Introduction

Hello everyone. I am new to the board. I have fraternal twin boys who will be 3 on June 8th. I joined mainly because I needs some support and advice from other twin mommies. I am a member of another parenting board but I am the only mom on it with twins and as you all know, unless you have twins, you really have NO idea...

Please bear with me as the format on this board is completely different than what I am used to.

Right now, I am having a hard time getting started with potty training. The thought of potty training itself overwhelms me, but the thought of training 2 downright terrifies me. A few months ago, they were showing some interest and had actually both asked to use the potty on several different occasions. I bought all the gear and decided not to push them into pottying. I wanted it to be their idea, not mine. Well, the interest completely stopped. Neither boy has shown any interest since then. Part of me told myself they just weren't ready, but the other part of me is scared I missed my window of opportunity.

The boys are really trying to push their limits with us right now also and have taken a liking to destroying our house. They just won't seem to listen no matter how many different discipline methods we've tried. I am hoping this is just a phase of trying to see how far they can go, but I am worried if I handle it wrong, we'll be in for more problems down the road.

A little introduction on us...my name is Denise. I am 31. I work 2-3 days/week as a CMA in a medical office. My boys go to my mom's the days I work. My husband is a police officer and works crazy, long hours. Tyler and Nathan were born on June 8th 2005. They are fraternal twins; a result of fertility treatments. We had one miscarriage before them. The boys actually also had a triplet that never developed. I had a long, difficult pregnancy, followed by a scary delivery. I was hospitalized at 30 weeks for 3 days due to PTL. I ended up carrying them to 37 weeks. They were delivered via c-section with absolutely no complications for them and no NICU time. I was the one who had all the problems. In a nutshell, I am lucky to have survived the delivery!

Anyway, I hope to get to know everyone better. Thanks for taking the time to read!

denise

 

Hi Denise,

Welcome to TS. Did you try any videos or books to spark their interests? We use the Elmo Potty time video and Sesame street book. I know there are a lot others to choose from. If you are going to use a reward system it may also help to start talking about that. I used M & M's and they get 1 for sitting on the potty, 3 for peeing and a popsicle for pooping (which we never got to). If you read my other posts, you will see that I am no expert and that I didn't make it too far with my training. These were just suggestions I got from others. I also did the naked below the waste thing which really helped my son understand the goal of the potty and what he was supposed to do. I watched him and when he looked like he was ready to go, I put him on the potty and he went. Good luck. You want to try the 1-4 board or the parents for advice discipline.

 

Hey Denise, :sign0016:! We are glad you found us. Definitely post in 1-4 if you want to talk about discipline. We are there for you!

As far as PTing goes, we also tried videos and books for my eldest. We waiting until 3 years old. He didn't really show any major interest until then so we decided to wait until we were both GOOD and READY. I think it went a lot more smoothly because he was old enough to understand what is going on. I would take the time to introduce them to the idea first (i.e. books etc). Then I would have them pick out the undies (its a treat ) and then go and try the potty. We actually moved right to a padded seat on the toilet. Seemed to work well for us and he got over his fear of sitting on the big toilet FAST.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. :hug99:

 

Hi and Welcome! I'll tell you... dh and I were just talking about PT "woes" last night. We were dreading potty training! I put it off until just last week because I was in school and we had 2 different sitters during the week, and I didn't think it was fair for the sitters to have to do most of the potty-training.

My boys are almost 3 1/2 and we started potty training a week ago (see Potty Training Boot Camp post). DH and I think that since we waited until they were older and more ready, it's been pretty easy. Sure, we had some tears on Day 1 and the poop part is still a work in progress. But as far as urinating, its going so well.... we've already been grocery shopping twice, out to eat, to the park, and to my ILs with NO accidents. Both boys wore underwear to preschool today; Aiden was great, Noah had one accident. Day 1 we went through 19 pairs of underwear. Day 8: Aiden one, Noah two. We have lots of potty books, we have no DVDs. I also have two little potties and two toilet seat rings, so both boys could potty at the same time on whatever they wanted. They like the little potties; my goal is to pack away the little potties by the end of the summer and just use the toilet seat rings.

Oh, and the misbehaving.... OMG. Mine too. Haven't figured that one out yet. I just pray its a fast phase!!!