do with her little potty or our big potty. When she poops she says "Sorry Mama". We try to tell her it's ok, poop is good, hooray for poop! She's not buying it. She knows when she pees and poops and when she needs changed. How do we get over this hump of her thinking peeing and pooping is bad and the potty is scary?

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Greenlea*
> 
> I will join you!
> 
> My son turned 2 at the end of March. I have tried getting him to sit on the potty, he usually arches his back and says nooooo! I've tried making it fun, making it routine, making it like Daddy, but its not working. He hides in a corner when he poops (in his diaper) and will sometimes hide afterwards. If I find him, I try to get him to go on the potty to poop, but he pushes me away and says noooo! Is it just too early for him?


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

We seem to have stalled out at the 2 to 3 accidents a day point. Plus we're going through so many pair of underwear in a day becuase DS will dribble a little and then realize he has to go and stop. I don't really consider these full out accidents. They are great body awareness moments for him, but I don't know how much longer he will need to go through this phase before he gets over the hump and is having accidents maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

This is taking soo much longer than I expected!


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

I have been leaving my son naked at home for a week now and he is consistently going to the potty. He doesn't do as well with pants on and if he's wearing a diaper he just pees in it without saying anything to me. I want to start practicing more with pants on (but no underwear/trainers) and get him used to that. Once he becomes consistent with that I will start doing some outings! I'm really impressed with how well he is doing though. I hadn't even planned on starting until we had warmer weather here but he just sort of started doing it and so I want to run with it!


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## kayabrink (Apr 19, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JudiAU*
> 
> Basically, there are two camps of potty learning. You hit the sweet spot right before 2 for a parent-led let's sit on the potty every so often way. Kids learn predictablity and bladder control pretty easily. This is how most of us were potty trained and why giant diapers didn't exist in the 1970s. This is what busy body grandparents are advocating. It works.
> 
> Traditional potty learning doesn't have punishment or shaming at its core, although some people think that it does. It is just a different approach.


This is what I did with both my kids. Introduced potty ay one, caught wake-up pees starting right away. Then, 1/2 hour after wahe up and every hour thereafter, I sat them on the potty. Ds was totally out of diprs at 18 months an really independent at ahe 2 (didn't even require reminders). Dd is 17 mo and has been in undies only during the day for the last month. For us this approach was really successful (of course my main criteria were kids out of dipes early without tears/tantrums).
OTOH I can understand folks who wait till kidss are older and try to do PL in 3 days type events, but I had heard too many stories of it becoming a real power struggle at that age. Plus I did't want to have to buy the next size dipes.


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## cmftblynumb (Apr 17, 2011)

oh i'd love to join... infact joined mdc to give & receive support on this very issue!

DD is 22 months and we were doing EC but inconsistently. i felt that she knows her body quite well and so we jumped into the 3 day PT over the weekend. by day 2 DD was looking for and sitting on the potty all by herself. she amazes me!  this is when she is bare-bottomed at home so far we've had only 2 accidents.

going out with her has been challenging though. i took her out today for a couple of hours with undies and pants on, we had one accident but i think this was a good learning point for me (i cant run errands where i might be stuck in a line & she needs to go! duh!).

i ask her often if she needs to go but she is not yet communicating this before she goes. i watch her closely for signs but i guess this is where the learning comes in. also she isnt interested (at all!) in learning how to take her clothes or undies off. since this is week 1 i think it would be good for her to go bare bottom but perhaps next week, i'll put her in undies and see what happens.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cmftblynumb*
> 
> oh i'd love to join... infact joined mdc to give & receive support on this very issue!
> 
> ...


The learning *I* had to do was one thing I didn't count on in this adventure. I still don't know what to do about standing in line. A couple of times now DS has said he needed to go while standing in line at the store. I've had to learn how to stand in a public restroom to block DS from touching all the yucky things, how to pack a diaper bag for multiple pee accidents, how to sit at the very back of a public toilet myself and hold DS in front of me to pee(fold up travel potty seats are NOT working for us - holding him up while standing in front of him just resulted in me getting peed on!), and I'm sure I'm not done learning


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## Chamomile Girl (Nov 4, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pranava*
> 
> The learning *I* had to do was one thing I didn't count on in this adventure. I still don't know what to do about standing in line. A couple of times now DS has said he needed to go while standing in line at the store. I've had to learn how to stand in a public restroom to block DS from touching all the yucky things, how to pack a diaper bag for multiple pee accidents, *how to sit at the very back of a public toilet myself and hold DS in front of me to pee(fold up travel potty seats are NOT working for us - holding him up while standing in front of him just resulted in me getting peed on!)*, and I'm sure I'm not done learning


Try putting him on the seat backwards while you hold him up. It has the added bonus that he can see his pee hit the water!


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## farmheart (Feb 15, 2011)

If it's not too late I'd love to jump in on the village here!

little "potty" intro..

Let me start by saying I love/hate relationship with TODDLERHOOD. Love my kids with all my heart but blow a lot of "horse lips" during our rough phases ( you know what I mean)

my DD was completly out of diapers in one weekend (it just connected with her) at 19 months....uhhh I was spoiled!!! haha

my DS who is now 18 mo has been EC'ing part time since 4 months and I am just so done with diapers. He has a beautifully strong personality ( you know when he is up he is UP and vice versa) anyway he has always hated diaper changes with a passion so I just that is it no more diapers two months ago. some days are awesome some are miss after miss... my most frstrating thing is the pooping... I am not seeing any cues.. he jst goes and standing p while playing... I just breathe and tell myself everyday is a day closer to pooping in the potty!!


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chamomile Girl*
> 
> Try putting him on the seat backwards while you hold him up. It has the added bonus that he can see his pee hit the water!


I've heard people suggest this before, and in a way it makes sense to have a boy start out backward because that is the way they will end up when they learn to pee standing up. But, do you have to take their pants all the way off for this? I'm trying to imagine the logistics.

I don't have the slightest idea of how to teach him to pee standing up. There's no male in his life right now to show him the ropes. I think I will tackle that later! Like when he's 3 or 4


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

pranava - pants would definitely need to be off to face them backwards. I'm also solo parenting a boy and have no intention of introducing the idea of peeing standing up to him. That can come later.

DS is continuing to be a pro at pottying as long as he has no pants on :/ When I put pants on him he has little leaks and immediately says that he needs to pee on the potty.


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## bignerpie (Apr 16, 2009)

I'd like to join! My son turned 2 in February, and I'm due in September. I'd love to have my son out of diapers before the new baby arrives, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. I got him a little potty, but he thinks it's a toy box!

He is now starting to tell me when he poops, so I think he's getting close. He is not much of a talker yet, so we are still in that difficult stage where he can't express what he wants, and I have a hard time figuring it out. I started to teach him some baby signs when he was younger, but I was never consistent about it. Maybe I will try teaching him the potty sign now.


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## farmheart (Feb 15, 2011)

pants don't neccessarily have to come off but I think it helps. you could always put the pants around the ankles hold the ankles up higher than the bottom and if need be point his member down. I know that sounds complicated but it really isn't. My DS is at the point where he will only go if everything is off his legs/ and bottom. We have tried pulling the underwear off just one leg but he won't have that. might work for you though!


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## les_oiseau (Apr 9, 2010)

yay!! I can chime in, my 2yo dd has decided it is time to start going on the potty!  It started with her sleeping in a big girl bed a couple nights ago and now she has decided it's time to grow up. She's taking her diapers off and going on the potty, and deciding at random times she needs to brush her teeth  When my ds potty trained he pretty much just went without a diaper (we spent a lot of time outside that spring and summer), so I have never dealt with training pants before. Can you mamas suggest anything? I def prefer clothe but cannot really afford to spend much. I need to hurry too! I can tell she's not going to be tolerating diapers much longer


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## aynekal (Nov 3, 2010)

Raising my hand!!! DSS just turned 3 April 12! YAY, we are expecting DS in June and I would LOVE to have DSS potty learned by then!!! BUT it has been such a nightmare, I dont know WHERE to begin, lol. We have tried cheerios in the potty and he won't go because its dirty! We have tried having him "watch" daddy go potty, but he says "Daddy needs privacy!" We have tried the naked method, but he just casually sits down in his chair with his snacks and takes monster dumps!!!! Literally the whole house smells for days!!! (Sorry for the TMI). We have tried the celebratory, "I used the potty like a big boy dance" and it works, until the next time he decides "hes not ready to be a big boy now". Oh, and he doesn't sleep in a pull up overnight, because he "doesn't want to potty on Lighting McQueen!!" He literally holds it through the night because he doesn't want to wet his bed, lol how sweet!!

Although, I LOL at this kid sometimes, I do wish I could identify the potty learning "roadblocks" so I can help him through this, but I honestly think he is pulling the wool over our eyes!! DH and I have NO idea what to do with this kiddo


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## BRmama (Mar 18, 2008)

Hi, can I join too? I'm right in the middle of potty training my 26 month old, and we're ecing our five month old.

So far he's going in the potty by himself, haven't had a miss yet (knock on wood) but it took about a month of persistance and working with him to get him to go. Now he goes standing up which I never taught him to do. I figured when he is ready to do it standing up he would. He puts his smart potty between his legs and goes which now makes it harder for our next goal. I'm trying to teach him to put his pants down when he needs to go. At home he is naked and just goes when he needs to go. Also he wont use his other potty (bblp) which stays in the car when we are running errands etc. I haven't tackled a public toilet yet only because he is afraid of our big toilet at home. Oh yeah and poops are a whole different story. I catch them but I want him to just use the potty when he needs to poop. He's non verbal because we're bilingual. Well he's just now slowly repeating words back to me but other than that it's mumble. So that makes it extra hard when I need him to tell me when he needs to poop so I can put him on his potty.

I guess so far what worked for us was breaking the whole thing into little tasks. Like at first we put the potty in the living room, and checked out a bunch of cartoon dvd's from the library of kids going potty. Also ecing our five month old made my two year old saw all the attention that the five month old was getting he also wanted to be part of it so he just started going.

Then since he is bottomless the next part is to work on him putting his underwear/training pants down when he needs to go. That's going to be hard because he doesn't mind being wet. When he masters that then I'll move the potty to our bathroom and we'll work on that, etc.

I guess this can be overwhelming but it was the only way it worked for my son so he wouldn't get overwhelmed plus lots of praises and consistencies.

Thanks for making this thread, it's great!


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

My 26 month old is quite good at taking himself to the potty for pee and poop - but only when naked at home. He goes without saying a thing when he has diapers on, and we tried underwear for a day or two a few weeks ago, but it didn't work at all, he just treated them like a diaper. He has never once told us when he has to go (he's incredibly verbal, so that's not the issue), and he can't manage pants by himself (though he can take underwear off, slowly). I really want him done by the end of the summer, but I just don't know what a good next step is for us. How to get to where he can ask us for help and go somewhere else than in our house? I'm a little worried that by continuing this "naked bottom at home" plan for longer we're just reinforcing the idea that it's OK to go when he's wearing pants, and the potty is only when you're naked.


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## farmheart (Feb 15, 2011)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *les_oiseau*
> 
> yay!! I can chime in, my 2yo dd has decided it is time to start going on the potty!  It started with her sleeping in a big girl bed a couple nights ago and now she has decided it's time to grow up. She's taking her diapers off and going on the potty, and deciding at random times she needs to brush her teeth  When my ds potty trained he pretty much just went without a diaper (we spent a lot of time outside that spring and summer), so I have never dealt with training pants before. Can you mamas suggest anything? I def prefer clothe but cannot really afford to spend much. I need to hurry too! I can tell she's not going to be tolerating diapers much longer


does she need to have anything on her? usually if they don't want to wear diapers I take that as a sign to not put any on them.... even though we use diapers while learning sometimes. I really wish it could just be none at all because it makes the most sense if you think about.... we don't wet ourselves! haha


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## cmftblynumb (Apr 17, 2011)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mckittre*
> 
> My 26 month old is quite good at taking himself to the potty for pee and poop - but only when naked at home. He goes without saying a thing when he has diapers on, and we tried underwear for a day or two a few weeks ago, but it didn't work at all, he just treated them like a diaper.


we're in the same boat, kind of: i started putting underwear on DD since this morning and she just sits on the potty with it. perhaps i'll try for a week and see if there's any change. to teach her how to take her undies off i put her underwear on a doll that she plays with and from time to time i went to DD and said i think your dolly needs to go pee-pee and showed her how to take the undies off the doll etc. she did this once and then showed no interest. i will try (really hard!!) to do this for a week.

to the mamas of kids who arent yet verbally communicating that they need to use the potty, what do you put on your child if you have to be out with them for a long time and cant take your potty along? (i had a bunch of errands to run this morning and must confess that i took the easy way out and relied on diapers.)


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

DD made it in the potty at home for the first time today! She did it the first time at my in-law's and then once at my parents' house and I was beginning to feel like it was me, but she did it! Yay!


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## farmheart (Feb 15, 2011)

I have taken my son out in underwear to run errands and just offered at the bathroom at the grocery store... and if he didn't go offer at the next stop etc. etc. most of the time he is too busy to have an accident (if that makes sense) and he wants to hold it until going home. He isn't verbal btw


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## BRmama (Mar 18, 2008)

Quote:


> DD made it in the potty at home for the first time today! She did it the first time at my in-law's and then once at my parents' house and I was beginning to feel like it was me, but she did it! Yay!


That's great! Did she go on a little potty at your in laws? I'm asking because I have an extra potty that I'm considering leaving at my in laws since when we go there I take the easy way out and put him in diapers







. I know I need to stop that, I guess my next phase is getting him to go in public.

Quote:


> to the mamas of kids who arent yet verbally communicating that they need to use the potty, what do you put on your child if you have to be out with them for a long time and cant take your potty along?


I'm thinking about putting some kind of training pants on him but not sure which one yet. I have to admit, as I mentioned above I too a lot of times take the easy way out when I'm running errands but my next step is to stop doing that. If we're out and about for a long time and my son needs to go even when he's in diapers he'll start crying or make the "shhh" sound which is what I was doing with him and do with his brother when I caught their pee's, then I would have to stop and change him in my car. Not sure what I'm going to do yet, probably what farmheart suggested (thanks for the suggestion btw) but offer the potty that I keep in my car instead, since we're still getting over the fear of big toilets.


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

So funny potty training story: At my in-laws' today DD peed in her pants, so I took them off. I'm sitting there telling the in-laws that she's making progress, but it didn't click like I thought it would when she started actually making it. Of course, I turn around and she just did a HUGE poop in the potty! I swear she just likes to prove me wrong. 

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *BRmama*
> 
> That's great! Did she go on a little potty at your in laws? I'm asking because I have an extra potty that I'm considering leaving at my in laws since when we go there I take the easy way out and put him in diapers
> 
> ...


Yeah, we have a little potty. We just take it everywhere with us. She uses it at home too. There have been some times when she's told me that she needs to potty, but then sees the big toilet and starts to scream "no potty!!!" so I don't make her, then she pees in her pants directly after. Just decided that it's easier to take it with us and keep things consistent. After she starts making it in the potty all the time I'll "wean" her off the little potty.


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## mamabear15 (Apr 15, 2011)

Please help! My mom is pressuring me to potty train my 27 month DD who she babysits part-time while I'm at work. DD is very ashamed of pooping and hides or says "sorry Mama" when she poops. She know when she is about to pee but doesn't give me any warning. We have a little potty at both houses. She is very afraid of both little and big potty. My mom wants to put her in underware and let her learn that way. But DD is very sensitive and I'm afraid that having accidents will only upset her more. She is my first and I have no idea how to potty train a sensitive girl. Is she just not ready or should I give it a try? Any advice on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *mamabear15*
> 
> Please help! My mom is pressuring me to potty train my 27 month DD who she babysits part-time while I'm at work. DD is very ashamed of pooping and hides or says "sorry Mama" when she poops. She know when she is about to pee but doesn't give me any warning. We have a little potty at both houses. She is very afraid of both little and big potty. My mom wants to put her in underware and let her learn that way. But DD is very sensitive and I'm afraid that having accidents will only upset her more. She is my first and I have no idea how to potty train a sensitive girl. Is she just not ready or should I give it a try? Any advice on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


My DD is kind of similar. She always apologizes when she potties and she used to go hide (and get really mad at you if you found her!) when she was pooping. I don't think it's being ashamed though. I'd say that she's just learning that people like privacy when they're going potty.

