Potty Training

[cool chic]

Can anyone out there tell me how old their children were when they started potty training? And any helpful tips and tricks to get them to use the potty?

I ask my two year old if she has to use it, I point it out to her and she starts laughing and says NO! This is what she keeps repeating until we leave the bathroom! I have had her sit on it a few times and she ends up jumping up, goes and gets one of her dolls and puts her doll on the potty! Am I pushing it too early?!

[kezzer]

My daughter started using the potty on her own. I introduced it to her when she was one and she was pretty much potty trained at two. My son on the other hand, not so easy. When I first introduced him to the potty he was about the same age but he liked to drag the potty chair into the living room and use it to climb onto things with!!! He didn't actually use the potty until he was 2 and 1/2 and not fully trained til 3 and 1/2. I learned with him that they will go when they want to. My sister was still in training pants until she was 4!! Your daughter putty her doll on the potty is a good sign. I'd just keep asking if she has to use it but don't make her if she doesn't want to. Kids are also very stubborn and if you push them they won't like it, my son hated the potty for a few months because I so badly wanted him out of diapers that I tried to rush him into it. Good Luck!!!

[Karenluvs6]

my first child, a boy, was almost two...but he didn't potty train...he went directly to the toilet on his own.
my second, a girl, was murder!! She was like three and a half! AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGG! I have pictures of her, that my mom took, sitting on the potty crying her heart out...She absolutely hated it.
my third, a girl, was two years, one month.
my fourth, a boy, was one and a half...right to the toilet, no potty.
my fifth, a boy, was almost three, toilet, no potty.
my last, a girl, was almost three also...no potty, just toilet.

Children can be difficult if they are not ready. I don't think they should be forced...I learned from my mistakes. I don't think it's a good idea to put them on a potty...just wait for them..when they are ready, they will go on thier own.
This might sound a little strange, but when they are babies...when they start walking on thier own...allow them to come to the bathroom with you when you go, unless that makes you totally uncomfortable...when they see you do it enough, they will learn it by themselves. Then when they are ready, they'll go to the toilet too!
It does work!!

[kezzer]

Karen's right!! It really does help. It helped both mine understand what happens in the potty.

[cool chic]

Thankyou for all the great advice!

I do let my daughter come to the bathroom with me. She understands what to do with the toilet paper and is at the age where she likes to imitate!

I agree that she will have to do it herself and be ready when she is ready. I recently heard some parents talking about their children being potty trained and was worried my daughter was behind. Thankyou again for putting me at ease!

[jamesglewisf]

My daughter turns 3 on December 18, but she is taking her sweet time on potty training. We aren't pushing it either.

Thanks for all of the tips.

[Grimey]

It's funny how much stress we put on ourselves over the potty training of children, but how many 7 year olds do you know in diapers? They all get it eventually, and years later we don't sit around thinking about it.

[Nise]

Hi guys, funny this topic is up again. I am still working with Matt. He goes to pee in the toilet but absolutely has NO desire to poop in the pot. URRRGHH! Frusterating, especially since he KNOWS when he needs to go poopie. He hides. I ask him repeatedly if he wants to go poop in the big pot like Mom and Dad but the response is always the same..." No, I'm donna poop oder here"
Still... I'm not going to push him or punish him, it will happen with time and patience! ( I actually had a friend tell me she spanked her child every time she pooped her pants. Not me!! I would have some serious issues with that... What if the child starts trying to hold it just because they know it's tail warmin' time if they do) Not such a good thing in my opinion. Don't get me wrong I believe in a good old fashoned spanking but not for toilet training! p

[raybeck]

Nise, my daugher had the same problem with her first boy, he would hide to poop. She really didn't even try to start potty training until he turned 3 and he seemed to catch right on, although the pooping took a little longer for some reason! I agree, spanking is absolutely not the solution.

[raybeck]

Nise, had to run out the door to help my DH with the longhorns. I wanted to mention that I've heard boys potty train at an older age. My girls were doing pretty well by age two, but still with lots of accidents, my grandson was scared to death of the potty at that age, don't know why. For some reason it all just seemed to click when he turned three. Good luck, I remember being so relieved to get potty training behind me. My girls are 5 1/2 years apart so I had a breather in there! lol