Mom to Mom

[Jersey Born]

@on the bay - Here's a true and crazy story.  My twins were resisting the idea of being potty trained, and I heard about a Dr. Phil special that was going to be aired.  It was called "A Dr. Phil Primetime Special: Family First (2004)" (It is on Youtube, actually, because I looked to find it for you.) I am not a fan of Dr. Phil, and while watching the show with my husband and twins (in their pull-ups), I said to my husband something like, "There is no way that our kids are going to be potty trained by our using Dr. Phil's advice", and immediately, our twins ran to the powder room and took turns going to the bathroom on the toilet.  I was dumbstruck.  They watched other kids doing it, and that was enough to prompt them to do it themselves. 

Of course, through the retrospectoscope, if only I had known back then the power of the  "F" word for twins.  The word "first", as in,  "Who wants to be first?"  The competition between them was all I ever would have needed to potty train them in a single day. (I learned this when asking them if they wanted to take a bath one evening many years ago. Neither was even slightly interested, as they were busy playing with toys at that moment.  Then, I asked them the question, "Who wants to be first to take a bath?" That prompted two young children to drop everything and race up the stairs to be "first".)

[on the bay]

@Jersey Born,

That is so smart! 
I have been noticing that my 3 year old grandaughter( who is potty trained with an older brother) is getting very competitive. It is a great incentive.

My youngest daughter has one 2 1/2 year old boy, so we can't use that. But hey, maybe we can being his cousins over to demonstrate or get there first!

Thanks for your great story!

[Natureluvr]

Read somewhere that a mom sprinkled a few cheerios in the toilet and turned it into a game of “aim for the middle of the Cheerio.” 😆

[on the bay]

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@Natureluvr wrote:
Read somewhere that a mom sprinkled a few cheerios in the toilet and turned it into a game of “aim for the middle of the Cheerio.” 😆

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Now there's a fun idea! Very cute😊

[ECBG]

One thing we did with our sons was to put little pieces of paper in the toilet water and let them "shoot them down";  It helped.

We also put stars on a paper calendar in the bathroom.

[Gorgf]

My last job in Early Headstart was two to three year olds. We used the charts and Pull Ups. The parents have to be on board as some were part time joint custody and efforts varied as to the interest and devotivness to toilet training. There are books for kids and parents galore.

"It's My Potty and I'll Cry if I want to!"  

[PuppyLoverBob666]

Keep trying till your child is able to do it.

I'm embarassed to say I didn't get my son completely trained till he was 3 1/2, but our life had been very busy and stressful and I didn't want to add more stress to his life (my husband changed jobs which caused two long-distance moves), we bought a house, my husband lost his job and I had to go back to work.

So since there were so many changes at a rapid pace, I waited. And a week later he was completely trained.

[on the bay]

@PuppyLoverBob666 ,

Isn't that the way that when it all comes down to it, they almost train themselves at 3.

I agree with all that going on, not a good time to potty train.

Our little guy has to be trained by 3 or he can't attend his daycare.

My daughter is still reading all she can. I think she feels very anxious about it.But I think he will do fine.

I've really appreciated all the suggestions here and I sent her several of them.

[PuppyLoverBob666]

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@Natureluvr wrote:
Read somewhere that a mom sprinkled a few cheerios in the toilet and turned it into a game of “aim for the middle of the Cheerio.” 😆

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Oh yeah; I remember those; they were called "tinkle targets". 

[CalminHeart]

I raised all boys. They are slower at potty training than girls. 

I took my kids to the store and let them pick out big boy underpants -- any design they wanted.  But they couldn't wear them until they were potty trained.

Kids can usually control where and when they potty. At 2-3, it is one of the few things they can control.

I always encouraged but never got angry or upset if they had accidents or needed a diaper/pull-up. It's part of life and the potty training process.

My boys finally decided they wanted to be like other kids at daycare and the change was immediate. They never had another accident. It was their choice.