What's worked with DD is keeping the potty in the same room as her so she can go over to it. When she has accidents and she's apologizing over and over I just tell her "It's alright Peanut, just try to tell Mama next time you need to potty and we'll get you to your little potty." If DD tells me no when I suggest the potty, I don't push her. I try to respect her boundaries in that way. I just remind her every so often and every time she's gone on the potty it's been on her own accord.

I don't see any harm in trying, but make sure that your mother knows that it doesn't always work the first time. If it's pretty obvious that your DD isn't ready after a few days-week, then she needs to realize that and wait a month or two before trying again. Also, tell your mom that it works better for a lot of kids if they have bare bums. It means that accidents are more epic, but they're more likely to make it to the potty rather than just using their undies as a diaper-replacement.


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## mamabear15 (Apr 15, 2011)

Thank you lactatinggirl for your suggestions. Very much appreciated! We will try the bare bums way and see how things go.


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## BRmama (Mar 18, 2008)

Quote:


> We will try the bare bums way and see how things go.


We're also bare bums around here. My son at first was hiding as well and sometimes would bring us and show us what he did. He still hasn't had a poop in the potty yet, I also think it's more privacy related than anything. Just follow your heart when it comes to pottying your lo. Set some ground rules and boundaries with your mom (that's what I had to do with mine and everyone else that thought my son was too young to be potty trained). Too bad that they're not my house in the morning as soon as ds wakes up crying because he peed on the sheets and I have to wash them and on top of that he's still tired







. (It's gotten better though since we've ec'ed. Don't give up you're doing great!









Lactatinggirl, that's too funny about your daughter, I thought only my ds did that (proved me wrong on things lol)


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## revolting (Sep 10, 2010)

I'm a youngish mom (24), and I have memories of using pull-ups at night (when I was like 4 years old)! No way I wanted that for my kids. We're EC-ers. My first was done during the day at 17 months and at night at 18 months. My son is 14 months. He still has a couple of accidents a day. He's either naked or in underwear most of the time during the day. (Sometimes, when we are out and potty access isn't easy, he'll be in a diaper just in case.) He will take himself to the potty some of the time when naked, but he lacks the language to tell me he has to go. My daughter was pretty much done after about a month of being able to sign "potty." We've been signing with him, too. He talks a little and signs a little, but no word for potty yet. It'll come.


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## eleonrauis (Jun 21, 2009)

My very potty-resistant 37mo old DS has peed on the potty four times today. He helped DH fix the toilet this afternoon and now wants to use the potty so he can flush and watch the tank empty and fill. I hope it lasts for at least a couple days


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

I have another funny potty training story.

So DD, my friend, and I were shopping in Whole Foods. DD obviously needed to potty, but wouldn't have anything to do with the big potty (I should have brought her little one in from the car). So we're trying to hurry and leave and grab just one more thing and of course she pees on the floor. I change her into fresh pants/underwear and I'm looking in my bag for the wet bag. I keep telling her over and over not to move because there's pee on the ground. Of course she does and she slips and falls in her pee! Nice hard floor to her head (don't worry, she's fine now) so she's screaming bloody murder. I'm picking her up and trying to comfort her and she pees again! This time it's all over my shirt and her second pair of pants. Finally we find someone to help us clean it up, but DD won't let me change her pants until we get to the car. So I'm soaking wet holding soaking wet DD checking out our food and running out the door. Really funny in hind sight.

Things I learned from this experience: bring her little potty in WHERE EVER WE GO and just because I'm not the one potty training doesn't mean that I shouldn't have a fresh pair of clothes on hand.

Wow, epic pee disaster.


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## revolting (Sep 10, 2010)

He signed, "Potty!"







Okay, it looks a lot like waving good-bye, and he doesn't do it consistently before he needs to use the potty, but it's a start for him to use a word to indicate that he has to go.


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## youngspiritmom (Mar 5, 2010)

I'm so happy I just stumbled on this thread. My DS is 2 yrs and a couple months. He is still in diapers. We have a potty and I ask him if he would like to go sometimes. Often he says no, and I just say "OK." But sometimes he will decide he wants to and go sit there. Of the times he has sat there, he has peed in the potty 5-8 times and pooped 1-3 times in the last 2-3 months. Usually he doesn't go at all but still likes to wipe and pretend to flush.

We also let him come into the bathroom with us and watch us go potty. He likes doing that and is very interested.

I honestly know nothing about potty training and have had no time to research it. When do I start? How is it done? I plan on reading this thread with eager eyes!


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## mbm (Jun 14, 2006)

<sigh> DD (2.5) seems to understand potty training from a logical standpoint. If you ask her, "What do you do when you need to pee or poop?" she says, "Tell Mommy or Daddy, and run to the potty!" When I put underwear on her, she says, "I'd better keep this clean and dry." "Where does poop belong?" "Not in my underwear, in the potty!"

She will pee in the potty (no poop yet) if I take the initiative to make her go. And she gets a big, proud grin on her face when she uses the potty! But she has never once "told Mommy or Daddy and run to the potty" when she needs to go. In addition, she is totally unperturbed by wet or poopy underwear. She waits for us to discover it and call her on it, and only then says, "Oh, this baby needs to run to the potty!"

Today I asked her to sit "for a little bit" while I cleaned up the mess, and she said, "I can't pee a little bit on the potty, I just peed a big bit in my underwear, actually."


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## youngspiritmom (Mar 5, 2010)

I understand how this could all be frustrating...but the way you wrote it also sounds so dang cute!!!!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mbm*
> 
> <sigh> DD (2.5) seems to understand potty training from a logical standpoint. If you ask her, "What do you do when you need to pee or poop?" she says, "Tell Mommy or Daddy, and run to the potty!" When I put underwear on her, she says, "I'd better keep this clean and dry." "Where does poop belong?" "Not in my underwear, in the potty!"
> 
> ...


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## mbm (Jun 14, 2006)

Hahaha, I know! And I think that just makes it *more* frustrating, because I worry that she's learning that accidents are funny and so she should have as many of them as possible.


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *youngspiritmom*
> 
> I'm so happy I just stumbled on this thread. My DS is 2 yrs and a couple months. He is still in diapers. We have a potty and I ask him if he would like to go sometimes. Often he says no, and I just say "OK." But sometimes he will decide he wants to and go sit there. Of the times he has sat there, he has peed in the potty 5-8 times and pooped 1-3 times in the last 2-3 months. Usually he doesn't go at all but still likes to wipe and pretend to flush.
> 
> ...


Read Diaper Free Before 3. I really liked that book. We didn't start until less than a month ago, but taking a similar approach DD (25 months) is making it in the potty at least once a day.

So we had some sad news at the doctors office for DD--she's severely allergic to peanuts. I may have not believed it if she wasn't having a bad reaction at the time. Her body apparently reacts gastro-intestinally (though could just as easily react with more life-threatening things like closed airways and shock) so she literally pooped about 10 times at the doctors office. Bad poops too. Amazingly enough, she made the first three in the potty (yay!), but then after that we used every single pair of underwear I brought with us and she exploded the diaper on the way home. She's fine now, but I felt so bad when it was happening. She just kept telling me "sorry mommy" and what character on her undies she got dirty and stuff like that. Obviously, we're avoiding all nuts from now on.


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## youngspiritmom (Mar 5, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lactatinggirl*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> ...


Poor girl!! Awww, she seems so concerned about it. I'm glad you got it figured out though. Hey maybe if she doesn't like getting the characters on the underwear dirty then you can use that to your advantage when potty training. Tell her that when she goes on the potty the characters are happy because they don't get wet or dirty. Hey, it could work!









I am going to put that book on hold at the library.....being diaper free before 3 would definitely be nice, especially if i have another baby!


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## mbm (Jun 14, 2006)

Quote:


> Hey maybe if she doesn't like getting the characters on the underwear dirty then you can use that to your advantage when potty training. Tell her that when she goes on the potty the characters are happy because they don't get wet or dirty. Hey, it could work!


We tried telling DD the princesses were sad because she pooped on them, and she said, "No, they're not, they're smiling!" And I didn't know what to say, because it was true. I think there is a market for a new kind of fabric for children's underwear, on which the characters' little smiles turn to frowny faces when exposed to bodily fluids.

Poor peanut-allergic girl. Hope she feels better soon!


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

Here is my mini potty training pants review. We have tried

Gerber training undies

Bummis waterproof training pants

Potty Scotty 2 in 1 waterproof training pants

Super Undies waterproof snap open stuffable trainers

Tot Wrap Transition trainers waterproof

What works best for us at home is 2 pair of Gerber training undies and a thick pair of sweat pants. He feels wet instantly and the pee trickles down his leg, which makes him run to the potty fussing.

Out and about, I like the Tot Wrap Transition trainers. A huge pee ( like 8 oz) will leak out the sides if left on too long after the accident, but smaller accidents are contained nicely and he still feels wet. They fit a little smaller than I thought. DS is almost 26 pounds and a very small 25 month old, and the 2 T just fit. I almost wish I had gotten the 3T so he'd have room to grow.

The Bummis and Potty Scotty pants are both smalls and they are HUGE and oh so Poofy! They served their purpose and contained the accident, but I don't like the way they fit. Also, after washing the Bummis, the flannel inside the undies doesn't feel very soft.

I like the way the Super Undies fit and love that they are stuffable. I used a small loopy do insert, but it is a little short. A medium insert maybe 14" long would have worked better. They are great at keeping the accident in, but pulling them up is a pain. The snaps are always unsnapping when I pull them up. Granted, I bought them used, so maybe the snaps are worn out - the elastic definitely is. I may end up sowing them shut so I don't have to deal with the snap issue. I don't really need the snaps because DS rarely, if ever, has a poo accident anymore.

I'd have to say that I'm not a fan of the FOE - fold over elastic. It pills up and doesn't hold it's strechiness.

So, we use Gerber undies at home, Tot Wraps out, and Super Undies at daycare.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

We're having a minor setback the last few days. I think two year molars are coming through and DS is also finding his 2 year old self. I think I should change his name to "NO!" I guess we will just keep plugging along and hope this resistant phase ends very soon.


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## AFWife (Aug 30, 2008)

I'm jumping in.

DS is 2 and was doing really well...until a couple of weeks ago. I think it's because he finally started talking. Like, his brain is too focused right now. In any case, we get poops on the potty (unless he's wearing a diaper...and then he's fine just going in that. *sigh*) When we try to go bottomless he pees all over the floor. It's really frustrating. 2 weeks ago we were getting 95% of everything in the potty. Now we get poops and MAYBE one pee the whole day.

This morning I tried putting underwear on him. He said, "potty?" so we took it off and ran to the potty. He climbed on and off and on and off until I said, "Okay, if you don't have to go we're all done." and he gladly put his underwear back on. We walked in to the living room, he sat down to play, and peed in his underwear. Ugh, SERIOUSLY???


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## CourtBChase (Sep 11, 2006)

Oh, I want to join! DD is 21 months old, and is nearly 100% with taking herself to the potty at home, but only if she is naked. She is super verbal and will tell us if she needs to use the potty, but she just doesn't seem to get it, when she is wearing clothes or a diaper. I will admit that I am probably making this worse by not really trying to get her to go if we are out and about and busy. I am not really sure where to go from here. Underwear/trainers and lots of reminders? She can't get pants/underwear on and off on her own, so she will need a lot of help. I am definitely going to check out some of the books that have been recommended. What have been people's experiences with night training? She is always wet when I get her up in the morning, unless we happen to be sleeping in the same room (on vacation or similar) and I get her diaper off as soon as she has her first waking of the morning. So I think she is probably holding it overnight, but I dread the thought of taking her to the potty at 530am, and her deciding that it is now time to get up for the day. I have put her in underwear for naps a few times, and she has stayed dry through them without a problem. Looking forward to hearing more experiences and advice!


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

CourtBChase - My 26 month old is exactly the same. Perfect when naked, clueless in pants. We buckled down and tried to get him in pants today. I never knew one kid could wet 4 pairs of pants in one hour! I think we only caught a couple pees all day, and that was just a timely reminder on my part. It seems like a lot of folks who start with naked learning

have trouble with the transition. Anyone have brilliant tips?


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## belltree (Mar 10, 2009)

Oh, I would love to hear some opinions from the more experienced mothers here. My 18month old ds stays dry for 3-4hrs at a time during the day. He hates, hates, hates the potty, he won't sit on it. He hates the toilet as well. No standing on the rim either. I used to be able to catch his poop almost every time until he turned 13months. But not anymore. I know he can feel the wet diaper, he often wants it off. We've tried taking him with us to the bathroom when we need to go, but he does not seem to make the connection.

I would love to use the warm summer months to get him more naked time and get him potty trained.Am I trying to do this too early?


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## BRmama (Mar 18, 2008)

Thanks for the review. We are at the stage of putting training pants on ds now. He basically goes to the potty when he's naked but doesn't mind being wet if he's on some kind of underwear (to him its the same as diapers sigh).

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pranava*
> 
> Here is my mini potty training pants review. We have tried
> 
> ...


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

I'd love to join in here. DS is 21 months and has good potty days and wet diaper days. I'll be back with more questions and experiences later, but I wanted to post to get this thread up in my activity feed for later.


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## Ma Cactus (Mar 11, 2011)

My boy is 15 mos and we have done EC since birth. We have always had extremely variable success (many total dry days at 2 mos, few now!) which mostly seem to be due to boredom if we try the same thing too often, and autonomy issues. He generally loves any novel peeing place, or outdoors even at home. Putting diapers on has been more trouble than it was worth since 8 mos or so, so we have used Imse Vimse trainers and gerber cotton trainers (when he wears anything at all - he likes to wander around naked at home) since then. Even the IVs leak though, so we usually have to change pants if we miss, which is very frequent at home, but pretty rare out of the house. Right now I am in the middle of making a pair of wool trainers from wool jersey lined with cashmere (his skin is a bit sensitive to regular wool) with an extra layer in the crotch. If they work, and don't seem too hot, I'll make a couple more pairs and maybe finally cut down on the laundry!

I'll tell you one thing though - I am sick of pee!


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

Alright, done with finals, and finally have time to really post here.

We started a 1 time a day EC when ds was 3 or 4 months old, because I found myself just sitting in bed every morning waiting for him to poop so I could change his diaper, which I decided was silly. A couple months after that I discovered he always pee after naps, so it became a 3 time a day EC. Then when he was about 18 mos he started asking to go pottty sometimes! I was shocked, and not really ready to go for the full time training. I've been putting him in Gerber cotton training pants with an extra soaker layer, and wool longies over the top. I like this combo, because it keeps things dry if he pees, but it's really easy to tell if he's wet (the wool pants feel really warm, but not wet) Also, ds can pull them down himself and sit on his little potty if he needs to. I wish I could find training pants in 18 mo size, but nobody seems to carry the potty scotty ones. He's really good these days about pottying when we're out and about. For a couple of weeks he would ask every time we were out, but couldn't get comfortable on the big potties in stores and things. Then one day it just clicked for him and now he pees no problem on any kind of toilet. I've been putting him in diapers while we're out, because I'm afraid of him peeing on the floor at a store or something, but it's getting really cumbersome to take him potty and then somehow get his diaper back on him. I bought this pattern yesterday, and I think I'm going to make up a couple of the waterproof version for outings and night time.

