Potty training

[mom-in-alberta]

Wow, potty training is one of those things where there is a HUGE variance in methodology, huh?
I have only worked with my own kids. 2 boys and a girl. Haven't had to do any d/c kids, as they either already were, or have been too young.
My oldest we used sticker charts, and a lot of patience. He was trained around 2, but then we had a baby so he regressed a little. I wasn't too worried, as he was still young. We tried again at 2 1/2 and had no real issues. My second boy was a stubborn one. He refused to even try until he was just about 3. And then, I swear that he just decided he was a big boy. We continued to talk to him very positively about the whole thing, about how big boys wear undies and go on the potty, and 3 year olds don't wear diapers, etc. We used to put Froot Loop cereal in to the toilet and he could "aim" at it. My daughter, admittedly, virtually trained herself, at about 2 and a half. She got undies in her stocking from Santa (not that we thought she would use them right away) and decided over Christmas break that she needed to start using the potty! With all of them, we introduced the concept of the potty between 18 months and 2 years, but didn't expect anything until a little over 2 to 2 1/2.
I am not a huge fan of using treats, I have heard of children who will control their urine and poop so that they can get more candy, etc and that is not a good habit or good for their body. Many people have used them with success, though, so it's a personal preference.
For the dayhome, I ask that children have had a decent amount of potty success at home before we even try it here. Like the posters above mentioned, daycare is so much busier than home, it can be tough to interrupt a kid who is playing to go potty. So they need to understand what is going on, be able to vocalize it, and so on. I don't mind taking a child to the washroom every hour or whatever, but I don't have the ability to hang out in there for more than a few minutes. I don't mind using either undies or pull-ups. Especially at sleep time, since sometimes kids have a hard time with staying dry while sleeping (my own kids were like that, and I still put a pull-up on my 4 year old at night, even though 99.9% of the time it's dry in the morning).
20 months is awfully young to be completely trained, so I am thinking it's a little bit of mom and dad being trained to time it properly. Not that kids can't be trained by then, but if she is freaking out and having all kinds of accidents at your place, I would put the diapers back on and give it some more time, personally.

[zen39]

I've always done the treat approach...and it worked like a charm on all of my own children and my daycare kids. I've done the sticker thing too...worked with some, others got bored. I've also found that some children will consider pull-ups still like a diaper and use them as such. For me personally, I've only used underwear (pull-ups only at nap). I've plastic underwear that can pull up over the underwear too...to protect carpet etc...

If they are ready it shouldn't take too long. For me, my girls were potty trained in a week and my daycare kids took maybe a week and a half.

good luck!

[Skysue]

I've always done the treat approach...and it worked like a charm on all of my own children and my daycare kids. I've done the sticker thing too...worked with some, others got bored. I've also found that some children will consider pull-ups still like a diaper and use them as such. For me personally, I've only used underwear (pull-ups only at nap). I've plastic underwear that can pull up over the underwear too...to protect carpet etc...

If they are ready it shouldn't take too long. For me, my girls were potty trained in a week and my daycare kids took maybe a week and a half.

good luck!

Cheers! I was feeling a bit attacked for using treats! LOL

[playfelt]

A lot depends on the group you have too. At what point do you withdraw the treats and what do you do about a 4 year old that has been trained for almost 2 years that announces flat out if the current potty training kid is getting treats then she is too or she will pee on the floor - and means it. I tend to take a laid back approach and do whatever is easier for me in the long run - hey we dont' get paid enough for this job as it is. No way is a kid having an "accident" on my carpet. With my own kids I expected it and they can do it for their parents but when there are things such as pullups that the parents by the way pay and provide to me I see no reason to deal with the messes. There will come a point where the child will train themselves because they want to - like reminding them once registered for JK that if they don't start using the potty they won't be allowed to go to school. That is what it took for the 3 year old stubborn boy I have now. He has been "training" for over a year with mom giving smarties and dad giving pez - one candy for sitting on the potty and two if they pee and three if they poop or he could trade in for a pigger prize. Never pooped at my house for an entire year - can you say he had a lot more control than he was given credit for. He could hold out for hours when he put his mind to it. Was easy changing for me.

