# Any potty training success stories of 2-2.5 year olds?



## M_of_M (Jun 13, 2003)

Please share with me your potty training success stories and tips if your dc was around 2-2.5 years of age when he/she was trained.

I am pretty determined to start training my ds in about 1 month or so when he will be almost 29 months old.

Thank you.

P.S. I do not believe that it should be up to the child when to start potty training and I am definitely not willing to wait for another couple of years.


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## Aufilia (Jul 31, 2007)

We started much earlier, by buying DD a potty to play with and sit on around 17mo. Once in awhile we'd sit her on it and randomly catch pee.

Around 21mo I had 4 days off work in a row and put her in trainers every morning before nap (about 3 hours). By day 3 of that she was telling me when she needed to pee. But she wasn't walking well yet (was getting PT) and it was right before thanksgiving, and we were all sick for awhile then traveling.

About 3 weeks ago I started putting her in trainers in the morning again (with a later nap, that was more like 5 hours in trainers), and after about 2 weeks she figured out how to go when she wanted to. Prior to that I had to really watch for her "pee signal" so I could rush her to the potty and sit her down on it. But anyhow, after about 2 weeks she figured out how to go when she wanted, and now she'll go whenever we sit her down. She won't always tell us when she has to go (doesn't always notice, if she's busy) but we really haven't had many accidents.

I'd recommend the book "Diaper Free Before Three" for you.


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## ryleigh'smama (Aug 10, 2005)

Dd potty trained at 27 months. I did not really leave it up to her, although I did talk it up a lot, and make it sound REALLY great to go potty on the toilet. We did a lot of sitting on the potty with diapers on, getting comfortable with the potty, and then ultimately just put her in panties and went for it. I gave her M&M's. One for pee in the potty, two for poop. It didn't take long, and she forgot about he M&M's within a few weeks.


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## MuesliMama (Jan 27, 2006)

My DD learned a couple of months ago, just before she turned 2.5. It was easy and lowkey. She'd been going on a little potty for over a year and would often tell me if she wanted her diaper to be changed, so we felt she was ready.

Really, the biggest things to help us were:

1. Switching to underwear ~ she treated training pants just like diapers whereas she would tell me right away if she had an accident in underwear.

2. Seeing other kids going go potty at her preschool/daycare place, where they have kid-sized toilets. Also, a few months ago we read a Caillou book about pottylearning that got her thinking about the whole transition.

She'll still occasionally have an accident if she and I forget to check in, but it really took about a week of being in underwear. I have heard that it takes boys longer, but I've also seen exceptions to that. Just don't put any pressure or guilt trips on your kid, keep it fun and funny, and you should be fine!

Good luck!


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## Keeping up (Apr 7, 2004)

My 28-month old is showing interest - and we are following through with his cues. I have tried to just remove the diap but he pees, doesn't notice and goes right on with his buzz of activity. We have a lot more success nabbing the #2s. I think with focus, we will make it by end of summer.

Not that you asked ... I do think it depends completely on the child - my first two kiddos would have been horrible potty trainers at this age - just different personalities and older sibling 'peer' pressure. [FTR - I don't force it though - I don't have time for 'accidents' so I have just waited for the late 2s, and early 3s - and we trained in a week to 10 days. We are blessed that we seem to do very well at night too - thank goodness!]

Summer is a great time to do the training - snowpants, peeing in snowpants, are a tremendous drag! Both of the older pair potty trained in the month of April (i.e. no more snowpants!)

Good luck.


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## Carlyn (Jun 11, 2007)

Baby #1 started wearing underwear when he was 2 years (on his birthday). He did great! A few accidents, and then he had it completely. Baby #2 was closer to 2 1/2 before she was in underwear full-time. Baby #3 was around her second birthday, but she had a lot more accidents. All of them by 2 1/2 were not wearing diapers.

I agree, summer is the best time to train. You can let them go naked when you're outside, and have a potty right there. They start feeling wet down the legs and seeing what's happening, and you can keep saying what's happening and getting them on the potty right away.

For all of them I had introduced the potty much earlier, and they knew what to do on it, they just didn't tell me when they needed it. By the time I was ready to go at it full time, it was just a matter of being consistent.

For my first, a great incentive was to have a paper on the wall right by his potty with stickers for when he had dry pants. So every time he told me he needed/wanted to go on the potty, he got a sticker if his pants were dry. If not, no problem, but no sticker.