Night time is another issue I can't decide how to handle. I'd really like to work on his sleep this summer, and probably night wean as well. We've had trouble in the past with him not being able fall back asleep easily after he wakes in the night. I'm talking like 2 or 3 hours before he settles back down, so I'm wary of taking him potty at night for fear of waking him up too much. He still pees a lot at night. How is everyone handling night time? Maybe if I night wean him he won't have to pee so much at night?

The only other trouble we're having is ds using potty as a delay tactic for when he doesn't want to go to bed yet, or when I'm leaving to go somewhere. I hate to ignore his potty requests, but sometimes I know he just went. He recently figured out that I take his potty requests more seriously if he starts grunting like he has to poop! I'm really afraid of potty learning getting into the power struggle territory. I just do not want to go there. So I'm wondering how people handle their little ones crying wolf. Currently, for bed time, I take him before we get jammies on, and then if he asks he gets one more trip, but after that it's all done potty. It seems to work alright.


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

I don't know if it is some seriously good vibes since I subscribed to this thread or what 

DS has always had the freedom to run naked when we are home. Misses here and there. Been part time EC'in since birth.

This past week has been fantastic! On Monday, I was washing dishes while he was dancing and I looked up and he was on the potty!!! Signing potty as well! WHOOO HOOO!!! I gave him a big high five and he continued dancing. I was so darn excited that I didn't have to ask him to go. I texted my husband telling him the news. I got to see it himself on Tuesday. SO funny what brings you joy as a parent!


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## BRmama (Mar 18, 2008)

Nak

Angelorum thanks for the link. I just recently bought the gerber training pants for him but I was looking for a site that had some kind of pattern for me to just make some for ds. We tried night time ec with ds and had the same problem. Since we cosleep we would turn the light off and go back to sleep. Ds tossed and turned and eventually went to sleep. On the nights that he cried we just held him and explained to him since he wanted to play that everyone and everything including his toys went to sleep. Needless to say after a few nights of that I put night time pottying on hold for a while till i figure out a gentler way. I can't complain much tho since he's been doing awesome lately during the day.

Quote:


> SO funny what brings you joy as a parent!


That's so true. We get so excited when ds pee's in the potty.


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

Quote:



> Originally Posted by *Angelorum*
> 
> Night time is another issue I can't decide how to handle. I'd really like to work on his sleep this summer, and probably night wean as well. We've had trouble in the past with him not being able fall back asleep easily after he wakes in the night. I'm talking like 2 or 3 hours before he settles back down, so I'm wary of taking him potty at night for fear of waking him up too much. He still pees a lot at night. How is everyone handling night time? Maybe if I night wean him he won't have to pee so much at night?


From what I read, night time dryness is purely developmental. DD night weaned a few months back and I haven't noticed a decrease in pee in her diaper in the mornings. The big thing for us is getting her diaper off before she pees in the morning because that one is a BIG one.


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

Yeah, he pees a ton first thing in the morning, but that's usually on the potty. Now that it's finally warmer here, I put him to bed without pants on, just his diaper, so it's easier for me to just stick a finger in the leg and tell if he's wet. I think I'll just try and take note of when in the night he's peeing, and then maybe I'll experiment with sitting him on the potty. I have noticed he's usually dry for the first few hours of the night, and pees at his first waking, 3 or 4 hours after bedtime. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't wake up quite enough to pee, but then wakes again 20 minutes later because his bladder is full.

I got "Diaper Free Before 3" from the library today. Looks good so far, but I just started it. Excited to get some good ideas and tips though.


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

DS uses the potty 99.9% of the time as long as he's naked. Even at night, I leave him naked and he stays dry - BUT I do need to take him to the potty when he starts to squirm in the early morning hours (he is sort of half awake and not aware enough to remember about the potty on his own )

So, this past week I have started testing him with wearing pants or boxers. It's not going well. He has told me he had to go potty a couple times, but mostly he just pees (and even pooped this morning!) in his boxers. I have to be constantly with him and reminding him. When he's naked he goes on his own, even if I'm not with him. But with boxers on he forgets unless I remind him. I'm going to keep trying though. Hopefully he will get it with more practice.


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## Ma Cactus (Mar 11, 2011)

Hey there Angelorum

we used to have great difficulties with nightime for the same reasons - getting out of bed woke him up too much and he would get upset as well. For several weeks now (in response to a diaper rash from staying in a wet diaper all night) we have been using a quart-sized yogurt container in bed, while nursing, with a headlamp on facing the wall to aim with. I do this AFTER he has already peed in his diaper once, so I don't have to be 'on alert' all night long. He has some nights when he doesn't want to use it, but he usually stays dry those nights until morning. I have him sleeping on a wool puddle pad with a recieving blanket on it, so if I don't wake up enough and he goes, it usually doesn't mean wet sheets. It is a good idea to have a jar with a cover nearby as well to decant into (we have had a few morning accidents where I spilled the cold pee - YUCK!). He likes this so much more than getting out of bed, he often tells me he has to go when he wakes up at night ("pee!") and even reaches for the container in the morning to go, which is a pleasant surprise. He is 17 mos, so similar age wise.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Angelorum*
> 
> Night time is another issue I can't decide how to handle. I'd really like to work on his sleep this summer, and probably night wean as well. We've had trouble in the past with him not being able fall back asleep easily after he wakes in the night. I'm talking like 2 or 3 hours before he settles back down, so I'm wary of taking him potty at night for fear of waking him up too much. He still pees a lot at night. How is everyone handling night time? Maybe if I night wean him he won't have to pee so much at night?


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## colleentara (Aug 12, 2008)

What about poo???? Does anyone else have a child that flat out refuses to try to poo on the potty? I'm not sure what to do. He's naked at home or in underpants and using the potty successfully (still a lot of accidents, but it's new) I'm just not sure what to do about bowel movements... He tries to hold it in...or if he's in underpants he will go in them. I don't want to force him to go on the potty but how can I convince him? He is almost 3! Thanks for any suggestions...


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## mbm (Jun 14, 2006)

DD won't poop on the potty either.

Part of the problem is that she doesn't give any indication when she might need to poop. I can't catch her and neither can her daycare teacher -- she says the other kids have about a ten minute wind-up to the big event. And there's no consistent time of day, either.

Someone told me that they asked their kid if their tummy felt funny, to help them make the connection between that and the need to poop. So far that hasn't worked for DD, though.


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

Well, I've been keeping ds in trainers pretty exclusively during the day and he's doing great! I try and watch the clock and make sure I take him regularly, but yesterday he asked to go before I decided to take him almost every single time! I've even gotten brave enough to take him out in his trainers, and he went potty out like a champ! We're planning an hour trip in the car this afternoon, and then we'll be out for a few hours before heading back home. I think I'll keep him in his trainers but put one of his diaper covers over the top. Wish us luck!

As for night time, I'm focusing this week on making his bed and nap times really consistent, because they haven't been these last couple of weeks, and after he's on a more predictable schedule, I'll try taking him potty at his first night waking, and see if he can get used to that routine.


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

DD is doing awesome! We miss like 1 pee a day now and it's usually if I am on the phone or she is with DH. We have a lot of issues when we go out though. Some times she does great but she won't pee when we are out..So if she's in her undies she will hold it like 4 hrs...if she is in a dipe she will hold it the same usually but when it becomes a serious NEED to go she will in the dipe. I offer every hour when out but she won't go!


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## MadiMamacita (Jan 29, 2006)

so freaking frustrated over here... I haven't read the whole thread because the posts about how AWESOME everyone is doing make me do this







.. but awesome for you guys!

DS hardly pooped in a diaper from 6-18 months. He would cue us and we would potty him. He seemed to hate pooping in his diaper. then around 18 months he started not wanting us to potty him and seemed to prefer pooping in the diaper. We have had his potty chair in the bathroom since he was about 12 months, and he has gone through stages here and there of using it and then flat out refusing and then using it again. He is now just about 28 months.

If he is naked at home, he seems to be able to notice that he has to pee and be able to hold it for a little while, but the last three days have me super frustrated.

all three incidents were right before bed. four nights ago he was naked, we were brushing teeth (He uses his potty with the lid closed as a stool to reach the sink) and he started crossing his legs and doing the dance, so I asked him if he wanted to potty, he said yes and sat down, then got up and facing the potty grabbed the handles, lifted one leg and peed like a dog on the closed lid of his potty.

The next night it was the same thing, but he actually was sitting to pee, but his penis wasn't pointed down so he basically peed on the floor. This I counted as a victory though, because at least he was TRYING to pee in the potty!

Last night, despite frequent offers to potty, he peed on the living room floor. DH got mad and made him sit on the potty anyway.. I was like, he already peed, what is the point? I tried to explain that we didn't want to yell at him for missing because that just makes it worse.. but I think he was just frustrated..

Tonight we were outside in the garden, he started doing the crossed leg potty dance so we ran inside and I offered his potty, which he refused, then the big potty which he also refused. he said he just wanted to go outside so we went back outside but he said he didn't need to go anymore. I was bringing my plants inside so I just kept doing that and he ended up peeing on the floor again. He looked like he was going to poop so I asked him to go sit on his potty which he did, but nothing.

He seems more aware of his body when naked- in a diaper or even just pants, forget it. he will just pee or poop.

We have been talking about the potty for months and months. at every diaper change I ask him "Where do you make pee? Where do you make poop" and he says every single time "In the potty, not in the diaper!" we have even tried bribes.. he doesn't care about bribes. He just says he is not interested in whatever is being offered.

I *know* that kids will go when they are ready, and if he is peeing on the floor he isn't ready... and that pushing it is probably making it worse.. but it is still frustrating! I want him to be in undies by fall because most of the preschools we are looking at have no diaper policies and we are needing for him to be in a program at least a few mornings a week.


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

MadiMamacita - I'm right here with you with my 27 month old. He had gotten nearly perfect about the potty while naked, but will instantly soil any pants/diaper/underwear without a second thought. And now he's started to have accidents on the floor again too. I also really really want him done with diapers by September. I'm just starting to try rewards - we'll see if it helps at all.


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## toriaj (Aug 31, 2009)

I'm looking for some advice ...
My DD is almost 21 months. I didn't expect to begin potty learning for a long time, but about 2 weeks ago, she began showing interest. She knows some sign langage, and she signed "pee" and peed in the toilet several times. I was surprised but wanted to support her, so we got a potty seat and some training pants and have been trying to make a go of it.

But now that the novelty has worn off, she doesn't seem interested. When I offer to take her, or remind her to tell me when she needs to go, she just says no. And will often wet herself just a few minutes later. Or if I just carry her to the toilet, she wails "Noooooo" the whole way. She may or may not pee once we're there. She has pooped twice in the toilet, once spontaneously and once when I caught her and rushed to the toilet.

The last few days there's been maybe once or twice a day that she has prompted a catch herself. She does seem to be learning that pee makes her underwear wet, and will sometimes sign after the fact. I've been putting her in sposies (or sposies over training pants) for sleeping and traveling. She doesn't yet understand "if you do this, then you'll get this" so I haven't tried any rewards with her.

Is this good learning in progress? Or is this Mommy trying to force it too soon? Should we keep going, or go back to diapers until she seems more ready?


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

Maybe try introducing potty times at transition periods, so you're not interrupting her play. Like right after meals, right after waking, etc. Make it a normal part of the routine and be really consistent with it, and she'll probably come to expect it and cooperate more readily.


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## Eden'smom (Oct 19, 2010)

Hi-

We started potty training our daughter at 10 months. Until she was 12 months she would go every time we'd sit her on her potty, but now that she's 13 months she tries to stand up or cries whenever I try. It's almost like she prefers to go in her diaper now, sometimes right after I I tried to sit her on the potty. Is there such a thing as potty burn-out? Anyone else encounter this? What to do??


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## csekywithlove (Feb 25, 2010)

*I didn't see this thread yesterday, when I started a new thread.







But here is what I posted in that thread:*

My DSS will be 3 in August. We have him full time, hasn't seen bio mom since last October. So potty training along with raising is on me and DH. Which is great. I am not discouraged by this at all.

I haven't pushed potty training on him that much because I have many friends who assure me that most kids aren't completely potty trained until 3 yrs of age. But now I feel like I am behind.

DSS is the only child in the home and loves the attention he gets from DH and I. We have babied him quite a bit. I admit this is a bit my fault but after miscarrying last year I poured my life into DSS. I love this kid so much. But now at 39 lbs and 39 1/2 inches tall, I am hit with the realization that he is not a baby.

We have been talking about potty training. I bought pull ups three months ago, a potty seat when he was a year and a half just to get him used to the idea. He knows that big boys go in the potty, his best friend is a five year old. He tends to be a very independent kid on all other accounts and right on point in development.

How do I encourage him without pressuring him?


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## toriaj (Aug 31, 2009)

Thanks, Angelorum. So would I just keep her in diapers, and take her to pee at transition times?

Sorry I don't have any ideas for you, Eden'smom and csekywithlove. I'm interested in the advice you get, though


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

It's probably a potty strike, I wouldn't force it

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Eden'smom*
> 
> Hi-
> 
> We started potty training our daughter at 10 months. Until she was 12 months she would go every time we'd sit her on her potty, but now that she's 13 months she tries to stand up or cries whenever I try. It's almost like she prefers to go in her diaper now, sometimes right after I I tried to sit her on the potty. Is there such a thing as potty burn-out? Anyone else encounter this? What to do??


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

Do you praise her if she goes in the potty? I always clap and say "good job" and then if she misses I say "That's ok we can try the potty next time" She gets upset if she misses but that's all her I never made it a struggle YK? Maybe you DD was excited about it and then she thought it was too much of a PIA? I know if DD is entranced in something I don't offer b/c she will get mad. I try to offer every hour though. She verbally says pee and poop but doesn't usually signal still she will normally just fuss. Any time I am doing something like talking on the phone she will have a miss and then essentially yell at me that I wasn't paying attention. So I try to make sure I have enough time focused on her and set her up with an activity if I need to make a call etc. If you feel your DD may not be ready there is no harm in waiting. I did EC from birth p/t but DD went on a LONG potty strike (like 9 months on and off) and it was fine. When she turned 18 m/o she showed me she was ready and now we are just about "trained". All kids will come to it on their own accord as long as it isn't a power struggle. IMO

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *toriaj*
> 
> I'm looking for some advice ...
> My DD is almost 21 months. I didn't expect to begin potty learning for a long time, but about 2 weeks ago, she began showing interest. She knows some sign langage, and she signed "pee" and peed in the toilet several times. I was surprised but wanted to support her, so we got a potty seat and some training pants and have been trying to make a go of it.
> ...


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## CourtBChase (Sep 11, 2006)

The naked at home thing has worked really well for us (with a toddler sized potty seat that she could take herself to, or ask to be taken to when she needed to go). We started around 18 months (we had been doing the occasionally using the potty when her diaper was dry, such as after naps, etc since she was much littler, though), with short periods (mostly when she didn't want to put a diaper back on after a change, or mornings when I took the diaper off and was too lazy to get a new one). She started to have a lot of success with pee, so we decided to sjip the diapers and pants at home, and we did have some poop accidents in the begining (we would pay a lot of attention when we thought she was due and rush her to the potty when she started to go. Somewhere along the line she got it, because now she always takes herself for poops as well. We are currently introducing training pants when outside of the house with varying amounts of success. But I am confident she will get it eventually. I would definitely not push/fight if she is refusing to use the potty, or is having tons of accidents and doesn't seem concerned. Toddlers are so opinionated, and when it comes to pee/poop, food and sleep there isn't a whole lot you can do if they refuse to cooperate. So I mostly try not to start those fights. I think potty strikes are super common during the potty training process, though. It's up to you whether you want to keep changing clothes and training pants, or take a break and go back to diapers. I am sure she will get it eventually 

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *toriaj*
> 
> I'm looking for some advice ...
> My DD is almost 21 months. I didn't expect to begin potty learning for a long time, but about 2 weeks ago, she began showing interest. She knows some sign langage, and she signed "pee" and peed in the toilet several times. I was surprised but wanted to support her, so we got a potty seat and some training pants and have been trying to make a go of it.
> ...


