More On Potty Training
We were surprised by the comments and e-mails in response to the potty question, which seem to affirm that it is more than possible for an almost 11 month old squirt to be interested in training, and about to the point where we can start in that direction and have it done as early as a year or so in age. Wow. And cool, but not something we’d anticipated dealing with yet. Heck, we also have to childproof the rest of the house ASAP, because she can go over the barriers at will and wander into the kitchen, bedroom, and, if the door’s not closed, bathroom. She can’t get into the storage room because the child gate is in that doorway, to protect both the stuff in there, and her from touching the fans that blow into the living room. But I digress.
My next question is methodology and products. Any advice on how to proceed, and what to use? In my house when I was little, we have a wooden potty chair with a plastic recepticle that could be removed and dumped. That strikes me as useful to get a small one comfortable with the concept, and able to do it herself more easily. There are also attachments for the regular toilet, which save dumping the bowl from the little chair, but require assistance.
Thoughts? Experiences?
My only advice...don’t use pullups! They don’t work...at least they didn’t for my kids. Kids need the snesation of getting wet in order to realize that it doesn’t feel good. Accidents are a pain, but they learn much quicker. As far as what kind of chair to use, I think a basic potty chair such as you described (removable plastic bowl) works best. That was what we used.
Posted by Sharon on 08/18 at 03:14 PMI agree with Sharon. Her VERY OWN POTTY CHAIR (emphasize this for her) is best. Later on, if you like, you can put a potty topper on to keep her from falling in the big potty.
Be forewarned—with my firstborn (who couldn’t stand to miss ONE SECOND of “The Price is Right") I had to actually have the chair in the living room for a while. I gradually moved it back toward the bathroom.
But yeah—the key is her interest in wanting out of diapers and into “big girl panties” and not wanting to feel wet. Once you have that, you’ll have a better start to potty training.
Good luck!!
(My Gawd. I’m going to have to be doing this stuff alllll over again, aren’t I? Every so often, it just HITS ME.
LOLLL)
:: thud ::
Posted by Margi on 08/18 at 03:22 PMThat was going to be my advice. Get her her own potty and make it special for her to use it, and then when she gets ready, make the big-girl panties a big deal. This worked great for my little niece. I suspect she’ll be into it more than you might expect. Good luck and here’s to less $$ for diapers!
Posted by caltechgirl on 08/18 at 04:10 PMKids are Wayyyy different.
Our first started waking up dry at 11 months, we got her a chair, she was using it in about a week, DONE!
Hurt our arms patting ourselves on the back!
The next one did not care, he was just too busy with other things, and did not mind being wet. Work continued til age 3.5. Wow, was that humbling. Have fun!Posted by on 08/18 at 09:03 PMYup. Get her her own little potty chair and place it in the bathroom, next to the grownup one. Every time you have to go and she follows you in there (and, I’m sure she does, doesn’t she?) take her diaper off and have her sit...just like you’re doing. Imitation. That’s how kids learn. Even if she doesn’t go the first few times, she’ll get used to sitting on the potty. You can start making a game of it...see who can ‘tinkle’ first.
Posted by Pammy on 08/18 at 09:14 PMPlan on spending a LOT of time in the bathroom. My mom’s technique was to turn on the water in the sink (the sound of running water is supposed to stimulate the bladder) and then hunker in with books and songs. The point was to make being on the potty a positive experience—not punitive. When success was had, praise and rewards followed. She not only trained my brother, sister and me in record time, she also did the favor for several neighborhood kids.
Good luck!
Posted by Omnibus Driver on 08/19 at 01:47 PMMy GOD! Sadie’s ready for potty training? how time flies… I remember when you two had separate blogs, were a country apart… anyway....
we’re on the tail end of training Abby… pretty much all the above. The potty in the living room thing was a little weird for a while, but you’re a parent, you’ll get used to almost anything at this point…
the pullups are hit-or-miss. Either the child works well with them or they’re another type of diaper, one that’s easier for htem to get into. Abby felt that way with them and it wasn’t until she was in “big-girl panties” that it actually clicked. Since she was with our sitter until Erin finished school, she used the pull-ups until she was home with E… no help… they were just diapers for her. My nephew, on the other hand, treated pull-ups as regular big-boy pants.... so it can go either way.
unfortunately, as with everything else in parenting, there’s no color-by-numbers forumula.
Good luck!
Posted by Jim S on 08/21 at 12:43 PM