All Things Potty Training

[junkytrunk]

We were in that same boat for a couple of weeks. We would just change his pull-up because he would make a huge fit about it. Eventually, she will be able to wake herself before she pees, but right now, since it's still early in the potty training process, I would just change her. Now he's at the point where he will wake up before he pees and he will just go on the potty.

Also like PP said, we try to stop liquids an hour before bedtime. And get him to pee as much before bed as possible. He usually has to pee 2 seconds after I leave his room too.

[Riverdong11]

I'm no help, sorry summergirl1211 but I just wanted to brag that Liam actually told me had to go potty today! I was driving to the playground at MH's work and I hear a voice from the back "mommy I have to go potty". All nonchalant like it's no big deal. I about drove of the road I was so excited! Now if only he would do it again.

[summergirl1211]

Apr 6, 2015 14:53:52 GMT -5 Riverdong11 said:

I'm no help, sorry summergirl1211 but I just wanted to brag that Liam actually told me had to go potty today! I was driving to the playground at MH's work and I hear a voice from the back "mommy I have to go potty". All nonchalant like it's no big deal. I about drove of the road I was so excited! Now if only he would do it again.

Yay Liam! That's awesome @riversong11! Did you panic when he said it and rush to find a bathroom? That's what I've done the few times Riley says she has to pee in the car. I just keep reminding her that she can't pee in the car!

[Riverdong11]

Apr 6, 2015 15:05:20 GMT -5 summergirl1211 said:

Apr 6, 2015 14:53:52 GMT -5 Riverdong11 said:

I'm no help, sorry summergirl1211 but I just wanted to brag that Liam actually told me had to go potty today! I was driving to the playground at MH's work and I hear a voice from the back "mommy I have to go potty". All nonchalant like it's no big deal. I about drove of the road I was so excited! Now if only he would do it again.

Yay Liam! That's awesome @riversong11! Did you panic when he said it and rush to find a bathroom? That's what I've done the few times Riley says she has to pee in the car. I just keep reminding her that she can't pee in the car!

I was panicky but I tried to stay calm and told him to hold it. I couldn't stop anywhere so I just kept on going and hoped for the best. He held it!

[trixi282]

summergirl1211, no real suggestions, since J is still in diapers for bed, but I think it's a good sign (although frustrating) that she's waking up and wanting to change. Have you tried talking with her about if she feels like she has to go she can get up? Not sure if that will help or not, but it might be worth a try.

We were going to wait a bit longer to really try and night train... Joey still wakes up with a wet diaper and doesn't care too much, so I think it may be awhile for us. At least days are still successful.

[bliz1712]

summergirl1211, I wanted to add that we still use a diaper/pull up for bedtime. I can't pull the trigger and let her sleep without one.

[paddyb]

I'm getting nervous about this...we are pulling the daytime diapers this weekend. he has shown interest in wearing "big boy underwear" but on Sunday morning when I put him in some he promptly peed.

[summergirl1211]

Apr 6, 2015 15:21:32 GMT -5 trixi282 said:

summergirl1211, no real suggestions, since J is still in diapers for bed, but I think it's a good sign (although frustrating) that she's waking up and wanting to change. Have you tried talking with her about if she feels like she has to go she can get up? Not sure if that will help or not, but it might be worth a try.

We were going to wait a bit longer to really try and night train... Joey still wakes up with a wet diaper and doesn't care too much, so I think it may be awhile for us. At least days are still successful.

Thanks trixi282! Yeah, I also think it's a good sign, it's just frustrating with the sleep aspect, and sometimes she doesn't go back to sleep so my H lays on the floor with her. We do need to cut back milk completely so this is good motivation.

bliz1712, oh yeah, we won't be pulling the nighttime diapers for quite awhile. Changing diapers MOTN is much better than changing sheets and pjs all the time!

[summergirl1211]

Apr 6, 2015 15:38:38 GMT -5 paddyb said:

I'm getting nervous about this...we are pulling the daytime diapers this weekend. he has shown interest in wearing "big boy underwear" but on Sunday morning when I put him in some he promptly peed.

paddyb: good luck! He might surprise you! Was he upset when he peed? Did you just put diapers right back on him? Riley definitely had several accidents the first weekend (even though we were asking every 20 minutes or so, and made her sit every 45 minutes at least), but after a few accidents she started to "get it". We also didn't go overboard on a ton of liquid during snacks and meals just in case she did have an accident. That way it was much less to clean up. She still has accidents here and there, but she usually catches herself and finishes peeing in the potty. 