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

*toriaj-* I had DS in cloth diapers full time, with a few potty trips a day, for a couple months. I was in school and didn't feel like I could focus on full time potty learning, but he always had to go right after waking up, and would ask occasionally at other times. It was a nice no-pressure way to keep him on track with the potty. Once I was done with finals and started doing full time training pants in the day, DS would go in the potty much more frequently, and if he did wet his trainers he'd tell me right away. I wouldn't switch back to diapers full time though, a couple days ago I hadn't kept up with the laundry and ran out of clean trainers so he had to spend the day in diapers. The next day we had more misses than we had had in a long time. It took him all day to get back to the swing of things, I'm going to have to do better with the laundry, or go buy more training pants. I do think it's better if they are in cloth diapers or trainers so they can at least feel the wet. So, maybe keep up with the sposie over a trainer, if you don't want too much mess? I think as long as you're not trying to force her, but just matter of factly building a few potty trips into her routine you won't do any damage.


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## belltree (Mar 10, 2009)

We've been having slow but good progress. DS still does not like to sit on the potty, but standing over it is ok, and he notified us everytime he peed or pooped!

Then, he spent Friday at daycare and they did not change his diaper all day long! I am still so upset. I hadn't noticed until we got home. I have no idea what happened. They are very sweet there, he his so happy, and had so far been very well taking care of. But since then he does not notify us anymore if his diaper is wet, he does not want to go to the potty at all. I am soo frustrated, how such a day seemed to have ruined all the small progress we've had. Plus I feel superbad for him having been in a soaking wet and dirty diaper.


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

WHAT?! I would be furious! Don't they send you home with a paper saying when they changed him? How could they just not change him all day? That is neglectful and abusive---and above all disrespectful! You could report them for it.







What jerks!


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## belltree (Mar 10, 2009)

They did include a paper, which even listed the diaper changes. I am 100% that he wasn't changed, though (same clothdiaper). I am really upset.


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

WOW now you are going to have to take pics of the dipe before he goes in and the dipe when he comes out to document it!


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## toriaj (Aug 31, 2009)

Thanks for all your replies and support. I feel a lot less pressure! Although I do think that consistency will be important. After she had two hard days last week and I essentially gave up on the third day and put her in a diaper ... she signaled a bunch of times and had a great day! I guess that makes sense, she was "getting it." Thanks.


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

Sometimes you just need to take the pressure off and it all flows fine lol we have so BTDT!


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## azzeps (Sep 7, 2007)

I am so exasperated by this whole potty learning process! We started last July at about 2 1/3 years and have made progress but in the last month or so I am ready to just go back to diapers!!!! I would if she would let me but she wants the undies. But she doesn't want to use the potty!!!! If we are at home she pretty much pees and poops in her pants. I know she can do it because just this week we were out for dinner and she asked to go potty twice! Once for pee and once for poop. I think this is because she has heard me tell her so many times that I didn't bring any "extras" meaning extra undies and pants etc. It's just so frustrating!!!!! This morning she pooped in her pants before I left her at my mom's. Then on the way home she peed in her carseat. Then about an hour later she peed again on the floor! I am completely at a loss as to what to do. I am afraid of what will happen to her when she starts preschool in the fall. She is supposed to be potty trained! I'm afraid some kid will be mean to her.


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## Blueone (Sep 12, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *azzeps*
> 
> I am so exasperated by this whole potty learning process! We started last July at about 2 1/3 years and have made progress but in the last month or so I am ready to just go back to diapers!!!! I would if she would let me but she wants the undies. But she doesn't want to use the potty!!!! If we are at home she pretty much pees and poops in her pants. I know she can do it because just this week we were out for dinner and she asked to go potty twice! Once for pee and once for poop. I think this is because she has heard me tell her so many times that I didn't bring any "extras" meaning extra undies and pants etc. It's just so frustrating!!!!! This morning she pooped in her pants before I left her at my mom's. Then on the way home she peed in her carseat. Then about an hour later she peed again on the floor! I am completely at a loss as to what to do. I am afraid of what will happen to her when she starts preschool in the fall. She is supposed to be potty trained! I'm afraid some kid will be mean to her.


That's hard. I hope you find a method

My son is doing something similar. He refused diapers and he's 22 months so we tried a modified 3 day method (didn't try night training and moved the potty to the living room because he hated missing anything). I got so sick of cleaning up messes and keeping him off the couch because those messes were harder to deal with. I didn't let him play in our room either because that would be a pain to clean and that would stress me out. He made it to the potty multiple times, caught himself before he peed and all (the poop takes longer, I'm fine with that. He's tried). Then yesterday decided he didn't want to get to the potty on time because he'd have to stop what he was doing and just started wetting himself again.

As of yesterday I gave up and put him in diapers. He even requested it. Then today he says "poo" (he says that for both pee and poo) and so I take off the diaper and he pees in it. Then proceeds to pee in the next diaper. He then refuses both undies and diapers. I fight him to get a diaper on. Now he's just running naked. I HATE potty training.


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## azzeps (Sep 7, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Blueone*
> 
> I HATE potty training.


My sentiments exactly.  I'm sorry you're having a hard time. It's so aggravating.

DD woke up this morning and promptly pooped and peed in her pull up (we insist that she wears those at night because she comes to sleep in our bed halfway through the night, and I refuse to be changing king-sized linens every morning. Besides she is dry throughout the night... it's just that she refuses to sit on the potty like every other NORMAL human being does EVERY morning when they first get up!!!!!!!) Sorry. Rant over.

It came to me this morning that obviously there is no incentive at home (or Grandma's) to get to the potty in time or even try. So, I'm thinking maybe of going back to M&Ms. We've used M&Ms to get us over some "rough spots" before, like when she wouldn't poop in the potty, or when she lost interest, etc. So maybe it's time to go back to that for a while. Then maybe she would see that it's not so bad. She doesn't like to lay on the cold bathroom floor when I get her out of her poopy undies, but that doesn't seem to be enough to motivate her to go in the potty instead. I'd do stickers, but we started with a sticker chart and it was a big FAIL because she would scream and cry over only getting to choose ONE sticker each time she went. So I ended up just giving her as many as she wanted, and well, what's the point in that???

Going to pick up some M&Ms at the store today! At this point, it is more about me not having to clean up messes than it is her learning to use the potty, but whatever. She won't go back to diapers so I don't see any other choice other than completely losing my mind!!!!!


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

PP my DD won't potty until after she nurses in the am!


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## azzeps (Sep 7, 2007)

So the M&Ms have been a complete FAIL! They worked for 3x on the day we bought them, but I don't think my Mom had much luck yesterday, and when I got home with DD, she peed in her pants. Then this morning she peed in her pull up and then a little later she pooped on the floor because she hadn't put on the underwear yet.

I'm going to eat the M&Ms myself.


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Everrgreen*
> 
> DS uses the potty 99.9% of the time as long as he's naked. Even at night, I leave him naked and he stays dry - BUT I do need to take him to the potty when he starts to squirm in the early morning hours (he is sort of half awake and not aware enough to remember about the potty on his own )
> 
> So, this past week I have started testing him with wearing pants or boxers. It's not going well. He has told me he had to go potty a couple times, but mostly he just pees (and even pooped this morning!) in his boxers. I have to be constantly with him and reminding him. When he's naked he goes on his own, even if I'm not with him. But with boxers on he forgets unless I remind him. I'm going to keep trying though. Hopefully he will get it with more practice.


Hey all, I posted the above on May 8. After lots of practice, he has been using the potty 100% for the past few days even with pants on! I haven't put a diaper on him at all - he stays dry all night and during outings. YAY!!!! He gradually got a bit better day by day over the past couple weeks with few accidents each day. I tell him to 'try and go' before bed and before we head out anywhere. But other than that he tells me he has to go. He still needs help pulling his pants up and down, not sure when he will figure that out? And I keep a potty in the car because he won't use a regular toilet.

Anyway, I hope I can give you all some hope! I don't have a ton of great advice. I didn't use any rewards but I did make a big deal of it when he went ('Yay! That's awesome!') and when he had accidents in his pants I would say 'Ew! Yucky! Don't pee/poo in your pants!'. I know I got very lucky with all of this! I think it just came at a good time for DS, he's in a big phase of copying everything I say and do, remembering rules I give him (including things not to do/touch, manners, and using the potty!), and he also really doesn't like anything labeled 'yucky'.

Good luck everyone!!! Lots of happy pottying vibes to all your little ones ~~~~~~~

And keep your fingers crossed for me that DS doesn't have a regression after learning so quickly!!


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

DD is 99.9% out of dipes at home BUT how do you get them to potty when out?!


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

For outings I make sure he uses the potty before we go. And I also keep a potty in the car. If we are running errands I will ask him between stops if he has to go. I've also had to leave a store to go out to the car for a potty break (he won't use regular toilets), in that situation I continued to remind him to hold on until we found the potty. Mostly he just holds it until we get back home though.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

I carried around a full size potty seat (bjorn) with DS for quite awhile. I was usually pregnant and/or had an infant and sometimes a stroller. After my 3y had to poop into his halloween pumpkin one time I've always carried a car potty. He was freaking out about having an accident, not about using the pumpkin. Now, with DD, we use a car potty and/or pee on the ground for the older boy if we must. Sometimes it is hard to find a potty and/or they are uncomfortable and can't relax enough to pee. I can whip out the bjorn little potty in the parking lot and have her pee and have her back in her car seat in a bout a minute. When she is a little older (22m) and has a little more control we'll use it less but right now it is awesome.


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## MadiMamacita (Jan 29, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Everrgreen*
> 
> Hey all, I posted the above on May 8. After lots of practice, he has been using the potty 100% for the past few days even with pants on! I haven't put a diaper on him at all - he stays dry all night and during outings. YAY!!!! He gradually got a bit better day by day over the past couple weeks with few accidents each day. I tell him to 'try and go' before bed and before we head out anywhere. But other than that he tells me he has to go. He still needs help pulling his pants up and down, not sure when he will figure that out? And I keep a potty in the car because he won't use a regular toilet.
> 
> ...


congrats! looks like our boys were born around the same time.. that makes me hopefull that our time is coming soon!

We ahve essentially taken a break since my last post. we're not pushing it and hoping he starts asking again. :/


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## sosurreal09 (Nov 20, 2009)

I have the car potty but she won't go in it....


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## Blueone (Sep 12, 2009)

I decided to forgo potty training for a while. It stressed my son (and me) out a lot and it seems most boys do better aroud 2.5. In the mean time I still have the potty in clear site and give him the option between undies and diapers. I also decided to buy "The No-Cry Potty Training Solution" book in hopes of learning something. I still hang on to the hope that when he is ready he will catch on extremely fast since he had it down for awhile.

Good luck to all of you!


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

I feel like things are pretty good here. After one day in diapers (all the trainers were in the wash) we had a big set back. We went from 1 accident a day to 2-4 accidents a day, and bigger ones too. Definitely not going to back diapers again! That was about a week ago, he seems to be back on track now. We've even had a couple of completely dry days! We'll still have an odd day with more accidents, I'm trying not to focus so much on the day to day progress/regression but on the overall arc. Still wearing diapers to bed, but he's now had 2 nights where he stayed dry, and he asks to go potty occasionally in the middle of the night now, so hopefully the night time dryness will come soon.

As far as errands, I always take him before we leave, but he always asks when we are gone. I think he likes to see all the different bathrooms, lol. We had a week or two when he would ask when we were out, and I would take him but he couldn't figure out how to go. But I just kept taking him, because we didn't have any other options, he was also still in diapers then so it wasn't as big a deal to miss. I was trying to find one of those folding seat reducers, but right before I bought one online he figured it out. It just took one time of actually going in a big potty before he could do it reliably. My biggest problem is that not one of the playgrounds near us have bathrooms. I've thought about having him pee in the grass, but I'm just not sure if I'm comfortable with that. So I make sure we leave for the park right after he's gone and then cross my fingers and head home while telling him to hold it if he asks to go while we're there.

My sister is babysitting him for me tonight. I hope he feels comfortable enough to let her take him potty! She's never babysat him, though we've hung out all together with her before.


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## CourtBChase (Sep 11, 2006)

Well, reporting back in, we seem to be very close to fully potty learned in the past week or so. Still doing diapers overnight, but she is often dry in the morning if I go to her and take the diaper off right away. We had two accidents this week, both in the car. She asks to go *all* the time when we are out of the house, which gets old pretty fast. Both times that we missed the potty were times she had gone very recently and I didn't believe her when she asked. Oops. But, Yay! for things going so smoothly. Once she got it, she got it pretty quickly.


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## Hannah32 (Dec 23, 2009)

I'd love to join and read everyone's tips and tricks.

My little guy isn't a toddler quite yet, but we're getting close to a year. I bought a potty awhile ago, but it was strictly a toy. However, I recently read "Diaper Free Before 3" and was totally sold.

He had his first poo on a potty today. It was a very positive experience. He has no problem sitting on the potty for a few minutes if I'm reading him his favorite board book. He seemed a little surprised after the fact, but I cheered him and told him how good he was. Then, he gave himself a round of applause.


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

DD has gotten to the point where she never has an accident when she's bare bummed, but she still occasionally does in underwear/pants. Any tips?

Also, we still put her in diapers for sleeping time. I try to change her as soon as possible, but sometimes she poops in the diaper first thing before I change her in the morning (I'm preggo, so super tired and don't wake up entirely when she does). Any advice here too?


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

cute potty learning thing happened today. Ds is 22 months, and has lots of words, but doesn't speak in sentences or anything yet, so sometimes he surprises me with things he understands. Today I had shut myself in the bathroom to get ready for the day. DS doesn't really like when I do this, but if I don't, he gets into my makeup. When I came out he had taken off his training pants and was just playing bottomless. I didn't see them laying around anywhere. When he asked to blow bubbles, I told him to go find where he put his pants, because he needs pants on to blow bubbles. So he went to the other bathroom, drug out the diaper pail, and pointed to the pants he had been wearing, which he had obviously wet while I was getting ready. The clean ones were all in the dryer, out of his reach, or I'm betting he would have fished some out of his drawer and changed himself!


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## azzeps (Sep 7, 2007)

So we are trying a new tactic this week. I read this in Positive Discipline A-Z, so I can't take credit for the idea. She is going to choose if she wants to use the potty or not. We are not going to put her in pull ups or anything, but she is responsible for the cleanup for her accidents. She has a bucket in the laundry room where the dirties go, and a stack of cloths to clean up the messes on the floor. She is to stay in the bathroom until she is cleaned up. So far, she had one pee accident that she successfully cleaned up, and she has been in the bathroom for a half hour now, playing because she lost interest in cleaning the poo off her bottom. Not sure where we're at when I have to leave the house in an hour and she's still in there. Guess we'll see.


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## westcoastlady (Jan 10, 2010)

Okay, I have a kinda silly question. We are taking a short break from the potty this week. It was just becoming a power struggle. We were doing bare bum at home and diapers when we go out. I've heard a lot of 'just keep a potty in the car/stroller ' for when he needs to go. But once they go on the potty... what do you do with the pee?? or the poo?? I mean, now I'm at the park with a potty full of pee. I just can't figure out the logistics. I thought potty training would be easier in the summer but at least in the winter we are always close to a toilet.


