How to get this going?

Preschool starts in the fall and they need to be mostly potty trained by then. So this is my summer of potty! But I really don't want to push them and make it a negative experience. So how do I guide them to this goal?

We have a potty chair and a potty ring. The boys have watched dh and I use the toilet since they could crawl.

Aiden will tell me he has to go poopy, but doesn't want to sit on the potty long enough to do anything. He'll seriously say "poopy" all day and not actually poop until bedtime. He likes to pee in the bathtub (ick) or the diaper, but not the potty.

Noah has no interest in using the potty, only flushing the potty. lol He thinks its fun when I use the toilet, but says "all done! all done!" the second I sit him on either potty. He will hide to poop, so I know he knows he's doing it.

We've let them run around bottomless and all that happens are puddles. Physically, I know they can hold it because their nap diapers are barely wet.

Any book or dvd recommendations? What else should I be doing?

Thanks!

 

37 views, 4 days, and no one has any suggestions?

 

I think there are a bunch of us around the same age that are wondering too!!! I know I have NO clue! We have the Elmo Potty dvd, but they just like to watch it and it doesn't spur activity and it taught them to say "no, no, no, no, no" ..... so it's not that valuable! There are a million books out there too!!

I hope you get some ideas soon!!!

 

Well I hate to be just a looky look so I will post. I think the best method is to just go straight to underwear for all awake times. At first it will be messy but they train much faster if they are in wet clothes vs diapers or pull ups. It seems crazy, but it works. Just make them participate in the clean up, changing their clothes as much as possible without making a deal about the fact that they didn't make the potty. Take them to the potty often and when they have accidents remind them that next time they need to go in the potty. I think making a big deal about it every time they go in the potty can backfire and in my opinion it is better to take a low key approach.

Good luck!

 

Do they "have" to be trained for preschool??

You asked for opinions so here goes I think they're too young for potty training and if they're not showing an interest in doing it they're not ready. Not saying they're not ready for preschool just potty training.

My girls were over 3 years old - I know other people who have done it younger though..

I think when they're ready they'll do it and it won't be a big thing.

I know I've not helped. But will be interested in other replies.



amanda

 

We are around the same age and we are not ready to attempt it yet. They both will tell me poop, but neither of them will sit on the potty long enough to do anything. Or if they do sit for 10 min or so they still don't do anything and then say 'all done'. I just take these as signs of them just not being ready yet.

 

I would first suggest calling the preschool and asking what they realistically expect from the 2 1/2 year olds. At ours they were supposed to be trained, but really they wanted to be sure they had self help skills in the potty--I was actually surprised by how many of the 3 year olds were in pull ups!

I did see this originally, but didn't respond, because based on your kids age, and the apparent lack of interest, they simply aren't ready to train. My kids would sit in wet underpants all day, if I didn't make them change/change them because they simply didn't care. Once they were ready, we rarely had an accident. Both of my boys trained well after 3, and one was closer to 4.

 

QUOTE(TwinMom205 @ May 8 2007, 06:24 PM) [snapback]248002[/snapback]
37 views, 4 days, and no one has any suggestions?


I was one of the views when you first posted this and honestly, I have no suggestions. I think it is wrong to have to hurry potty training along for the purpose of school. (not saying you are wrong to send them just wrong that schools require that of children who may not be ready)

Sorry for being a view with no response but if the title had been "need to potty train for preschool" or something along those lines I wouldn't even have viewed it since I am really against the whole concept.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you!

 

Ours are close in age to yours, and really are not even close to being ready to potty train. Sorry I have no advice to offer. Just wanted to let you know that I don't think your kids are abnormal.

When will they start Kinder? Since ours will not start for three more years, we are waiting another full year before we even start looking at preschools. Then we will do two full years of preschool. The preschool we really want them to go to requires that the kids be potty trained first too, BUT they also have to be 3 by December 1. So I am hoping we have PLENTY of time. If my kids are like yours, sounds like we might need it!

 

QUOTE
Both of my boys trained well after 3, and one was closer to 4.
Same with my kiddos. Kyle was 3.5; Kelly was a month shy of four.

Both of my older boys were just barely over three. Believe me; there is nothing you can do, until they are ready.

 

I have to agree with most of the other responses. It sounds like they just aren't ready to train right now. I would back off completely and try again in July. If they are ready then it will only take a matter of a couple of days or weeks to get day trained. There is a really good chance since they are boys that they still won't be trained at all at that age. Boys just typically are older when they train. Nathan is mainly day trained (we have taken a step back with pooping in the potty ) but he will be 3 in less than a week. William isn't the least bit interested in the potty at all and he could care less if he is wet all day. Unfortunately potty training is 90% child willingness and 10% parental persistance. Right now I would check with the school and see what they mean by "mainly trained".

