Potty training is in the distant future for Everly. It is something we are trying to not stress over, but can I be honest? The thought of it is very intimidating right now. We are no where near her being ready for potty training, but my intimidation and fear of potty training are all reasons why I am starting to read up on it, and ask questions to those who have already been down this road with their little ones.
Everly has been “using” a potty since she was a couple months old. We have done a very laid back version of elimination communication, where she gets set on the potty before and after nap times, first thing in the morning, and before bath time. Our hope is that she won’t be afraid of the toilet when she is older and we are potty training her. Doing this has also been a huge help when dealing with diaper rash as it happens less, or goes away much quicker. Yes there have been, and are days when we slack off in doing this routine with her, which is bad on our part because she does notice.
Potty training is something that we will be following her leads on. She will be letting us know when she is ready (which I’ve heard from many is a key thing), and we don’t want to be too forceful about it. All in due time right? We know she will figure it out eventually. For now it is fun to see her love pulling out the training pants we have for her, and asking for us to put them on her. She is like a mini superhero walking around the house.
There are so many different methods to potty training. I’ve come across camping for a week and letting them run around bare bummed, a 3 day potty training method, using charts, using rewards, etc…
What method did you do with your little one(s), and how did potty training go?
We have been Calvin on the toilet before and after bed and nap times and when I notice him popping for the past month or so. Before that he never told me he needed to go or anything. Now he tells me that he has pooped (if I didn’t catch it) or that he needs to go pee again before bed, and I think I will get a bit more serious about it. I’m thinking a couple days of naked or underwear only time. I haven’t read any specific methods or techniques. Just going with what makes sense.
I did 3 day with Makayla but she was so ready when we started it took her a day. Easy peasy. Makayla was very interested in the months leading up to when we started. Aria I’m not sure. I was going to do the same method but if she doesn’t seem ready I won’t push it
I think that’s a great start with her already being familiar with how to use the potty! Aside from when they are say, past three and still in diapers, I feel that it’s really about when they are ready. You are there to encourage and make it a “fun” experience. I tried the no diaper thing for six days back when Shae was about a year and a half because he was telling me that he needed to go. It didn’t work. But now, for the last couple of months, he has been going on his potty at home a good portion of the time. We reward him with stickers for which he gets quite excited. Our hope is to get him using his potty regularly at home with diligent reminding and encouragement and then take the next step – no diapers when going out! Dun dun duhhhhh! End of summer we hope? That would be amazing. But again, it already sounds like you are making the gradual transition and I don’t doubt that she’ll catch on more and more as she gets older. Don’t feel pressured to have it down in three days!
With our first we took off his diaper and he would go on the potty. Being naked was the trick that worked. With the younger one this isn’t always the right method. He’s been somewhat potty trained for a year. Anytime I put any pressure he reverts back. He’s only 2.5, so I just let him go when he wants to (which is about 20% of the time). It’s really up to him. We’re seeing a slow progression of willingness. It can be frustrating though when he’s 100% potty trained (even at night) for days and then he reverts back completely for no apparent reason…
My son is potty trained for peepee but not for poopoo!! He always says to me “aoui in my tummy'” and wants to put a diaper for pooing (at least he ask me and doesn’t poo in his underwear!
He says he will stop to poo in diapers when we will not have diaper anymore! But he is not ready for night without diapers!!! So we wait!
Good luck!
We are doing the really random, no rush approach. He wears pull ups and sometimes “real underwear” but I still have to set the timer for every 30 mins or he will have an accident. He will happily go if he’s on the potty though, just seems to be lacking all self inclination. When he was two I thought, “He will be potty trained by three.” Now that he’s three I realise it is going to be more like, “He should be potty trained by four…” Really I’m just not stressing about it. He’s healthy, he’s smart, it will be all right and figured out in due time.
I’m dreading it here too cause I know it won’t be an easy transition with my kids. I had a friend who had lots of success with sticker charts and avoiding the use of pull ups.
When my son was about 20 months old we bought a potty. We kept it around the house and we let him be naked a lot. Sometimes he peed on the couch (yuck), sometimes he peed in the potty (yay!). We didn’t make a big deal of it and just let things run their course. About a year later he was pretty good about using the potty when he was naked but often wore a diaper. At that point we decided that we really wanted to make the shift to no diapers so we took a weekend of staying home, no daytime diapers and a reward sticker chart. It went really well and I think that’s because we had made the potty a normal part of our lives for so long. There was no stress or pressure. We made it as casual as possible. We never got mad at him for having an accident and always congratulated him for meeting new milestones (like telling us he had to pee when we’re driving somewhere and waiting to pee until we pulled over and got him out of the car). I think it’s important to do it slowly, with respect and kindness. You’re well on your way to an easy transition with what you are already doing. Congrats smart mama!
Following your child’s lead seems to work best. Every child is so different when it comes to being ready for pottytraining. My oldest was just over 2, and my middle child took much longer. He was over 3 and I finally spent a week off work at home with him with no diapers and a lot of accidents before he got the hang of it.
We did the same thing as you and had the potty around a lot from 7 months old, although we weren’t so regular with it. My girls are both pretty much naked all the time, potty training or not, so it was a fairly easy transition with us – my oldest was 22 months when she potty trained during the day, but not trained at night until almost 4 years old!. My second is just 14 months old now, we’ll see how she does 🙂
I think that is key, go with their direction. Its the one common thing I keep seeing. I didn’t realize our kiddos were so close in age! We need a play date.