Daycare and Potty Training

My boys, 2 1/2, attend a daycare center twice a week. They will not be there this summer, but will return in August and will be moved up in the 3's class with their classmates. I was told last week that they had to be potty trained by then. They turn 3 in September. Apparantly, they don't have a changing station in the next class up. This whole conversation started b/c they have started potty training some of their classmates now and asked me if I wanted them to start working with the boys. I was a little shocked that they would need to be trained by 3! Is this the norm in a daycare? I am concerned that it won't happen by August, they show no signs now of being ready and now I am stressed that I won't be successful this summer when they are home more.

 

Why don't you let the daycare staff try to train them? The peer pressure helps a lot. They'll want to do what their classmates are doing. Daycare trained my girls in a week. And I do think it's normal for kids in daycare to be trained by age 3. The older the kids get, the higher the teacher/student ratio, and the less time/ability teachers have to change diapers/pullups. In my daycare, kids must be potty-trained before they can start Pre-K 3.

 

I was a preschool teacher, and yes, here, at 2.9, the child is to be potty trained before entering the preschool aged program.

 

Definitely normal. Our 3s class also requires potty training. Just to take the pressure off of yourself, maybe just ask what will happen if your kids aren't trained by August? Can they stay in the 2s for a few months? But you'll be able to get the job done this summer, I'm sure

 

We are in a montessori and primary (3-6) has to be trained. Mine went in at 2.5 and same rule applied. However, it isn't strict like it sounds. Meaning, they are not allowed to wear diapers and with the other kids doing it they just figure it out. They were only allowed to wear underwear, no training pants. One of mine was trained but the other we did a 2 week training up until she started and then I can credit the staff mostly with getting her finished training at school. It was awesome. And the teachers are lovely people and they said the nature of the game at this age is accidents...it isn't a big deal and it doesn't phase them. When there is an accident though the kiddos have to help the teacher by undressing themselves (or at least attempting to..lol) and cleaning and putting on new clothes. VERY EFFECTIVE - they learn quickly that that is no fun...they would rather just take it to the potty. Jude trained VERY quickly. I also found it important to talk with the teachers about how they handled the potty training, accidents, etc so that I was using the same techniques at home. Good luck!