[paddyb]

Apr 6, 2015 15:48:56 GMT -5 summergirl1211 said:

Apr 6, 2015 15:38:38 GMT -5 paddyb said:

I'm getting nervous about this...we are pulling the daytime diapers this weekend. he has shown interest in wearing "big boy underwear" but on Sunday morning when I put him in some he promptly peed.

paddyb: good luck! He might surprise you! Was he upset when he peed? Did you just put diapers right back on him? Riley definitely had several accidents the first weekend (even though we were asking every 20 minutes or so, and made her sit every 45 minutes at least), but after a few accidents she started to "get it". We also didn't go overboard on a ton of liquid during snacks and meals just in case she did have an accident. That way it was much less to clean up. She still has accidents here and there, but she usually catches herself and finishes peeing in the potty. 

Not upset at all. He fought me on taking off the underwear and his wet socks. I out on a diaper because we were heading out Easter (and a 1.5 hr car ride)

[junkytrunk]

Oh ya we are keeping pull-ups for awhile. He is at about 5 out of 7 days dry in the morning, but still those few days he does wake up wet, I don't want to have to deal with wet sheets. FFMC - We just re-use them if there is nothing in them for a few days.

I agree, the back to waking in the middle of the night was rough in the beginning, but I was just glad he didn't like the feeling of being wet enough that he wanted out. She's "getting it", so that's a good sign!

[cookiesandwine]

I'm bumping this up because I'm feeling like we're kind of stuck... She's doing marginally better in terms of big accidents and not fighting me when it's time to sit on the potty. But she will not tell us when she has to go. Always says "No I fine." Then when I put her on the toilet she could pee a river. Is this a normal hurdle? Or is she a stubborn sneauxflayke? How do we get past this?

[bliz1712]

cookiesandwine I think it's normal for them to take awhile to learn the feeling ahead of time. At least she's not noticing it too late and having accidents all the time.

If you just let her go does she have an accident? I think it might not hurt to let her go until she tells you, even if that means an accident. I think always asking her and then taking her she's missing that cue from her body herself. And she could just be a stubborn nelly!

[somethingcleverer]

cookiesandwine I would stop asking and just let her pee herself. There's something about being wet that sends a message that 1. I'm not getting my diapers back and 2. If I don't like being wet I should pee on the potty. Aubrey was pretty stubborn and peed on the floor a bunch before she realized that going on the potty was better. I think constantly asking if they have to go makes them more stubborn, if you act like going on the potty is her decision it seems to work better.


I'm looking for advice here on wiping. Aubrey clenches her legs together so tight that it's nearly impossible to wipe her. Tim has an especially hard time with kinda forcing her to spread her legs a little so we can get her clean. The trouble is that she gets really irritated and red, then she won't let me look. I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Anyone else notice this?

[cookiesandwine]

Honestly, I never thought about not asking her! It terrifies me but I'll try lol

somethingcleverer when we wipe Sadie I say "over Grover" and she bends herself forward really far which kind of causes her legs to separate further.

[bliz1712]

Some days hanna gets really bad because at dc they let her wipe herself. I've resulted to having her lay down like we're changing her diaper and it's easier for both of us. But there are days where she leans against the wall like I'm going to frisk her. It's hilarious and not sure where she learned it from.

[junkytrunk]

The first week I kept asking him and then I started forgetting. He peed himself a couple times, but he figured out really quick he didn't like feeling wet. I know it's scary, but she might just surprise you!

[heatherbee]

Apr 12, 2015 14:41:44 GMT -5 cookiesandwine said:

Honestly, I never thought about not asking her! It terrifies me but I'll try lol

somethingcleverer when we wipe Sadie I say "over Grover" and she bends herself forward really far which kind of causes her legs to separate further.

