[BeYOUtiful]

Hi

Just after tips that helped you when commencing TT?

What worked best, a potty or the seat attachment?
What ready signs did your toddler show?

Jack has had an interest in us going for a while now. We have sat him on the toilet only 3 times, 2 out of the 3 he wanted to get down.

I was thinking of sitting him on a potty or seat attachment just before his bath every night - make it a part of his routine?

TIA

[Alpha_Chook]

Eamons biggest sign was pulling the potty down off the ledge, sitting on it and doing a wee. For us that was enough to officially start. We started with the potty until he got the hang of it then we got a step stool thing that has a toilet seat attachment so they can't fall in. Now he doesn't use any of it and just climbs on the toilet. Getting into a routine with TT is important if only at first to get used to the idea. Don't pressure him and if he doesn't take to it try again later.

Try and keep him in undies as much as you can since feeling wet helps them with the training. Eamon only wears a nappy for night time now. Make buying undies a big deal, let him pick some designs he likes.

[BeYOUtiful]

Great suggestions thank you Alpha Chook.

[namie]

We started with before-bath toilet time and it's working well. DS1 (3yrs) loves to sit on the loo and really tries to get a wee out before getting in the bath.

I have no idea how to continue and expand on this though so I'll be looking for more tips. We have bought him some undies which he's super excited about but it's really hard to work around outings! I'm planning, from today, to have him in undies of an afternoon and try to encourage trips to the loo. We have a super cool potty/toilet seat/stepstool combo which we got through Huggies and he's excited about it I think. Will let you know how we go!

[findingada]

I have just finished training my 2.5 year old boy. I usually start once they have good comprehension and enjoy helping me do things by following what I ask them to do. I have always started with a potty but that is because my boys have all been a bit apprehensive about the toilet initially. The potty also lets me know how much wee is output so I can track how much wee their bladders are holding (basically I think you don't want to fall into the trap of too frequent wees because that can cause problems down the track). I have started training the same way with all my boys. I call it "pre-training" more to keep my psychology in check! Basically the focus is on making sure they know where poo and wee comes from. So in pre-training ...

- I start by putting the potty in a prominent place and just let them play with it. No pressure to sit on it. It's just there and I answer any questions they have.

- When we all wake up, I get DH to say, "time for a morning wee" and he does his. I get up and say "time for my morning wee" and I do mine. We do the same every morning.

- I will show them how to pull their pants up and down when getting ready for baths or when they get dressed in the morning.

- After breakfast, we go outside naked with just a shirt on (them not me!). I make sure they drink lots of water while playing and when they start to wee, I say "You're doing a wee. You are doing a bush wee" and answer any questions they have.

- When we come inside, I ask if they want to sit on the potty. If they do then great but if not then that's okay too.

- When they poo in their nappy, I tip it into the potty and tell them that is the new place for poo to play. I ask them if they want to sit on the potty and if they do then great but if not I also keep a happy face and ask them if they want to tip the poo and wee into the toilet and flush it. We say goodbye to the poo and tell it to have fun in the sewers with the other poos and wees.

- I also organise some special toilet familiarisation trips (like to the shops or someone's house that they already know). I let them look at the toilet and ask if they want to sit on it (no problems if they don't). Every time we go there again, I just show them where the toilet is.

So when I think they are happy with that I proceed to proper training.

- When I hear they wake, I say it's time to say goodbye to the night nappy and we take it off. They usually get a bit apprehensive about it but I do push this part a bit. This is the one time I will offer a reward just to get over that initial apprehension. I think it's hard for them to go from a big bulky night nappy to nuddie bottoms when they first wake so I try to keep it as gentle as possible.

- Then for the rest of the day (except for sleeps) I keep them nuddie bottoms. I occasionally remind them that they have nuddie bottoms with a gentle pat on the bottom and remind them to go to the potty if they need to wee. If it has been a few hours since their last wee, I will suggest we go say hello to the potty. Then I suggest I read a book then offer them a seat on the potty.