What I do wish is parents wouldn't jump into the pullups too soon and would treat them like underwear which was the intention. We dont' pee in our pullup and if we aren't ready to train then they need to go back into diapers. The whole idea of the pullup is to replace the thick training pants and plastic pants. They are used just in case the child doesn't get to the potty in time. But parents switch over too soon and too long without success so there is no wonder kids thing they are diapers. Ignore the commercials that say switchign back and forth is confusing. It is the other way around. We pee in our diapers because our bladder muscles are not fully matured. We get a chance to try potty training with our pullups just in case. One of the things I have so noticed over the years and it has gotten worse in the last few years is parents negotiating with their kids, using bribes where necessary to get them to do almost anything. When these kids get older and realize the world doesn't really care if they succede or fail they are at a loss because they have not learned the intrinsic value of anything. I think one of the downsides to treats for potty is that a child that is being trained too early which they are if they are not automatically producing on their own is that the child can put a lot of unneccesary pressure on themselves to perform just to get the treat. So they learn to pee for the smartie not because their body told them they had to pee.

[zen39]

wow...it's just a smartie. I do have other kids in my group and when they see a child get a smartie for using the toilet...i give them one too...again not a big deal. Like i said, my kids were trained in a week / week and a half...all i have to say.

[waterloo day mom]

My biggest problem with treats is that if I give them to the children who are learning to use the toilet, then the older children who are already potty trained expect the same thing. It becomes no longer a training tool, but just candy given out all over to anyone who uses the bathroom. The last thing I need is a group of 3 and 4 year olds hyper on sugar because they've all drank so much water that they've each peed every 10 minutes.

[Skysue]

wow...it's just a smartie. I do have other kids in my group and when they see a child get a smartie for using the toilet...i give them one too...again not a big deal. Like i said, my kids were trained in a week / week and a half...all i have to say.

I'm with you Zen! LOL

[sunnydays]

Seems this is a hot topic! I was actually quite frustrated as a parent, when my daycare provider required my son to wear a pull-up long after he was fully trained at home and was actually hesitant to help him train at all, thinking that he might be too young even though he was just over two. That is why I agreed to give it a try with this 20 month old. Her parents do not use treats and she does tell them when she needs to go. Today she had her first accident free day with me...yay! She does tell me when she needs to go, although I put her on a few extra times as well in case. I think it was just a matter of being confused because she had been going on the toilet for months at home, but wearing diapers to daycare, so she had to come to understand that she was no longer wearing diapers here. Her parents have provided cloth training pants, which we call underwear, to help with the mess in case. I can see already that she really is ready and is going to be fine soon, so I would be pretty frustrated as her parents if my daycare provider said she had to wait until she is 2 1/2 to train!

[Skysue]

Seems this is a hot topic! I was actually quite frustrated as a parent, when my daycare provider required my son to wear a pull-up long after he was fully trained at home and was actually hesitant to help him train at all, thinking that he might be too young even though he was just over two. That is why I agreed to give it a try with this 20 month old. Her parents do not use treats and she does tell them when she needs to go. Today she had her first accident free day with me...yay! She does tell me when she needs to go, although I put her on a few extra times as well in case. I think it was just a matter of being confused because she had been going on the toilet for months at home, but wearing diapers to daycare, so she had to come to understand that she was no longer wearing diapers here. Her parents have provided cloth training pants, which we call underwear, to help with the mess in case. I can see already that she really is ready and is going to be fine soon, so I would be pretty frustrated as her parents if my daycare provider said she had to wait until she is 2 1/2 to train!

That's awsome she had an accident fee day with you! The diaper thing is crazy confusing I 100% agree, we went straight to training pants with mine and we never looked back! Parents should just tell there daycare providers to put the training pants in a baggie and send it home!

Keep up the good work!

Sue

P.S we must try and be on the same page as the parents or the poor kids will be so confused!

[mlc1982]

I am training DD right now and have no problem using treats. In fact, I've got a whole box of goodies that DD can pick out of when she's gone pee on the potty. It's random stuff I picked up at the dollar store - stickers, chocolate, toys, books, tattoos. It's working so far and she doesn't really expect something every time. Sometimes I will offer the box, sometimes she will ask or sometimes neither of us says a word about it and she enjoys her praises, hugs and high fives. I guess it all depends on the kid and the approach with treats. They have so much to learn in the first few years so why not reward them for some things??