At first I always paired going potty with a fun activity afterwards. "First we are going to try going potty, then we will use playdoh", "first potty, then go outside", "first potty, then watch a show". I didn't even let it be a choice at first, just something we scheduled into our day. Maybe that would help? It seemed to eliminate some of the power struggle because it came across like any other request I might have of him during the day.


I thought of another thing we do - we taught him to tell us he needs to "take a pause and go potty". At first he seemed he was anxious about stopping playing to go because he thought he couldn't go back to what he was doing. "Taking a pause" was language that helped.

[ThePinkSuperhero]

We let O sit on his Elmo potty and watch TV, just to get him used to the idea. He's had nothing for weeks but the other night, he made the teeniest tiny little poop. We made a big deal of it and gave him M&Ms. So of course today he sat on the potty until he peed and then he said, all done! Candy please! Bribery, it works.

[roo1582]

cookiesandwine - I think its pretty normal. Kayleigh has been PT'ed for a while now, and she will still tell me "I fine" if I ask her because I can see she's starting to do a little dance. Then of course 2 minutes later she's telling me she has to go potty. I think its a little bit of a control thing with her.

somethingcleverer - When we wipe Kayleigh, we have her bend over our leg (we kneel on one knee). She sometimes still clenches and then we get TP stuck in there, but it usually helps a little bit.

[bantyrooster]

cookiesandwine we do a mixture of both. He has to potty when he gets up, before lunch, before dinner, and before bed. The rest of the time he tells us. I was pregnant when he potty trained so I felt like he needed to go when I go. Then h reminded me normal people don't pee every hour. Some days he pees a lot between his normal pees and others he doesn't.

[cookiesandwine]

bantyrooster that's a really good point. I've been trying to take her roughly every 45 minutes and wondering why she won't go, because I have to go!

She did well this morning, woke her up and she went on the potty without a fight. So here's hoping it's starting to click!

Another question for everyone, how long before you felt really confident in their potty trained-ness? A few weeks maybe?

[bantyrooster]

Lol ya cookiesandwine I bet she, like Gage, doesn't have to go that often. Who knew right!? I do remind/ask him if he has friends over. Sometimes he gets busy. I think after a week with no accidents we felt pretty good. He will randomly have accidents but they are very few. Poop is another story. He has gone 3 times in 4 days and two he got to the potty. He has butt issues though so really holds it.

[xanthepants]

cookiesandwine, 6 months ha! About 3 months really. Add we still have accidents and we are 9 months out just so you know. I still carry panties and pants in my purse or car. Because when I don't it is a problem. I think honestly it's going to be a tiny bit precarious for a long while.

[Riverdong11]

We're totally failing at this potty training thing. Yesterday Liam pooped his pants while we were out. He was grabbing his bottom so I asked him if he pooped. He said, Yes I did. I had an accident. It's ok, these things happen.

[bliz1712]

I would say by week 2 we were really confident and were with very few accidents. By week 3 she was in underwear exclusively at home. I left her in pullups at DC for maybe a month, simply for the ease of it. By month 2 we were without pullups at naps, and now we only have them at bedtime. Hanna really picked up on it quickly though, so for others it may be different. Plus I probably could have gone sooner on some areas but I was scared of more accidents.

[summergirl1211]

cookiesandwine, we are 2 weeks in and I still get nervous taking her out. We ran errands in Saturday and knew we wouldn't have easy access to bathrooms so we put a diaper on over her underwear. She did great. I expect it to be a process for quite awhile though.

[aimeefarrahfowler]

cookiesandwine I'd say a few weeks at least, closer to a month. I only did short trips out of the house for quite awhile. It helped that it was cold out so we weren't doing too much, anyway.

Also, he can hold his pee for a long time. He's like a camel. He'll swear he doesn't have to go, but when I make him go when I realize he hasn't peed in a few hours, it's like a bucket. Sometimes if he is playing with his toys and doesn't want to stop, I'll tell him "okay, let's take your cow (or whatever he's playing with) and show him how you go potty like a big boy!" That usually works. Or I bribe him with jelly beans.

[cookiesandwine]

We got a few of the plastic liner type undies that we've been putting over top her panties in the car. I bet we'll be using those for a while then!!

[paddyb]

I chickened out. When I told him he wasn't going to be putting on a diaper he ran crying to his room pulled out a diaper and tried to put it on himself.