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## CourtBChase (Sep 11, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *westcoastlady*
> 
> Okay, I have a kinda silly question. We are taking a short break from the potty this week. It was just becoming a power struggle. We were doing bare bum at home and diapers when we go out. I've heard a lot of 'just keep a potty in the car/stroller ' for when he needs to go. But once they go on the potty... what do you do with the pee?? or the poo?? I mean, now I'm at the park with a potty full of pee. I just can't figure out the logistics. I thought potty training would be easier in the summer but at least in the winter we are always close to a toilet.


We took a cue from people walking dogs- pee we dump on the ground (preferably in the grass, and away from where people are walking) and we have only had one poop out of the house, but we bagged it up and tossed it in the trash. She will use big potty's when we are shopping, so we only use the little potty for potty emergencies on the road, or at playgrounds with no bathroom facilities.


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## AKA_PI (Oct 16, 2007)

My little guy is doing the typically potty thing: he's going potty at school but not at home. He still wears pull-ups/diapers at bedtime since he's only 2.5 anyway. I don't expect him to have nightime down for a while since he still wakes up for juice at night.

As soon as we get home each day, I put him on a pair of fresh undies (if he hasn't had accidents in the ones I sent to school) and I ask him every 10 minutes if he has to go potty. I try to time it so that after he's had some juice, I take him to the potty 5 minutes later. Nope. Nothing. He's gone potty at home all of 3 times since I started training him around 22 months. Any advice?


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## toriaj (Aug 31, 2009)

I have a new question: is it a good thing for me to be taking 21-months-old DD to the potty every 30-45 minutes, whether she asks for it or not?

Since I started doing this, she's had very few misses. She verbally tells me she needs to go or signs it every now and then, but if I rely on that we have many more misses. I take her after nursing and naps, and at least every 30-45 minutes in between. She usually does pee every time, and will ask to get back on the toilet if she needs to poop. I keep her in training pants at home (sometimes with a diaper or plastic pants over if I want to protect her pants from missed pee) and a diaper away from home and for sleeping. I carry her to the toilet, undress her, and redress her. We cheer every time her underwear is dry and sing when she pees in the toilet. She has definitely learned that pee makes her underwear wet. She has more misses if she's nakeybum than if she's clothed. If I ask her if she needs to go, rather than just taking her, she answers no and then wets shortly afterward. She showed an interest in using the toilet about a month ago, so we've just been trying for that long.

I've heard that potty learning at this age is more of a "partnership" between parent and child than independence on the child's part. But am I taking too much of it on myself rather than letting her learn herself? It feels more like EC than potty learning to me (but then again, I haven't really EC'ed.) Should I just keep going this way and gradually she will begin to take more ownership in it? Or should I back off and let her tell me when she needs to go, and just expect the misses?


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## CourtBChase (Sep 11, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *toriaj*
> 
> I have a new question: is it a good thing for me to be taking 21-months-old DD to the potty every 30-45 minutes, whether she asks for it or not?
> 
> ...


It sounds like you guys are on the right track. I am definitely of the philosophy that early potty training is all about breaking the pee/poop belongs in diapers association (assuming your kids aren't ECed). So I think whatever gets the pee in the potty, and doesn't cause a battle is the way to go. I pretty much never ask if she needs to go potty, at this point she does tell us, but if we are headed out for a long drive, or it is a time when I think she really probably needs to go I just cheerfully say "time for the potty" and bring her to the potty and help her get undressed. Of course if she then said no or protested, I would say "ok, let me know if you need to go". I would maybe start stretching the time out as she gets more successful, and perhaps give her the chance to tell you now and then, once she seems like she is figuring it out. I am convinced my daughter needed to have a couple of accidents to really put the whole puzzle together.

We are doing pretty awesome now, except she randomly pooped in her underwear at a friend's house yesterday. Gross. She hadn't done that in a couple weeks, so I guess I had stopped looking for it. Oops.


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## youngspiritmom (Mar 5, 2010)

Question --

Is there anyone who is potty training without the bare bum/ let the kids run naked method? How are you doing it?

Thanks


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## toriaj (Aug 31, 2009)

Yes, we keep clothes on around here







DD actually misses more often if she's naked. And I've heard the sensation of being wet can help them learn. I just try to watch the clock and take her to the bathroom every 30-45 minutes. But tonight I was distracted, and DD asked to go by herself, twice!

Thanks for your reply, CourtBChase. It was encouraging, just what I needed


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

no constant nakey butt around here either. We did a part time EC when he was young, and then we switched to cloth trainers. At first, I put an extra soaker layer in the trainers and put a wool cover over the top to help keep my carpet/couch/lap dry. Now that he's almost there, he mostly just runs around the house with a t-shirt and underpants on.


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## Aufilia (Jul 31, 2007)

I'm jumping in. I need inspiration! I had every intention of starting to put DS on the potty months ago but I've only recently got around to it. A couple weeks ago I put him on the potty first t hing in the morning and right after nap, and we got pee in the potty 5 out of 6 or 7 short potty sits--shrot by like the whole sit was maybe 2 minutes max. Then for whatever reason he decided we were no longer going to play that game, so refused to sit down. As in, will go stand in front of the potty, but nothing will convince him to actually bend his legs to sit on it. I have no idea what that's all about, I've been re-reading "Diaper Free Before Three", which I read when we PT my daughter (with her we started around 16 or 17 months and she was in underwear full time just after 2, and at night by 2.5). Hoping this will inspire me to be less lazy!


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## thoughtfulmamma (Mar 7, 2011)

Would love to join!! I work outside the home while DH stays home with our DD (3 at the end of August) and DS (1 in July). Our DD seems no where near being potty trained even though she tells us when she is going to go poop (grabbing a toy and running into our bedroom) or when she has 'leaked' (peed) but when we ask if she wants to sit on the potty she says no. She'll even go so far as to say "diaper" when she needs to poop and doesn't have one on (swimming or going naked). She will go pee in the potty but not regularly. She has pooped on the potty 2x, once by accident (she was stalling bedtime and was sitting on the big potty with her training seat on..when we heard the poop we were ALL shocked!lol) and once while we let her go naked outside in the kiddie pool (she got out and actually went to the potty we had outside for her) but that was a month ago and it seems anytime she needs to go and we try and get her to sit on the potty she can't go...resulting in her 'tummy hurting' We really don't force the issue but she's been in cloth diapers since 2 months old and so is her brother and we are getting desperate waiting for her to be ready when we see all the 'signs' that everyone else says are signs she's ready?!!

Looking forward to gleaning wisdom from more seasoned mammas!


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## Agatha_Ann (Apr 5, 2009)

Can I join too? My DS is 29 months and 100% pooping on the potty for a couple months now. We are working on the other! If he has on a diaper, he'll just pee in it without much thought. If he has on trainers or is naked we are probably making it to the potty 3/4 of the time. Still going through a good 8 pairs of undies a day though...I think he starts to go before he realizes it, so his underwear are always a little wet when we go. I'm impressed with his ability to stop the flow and hold it till we get to the potty though!

The frustrating thing for me is that he will not go if it isn't totally his idea. I can ask him a thousand times and he'll say no, and if I suggest we try he flips out. Maybe I need to start some sort of incentive. I also think sometimes this is all in vain anyway with the new baby coming which pretty much guarantees a regression! Oh well...I've always been pretty laid back when it comes to this stuff!


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## elizaMM (Nov 10, 2007)

Glad to find a thread! I posted in a new thread last week about my 39mo DS who just couldn't/wouldn't go at school. He still hasn't. I put him in diapers when we get there and take them off before we leave. He tries tho.

But my current question: We "ran out of diapers" about 11 days ago. The first 4 nights he was dry all night long. Every night since he has pee'd in his (our) bed, sometimes more than once. The first pee in bed coincided with his return to school (either the night of his first day back or the night of his second, can't remember now). So I'm thinking it must be stress. (Despite the fact that we try to be really chill about it and have even backed off on the praise b/c it seems to be too much.) But I'm wondering what others think. And I'm considering going back to night time diapers...Would you?


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## rgnolan (Apr 19, 2010)

I'll Join! This was exactly what I came looking for today.

DS will be three in September. We started doing some EC when he was ten months old and he has not pooped in a diaper since! He was out of diapers during the daytime by 15 months. He never told us when he had to go we just took him regularly and had some idea when he would need to go anyway. Right after he turned two he started telling us when he needed to go every time. It was like something clicked. The thing is we cannot get him out of diapers at night! Its really frustrating. We shared a bed with him until he was about 15 months or so and he has been sleeping about half the night in his own bed ever since. It is when he wakes up to get one of us to sleep with him (we are currently co-sleeping with our 6 month old so it gets a little squished if all four of us are in the bed..) that he pees. If he sleeps all the way through the night, he usually wakes up dry. We could make sure he goes to the potty when he wakes up but that tends to be difficult for everyone in the middle of the night. Also, I think sometimes he wakes up because he peed. So, what to do? Just wait it out or take the diaper off and let him wet the bed (yuck!)?


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## elizaMM (Nov 10, 2007)

*rgnolan*: I don't have any experience with what you're doing, but my husband pee'd in his bed occasionally until he was around 10 and my brother did into his teen years. Some boys just take a while. Something to keep in mind...

*thoughfulmama*: if she's "showing the signs" and if you have the stamina, you should go for it. my son (39 months) showed all the signs accept interest and its gone fine (except for at daycare and at night). since you probably want to use her diapers for her little bro it's a bit harder--but start talking about saying goodbye to them (whether you lend them to a friend, pretend to, send them to grandma's, give them away, whatever--just prepare her for the inevitable). Talk about it more and more as it gets closer 7 days before, 5 days before, 3 days before, and lots on 2 and 1 day before. Then get rid of them, involve her in the process if possible. set a timer and take her to the potty every hour. if she doesnt' go, try again in half an hour. consider using a reward (bribe), even for just trying. don't ask her if she wants to go, tell her you are going. She's known its coming. I say "do you want to walk to the potty or do you want me to carry you?"; "do you want to pull down your underwear or do you want to?"; "do you want to sit down or do you want me to sit you down?" it works. read up some more on others' tips. mentally prepare. then mentally prepare her. then dive in. good luck!

*Agatha_Ann*: see above 

*Aufilia*: see my last few sentences above  but you said you need inspiration. it's totally do-able. try again in a few weeks and you'll probably get the same success and then rebellion. that's what we got.


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

rgnolan - I think the night dry thing just comes with maturity. I've noticed that the deeper DS sleeps the more likely he is to wet at night. He sleeps very little so I'm not willing to disrupt the deep sleep yet to try to get him to stay dry at night. Lots of kids I've known still pee the bed on occasion until they are 5 or 6. They grow out of it eventually.

DS 26 months has been doing really well lately.He finally lets me just hold him up over public toilets so we don't have to drag a potty seat along. Took a road trip over the weekend and put him in pull ups all weekend. MISTAKE!!!!!! He's been in waterproof cloth trainers for 2 solid months now and progressing steadily. As soon as he figured out he was in pull-ups, he wet every one of them and no pees in the potty at all. I will not do that again


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## belltree (Mar 10, 2009)

We are making progress. After the daycare disaster day, which they apologized for, and handled very well, we are now back on track for potty training. He tells me every single time when he has to pee or pooh (or fart  ). Not a single miss here! I am not sure how well the daycare picks up on his cues, but they started potty training him there as well.

We just have one big "problem". He cannot pooh sitting. He tells me he has to pooh, he sits on the potty, but it doesn't work, until he gets up and stands. I can catch his poop with the potty, but everytime he tries to sit, he cannot poop. Any other standing-poopers out there? How did you handle this? How did you get your child to sit down or squat while pooping?


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## SaggiMom (Jul 21, 2009)

This is great! We've got two in diapers and are determined to get them both in undies this summer but the girls don't seem to want to play along! They are 30 months and 15 months and the oldest we've been part time ECing since 7 months. She loved sitting on the potty to have books read so that was easy. We thought we were almost there at 15 months but then baby came and threw off our groove! Then we had only pooping in the potty for 6 months and lots of peeing too, and we just moved across the country and now she won't even tell us when she's gone even though before she couldn't stand a wet diaper. The little one asks to sit on the potty often but then gets bored and goes on the floor 5 minutes after getting off the potty. Sigh.
Someone said that her big one is being inspired/motivated by the little one. Lots of sibling rivalry here unfortunately but I think I'll try that. Stop trying to get the big one to go and focus on the little one. It just might work!


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

hi mamas, I thought I'd pop back into this thread. My DD will be 3 in July. She is in no way a potty learning superstar. She was NOT interested in potty learning earlier, and I didn't know about EC until she was well into toddlerhood, so I didn't get a chance to try it with her. Add to that a super stubborn streak and we have a "later" potty trainer.

I recently purchased a potty that makes music whenever you pee in it. Last week-end, because it was finally nice here in Montreal, I let DD run around barebum and suddenly, like magic, it *clicked* for DD. She went pee on her musical potty about 15 times over that week-end. She was in heaven.

To be quite honest, I think she knew how beforehand but she just wasn't ready to give up her babyhood. She'd been telling me over and over that she wanted to go back into my belly and "drink my boobiemilk again", especially when her DCP was pushing her really hard to go on the potty at daycare. She had had a number of pees in the potty at daycare but she just plum refused at home...

Anyhow, we're not at the barebum stage at home (dunno if this is a "bad" thing or not), but we haven't even begun to touch outings, night-times or poos on the potty. DD hides to poos or demands a diaper. As for night-time, I'm slowly working with her to instill a habit of going potty before before and NOT chugging a whole bunch of water before bed either. And for outings...I guess we'll bring the potty with us...DD is afraid of the big toilet..she says she'll "fall in".

So, for those whose children are late bloomers in the potty department, don't despair! I'm right there with you


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## Katie T (Nov 8, 2008)

My youngest (will be 3yo on the 30th) is still potty learning. I say still because she started on her own around 18 months and we have had highs and lows and are still not totally learned.

She was doing great no accidents, no wetting at nap and almost always dry through the night. Then boom one day is was having accidents all.the.time wetting at nap and at night. I had them run a ua to make sure all was fine on that front and it was. She is doing better during naps but still wetting every night and several accidents during the day. Like she noticed but a split second later pee is running down her leg.

I just make her get a towel to clean it up (and then do it properly of course when she is done.) But I have 2 other kids who potty learned all on their own and we learned day and night by 2yo. I feel this girl will never be totally learned lol. Any advise to get her back on track? I gave away/sold off all of my cloth diapers and just used a pad under her in the bed because wetting at night was so rare so now we are in sposies. : (


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## vermontmomma (May 29, 2009)

haven't had a chance to read this all yet but definately looking forward to finding some tips.

dd was thrilled to use the potty at 16-18months but since then very resisiant to the idea. now she's over 2 and i've been told we started too early and "ruined" her. i'm at a loss...

some things i've tried that have been helping to make the topic less of a screaming fit but still not attemptable are play teaching her toys to use the potty and then wash their hands, running around naked outside when weather permits, and setting up a short queue on youtube of some potty training videos she likes to watch together then talk casually about (bear in the big blue house, elmo, and a cute one of a little girl named Aleka showing how she uses the potty).


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Vermontmamma...in my experience, I had to just "let go" for a while and let DD take the lead. One day, it just clicked in her head (ok, so the potty that makes music when you pee in it really helped). But really, she just decided that she was ready to be a little girl instead of being a baby. She's 35 months today and she pooped in the potty twice last week, one her own, without anyone in the room. Guess she needed some privacy. Also, I think we needed to trust her...we used to not let her run around barebum, fearing that she'd pee everywhere, but she was quite able to hold things in, even while jumping up and down on my bed or the couch. Heck, she was able to hold things in on the ride home from daycare (about 15-20 minutes). We just didn't let her because we thought she couldn't. Just in the past week, she decided she wants to do these things because, as she said, "I want to be a baby, crawl back into your belly and drink your boobie milk". Hehe.

