Mommy to Mommy Q A Potty Training

I am so excited to bring you our first week of Mommy to Mommy Q&A!

This weeks topic is:

Potty Training

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Potty training can be a source of frustration for many of us!  Up to 3 months ago I had 3 in diapers! Can you say expensive?  To say the least!  For me it is very helpful to see how other mommies do things and from their experiences I usually end up compiling them all up into so random theory of my own.  I hope this series helps you and I hope that we all can make some new friends in the process.  Let me introduce you to this weeks lovely Mommies! Be sure to check out their beautiful blogs and feel free to follow any way you can! Facebook and Twitter links are also included.

Jamie from Handling with Grace

 facebook.com/handlingwithgrace  twitter.com/handlingwgrace

  

Jamie writes about about daily giggles with her daughter, military life, renovating their new home, grief, and most recently pregnancy!  

Kara-Kae from The Mom Diggity

twitter.com/momdiggity   facebook.com/themomdiggity

Kara is a mommy blogger writing about family, faith and raising tiny ones while still attempting to keep it together. But mostly being a bit crazy. Her sweet babies are Jessi  who is 2.5 and Zoey is 1 and Baby #3 is 14 weeks growing in her belly! 

Dawn from Dawns Disaster

www.facebook.com/DawnsDisaster

Just a little blog about her life as an adopted daughter, mother and birth mother with an open adoption.  She has 3.5 kiddos, ranging from 5 months - 11 years.  At home, they’re currently experiencing the Big One's first day of school (Kindergarten on 9/5/12) while potty training Ms. Middle and Ms. Little is teething!  

Myranda from Pretty Living PDX

www.twitter.com/prettylivingpdx    www.facebook.com/prettylivingpdx

Myranda is a mommy to 3 and a wife of 1 who blogs about her families journey to a healthier life and her weight loss. She has 3 little girls, Sophia- 4, Leila-2 and Charlotte- 11 months, she says, they are good little girls, but they certainly do know how to be a handful! Sophia and Leila are all potty trained and Charlotte still has some time to go ;)

Sara at Confessions of a Redheaded Mama

www.Twitter.com/RedheadedMama12

Sara started blogging because she just needed an outlet for her thoughts.  She mainly blogs about her every day life and include some of her favorite recipes and random thoughts on reality tv etc. 

Here is this weeks Q&A on Potty Training!

Q - When did you start potty training?

Jamie:  I started really working on potty training when my daughter was 20 months. 

Kara-Kae:  Jessi was 22 months when we started. She had been interested in using the potty since she was about 14 months old. She would go #2 on the potty a lot, and finally I decided we had waited long enough, she was more than ready! 

Dawn:  We started potty training at 2.5, because Ms. Middle showed interest (this is also what we did with the Big One).  Then, Ms. Little was born and Ms. Middle went backwards.  We are doing alright now, and Ms. Middle just turned 3 last Friday.  She wants to be a 'big girl' now that she is 3, so that has really helped.  She has done a few days GREAT, but then will have a bad day.  Her nights are really good, as long as we can get her to a toilet right when she wakes up. 

Myranda:  I started potty training my girls at age 2, I think at this point they are ready to really understand and comprehend it.  

Sara:  We started talking about it right when my little guy turned 2.    We put out the potty and just had him sit on it whenever he wanted.  As he got more comfortable sitting on it and occasionally doing pee pee’s I stepped up the training process.

Misty: I started potty training Benjamin at 2 1/2.  He started sitting on it around 2 but would not use it for anything till then.

Q - What kind of potty did/do you use - Did you pick it out or did they? 

Jamie:  I bought a pink plastic potty.  If I could do it over, I would have bought one of the ones with the removable big potty toilet seat to make the transition easier from using the little potty to the big potty.

Kara-Kae: We always gave her the option of using a little potty or the big potty. We let her pick out a princess seat that goes on the big potty and she loved that for a while. I found it was best to let her choose which potty to use, gave her plenty of freedom. 

Dawn:  With the Big One, we bought that musical toilet (she picked out) and a seat for my parents house (I picked out).  She didn't like either.  With Ms. Middle, we are just using the regular toilet with a step stool and lifting her up (she picked out, had no interest in the little toilet or seat).

Myranda:  Did you pick it out or did they? I let my daughter chose her potty. We went to Target and chose the Fisher Price foggy potty, it is a simple one that just sits on the floor and the "toilet" part is easily removed for cleaning. 

Sara: The first potty I used was a hand me down from my sister who had two girls.  There was no potty shield included in the box she gave me.  The first time Little Bear did pee pee’s on the potty I got soaked.    I quickly ran to Babies R Us and bought a Summer Infant 3 Stage Reward potty with potty shield included!

Misty: We started with a Cars potty and he wouldnt use it at all.  Ended up with an elmo seat that we sit on the big potty that he picked out and he loves it and uses the cars one as a step ha!