With my second, she didn't care quite as much...until we had a new doll sent to us in the mail. I only let her hold it when she was on the potty...and only in the box! We said that it would come out of the box when she was wearing undies all the time. She'd cuddle the box, and enjoy her time on the potty, but couldn't play with it all the time until she was staying dry. She knew it would be her special doll, and her baby sister wouldn't get to use it, since she was still in diapers.

Just a few experiences of ours







Good luck!


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## Michelle Renee (Dec 31, 2005)

My DD was potty trained by the time she was 2 except for nighttime/naps. She wakes up dry 5/7 times for naps but not night time.

When she was about 17 months old we did potty every AM when she got up and every night before bed - we did that pretty much all the time. She also watched the baby signing times a lot and learned the sign for potty and the diaper dance -which we taught as a potty dance too

Then in Feb we really started working with it - putting her on all the time, reading the potty books etc.

In April (birthday 4/14) we started using the timer, every 30 minutes and it stuck. Its been a month and she is doing awesome









She loves her elmo panties and she loves being a big girl.

Her baby sister is due anyday and Im really glad to be out of dipes. Its a little hard because we forget when we are out doing things that she has to potty.

I think the big thing is NO scolding when there is an oops - we just explain it and say tell mamma when you need to go and stick with it- dont go back and forth - It is a lot of work and it takes time. We finished up over spring break - Im a teacher and I knew that week we would be staying home and doing potty. And try and get everyone on board in your house and to do it the same way.

Good luck


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## Zan&Zav (Nov 25, 2006)

My oldest was 2, just barely 2. I told him babies wore diapers and big boys used the toilet. That was it. We have had a handful of accidents in the last year and a half, all times that he was sick, but other then that dry nite and day.


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## kiki01 (Mar 6, 2008)

My ds was clean and dry, day and night by 2. We got a few good books about children using the potty/toilet and read them throughout the day. We also brought a special book for him that we would read to him while having a pooh - he looked forward to going so he could have his book. We went straight from nappies to underwear in the house but did use training pants for a few weeks out of the house.
We put a potty in his bedroom for nighttime.
I never got cross at accidents but did make it clear that he should have used the toilet or potty.


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## georgiegirl1974 (Sep 20, 2006)

DD turned 2 in March, and she's been in underwear full time (except night) for the past 2 weeks. We started early and went really slowly. Around 18 months, she started telling us after she peed. So we bought a potty and let her sit on it whenever. A couple months later, she peed on it for the first time. Then she would pee on it 1-3 times a day for a couple of months. Around her second b-day, she started refusing to wear a diaper, so we did a lot of naked time, and she would be in the potty 100% when naked. About a month ago, she started peeing in the potty all of the time...her diaper was dry all day. After a week of dry diapers during the day, we switched to underwear full time. We've only had a couple of small accidents (mostly when she hurts herself and cries and then pees), but it is going very well. She still asks for a diaper to poop in, but I don't mind. I consider her fully potty trained durinig the day. However, I will be putting her in a pull-up tomorrow since we are flying cross country, and I dont want her screaming "I pee now" while we are taking off and then having an accident.


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## JBaxter (May 1, 2005)

All 3 of my boys were out of day time diapers between 2 and 2 1/2. Nathan my youngest has been the oldest of all my nieces and nephews at 2 1/2. Nights and naps still got diapers or pullups till 3 ish.


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## Valerieg (May 13, 2007)

I purchased a potty when DD was around 18 months. I put it in her bathroom just because there was nowhere else to put it. She started peeing on it before bath every night (because otherwise she peed on the floor or in the tub).

Then she began asking to use it. Then I began putting her on the potty whenever I'd change her diaper (which I did in the bathroom anyway to plop poopies in the toilet). Then, one day I simply forgot to put a diaper back on her. It was that simple. We had a couple days or maybe a week with a few accidents but she has been diaper-free during the day since she was 26 months old.

We're still working on nighttime but the pedi says that it is unrealistic to expect a child to be dry through the night before they are four. Great if they can, but it's an unrealistic expectation. And he only worries if they're five and still not dry at night.


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## CherryBomb (Feb 13, 2005)

Dd1 was potty trained right around 24 months, except for nighttime. Uh, she was really easy. I gave her a potty and put her in panties starting around 18 months and she went to town.







Dd2 is developmentally delayed and almost 3 and not interested.


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