Before this, all potty related things were a struggle...now they are easy, strangely enough. I honestly don't believe you've ruined your DD. Perhaps if you let things go, give it time, it'll fall into place on its own.


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## Phoenix~Mama (Dec 24, 2007)

Joining in. DD turned 2 in Jan. She has gone on the potty on and off since aroud 16 months or so. There was a long period she didn't go at all... and now I'm just really hoping to get her trained.

The problem is... I WOH full time... the naked thing isn't going to work. I really had just wanted to put her in some cotton training undies... but I'm afraid of them leaking everywhere... I live with my parents... my Mom is TOTALLY against this. I also don't have the energy to clean up the messes... especially with DS and I'm on my own 90% of the time when I'm with the kids.

I started a sticker chart... and she is pretty excited about it. Some days she does awesome... other days not so much. Some days she proudly tells me when she has gone pee or poop in her pull-up.

Then the past 2 weeks she has told me she has to go on the potty a few times!!! All on her own! And then the next day will be a day she doesn't go at all.

Just tell me that one day it all syncs up right?


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## Neera (Jul 15, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pranava*
> 
> My big thing right now - how do I get him to tell me? He's holding it and waiting for me to put him on the potty. How do I get him to initiate? Maybe I'll try telling him I need to go, everytime I go to the bathroom. He copies everything I do and say , so maybe he'll copy that too.
> 
> ...


I don't have any ideas but dd is 4+ and still needs to be told to go sit on the toilet. She is ok with pees, though. But for poop we have to put her, wait, and sometimes she goes and sometimes doesn't. If she hasn't gone in the morning it's not like she'll tell me later on if she has the urge. Instead, here's the frustrating part, she'll have a minor accident in her underwear. I have learned that if I don't initiate it, at least till she figures it out, she is going to be engrossed in her things and continue to have accidents. So, I have set her daily time - to go right after breakfast. It works most of the time. She also seems to like the routine.

Good luck with the journey.


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## Aufilia (Jul 31, 2007)

Phoenix-Mama: I WOH FT with my first and so we only did PTing activities after work and on weekends. We made a big underwear push when we had a long weekend that I could use to put her in underwear and hang out with her all weekend long. The first day we mostly hung out in the kitchen near the potty -- played with the play kitchen, did puzzles on the floor, read lots of books... whatever we could keep entertained with without risking huge puddles in the rest of the house. She did leave several puddles the first day but by the 3rd day she would always catch herself before she leaked through the trainers, so after our 3-day intensive underwear session we didn't really have a problem with puddles elsewhere.

I've sat DS on the potty with clothing on all last week and weekend, just to encourage him to sit. So now he'll very cooperatively sit down. Then he pops right up again. So yesterday I started trying diapers-off sitting and he won't stay seated! That wouldn't be so bad, except that he seems to want to bounce around on the potty and it has a hard lip on the front and I'm afraid he's going to whack himself in the boy bits and never want to sit again. Also, I think the Boon Potty Bench, which he's been sitting on happily in the bathroom, is not going to work for him. We used it as our main potty with DD and have had it around as as tool ever since, but when DS tries to sit on it, I sear his butt doesn't fit over the hole at the same time as his penis, which is a problem, lol.


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## lalemma (Apr 21, 2009)

Joining you!

We're ready to tackle this with our 19-month-old. We EC'd part-time when he was <1 year, but... I'm embarrassed to say that we totally fell off the wagon, so we're starting from scratch. I'm pretty sure I know the gist of what Diaper Free Before Three is going to say, but I ordered it anyway.

My question: how do you encourage a little one to stay on the potty? He'll happily sit on the potty if you suggest it, but he'll usually pop right back up after a few seconds. So we usually don't get a pee until the diaper goes back on.


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## Birdie B. (Jan 14, 2008)

I haven't been around in a while, but I just wanted to share: I think we're there! Or almost, or really close! Three weeks ago I decided to just stop putting diapers on her, even for outings. It was scary, and she has peed a few times out in public







but I think taking away the diapers has eliminated a lot of the confusion for her. She still doesn't tell me all the time when she has to go, but as long as I consistently take her every hour, after she eats, etc, we have had 3 days in a row of no accidents!







I still put her in a diaper for naps, nighttime, and long car trips, but we took her to a music festival a couple of weekends ago, and she even used the porta-potty!

We talk a LOT about going potty, and I think it's helping her understand and be more aware of what it feels like when she has to go. If she has an accident she knows immediately and says "oh no". When that happens we take her to the potty and talk about how we go pee in the potty and she can tell us when she has to go. Very matter-of-fact, no shaming or anything.

I am thankful to this thread, it got me to finally be brave enough to do away with diapers! She is doing so well, even if she regresses a little when our new baby is born in August, it won't be so bad.

Good luck everyone!


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Joining in! I plan to make a big push over the next few weeks to help my dd potty learn. She is 2 1/2 and has gone pee two times on the potty about two months ago. Nothing since, except that now she has taken to going into another room, shutting the door, then opening it back up and announcing that she pooed and needs to be changed. Plus, when we're at a library where I volunteer, if she's peed or pooed, then she gets out everything she needs for a change. At this point, I think she's just leaning on the dipe as a crutch and could go on the potty if I make a clean break from the dipes. Soooo...I've been announcing for a few weeks that the diaper fairy is coming to reclaim all diapers (except for nights) and she'll be a big girl just like a 4 year old friend of hers. I'm hoping this works, followed by a lot of naked time as well. She has gone for long periods of time with just underwear on, but always waits until the diaper is back on to pee. I'll take any encouragement or hints that you can give me!


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## lindsayinnc (Jan 7, 2011)

Hello everyone!

I hope your potty journey's are going well. School is out for the summer, the weather is warm... it is time to potty train!

We started this weekend for real wearing cloth training pants. My son has been using the potty at home quite a bit since about 9 months. He rarely poops in his diaper for us and pees on the potty almost every time he sits down. This weekend we have been going to the potty every 30 mins., he peed almost every time he sat on the potty. This seems very frequent to me, how do I make the spacing further apart? Do I keep up with 30 mins for awhile and slowly add time? I know he can hold it longer than that sometimes but one time today I ignored the 3o min. timer so he could finish lunch and within 5 minutes he had peed. He often wakes up from naps dry and before putting on cloth training pants I would offer every 2 hours and he would be dry often. Am I getting him into a bad habit of peeing all the time? He stayed dry all but the one time we went longer than 30 minutes today, and he didn't pee on 2 opportunities but was fine until the next 30 minutes was up. Thanks for your input!


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## Aufilia (Jul 31, 2007)

Lindsay, hmm! Maybe you could spread it out gradually? How old is your DS?

Tristan has been sitting nicely the last few days, not so much popping up and down all the time. Now he's decided to spend most of his sits playing with his penis. This seems likely to prevent peeing, to me, but I could I could be wrong. He hasn't peed in the potty at all but this morning I put him down while hunting for a new diaper and he ran into the bedroom to check if Daddy was up, and peed on the bedroom floor. He seemed somewhat surprised.


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## lindsayinnc (Jan 7, 2011)

Garret is 17 months.

I think I am going to add a few minutes tomorrow. It seemed like today he only went every other time so about an hour in between. I am wondering if he is realizing he can hold his pee a little and doesn't have to just squirt out a little bit at a time.

Aufilia, Garret definitely has moments were he just plays with his penis, we went through a phase of that earlier on when he was sitting on the potty. We will usually look at a book now or I hand him a small bath toy to hold to keep him from interfering with the peeing process. We have been talking about pee goes in the potty and that underwear are dry etc. Surprisingly, he stayed dry on the car ride to Grandma's this morning and peed when we got there (he will sometimes pee or poop while in the car I think because of the position the car seat puts him in. I am not quite sure the process for getting them to pee in the potty, Garret definitely associates the potty with pee/poop, I guess because we have been doing it for awhile now.


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## MadiMamacita (Jan 29, 2006)

DS asked to use the potty twice yesterday!


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## Angelorum (Aug 5, 2006)

Well, I think I'm declaring DS pretty much day time potty trained. He still has the occasional accident, but they are getting few and far between, and he also initiates potty time himself most of the time. If it's been a couple of hours I just take him, but otherwise, he just takes himself. I've even forgotten to take extra clothes when we're out a few times because we so rarely need them. The potty still lives in the living room, but I'm okay with that for now. Night times are getting better too, he's dry maybe about 2/3 of the time all night. Still not brave enough to keep him in his undies for night time though. He usually wants to pee in the middle of the night, but I just keep the potty by the bed so it's not a big deal. Good luck all!


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## carmel23 (Jul 21, 2006)

I'm happy to join in here. My little one infrequently uses the potty now--before baths, etc. But with the weather being a bit nicer we're doing a lot of time diaper free and with just a cloth diaper.... sometimes in little trainers... He is aware when he is wet, has to go poop, etc. And he loves his "PAH IE!"

He will sometimes sit on "BIH PAH IE" but it freaks him out a little, even with the seat...

I'm hoping to increase the potty usage every day a bit... and increase the potty communication, which my little guy (18 months) does pretty well....

but honestly, since this is probably my last baby, I'm in no hurry to have him out of diapers.... All in good time. I'm going to hang out and hear what other potty learners and their parents are doing now. He doesn't seem to mind a wet diaper, but is at least aware if it...


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## bentlaj11 (Jul 29, 2010)

Hi everyone! I finally made it through all the posts, and am excited to learn more about the PL process. DS is 19 mo, and has been pooping in the potty pretty regularly since about 14 mo. He just woke up one morning and frantically signed potty... I took him and he went! He had a couple of months (around 16-17 mo.) where he didn't go at all. But, started again on his own. I've always let him watch me go to the BR and signed potty while telling him what I was doing since he was old enough to sit. I don't know if that made any differnce, though . Peeing is a whole 'nother story. Although the past 2 weeks he has had lots of frequent loose stools, and he often pees w/them. I think that has helped as a few times he will say "poo poo", but only pees. He mostly will just say when his diaper is wet, but I'm glad he is recognizing things. He also figured out he could stall bedtime w/ a couple of trips to the BR. Hopefully he won't keep that up. I still have him in CD for trips out, nap and night-time. I've been debating buying some big boy undies, but doesn't help me undress him, so that probably won't work. I'm not in any hurry... just wishful thinking that he may be out of dipes before his little brother or sister gets here! I'm scared that he will be close by then, but will have a big setback with the change. I'm looking forward to more tips/sharing the journey with everyone!!


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## carmel23 (Jul 21, 2006)

I warm the potty up with warm water before my little one sits on it, and it seems to help with keeping them seated.... but it is kind of a pain....


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## Snapdragon (Aug 30, 2007)

I also need to take the time to read this thread- but I want to join! I REALLY want to start "potty learning" 15 month old ds but I don't know how to begin!! We did EC for the first 9 or 10 months of his life and he did great with it- then he totally refused it! Now he has been full fledged diapered since 10 months! He used to pee/ poop in the big toilet we'd hold him over- but now he refuses to be held there. We have a little potty but if we put him on it he crawls right off! He is almost walking but not quite- but he is talking! And he understands things very well. I know often when he has to poop but if I try to put him on the potty he won't stay on it. And he likes to pee standing up - so I don't even know how to begin to potty learn him. Any suggestions? thanks


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## darlawoods (Jan 20, 2011)

Hello! I would love to join, our dd is 18 months, and we are closing on a house/moving in a few days and would like to get her comfortable on the "new" potty! She's good about sitting and reading her book, and will tell me when her "poo" is coming so I'm hoping we can get a routine in over the next few months or so! Look forward to chatting with everyone.


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## June Bug (Mar 20, 2008)

My daughter will be 3 in October and has been completely out of diapers for about 2 1/2 months. She only had two "accidents" the first two days after being out of diapers and nothing since. This past week all of a sudden she has been having accidents...waking up from naps and during the night wet or with poopy pants. There have been no significant changes that I can pin point. I know that sometimes this is normal but I am just not sure how to address it. I don't want to make a big deal of it but I also don't want it to become a bigger issue. Any thoughts or advice?


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## pranava (Aug 11, 2007)

June Bug - Sounds like your DD is doing awesome! I don't know what to tell you about the regression. It happens here about one week out of every 2 months. My non-expert advice is just keep plodding along and she will eventually get back on track. Not very helpful I know.

We're going through a resistant time here. I had no idea potty training would take so long. I'm still in search of leak proof potty learning undies or the like. Very frustrated with that.

Anyone have ideas about how to get a kid to actually Tell you they have to go? And how do you get over the accident or two a day and get consistently dry?


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## Louisep (May 1, 2009)

I'm looking for some BTDT advice. I have no clue what I'm doing!

DS has been out of diapers wearing regular underpants for 2 weeks. He won't even wear diapers. We do potty breaks about every 2 hours and for the first week had success, with even pooping on the potty.

However, he never ASKS to go potty. Occasionally, if he starts peeing in his underwear he'll stop and say he needs to go potty. We've had THREE pee accidents today and it just seems like we're not making any progress.

He's now holding his poop. Today he so obviously needed to poop and every time he looked like he was straining, I put him on the potty but he refused to go. Today was three days after his last poop and I didn't want him to start getting a complex about it or getting constipated, so I put a diaper on him and he pooped.

I was given the advice that once you stop the diapers, it's better to not wear them at all as it confuses kids switching back and forth. Is this true? We do nighttime diapers.

Also, what's a reasonable amount of time at this age (2.5 years) to see pottying progression?

About from the poop, he's not resisting using the potty, and like I said, is very into wearing underwear. Are these signs he's ready?

Ugh, I have no clue what I'm doing!

TIA


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## Greenlea (Apr 21, 2010)

So I think I've finally found something that works. My son is 27 mths. He didn't seem to have much interest or really know what to do before now. But over the 4ths of July weekend we really got things going. I had tried leaving him diaperless and pull ups before, but he would still pee everywhere. This weekend I put him in underwear. When he would start to go pee, he would stop himself since he felt the underwear getting wet. As long as I caught him looking a little uncomfortable or grabbing at the underwear, I could rush him to the potty and he would go! Then we'd give him a cookie. It was off and on all weekend. But Sunday he even went poop in the potty twice. I think we're making some major improvements here. I'm gonna go out and buy him some Buzz Lightyear underwear as a treat and hopefully it helps.


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## hildare (Jul 6, 2009)

jumping in, and saying hello before i go back to read through the whole thread..

dd, 20 mos, is really interested in the potty.. and putting dolls on the potty.. and taking off her diaper. however, she's only p00ped there 3 times ever. she can tell me when she has p00ped in the diaper and likes to be changed right then, so i'll take that as a sign of progress. she talks about the potty a lot. i don't quite know how to get her to connect the urge to getting on the potty, though. it seems like she kind of knows. i hope to learn more and get her out of the diaps soon.. we'll need them for the next little one!


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

Have not checked in in awhile.

We went for our first diaperless road trip and it was a success!!!







Just put a couple prefolds in his car seat to be sure and he wore surf shorts. It worked. Our next hurdle is night time.

Found another BB potty at a garage sale, 3 bucks! Have 4 around the house now and he is starting to pull his own pants down to go. WHOOOO HOOO!!

This is mama that is done washing diapers!!!! My goal is/was done by 2! Less than a month to go. We shall see!

Thank you everyone. It is great to read how you all are doing this. Great help.


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## carmel23 (Jul 21, 2006)

done by 2 is great!

We've had some good potty days here with my 18 month-old.... he always tells me when he has gone p00p00, too, and says "PAUHtty time!" After he has peed on the floor. But it is a start. he likes to sit on the potty...

I am hoping to get an additional one form ikea. We have one BB little potty, and that style seems to be working fine. We have a good bb seat for "big potty" too and he will climb the step stool and sit on it, but for only like a second. I can tell that it still freaks him out a little. Even though he has no problem climbing on anything else....

