Bunch of questions

Hi...

How did you know your son and daughter were ready to start potty training? What are some tell-tale signs?

What potty's worked best for your son? for your daughter?

I have heard that there is one specific video/book that is supposed to be great for kids. Any idea what it is? Or what did you use?

Thanks!

 

I've been using everything that I see. If it has "potty" in the title I get it. We went to the library and got every book on potty training for children to look at the pictures etc. We recently bought the Elmo potty book, that really didn't do anything.

What gets Mikayla the most interested is when we play pretend and put her dolly on the potty. We have also used the rubber duck! It fills with water during the bath and then when I squeeze the duck, it looks like it is going potty. Weird, I know, but she gets really interested in going to the potty herself.

Bridget

 

It's hard to know when they are ready. We just started watching for signs to see if they had any interest. Once they seemed to show interest or knowledge about knowing when the have to go, we pursued it. We have had to train them one at a time because one was ready before the other. Danielle was close to 2 1/2 and Rachel is closer to 3 now. I wouldn't suggest pushing it as I have heard of lots of regression when that happens. The video that we have really liked is called Potty Power. We also had the Elmo one which was pretty good, but the other video worked better for us. We bought two potties from our multiples club sale a while ago. They are potty chairs that can convert to a stool and ring to put on the toilet. We started out using the chair in the beginning (before we were serious about training...just to get them familiar) and switched to the toilet once we really started training. It has worked out well. Good luck. It's not fun to go through but once it's over, it's such a relief. Another thing we did was to get the travel potty from One Step Ahead. It folds like a briefcase. We keep it in our car so we always have a potty for them to use. So, while trainng, we aren't stuck at home the whole time. It can easily fit in a stroller, etc. Definitely one of our better purchases.

 

I bought the books "Once Upon a Potty" and "Everyone Poops" sometime around 16 months, and "Elmo Potty Time" probably around the same time. And they loved them! But they didn't convince them to train.

I got frustrated and bought them "Potty Power" sometime around their third birthday. Didn't seem to make a difference, they liked it though.

I think they are ready when they are ready, and you might be able to hurry it along with some kids and not others. Not mine. They totally resisted and then pretty much potty trained overnight.

The DVD's certainly can't hurt and the songs make it fun for them. My girls do love to pronounce that they have POTTY POWER! And sing, "I'm a big kid now..." (okay that little DVD must pack a lot of punch...)

 

The following are criteria I found useful when training the K team.......


When a child is dry at long intervals (naps or at least 2 hours) and is voiding large amounts.
Ability to recognize they are voiding.
Physical ability to walk to the bathroom, pull pants up and down and be able to get on and off the toilet fairly independently.
Willingness.

The part I like the most about this particular article is it says that experts recommend once you notice all the signs wait 3 months to begin training.

Another key element is that both the child and the parents (care providers) are ready. This can be an adventure that everyone has to be on the same page and if not then it is probably better to wait.

The potty that worked best for K&K was the toilet.

Never used any books or dvds.

 

My DD has been potty trained for 6 months and today was our first diaper free day with DS. I have not used any books or DVDs. But I used the criteria that Dianne mentioned and let my kiddos lead the way. We did use just a really inexpensive potty seat at first. Hannah used the whole potty for a couple months; Ben just uses the top seat and it attaches to the toilet seat.

 

Wow... I am impressed that many of your children were ready at 18 months. My kiddies just turned 18 months and I don't see them being ready at all. Thanks for the tips and tricks.

 

I didn't put K&K's ages....Kayla was basically on her 3rd bday and Kyle was 3 and 4 months.