- I keep reminding myself to smile and keep a happy, even voice at all times even through accidents. If accidents happen, I ask if they want to help clean it up (with toilet paper first) and put it in the toilet, waving goodbye to the wee (I haven't had a poo accident but if I did, I would do the same). If they start to get a bit apprehensive about doing a poo, I tell them I know it might hurt a bit but it will feel better when the poo is playing in the potty. Reading a book while doing a poo is a good way to relax so I pick a book I can singsong without too much excitement to get them to relax (like a number book). I always keep a happy, relaxing voice while training.

- When I think they are confident weeing with nuddie bottoms and are taking themselves off to the potty, I suggest pants and we spend a few days learning how to pull pants up and down when going to the potty. I organise some trips to test their comfort with going in other toilets.

- I never withheld fluids. All my boys have a water bottle that they take to bed and I always fill it up. I encourage drinking during the day because I think it helps give more opportunities to teach them and also stretches their bladder (which you need to see happening before you can even attempt to remove the sleep time nappies).

After 2 weeks, all of my boys have woken dry more often than not so then I buy some special undies with something they like on it. I show it to them and say these are the new sleeping undies and we stop the sleep nappies. I removed nappies for travelling once they are fully day trained.

I am sad this is my last little one to train but it is a lot of fun. Try not to stress and enjoy the experience. I was a bit frazzled when training my twin boys but this time around I was more experienced and relaxed. I never thought I would say it but it really was fun. Not because we didn't have any accidents - we had plenty but I kept a positive attitude the whole time and actually enjoyed the experience. He actually went backwards a few times and I kept a happy disposition through it all. It didn't take long for it to all come together again. Have fun and relax.

[BeYOUtiful]

Namie, thanks for the reply I will keep a lookout for your update. I too am dreading outings.

Motherwrites thank you so much for your detailed reply. I like the idea of chilling out about it all, I must keep that in mind Great ideas!

[seepi]

Most kids find the potty less scary than the toilet.

I just pick a time when we are going to be home a lot and put them in undies. then lots of tips to the potty. With my oldest I even resorted to putting the potty in front of the tv to get her to stay on it for more than 2 seconds.

I have also used mini jellybean rewards for sitting on the potty.

It can be a stressful time, but it is important not to stress the child out about mistakes. On the other hand don't be so casual that they think there is no problem with weeing all over the place.

If you have no success at all over a few days, put the undies away and start in a month or so.

[JBaby]

Motherwrites that was such a great post, thankyou! We havent even really started but I find I dont have enough specific info on how to start. Your "pretraining" tips were especially good as that is what we are focusing on atm.

[namie]

Well I think today was a success. DS1 wore undies quite happily all afternoon and did 5 or 6 wees in the loo - standing up!

We had one little leak into his first pair of undies, but I think he controlled the flow of that because he jumped up and said 'Mum I need to do a wee' and ran to the loo where he then did a rather big wee for such a little fellow. A few hours later he did a rather huge wee on the couch (:/) but announced the need to do a wee. Then just after dinner he did a little wee on the floor and was quite upset with himself. I think he got distracted watching TV.

I reminded him that if he's watching TV and he needs a wee, then he needs to run and do it and then he can come straight back to finish watching. He then proceeded to run to the loo 3 more times before bath time, lol! I don't think he actually did anything those times though.

Overall he seemed pretty excited to be going, and certainly was excited to be wearing big boy undies

We have no plans tomorrow so I think I'll have him in undies from when he wakes up, which will mean we both need to keep a watch for his usual morning poo - that should be interesting!

[Alpha_Chook]

The first 2 days of TT were the worst for us...he wee'd everywhere both with clothes on and off....he didn't want to go to the toilet and I almost gave up. After that he was really good with the occasional accident and now he rarely has accidents (he had one Christmas day at mums....all the excitement of new toys and different people etc.). If we are at unfamiliar places I need to remember to remind him