But it is a process. I just keep him on fitteds without the extra insert--so it is basically like a training pants. ... otherwise he is just diaperless....

yeah for summer!


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

Well, after reading through the thread it looks like I have two toddlers on the older end of the potty learning. My older dc's were out of diapers by 2 and 2-1/2 years of age so having two newly 3 year olds still in diapers is a little bit







. It's just been hard to find the time and it hasn't been high on the list of priorities. Plus my older two just seemed to gravitate towards no diapers on their own with minimal effort by me and I was kind of hoping for the same thing here. DD is almost there. She pees consistently on the toilet, stays dry (even overnight) and can hold it well. Unfortunately, she refuses to poop on the toilet and I am getting very tired of cleaning poop out of underwear, especially when I see her pooping, try to get her to the toilet, she refuses and then I watch her keep pooping in her underwear. We've resorted to the incentive (or bribe if you will) of a smartie but so far she doesn't seem to care. Ds is not quite as close. He tells me right after he pees/poops but I'm not sure if he knows beforehand or not. He can hold it for long periods of time but he has yet to make it to the toilet. Yesterday he wore underwear all day and he must have sat on the toilet about 10 times but he ended up peeing on the floor in the middle of a meltdown. Fun stuff. I am not really feeling pressured but I feel like they are so close and just need that little push. It makes for long days though and I feel like I am constantly asking a child to sit on the toilet or asking if they need to pee. After 8-1/2 years of diapers I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

I think signing helps too. He has known the sign for potty for quite some time. Friends came over a few weeks back and taught him the poo sign. Think it makes it fun for him to sign then go for it. Ran errands in town with no diaper, no wet pants! Yeah! Played outside too, had one potty in the pants, wasn't able to get his wet surf shorts off... sticky due to the water. Moving forward, never straight!


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Has anyone had experience with their child holding their pee for a reeeaallly long time? My DD holds it until the absolute last moment (try six to eight hours!) and then finally goes when I take her underwear off. She will not sit on the potty and just read a book anymore. Every time I try to take her to the bathroom upon waking up, after eating, etc., she refuses. So, I've simply taken to watching her signals and taking her to the potty then. It seems to work for us, but I'm concerned with how long she's holding her pee.


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## Mom2M (Sep 23, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wennerk*
> 
> Has anyone had experience with their child holding their pee for a reeeaallly long time? My DD holds it until the absolute last moment (try six to eight hours!) and then finally goes when I take her underwear off. She will not sit on the potty and just read a book anymore. Every time I try to take her to the bathroom upon waking up, after eating, etc., she refuses. So, I've simply taken to watching her signals and taking her to the potty then. It seems to work for us, but I'm concerned with how long she's holding her pee.


yes! When DD was in pre-k (3 years old, she would hold it from about 8 am to 3 pm. She refused to pee at school and I had to remember to have her go right after we got home or sometimes I would take her to the bathroom at school.
DD is 6 now and until this past year has done the same thing even as long as 10 hours. She had full day kindergarten this year and I finally realized she wasn't peeing all day from about 7 am till 5-6 pm. I assumed she was going at school but she mentioned one time that she never does and I couldn't believe how long she held it.
so I finally thought I better do something because it really started to worry me. I got a picture of the bladder and explained how it stretches out if you hold it too long and now she understands taking care of her bladder.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

I would love to join, please.

My DD just turned 2 and two times (2 days) we tried keeping her in undies and making her pee in a potty. 1 day she made one in the potty. Next day not even one. She went in the undie, except all 3 times she went she ran to the potty with pee trickling down her legs. I counted those as a success...

This is the very beginning of our journey and I am just saying "Hi" right now. I have some questions I will ask (about training pants, diapers...I have no clue) sometime in the next couple of days.

But I do want to ask one question. Please mamas don't flame me for this.

I am really icked out by the idea of her going poopy in the potty and having to "scrape"(this part is the icky one) it off of the potty into the grown-up potty and then washing it in the sink or the bath-tub. Seems like a painful process. Somehow cleaning her diapers when she has gone poopy in them hasn't bothered me at all. It is just having to "scrape the poop with 2-3 tissues and having to see it disintegrate and see all the foodie bits in the pieces and smell...."

With diapers...I check to see it isn't green, nothing mucuosy etc....one glance, fold it out and done. Sorry for being so graphic but I am feeling a bit defensive I guess.

So the question is: Are there any potty inserts (like toilet seat covers) that I can put in the potty when she poos and I can just fold it, throw it and flush? Or is this a business idea in the making?

Thanks mamas.


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Thanks for the response Mom2M! Glad to know I'm not the only one with that issue. DD is only two and a half, so maybe it won't last as long as your's did. However, thanks for the tip of showing your's a picture of the bladder. I'll definitely add that to my bag of tricks for when she's a little older. We did have an awesome day today! She ran naked for the longest time while at home and at her grandparents, and in both cases, she went to the little potty each time and went to the bathroom when she had to go. I counted a total of 5 pees and 2 poos! No holding for lengthy times today. Yay! Now if I could just get her to pull down her underwear....


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## Cprem (Nov 25, 2009)

Happy to join and read through some of the responses. I need all the ideas I can get. I feel my daughter is on the older side, 30 months, and we have sadly have had no potty successes  , though we've tried. We do cloth, so I know she feels when she is wet. We do lots of naked time but she will hold it and immediately pee when I put a diaper on. I've put her on the potty when I know she has to go, gave her treats to sweeten the deal but she will hold it...FOREVER. Eventually I get nervous about her holding it so long and put a diaper on.

Any ideas on how to get her to relax and let the pee come out. Wouldn't it be great if there was a separate forum for Potty training. Thinking about getting a doll that can "pee" in the potty. Maybe that will help?

ready to be done with diapers!


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## Greenlea (Apr 21, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Blessed_Mom*
> 
> I would love to join, please.
> 
> ...


As far as the poop goes, I have DS use the regular potty and don't even bother with the kids potty. Then I don't have to clean anything!


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cprem*
> 
> Happy to join and read through some of the responses. I need all the ideas I can get. I feel my daughter is on the older side, 30 months, and we have sadly have had no potty successes  , though we've tried. We do cloth, so I know she feels when she is wet. We do lots of naked time but she will hold it and immediately pee when I put a diaper on. I've put her on the potty when I know she has to go, gave her treats to sweeten the deal but she will hold it...FOREVER. Eventually I get nervous about her holding it so long and put a diaper on.
> 
> ...


Don't worry about your DD's age. My daughter was 30 months when I started to make the potty learning push. She's now 31 months. When we first started, I had been building up to the day that there would be no more diapers. On that day, she and I both packed away all the cloth diapers (save the ones I use for only nighttime). That was June 17th. It took until last Saturday (July 9) to actually get her using the potty on a consistent basis. I tried putting her on the potty (she fussed). I tried bribing (it didn't matter). I tried reading potty books (she listened). I tried naked time (she fought me). I tried showing her YouTube videos of other kids (she liked those, but it didn't convince her right away). You name it, I've probably done it. But, I simply stuck to the fact that the diapers were gone, so when she had to go she either had an accident or went on the potty. Yes, I had lots of laundry to do the first few weeks. I also carried two changes of clothes and two small cds in the diaper bag every time we went out. I also put her in Bummis training pants every time we went somewhere. She did hold it for 6-8 hours at a time. And then, finally, I stopped pushing and just casually always had the potty nearby. When I saw her about to go, I put her on it. Then she started using it by herself. Since Saturday, we haven't had an accident and she's been wearing regular underwear when we go out. Whatever you do, stay consistent and committed to it. You'll feel like it's not working, but one day it will. Good luck!


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Blessed_Mom*
> 
> I am really icked out by the idea of her going poopy in the potty and having to "scrape"(this part is the icky one) it off of the potty into the grown-up potty and then washing it in the sink or the bath-tub. Seems like a painful process. Somehow cleaning her diapers when she has gone poopy in them hasn't bothered me at all. It is just having to "scrape the poop with 2-3 tissues and having to see it disintegrate and see all the foodie bits in the pieces and smell...."


Do you have a diaper sprayer for the toilet? That's what I've had all along for cding and that's what I use for the poop. I dump, flush, then use the lesser water pressure to spray out the cup.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wennerk*
> 
> Do you have a diaper sprayer for the toilet? That's what I've had all along for cding and that's what I use for the poop. I dump, flush, then use the lesser water pressure to spray out the cup.


What is a diaper sprayer? Is it an attachment for the faucet? Or something that you buy in a bottle? When you write you "dump, flush..." How do you dump?

Thanks.


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## bentlaj11 (Jul 29, 2010)

Funny story today... I braved no diaper for a trip out (workout w/DS and then a trip to the store). I asked mulitple times when we got to where we worked out, after and when we got to the store. Of course he said "no" each time. Well, I had the thought that I should just try and take him when we got to the store, but I was wearing him and decided to mess w/it... I felt something nice and warm on my back when we are almost done at the store, and I go "uh-oh". I hear this little voice in my ear go "I pee-pee". I just about died laughing. We hurried to the truck and changed his clothes. Now I know to also bring a clean shirt for me 

Blessed-Mom, a diaper sprayer (at least the one I have) is just a hose/spray nozzle (kind of like some sinks have) that attaches to the water valve of the toliet. DH hooked it up for me, but I don't think it required any tools or anything. It makes cleaning poop out of both diapers and pottys easier. Also, I let DS dump his own out in the toliet. He watched me do it and decided he would like to do it... he's only made a mess a couple of times (accidentally dumped it on his hand) which really suprises me!


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Blessed Mom, like bentlaj11 described, that's what I meant by a diaper sprayer. As far as dumping, my DD also does it now. I was a little nervous with her dumping poo, but she did just fine. She's been dumping her pee on a fairly regular basis. I lift the toilet seat, she turns the cup upside down, lets it all fall out, flushes, then hands it to me to rinse. So far, we haven't had any messes. The last poo dump led to an interesting little toddler talk, "Big poo, little poo" as she pointed to each in the cup. Hey, at least she knows those opposites!


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

My LO likes to dump his in the big potty too. No messes yet.

How are you all handling night time? We have not braved that one yet. Sorry if I missed someone writing about it.

bentlaj11.... that is funny! Been there for sure! We have gone out quite a bit with out a diaper on, thankfully it is nice out, been wearing surf shorts. Easier to rinse and dry.


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## redkitchenette (Dec 19, 2009)

So happy to have found this thread! My 24 month old DD has been out of diapers for a little over a month now. She goes on the potty all of the time when it's just her and me at home, when we're out and about together, and when she's spending time with her grandparents (which is usually just a few hours). When Daddy is home, it's another story. She seems to sort of lose focus and wait until she is peeing on herself to let us know that she needs to go. When it's just the two of us home, she usually doesn't even tell me she has to go, she just goes to her potty on her own. Anybody have any ideas about why the change is so drastic when her dad is home? I'm trying to think of differences in our parenting styles that might be a factor:

1. I tend to not make a big deal when she uses the potty chair. He tends to do a lot of praising and high-fiving when she goes on the potty.

2. I generally let natural consequences be there own teacher. If she has an accident I don't react emotionally and don't make a big deal of it. She has to get a rag and clean it up and help me mop up after, and she has to stay in her wet undies for a few minutes while we find her something else to wear. He demonstrates his disappointment by tone and manner (usually in speaking to me, not directly to her, but in front of her) and cleans the mess himself.

3. I expect her to do more for herself in general, and when she asks for help with a specific task I try to help her accomplish it instead of taking over myself (e.g. explaining step by step how to get down from a taller chair than she's used to and standing close by while she tries and only stepping in if she might hurt herself or gets overly frustrated). He tends to do things for her preemptively because it takes less time.

Any thoughts or ideas for addressing this?


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## SkyTower (Sep 8, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *redkitchenette*
> 
> So happy to have found this thread! My 24 month old DD has been out of diapers for a little over a month now. She goes on the potty all of the time when it's just her and me at home, when we're out and about together, and when she's spending time with her grandparents (which is usually just a few hours). When Daddy is home, it's another story. She seems to sort of lose focus and wait until she is peeing on herself to let us know that she needs to go. When it's just the two of us home, she usually doesn't even tell me she has to go, she just goes to her potty on her own. Anybody have any ideas about why the change is so drastic when her dad is home? I'm trying to think of differences in our parenting styles that might be a factor:
> 
> ...


Talk to your husband. It may be that his approach is putting too much pressure on her, and it is clearly not working to motivate her to use the potty. She is probably too busy worrying about disappointing him to worry about going potty. You guys need to be on the same page.


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## Cprem (Nov 25, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *wennerk*
> 
> Don't worry about your DD's age. My daughter was 30 months when I started to make the potty learning push. She's now 31 months. When we first started, I had been building up to the day that there would be no more diapers. On that day, she and I both packed away all the cloth diapers (save the ones I use for only nighttime). That was June 17th. It took until last Saturday (July 9) to actually get her using the potty on a consistent basis. I tried putting her on the potty (she fussed). I tried bribing (it didn't matter). I tried reading potty books (she listened). I tried naked time (she fought me). I tried showing her YouTube videos of other kids (she liked those, but it didn't convince her right away). You name it, I've probably done it. But, I simply stuck to the fact that the diapers were gone, so when she had to go she either had an accident or went on the potty. Yes, I had lots of laundry to do the first few weeks. I also carried two changes of clothes and two small cds in the diaper bag every time we went out. I also put her in Bummis training pants every time we went somewhere. She did hold it for 6-8 hours at a time. And then, finally, I stopped pushing and just casually always had the potty nearby. When I saw her about to go, I put her on it. Then she started using it by herself. Since Saturday, we haven't had an accident and she's been wearing regular underwear when we go out. Whatever you do, stay consistent and committed to it. You'll feel like it's not working, but one day it will. Good luck!


I'm tempted to do this and good to know others have had their kids hold their pee for so long. I guess I should just let her hold it and decide on her own (I always give out before her and put a diaper on her). I just don't know what I would do if she pooped her pants when we were out and about. Guess it is a fear of mine. Also I don't care if she pees on the floor, but poop on the carpet is something I'm trying to avoid







. Guess I have to get brave cause my 30 month old is just fine staying in diapers forever right now....


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## wennerk (Aug 3, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Cprem*
> 
> I'm tempted to do this and good to know others have had their kids hold their pee for so long. I guess I should just let her hold it and decide on her own (I always give out before her and put a diaper on her). I just don't know what I would do if she pooped her pants when we were out and about. Guess it is a fear of mine. Also I don't care if she pees on the floor, but poop on the carpet is something I'm trying to avoid
> 
> ...


My DH has a big hang-up about germs and things, so he wasn't wild about when she pooed on the carpet one time. But, it was easy enough to pick up and clean up and I just ignored his complaints. She also pooed in her training pants when we were an hour away from home one day sitting in a restaurant with a teeny tiny closet of a bathroom. The hardest part was getting her out of the training pants without losing the poo out the leg opening or getting it all over her. My training pants didn't have snaps. Maybe that would have made it easier? But once that was completed, I just dumped, wiped, redressed her and went about the day. Once again, good luck! And go for it!


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## Everrgreen (Feb 27, 2007)

cprem - when my ds was potty learning I had him in little boxers and they would hold the poop in. Gross to clean up, but better than on the floor! Also, my son has had diarrhea while at a grocery store.. and another incident of vomiting at a grocery store. It sucks but we managed - just keep a change of clothes and wipes in the car!

My son is another one who doesn't respond well to me telling him it's time to go. But, he is very good at telling me when he needs to go. Some days I'm amazed how long he can hold it for! But he hasn't had an accident in close to 2 months (with the exception of a couple days of diarrhea.. but that wasn't his fault)


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

I just had to add..

This last week our son has started standing while peeing (at his pottys-- has always when outside). It is so hard not to crack a giggle... such a little man.


