Potty Training (Toilet Training/Potties in General)

Member Name: shellyuk1000

Product:	Toilet Training/Potties in General
Date:	21/06/09 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It works when they are ready

Disadvantages: Accidents!

One of the many things I dreaded when I found out I was pregnant with my first child was the potty training. I had heard so many people say how awful it is, how hard it is if they are boys and the thought of running around all day cleaning wee (and other such) of carpets was enough to make me want to cry!

My son was 2yrs and 8months before he came out of nappies. I knew he had to come out of them before he was started school but I was more than happy to let him stay in them until then! I was 7months pregnant with our second child when my first son finally decided to let us potty train him. And when I say let us, I mean it really was a decision he made all on his own.

I tried to get him out of nappies when I was just 5months pregnant with my second child. I figured this way we would have enough time to get settled before baby comes along. So I went out and I got the usual things, pants, potty, child's toilet seat, How To Potty Train in a Week book, pull up nappies, bed cover....everything I thought I needed. My first 3 mistakes are obvious 1) I didn't include my son in any of the potty training build up, 2) I got plain pants and 3) I assumed it was all about me being ready!

My son took no interest in the potty training and he spent a week wet, wetting or being bathed because he had wet. Horrible start to a horrible process! I gave up after that first week!

I decided to put it all out of my mind; I read the How To book and came to the conclusion that my son just wasn't ready. So I left it, about 2months later I was out shopping and just happened to pick up some Go Diego Go pants, some Buzz Lightyear stickers and a reward chart. When I got my son from Nursery he came home and saw the pants and stickers and asked what they were for. I explained to him the pants were for big boys to wear when they are finished using nappies and the stickers are for big boys who are clever enough to use a potty. He stripped off there and then, sat and did his business on the potty and asked for a sticker...I just stood there gob smacked! It really was that quick and easy to get him to take the first step! That first day went great; he used the potty, got his sticker reward and was happy to have his pants on. The next day he had a few accidents but we persevered and he got better and better as the days went by. He was still wearing a nappy at night but was having fewer accidents during the day. The reward chart worked wonders and giving him control over what sticker he had and where to put it proved to be a real hit. I eventually went out and got more pants with different characters on so he could choose whom to wear on what day. After the first week we had successfully moved out of nappies during the day and he was waking up dry in his nighttime nappy.

Unfortunately we did start to experience a few problems, my son is tall for his age and the potty was becoming awkward to use, he didn't feel ready to use the big boy toilet so we had to find an alternative. Eventually we went for an all singing potty training toilet, it looks exactly like a normal toilet but is portable and sings. He LOVED it, it cost quite a bit of money but the results were amazing. The only problem then was I had to keep going up and down the stairs to empty his potty when I was 8 and a half months pregnant!

About a week later he was going to bed with no nappy, we found the best thing to do was lift him on to a toilet before we went to bed and he didn't wet the bed at all.

If you are about to potty train, or it's going to come up in the future here are my tips from my own experience:

1) Wait until your child is ready, don't try to do it when you are ready or you will have more accidents and it will take longer for the child to do
2) Keep your child involved with the preparation
3) Explain everything to your child
4) Get a reward chart and stickers of your child favourite TV programme/toy
5) Give your child control over something, like what sticker to pick/where to keep the potty
6) Keep the potty in one place at all times, I suggest in a corner somewhere where you can see them but they have a bit of privacy
7) Be aware that actually potties aren't always the best to use, look for children's toilet seats or toilets that sing!
8) Lift your child every night before you go to bed
9) Try to have patience with them if they have an accident just try to keep them involved in the cleaning up stage
10) Don't use pull ups, either take your child out of nappies or leave them in. Any middle ground can be confusing
11) Wait until your child is old enough to understand instructions and tell explain things to you

I am still dreading having to potty train my youngest son, I will be using the winning methods that helped my first but the thing I have to remember is that every child is different and it has to be done when they are ready and not before.

Summary: Good luck!