Potty Training

I have now potty trained 2 children.  I have several friends getting ready to start potty training adventures, and I will have to potty train one more time...so this post is for you (and me).  I know there are lots of different ways, theories, and ages to potty train.  Here is what I did....

With Nicole, we potty trained her the week before her 2nd birthday.  Why?  I remember the moment that I changed Hannah's diaper (she was like 2 weeks old) and then I changed Nicole's diaper....she was almost 2 and I thought...this little girl is far to big to be in diapers!!!  I decided I was going to train her two weeks later.  I think it was because Memorial Day weekend was coming, so I knew I would have Jeremy's help for a longer period of time.

The day we started, she never wore a diaper again.  She just wore undies around and I set a timer.  Every 20 minutes or so, we would get all excited, run to the potty and let her try to go.  If she went, we had a party (and a cookie) if not, knew we would try again later.  There were a few accidents here and there, but within a couple of days she was able to feel the moment she needed to go.  She needed reminding sometimes (and still does sometimes...I'll see her start the "potty dance" and so I'll send her to the potty).  She did wear a pull up at nap time and bed time.  She was dry about half the time but after several nights of changing wet sheets and mornings discovering she had slept in wet sheets for who knows how long, I decided it was better for her to be in pull-ups than sleep in urine.  She stopped using pull ups at naps on her own about 6 months later....and it's been about 9 months since she's stopped wearing a pull-up at night too. She prompted that by telling us she didn't want to anymore. (once you start to tackle all night, you really need to stop giving your child something to drink at least an hour and half before bed time)

My feeling is....once you take them out of diapers, don't put them back in except at naps and night time.  This includes Pull-ups during the day.  They quickly learn they can pee in a Pull-up and it won't make a mess...but, if they pee in their undies, they get all wet and they don't like that.  So...even when we went to the store, even in the car....they wore undies...even at the very beginning.  I think this helps them train MUCH faster...at least in my experience.

Now, Hannah was in cloth diapers for most of her diapering time, so I think this helped her train faster...and prompted me to push a bit earlier.  Plus, her changing table is in the bathroom, so...since she was about 8 months old, I would put her on the potty several times a day and she would go.  Then, when she outgrew the cloth diapers I knew the time would come quickly because I didn't want to be buying diapers for her.  So...Hannah was already going potty every once in a while. Then, in January, our family started our fight with a month of sickness.  Once I realized we were pretty much stuck at the house for a while, I thought I'd give it a shot.  I had a lot more accidents with Hannah, but really....it was usually just pee which is so easy to clean up on wood floors.  No biggie, you know?  The worst accident was when she wet her undies (twice!!!!) at a play date at my friend Jennifer's house (Sorry Jen!!!).  But, come to think of it...that was the last time she's had an accident. Anyway...I'm rambling.

Hannah had a few more accidents than Nicole but she quickly learned.  She was also 3 months younger than Nicole was when I trained her.  Hannah is dry about 50% of the time at night and naps.  I'll let her guide me, hopefully like Nicole did, on when it's time to get rid of them.  This might be TMI...(like the rest of the post hasn't been, haha), but Hannah had a little diarrhea a few days ago.  I was worried she wouldn't make it to the bathroom...but each time she did!  I was surprised and felt like potty training was a complete success!

Now I've heard from many many friends that boys are harder to train than girls...so, I'm bracing myself for Nathan.  First of all....I'm not sure if I train him to pee sitting down or standing up.  I guess I have some time to figure that one out.  I'm a little nervous about all things "boy related" if you know what I mean....I just don't know how it goes.  I'll have to learn each day I suppose:-)

So....my potty training advice....
1. Pick a day to start wearing undies only!
2. Don't ever put a diaper or pull up on during the day... except at naps and bedtime
3. Set an alarm and go every 20-30 minutes the first few days (dedication ladies!  It's all about the potty the first few days)
4. Reward with a small cookie, sticker or treat every time then wean them from that once their potty habits are established
5. Be prepared for accidents.  It'll happen, but they'll learn from it...I promise!
6. Have lots of undies on hand
7. Be prepared to visit bathrooms everywhere!  Nicole would say potty just to go visit a new bathroom.  Hannah says potty just so she can wash her hands somewhere new.  But, at least they have a chance to go in the bathroom one more time.
8.   Oh....one more thing.  I bought undies with characters on them (Dora...who my kids DO NOT watch, but they are amused by her picture...whatever! haha), and Elmo.  And I would say, "Don't pee on Dora" or "Don't pee pee on Elmo".  Both girls would get a little upset if they had an accident because the "Pee peed on Dora" or whoever they were wearing.  For some reason...this worked! haha

I hope this advice helps...and I hope I can remember it one more time!  I'm definitely not an expert at potty training...just sharing what worked with my two so far.

Have you done or are you doing anything different for potty training?