Author Topic: Early-ish potty training?  (Read 5561 times)

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7124
Early-ish potty training?
« on: January 31, 2014, 06:05:30 PM »
The cloth diaper thread starting to spin off into EC/early potty training, and I wanted to follow up on that but not hijack the cloth diaper thread.

I have a kid who is 20 months and just got over a $175 diaper rash (really, $175), so I am naturally wondering if I can get him out of diapers sooner. But his three-year-old brother isn't even fully trained yet! (Will just pee all over himself if not taken to the potty in time, poops in his overnight diaper, etc.) Little Brother will sometimes but not always ask for a diaper change (especially if he pees in a cotton diaper) and is happy to sit on the potty if I read to him, and will occasionally pee.

Anyway, it sounds like the MMM parents had some favorite methods for early potty training. What books, websites, methods, whatever do y'all recommend in our situation?

Workinghard

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 636
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2014, 07:18:27 PM »
At those ages, the 20 month old will probably be easier to train.  Hopefully the 3 year old will see him go, get praise/rewards, and get competitive. We use to care for foster children--newborn to three years old--and I've lost count of the number of kids I've potty trained.

I usually started 16-18 months in that they would go to the potty with me, see what I did, and get use to the words. Forget potty chairs. Waste of money. They want to mimic you.

Then around 18-20 months, I would literally spend the day in the bathroom with the child. They got tons to drink, including juice that they never got otherwise. What goes in, has to come out. We had books, toys, drinks, etc.  Fluids, fluids, sit on toilet, until I eventually "caught" them. They spent the day bottomless. 

Course when they did go, they got a lot of positive reinforcements including treats.  The older one might follow suit to spend time in the bathroom with you and the sibling.

N

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1401
  • Location: Chicago
  • You must change your life. -Rainer Maria Rilke
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2014, 09:42:48 PM »
I used to be on an EC yahoo group that was pretty good, might still be active.
There are several books that I read, Diaper Free by Ingrid Bauer (and I have it listed on half.com! :) )and one by Laurie Bouck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_Potty_Training_(book)
http://diaperfreebaby.org/

that said, not sure if those will help you at this point.
help each child where they are at. if the younger one is more in tune with his body, go with it.

my kids were usually bare bottom at home. my kids liked the baby bjorn little potty and refused to use the regular toilet for many years, so ymmv on that. Id focus on offering them chances to go on the potty, suggesting they go when you go, being chill about it.

I didnt do an ec with my first, but she started to reject diapers at 14 months and was completely out of diapers and pretty much accident free from 19 mos on, but it was really all her. She would refuse to wear diapers and refuse to pee unless I provided the bjorn little potty.

my second, I did ec from the start. by 1 he was using the potty pretty much exclusively although at age 2.5 he developed a toilet aversion for #2. I still dont know why or what happened, but then for the next 2 years, he would only do #2 in a diaper, which we put on him for that purpose, once a day. it was so weird. he had no problems peeing in any potty.

my point is, you do what you do and they do what they do.

Id recommend reading about late start ec or early potty training, take the parts that make sense to you and feel like a good fit for your child, and try it. dont worry if the younger one gets it faster than the older one. every kid does their own pace. try not to compare too much, but help each kid where they are at.

Penelope Vandergast

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 101
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2014, 09:30:34 PM »
With both my kids we basically just removed their pants at around 18 months and let them go nude from the waist down pretty much all the time (except for sleeping) until they learned how to use the potty. (Summertime helps!) Both had a few accidents, no big deal, and they both quickly figured it out.

The first was totally trained very quickly, in only a month or two. He was already dry all night at 18 months. The second has gone at a slower pace but he's basically done now and he'll be 2 next month. He did NOT want to put pants back on : ) and getting the whole process down of removing pants, using the potty, and then putting pants back on took a little while. (Winter = must wear pants...) We help him with this of course, but he already is trying to do it himself (with some success).

We cloth diapered both of them, which I think is huge when it comes to learning how to use the potty. Disposables have no feedback -- you feel dry whether you've peed or not. Not so with cloth.

Penelope Vandergast

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 101
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #4 on: February 13, 2014, 09:32:41 PM »
I should also add that with both we kept many potties in the house -- always one available in any room when kid was in there. We have 4 right now. Then they could quickly sit down and go as needed. Now we have been trying to zip them upstairs to the regular toilet but I still keep a potty for the little one with us at all times.

geohbs

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 11
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2014, 08:36:37 AM »
I would highly suggest getting the toilet seats that have a fold down kid seat - like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Mayfair-83EC-000-NextStep-Lift-Off/dp/B00596IFBG.  That made the biggest difference with our two year old... once we installed one of those, potty training went much faster then when were were just using one of those plastic kid potties. I think he liked that he was going on a real toilet but the kid seat made him comfortable.

 And - to help make it easy at night, we put the portable plastic potty in his bedroom next to a night light, so if he has to go at night, he can go and then call to us to help him empty it. 

We also had him run around bottomless as often as possible to help him realize he had to use a toilet and not his diaper.

And stickers - we taped a free printable sticker chart on the wall of each bathroom  (google Potty Scotty for printable charts). 