 

I agree with pp that it sounds like they are not ready yet. And it will cause you nothing but headaches if you try to rush them...trust me...I know this from experience. I started to PT when the boys were abt 3 1/2. They would potty in the toilet occasionally but would never poop in it. I tried the "cold turkey" approach and just put them in underwear all day and all I had was ALOT of frustration and ALOT MORE laundry. They had NO desire and were not ready.

I put them back in pull-ups and casually tried with pottying in the toilet but did not pressure them. If they went in the toilet--GREAT; if they went in the pull-up--no big deal.They eventually would go potty only in the toilet but would poop only in the pull-up. As we went thru the spring they started pooping in the toilet occasionally...then often...then eventually they rarely had an accident (maybe once or twice/week)...until they finally were only having an accident once or twice a month. That summer (they were 4 1/2 at taht point) I went back to putting them in underwear in the day and pull-ups at night and they didn't have another accident.

I will admit that part of the pressure to get them to finish pt'ing was b/c they were starting preschool. I undertand where Dianne is coming from to not pressure them if school is the only reason you are pt'ing. BUT they were also 4 1/2 and NEEDED (IMO) to be pt'd.

My advise is DO NOT start until they are ready. They will let you know. I wanted to start pt'ing Grant when he turned 3, but he wasn't quite ready yet. I can get him to sit on the toilet occasionally, but he doesn't like it. I will try again this summer and see how it goes, but I will not pressure him if he is not ready. I used to think that kids were "supposed" to pt by age 3...now I know better. It happens when it happens.

 

Thanks everyone! Its nice to hear that I'm not in this boat alone.

No, they don't have to be fully pt'd by preschool. But we need to be in pull-ups and working on pting.

Yes, I need them to go to preschool in the fall because they need the socialization and I need the study time. I'll be in school and clinicals 4 nights a week, 4-8 hours a night, and I need the quiet 2 hours a morning that preschool will provide. Not going is not an option.

So, I want to find a good dvd. I want to find a good book or two. And I want to slowly encourange them to potty over the summer.

Really.... there will be NO time to pt from August 2007-May 2008, so its this summer or next. And I'd really prefer this summer for at least day time training. I've never pushed anything on the boys before but this is really a need.

If we have success I'll let you all know what we do.

 

I had my girls potty trained at 2-1/2 years. We had potties out for a while before that but one morning we got up and put on our big girl panties (I don't believe in pull-ups other than for sleeping or traveling long distances, and maybe grocery store trips in the beginning). We stayed at home for about 3 days, and the first day was not good, and the second was better, and the third was even better and by day 4 we got to go across town to see Grandma in our big girl panties!

I know that I sounded like a broken record for a long time..."Do you need to potty" "Let's go potty." But it really comes down to remmebering that they are little kids and need to be reminded to do things. They are so wrapped up in playing that they don't want to stop or just aren't even thinking about it.

I think abandoning it lets them know that they don't really have to do it if they don't want to. Just like you have to be consistent with rules, you have to consistent with potty training. I also did not give rewards for pottying...it was just something that was expected of them and they learned to do it. Potty training was very low key for us, but they did get lots of praise for going in the potty. Just don't scold them for accidents.

I think they are plenty old enough, my nephew was 20 months when he potty trained....in the same fashion my girls did....he put on his big boy undies and never looked back! Just stick close to home and remind them every hour or every thirty minutes and even insist that they try even if they don't think they need to go. Also, let them read a book while they potty. It might encourage them to sit there long enough to get the job done.....but keep it low key, no singing or patty cake or anything. That just distracts from the task at hand. Good luck and keep us informed of their progress.

There also is a section on potty training in the WIKI forum.

 

I highly recommend the DVD called "Potty Power". Mine had NO interest in potty training until I bought that dvd. Seeing other kids go potty made them more inclined to do it. I had my DD trained at 2.8 and my DS took a bit longer until 3.1 . It couldn't hurt to introduce it to them. If they are not ready now they may be in a couple of months. In my opinion waiting until they are ready is the easiest way to do it. On the other had waiting too long makes them more resistant to change and it could then become a power struggle. Just watch and see how they responed to the DVD if you choose to get it. I bought mine at Amazon for $10. pretty cheap for all the help it was. Good Luck.

 

We used the DVD "It's Potty Time" from the library. It's old and corny but it did spark some interest in the boys. They didn't watch it the first time it was on, but the second time it caught their attention and then they were hooked on the corny songs.

I talked to my boys for a couple of weeks and let them wear real undies in the evening. Then I told them on Friday we were having "no more diapers". And then I took a long weekend (stayed home) and used only real undies except pull ups at nap and bed. They got stickers to decorate their potty for successes. It took Michael a week. It took Matthew a week to pee train and about a month to go poop consistently on the potty. Michael was 21 months when he trained (he had a lot of ready signs early). Matthew trained at 30 months, which is when he seemed ready to me.

Good luck, but they do have to be ready and hopefully yours are showing some signs if you are going to start training.