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

I have a bit of an update in that my ds has now started peeing on the toilet. Thank goodness! He's just over 3 years old. We went cold turkey with the diapers and he hasn't had an accident since the day he first went on the toilet. His twin sister has been consistently peeing on the toilet for a couple of months now. It's funny how the diaper bag went from being pretty light to being completely full once we went diaper free. I have a couple of plastic bags, a big towel, wipes, changes of clothes, etc... Knock on wood, we haven't had an accident out in public yet.

I do wish I could get them to poop on the toilet. They both know when they're just starting to poop but if I catch them they refuse to go to the toilet. It's such a mess cleaning up poop from underwear (any tips on that?). Not to mention I had a babysitter here yesterday and I felt really bad for her because she's only 13 and had to deal with poopy underwear because they refuse to wear diapers. Ds can be quite a messy pooper. She's coming again tomorrow and I'm not sure what to do.


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## jessaroo (Oct 14, 2003)

I am glad to have found this thread. My ds is 2 1/2. For a while he was eager and proud to try to sit on the potty. More recently he refuses to sit on the potty. He will tell me when he pees or poops and I can change him right away. If i mention the potty is adamantly refuses. So i do not bring it up. I am wondering when I can bring it up without creating resistance. Would the potty doll help and other books?

Thanks


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## briannas auntie (Feb 21, 2011)

I will definetly join! I watch my 2 year old neice, Brianna 3 times a week while my sister is at work, and we are having a lot of trouble with potty training. Brianna will go in her Pull-Ups, and then tell us that she has to go potty. Of course, she doesn't go, because she already went in the pull-ups. Its getting frustrating! I have even tried telling her that Dora the Explorer (the character on her Pull-Ups) doesn't like getting wet or messy, because she can't go exploring well that way, but it hasn't helped.

That, and Brianna get very upset if you try to help her clean herself up after she has messed in her Pull-Ups. My sister told me that she thinks it stems from when Brianna was raped and molested by her father earlier this year, but it gets upsetting when she cries, bites, and hits me when I try to clean her up. I don't want her to get an infection.

Who knew potty training would be so tough!

Jessie


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## lindsayinnc (Jan 7, 2011)

How awful for her! I wonder if you could help teach her to clean herself so she felt a little more control over the situation?

We try every hour or so on the potty. It is going well. We do best at home in cotton training pants.

I will put a pull-up on in the car or when we are out and I think it has slowed down our progress. I was trying with training pants out and in the car and we were having too many accidents.

Maybe try some training pants so she can feel the wetness when she has an accident?


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## mamabelle (Mar 16, 2011)

SO happy to find this thread! My 23-month-old son first showed interest in the potty at about 18 months. We bought him a little potty and he would sit on it with his clothes on while his dad or I went potty and he would ask questions. He didn't want to try it without his clothes and we didn't push him. The books I checked out from the library all stressed waiting until at least 27 months for boys and to make sure that they are totally ready and the push isn't coming from the parent. Most of my peers concurred that he wouldn't be ready until 2.5years. I want to support his curiosity, and encourage him to get out of diapers as soon as he's ready (I don't want to hold him back because of some predetermined age schedule), but don't want to pressure him or give him any hangups or setbacks. We are expecting baby #2 in November also so I've been concerned about focusing on potty learning before vs. after new baby.

THEN, on Friday evening he insisted on sitting on his potty to poop. Caught me totally off guard and successfully peed and pooped in the potty. He was pretty excited about it and checked it out before dumping it in the big potty and flushing. Since then he's gone about twice a day in his potty and gets a big kick out of high fiving afterwards and emptying his potty. I ask him very occasionally if he wants to sit on his potty and don't push him when he says no.

He's in daycare Mon-Thurs and they are very supportive with whatever the parents are trying to do (ie- let child decide to sit on potty or put them on the potty on a schedule, rewards, no diapers vs sometimes diapers, etc). I'm wondering if you mamas think it would be good to try putting him in training underwear for a week or so to see how he does (he's pretty excited about the concept of underwear and has been checking all of mine out), and really immerse ourselves in potty learning (read books with him, focus our days on using the potty, etc) or keep him in diapers and just offer the potty seat occasionally and encourage him when he asks to use it until after baby #2 arrives and he's closer to 2.5? Thanks for any insight.


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## mommy212 (Mar 2, 2010)

I am going to be starting soon, but haven't yet with my 21-month old. Looking for some experience here! Thinking I can use my old cloth diaper covers (thirsties) as liners- any BTDT? I want to buy the chamber pot from the nova naturals catalog, but am also considering the toilet seat option for the convenience. So far our only progess has been that he can say 'bathroom'


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## Greenlea (Apr 21, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *briannas auntie*
> 
> I will definetly join! I watch my 2 year old neice, Brianna 3 times a week while my sister is at work, and we are having a lot of trouble with potty training. Brianna will go in her Pull-Ups, and then tell us that she has to go potty. Of course, she doesn't go, because she already went in the pull-ups. Its getting frustrating! I have even tried telling her that Dora the Explorer (the character on her Pull-Ups) doesn't like getting wet or messy, because she can't go exploring well that way, but it hasn't helped.


I think try some underwear instead of pull-ups. We were using pull-ups with my DS but it wasn't working. Then someone gave me some underwear so I decided to try it and it has worked ever since. He can actually feel when he gets wet and will stop himself until we can go on the potty.


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## peaceful_mama (May 27, 2005)

DS2 (child #3) is PL. He pees enough at a time that our CD's really don't hold it anymore, and yet he WILL. NOT. USE. THE. POTTY. Or the seat on the toilet. Or just the toilet. He just says NO and won't stay there.

This is all new territory for me. My oldest was completely done with PL at this age, I think out of diapers at night too. (DS2 is 2 years almost 9 months) DD was totally learned for poop well before this age and fairly accident-free for pee too.....but she still occasionally wets the bed at 4 1/2.

I have thrown away diapers (well-used!) and underwear (the cheapest they make!) because the poops are that bad. help! OH and he CAN stay dry for nap and sometimes for night. And the child tells me things like "You find me Bear Big Blue House underwear, I will poop in the potty!" When he will sit, he uses paper, he flushes, he washes his hands.

I have told him everything from "I'll buy you the coolest big toy truck ever" to "Cowboys use the potty, you can't poop on the horsie's back...when YOU use the potty, I'll find a real horsie for you to ride..."

um, nope LOL, nada

I've also tried just shutting up about it for awhile, and the very relaxed occasional visit approach. That's where we are now...today, I took him a few times and just didn't make a big deal out of it at all if he sat on the potty or not, but we went into the bathroom to change, we had to come in the house and change because his shorts got all wet, etc. And once he actually did tell me after he peed. We've got to start somewhere, right???


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## Halfasianmomma (Nov 1, 2007)

Anyone have suggestions for a 3 year old toddler who is doing fantastic where pee is concerned, but holding in poop until she gives herself a belly ache, purely because she's petrified of the process of pooping on the potty (or the toilet)? She actually asked to be put to be last night, at 6 p.m, because her tummy was hurting so much. I put a nighttime pull-up on her, and 20 minutes later, we had poop. Then we changed her, and 30 minutes after that, more poop. She then went to sleep super early, seemingly exhausted, and this morning, again complaining of a belly ache, asked for a pull-up. Generally, she goes through her day at daycare without any pull-up, even through naptime, but lately, she's got it into her head to hold it in...

I really don't know how to calm her fear about pooping on the potty...


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## Aliyahsmommy (Sep 9, 2008)

My son is 20 months old and we just started potty training three days ago. He wanted his diaper off so I just decided in that moment that we would give it a go. We are staying home and letting him be naked. The first day we just used a toilet insert on our big toilet, but since he is so little I thought it might be easier to also use a little potty so we introduced that on day 2 and he really seems to like it most of the time.

He definitely has figured out what to do on the potty and we have had several successful pees and even 1/2 poops on the potty! By 1/2 I mean that he starts to go on the floor and we rush to the potty where he finishes. We have had some completely successful pees including one where he went on his own even! I'm feeling pretty lucky as my daughter did not do this well so quickly when we trained her at 2 years old.

The one thing I am worried about though is that we are going to introduce underwear on Sunday and since he really does not dress or undress himself yet then I'm not sure he will be able to pull down the underwear. I think my daughter was more independent in that respect so this was never an issue with her. He loves to cheer for himself now after he goes as he has gotten the hint that we always do that lol and at first I rewarded with candy, but now that does not seem necessary. We had friends over today and I did notice that the distraction was not good as far as him making it to the potty.

So we have now gotten past the hurdle of him peeing just a little every 5-30 minutes and he is holding it longer and peeing in a bigger burst to get it all out. We are now working on making it to the potty before he starts peeing as more often than not I see him start with a trickle or more sometimes and he might say "uh oh" and then we rush to the potty where he finishes. I think we are on the right path, but obviously it just takes time for it to all come together


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

Has anyone ever given up and gone back to diapers for awhile?

We stopped using diapers during the day for my son months ago (he's 30 months), but lately, I'm kind of ready to throw in the towel on potty stuff. He has always been nearly perfect getting to the potty by himself when he's not wearing pants. So we had him go naked around the house for a while, then started putting underwear on him several months ago. For awhile he seemed to be doing better. But now, he basically pees in his pants every single time (and tells us afterwards about half the time). He has never told us when he needs to pee (though obviously he knows when, since he can take himself to the potty), and also won't take his own pants off (it's difficult for him to get them down, and he refuses to pee unless they're all the way off). He generally puts up a fuss if we tell him it's time to go to the potty. He does OK for poop. So the only thing we can do is catch him at appropriate intervals, pull his pants and underwear off despite shrieking protests, and then wait for him to take himself to pee.

I don't see a way through this. He doesn't care too much if his pants are wet, and he doesn't care too much if we run out of dry pants and he has to go naked (even in bushes and brambles). Does it make sense to give up for awhile since there's been no progress in months and months and it seems like we don't have a whole lot of success to worry about losing? Or will I make the eventual process even worse later by putting him back in diapers now?


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

I just put my 3 year old twins back in diapers. We switched to underwear a long time ago and both pee on the toilet with no problems at all. I kept thinking they would just get the pooping on the toilet as long as they stayed in underwear but they never did. It has been 2 months of me dealing with poopy underwear multiple times a day and I am just done with it. Not to mention when we went on a week long camping trip and I wondered how we were going to deal with poopy clothes. I hope I am not setting them back but not sure what else to try. We are even trying a reward chart but they have no real interest. So far, my ds has been upset with me a couple of times when I told him he couldn't wear his underwear. Maybe that will be enough incentive but I'm doubting it. My older two were done with diapers by 2 and 2-1/2 so I'm not exactly sure how to proceed.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *mckittre*
> 
> Has anyone ever given up and gone back to diapers for awhile?


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## ThreeTwoFive (May 7, 2011)

On the back into diapers question . ..

I'm on day 5 of the 3-day potty training method (haha), and I made a pull-up run last night. We now have pull-ups and the new Huggies that go on like a pull-up but are just as absorbent as diapers. I don't know if it will confuse him or not, but I just had to get out of the house. DS is 22 months.

Today he started to make the connection between peeing on the potty and getting a sticker, and we got a dribble of pee into the potty! He's started sitting on the potty, making a peeing sound, and then yelling "Hooray! Good job!" so that's something, right? (It's all the bribes and fake praise I swore I'd never do. But hey, it might just work.)


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## carmel23 (Jul 21, 2006)

I don't have any good advice other then they'll be out of diapers before high school.... hugs mamas... this is tough stuff sometimes.


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## kayleesmom (Dec 16, 2004)

my son is 2.5 and is semi potty learning. meaning when he wants to he will take diaper off and go pee on potty. or will go when u ask him if he has too most of the time but only pee. but is still in diapers. my girls didnt train till around 3 yrs and were fast so he is training early and slowly. not pushing it.


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## bignerpie (Apr 16, 2009)

My little guy peed on the potty for the first time tonight! He told me that he had to poop, and I asked if he wanted to go on the potty. We went and got his potty out, and he sat on it, ran around, sat down, ran around, etc. for at least 5 minutes before he sat down and peed. I waited for awhile, but he never did poop.

I don't know how to continue from here, though, because I'm 37 weeks pregnant. I've been told that even if he is using the potty, he might go back to diapers after the baby is born. So I haven't really been pushing the issue.


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

Question for you all....

DS has been EC'in since about 4 weeks. He poos and pees on his pottys and on the the big toilet at times. SOOOO.... what do YOU do in the car seat. I am so done with diapers and DS is signing and saying "I don't like diapers!" He is 25 months.

Any thoughts? We have been putting a diaper underneath him to save the car seat and travel now with his little baby bjorn. Just wondering if there are any mamas with other hints!?

Thanks a bunch!


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## holothuroidea (Mar 30, 2008)

22 months is really young. I think the only way you are going to get a baby that young to go on the potty is with bribes and tricks. I'd back off and try again in a year, unless he prompts you to do it sooner.

ETA: I won't deny that there are some super-babies out there that are really advanced but that's a special case. Also, EC'ing is a totally different animal.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ThreeTwoFive*
> 
> On the back into diapers question . ..
> 
> ...


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## Ma Cactus (Mar 11, 2011)

Does he really go in the car seat or are you just afraid he will? When we started EC the books I read seemed to suggest that it is often not a problem because the babies don't like to go in that position, and truly, our DS has probably gone in the seat twice in his life (20 mos now). Of course all kids are different so maybe yours does not have this aversion. I did have a piece of wool under him for the longest time anyway that was a would-be diaper cover that my Mum made that didn't fit right and never had the elastic put in so it was sort of contoured and fit well. If we have to make a pit stop in the car, we usually just hold him out the door on the non-traffic side (in appropriately pastoral settings of course), or when it is too cold for that, he will usually go standing into a quart-sized yogurt container with a lid.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *goldenwillow*
> 
> Question for you all....
> 
> ...


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## goldenwillow (Jan 5, 2010)

Yeah... he has had 2, er, maybe 3 accidents in the car and I am only talking pees. Man... it is so hard to get those covers off the seat to wash! We do the same as you suggested about pulling over. Sometimes I think he is so excited to see the sights on the way to wherever, he just goes. Thank you for the wool suggestion. We haven't used our wool in so long I forgot about them!


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## eleonrauis (Jun 21, 2009)

After refusing the potty for what seemed like forever, DS (3yrs 5mos) has now been in underwear for a few weeks with only a couple accidents. He has even been dry most mornings, but we still use a diaper overnight just in case.

I feel like we tried everything, but mostly I think time was what did it. He was just finally ready.


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## Mulvah (Aug 12, 2008)

This seemed to be the most recent "tribe" so I thought I would ask here.

Is it possible to force your child to hold pee overnight? My toddler is day-trained and was not wetting his diaper overnight, so I thought I would try a trainer overnight and that was dry, too. Is it possible I'm forcing him to hold it overnight when he isn't ready? He's 2.5 years old and he day-trained very quickly and easily, so I feel confident he was ready. I don't mind keeping him in a diaper overnight if he isn't ready and though all signs seems to suggest he is, I feel some strange fear that I'm pushing him into holding it since I know he doesn't like to feel wet. There have been no tears (he likes his undies), but I would hate to cause damage simply to have him in undies overnight.

Anyone have thoughts on this?


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## SunRise (Apr 18, 2005)

For my children, waking up dry was their first steps towards going diaperless, first at nap then at night time. This happened, for both of them, around 26-28mths. It was their natural progression, body ready. I wouldnt think there was any forcing or potential damage to be had.


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## Mulvah (Aug 12, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SunRise*
> 
> For my children, waking up dry was their first steps towards going diaperless, first at nap then at night time. This happened, for both of them, around 26-28mths. It was their natural progression, body ready. I wouldnt think there was any forcing or potential damage to be had.


Thanks for your input!


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