Good luck!

Mrs WW

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 102
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2014, 09:02:29 AM »
For my kids only the real toilet, with no kiddie seat, worked. One was free during daytime at 2,5 one just before 2, one boy and one girl.

Asking and sitting on the toilet every five minutes for a couple of days (a weekend) did the trick. Praise when something happened or when they warned, even if they didnt make it. And real underwear with very cute prints that they really wanted to wear. Good luck!

RootofGood

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1361
  • Age: 43
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Retired at age 33. 5 years in, still loving it!
    • Root of Good
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2014, 09:48:27 AM »
I just dope all the kid's food with dark blue food coloring.  Little guy loves to "make blue blue" as he calls it.  Even though Art with Urine is something normally reserved to contemporary art exhibitions, I think a 1.5 year old shouldn't have to wait till adulthood to express himself.




Just kidding, although I might have to try this. 

gecko10x

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 418
    • SawyerPF
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2014, 09:57:43 AM »
My wife did the 1-day method with both of our kids. The first at about 20 months, the other at maybe 26 months. It worked fantastically for the first, not quite so well for the second, but a method I'd highly recommend.

Thegoblinchief

  • Guest
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2014, 05:05:21 PM »
My older two are 15 months apart and potty trained more or less simultaneously. I'm terrible at remembering ages, but I think they were 20 months and about 3 at the time.

Usually the "staying dry all/most nights" is the sign I wait for, then we go total naked/underwear except at night. Training pants are worthless.

1967mama

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2164
  • Age: 57
  • Location: Canada
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #10 on: March 22, 2014, 07:45:34 PM »
We did the same as @ Penelope above -- nothing on from the waist down and just a long tee shirt. I think underwear feels too much like a diaper when you're first training them and they forget to go more easily. Summertime is best for obvious reasons ;-) They seem to realize where the pee comes from very quickly and have fun using the potty. I used a little potty beside the big one so that they could sit easily. It's nice to be able to move it into the kitchen or wherever you are.  You can also throw it in the trunk of the car for travelling emergencies! 

JoyBlogette

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 241
  • Location: Canada
    • My Journal
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #11 on: June 04, 2014, 09:57:38 AM »
We put our little guy (14 months) on the potty at every diaper change.  Remove diaper, sits on potty while mommy gets new diaper ready, wait for pee/poo, then put new diaper on.  This has been working well for us and greatly reduced the number of dirty diapers each day.

Mrs.FamilyFinances

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 92
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #12 on: June 05, 2014, 12:30:33 PM »
I'll go against the grain here,but is it really that important to potty train now? Could you wait until your child is showing signs of readiness? If they are ready, that is awesome for you! My daughter did her own potty training one day (pulled off her diaper, said it was gross and threw it the trash) and never had an accident. My son on the other hand took until he was almost 4 to be declared fully trained.

 I'm probably biased, I've talked to so many frustrated, disheartened parents about potty training, only to hear that their child is not interested and/or is much to young to understand the concept.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7124
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2014, 12:34:46 PM »
I never did take any action, actually. He is certainly allowed and encouraged to use the potty, but generally says "no." He is showing signs of readiness and has turned two, so I will probably do the one-day training in a few months--we just made a big move. I kind of expect that both he and his older brother (sixteen months older, well past three, still does not initiate) will be finished at the same time! At least the new house has a top-loading washer (used to have front-loading) so hopefully my diapers won't smell so bad anymore!

Mrs.FamilyFinances

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 92
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2014, 05:02:08 PM »
I never did take any action, actually. He is certainly allowed and encouraged to use the potty, but generally says "no." He is showing signs of readiness and has turned two, so I will probably do the one-day training in a few months--we just made a big move. I kind of expect that both he and his older brother (sixteen months older, well past three, still does not initiate) will be finished at the same time! At least the new house has a top-loading washer (used to have front-loading) so hopefully my diapers won't smell so bad anymore!

Is that a common problem of front loading machines and cloth diapers? We did disposable with the first two kids, but are interested in cloth for #3. We have a front loader as well.

1967mama

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2164
  • Age: 57
  • Location: Canada
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #15 on: June 06, 2014, 05:04:25 PM »
I had no problem with smelly diapers using a front loader :-)

Sometimes you have to alter your techniques -- I used a "dry pail" and also, have a sanitary cycle on my washer, and hung the diapers to dry.

YMMV.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7124
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #16 on: June 07, 2014, 07:26:47 AM »
I didn't have a sanitize cycle option. I tried a couple different kinds of detergent, but no matter what I did, my microfiber always got stinky. Bleaching worked, but only for a few weeks.

lindsey

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 9
  • Location: Bay Area
Re: Early-ish potty training?
« Reply #17 on: June 12, 2014, 10:17:37 PM »
I really recommend the Oh Crap! Potty Training ebook. I found it through an EC site I was reading, and it was helpful that the principles were in line with EC (which we did a tiiiiiiiiny bit of around 3 months) & cloth diapering. Plus, it's straight forward with no bribing. It's hard to effectively bribe a 20 month old ;)