Am I really behind in PT'ing?

The boys just turned three last week and the PT'ing thing is going slowly - mostly, I guess, because it just feels like such an overwhelming task to me. We bought the boys Elmo potty chairs for their second birthday and I had them out for quite some time in the bathroom. At first, they were intrigued by them and would sit occasionally on them but now if you ask them they say "no". Last month I bought one of those seats that fits down into the regular toilet and got them a stool. Sam sat on it for a little while last week but nothing happened. I asked Nicholas if he wanted to try and he said "no". I actually think he is a little afraid of sitting on either type of seat.

Ok...so I know I may be a little behind. Two reasons I think....first of all it feels like an overwhelming task and the other thing is that I just kinda feel like it will just happen - like alot of other things. I also don't want to push the issue of sitting on the toilet because then I'm afraid I'll just make them not want to do it even more.

The other thing is that my husband is very little help. He is very modest and thus does not feel comfortable showing them how to use the toilet. Is this even necessary? Can a Mom teach her two sons how to use the toilet?

So....all that said....I'm hoping someone can share some tips/advice with me please!

 

Ahh....I hear ya! I too thought it was a horribly overwhelming task. And to be quite frank-I was too lazy to deal with potty training. I wanted nothing to do with it! I heard of a version of potty training that was done in three days. I was perplexed. I looked into it, and two other twin moms I know from online did it the same weekend.

Nicholas wanted NOTHING to do with potty training. He would NEVER go near the toilet. Anthony went-on his own terms. If you asked him-forget it. So I went into the potty training business with NO expectations. They were in underwear from the get go, all day, as well as naptime/bedtime.

I can tell you, after 10 days, I am confident that they are fully potty trained. It seriously took 3 days. The first day there were 10 accidents/each. The second day, one had NO accidents, and the other had five. By the third day, there were NONE. I think since that third day-we've had ONE accident. Nicholas has had none since that first day. Every day I tell dh how amazed I am at the potty training. I think part of it was them being ready, me being ready, and me psyching themselves up for it(I said they were big boys, not babies; their friends were big boys/girls; we poop/pee in the potty, etc).

For the most part-they wake up dry from nap/bed. I honestly don't expect them to be dry overnight, but most days, they actually are-same thing for nap.

Potty training isn't as daunting a task I thought it would be. We did have to devote an entire three days to just the boys and going to the bathroom. It has been nice not having to change their diapers all the time, and to have only ONE kid in diapers instead of three!

Once you decide/they decide to do it-it may go better than you expect! Good luck!

 

Hi megkco3 how old were your twins when you did that amazing three day training???

 

I did the same kind of thing as the pp mentioned. I did it when my boys were 21 months and although the first few days were pretty rough and messy it actually wasn't all that bad after that. I think it's totally up to the parent though how they want to go about it. If you want to wait until they say they want to do it, then do that

 

I did an informal PT effort for 2-3 months... and just last week bit the bullet and bought that 3day potty training ebook from the internet. I really really like her perspective and the reasoning behind it. She also has lots of great phrases to help you tell your kids what to do and what to ask. It sounds like you are apprehensive, and to start with I was too... I liked this past week that I had specific things to do and not do. I would recommend going with a program that will hopefully give you the confidence you need.

As for teaching your boys how to use the toilet - YES a mom can do that! you can start with them holding their penis down when they sit on the potty seats to make sure they don't spray etc. If you want to show them to stand, I think they'd get that too... I still haven't mastered my ds holding himself while standing so I have to help him aim for the water... UGH! but we will NOT be going back to diapers - at least for daytime.

1 week ago we packed up all the cloth diapers and haven't gotten them out in 8 days! I think I've figured out that if I cut off the liquids at least 3 hrs or more before bedtime they'll make it all night and be dry in the morning. So I'm really going to try to get this nighttime thing figured out and hope that I don't want to go back to diapers for nighttime either.

Good luck with what you decide! Mine are 27.5 months old.

I also just checked out a cute book from the library... "On Your Potty" by Virginia Miller. its a cute board book and shows the little bear making the choice to go to the potty, and he reaches it just in time! anyway, its a cute one!

I'm not sure we'd have the same success if we hadn't tried to PT before... or if we'd have better success? with not having a different method... I would totally just dive in and try potty training though. I figured "what do I have to lose"? 3 days? a week? if you decide to go back to diapers you aren't out anything... if it works, WOW, you're ahead of the game!