Q - What was your technique?  Supplies, timers, shopping trip with kids, charts etc?

 Jamie:  I did the “pull the diaper and pee all over the floor” method.  Needless to say, she had MANY pee accidents on the floor for about a week.  After a week, she had the basic idea and accidents from there out were just that- accidents.  I gave her candies for peeing in the potty for the first couple weeks and then weaned her off. 

Kara-Kae:  We did potty treats (chocolate teddy grahams) and used a potty chart. We filled up 3 potty charts, and she got a prize each time and then she had it down! She soon stopped asking for treats too!  

Dawn:  First, we bribed Ms. Middle with Gummy Bears, now we just keep asking her every time anyone else in the house needs to go.  She does REALLY well with poop.  I can tell when she needs to do that, she demands a toilet right then! 

Myranda:  My technique is to go all the way, so no Pull-Ups. I took the girls to the store and let them choose big girl panties, the whole time we are choosing panties and talking about potty training I emphasize that they are big girls so they are going to wear panties, diapers are for babies, etc. We put on panties, and I set my cell phone alarm for every 30 minutes, and every 30 minutes we go sit on the potty for a few minutes (3-5). I also give them lots of water to drink, so they can learn what it feels like to have the full bladder then to empty it. I slowly increase the time to longer and longer times in between potty trips, and I always put a towel under them when they are sitting, just so I don't have to clean a couch or carseat.  

Sara:  I feel like I tried them all.  We started with sticker charts and M&M candy.  I had the “Potty Fairy” come and visit and bring him a little toy.   Sometimes to bribe him to sit and wait for the pee pee’s I would let Little Bear sit and watch movies on my Ipad.  I bought a potty watch from Babies R Us (don’t waste your money) that played music to remind you to use the potty.  We had some successes with each method, but nothing really clicked.  Finally, I just sucked it up and committed to keeping Little Bear naked for a week.  It was like a light bulb went off and he got what he needed to do.   I also, think that through this whole process we spent 6 months on and off and he was a bit more mature (i.e. I started way too early)

Misty: We tried a lot of things and he refused to try until I read about Chelsea on Sunny with A Chance of Sprinkles using the Pull Ups iGo potty app.  It worked wonders for us!  He started using it immediately and after he started to reinforce we did M&Ms for pee pee and a sticker chart and suckers or hot wheels or poo.  He used the app for about a week then had it all figured out on his own.

Q - How did you transition to going out in public without a pull up? 

Jamie:  I put diapers on her when we went out in public for weeks after she was potty trained at home- until I felt very safe.  She never had any accidents with me, however, she did pee all over the floor when my husband took her to Toys R Us one day.  He was mortified.

Kara-Kae:  We used pullups every time we left the house for a while, but I kept a little potty in my van and made sure we made plenty of trips to the potty. Once she got better, we allowed her to leave the house for little things or to go visit friends where I knew she could easily get to a potty. After about 4 months, we didn't even need pull ups anymore!  

Dawn:  With the Big One, I literally told her one day that she was a big girl and no longer needed pull ups or diapers, she would now wear undies and would go to the bathroom on the toilet.  She had one accident.  For Ms. Middle, she is still in pull ups during the day and if it is dry at night, otherwise if she uses it right before bed, we put a diaper on her (since they're cheaper).  I hope to get her into undies in the next month or so.  She will be 37 or 38 months by then. 

Myranda:  For the 1st week, we stay close to home, so I can cut down on accidents. After the 1st week when we go out, I bring extra clothes and sit them on a towel in the car. I also make sure they go potty before we leave the house and as soon as we get to the store. 

Sara:  I still am struggling with this.  He is having a hard time letting me know in public.  I.e. he will tell me right before he goes.  I have ventured to a couple of stores and the library with Little Bear wearing underwear, but I still like the convenience of the pull-up when I have lots of errands.

Misty: I have been petrified to try the out in public thing but after reading Dawns message above we tried it and it worked.  He had one accident and he hates being wet so that was all it took! Thanks dawn!

Q - What about night time potty training? 

Jaime:  She still wears a diaper at night even though she has been day trained for 8 months.  She drinks a lot of milk and usually pees at night.  To me, it isn’t worth risking her peeing and waking up at night.

Kara-Kae:   Since she potty trained so early, and is only 2.5 now we aren't going to attempt that for a while.  She still wears a diaper when she goes to bed. I'm not brave enough to attempt that yet!  

Dawn:  Again, with the Big One, I sat her down and told her that if she needed to go to the bathroom at night, she would have to get out of bed and go on the toilet.  She has only had one accident.  Ms. Middle stays dry at night, we just have to get her to a toilet ASAP when she wakes up or she will go in whatever she is wearing.  I have thought about having her wear undies at night, but then the thought of cleaning up pee first thing turned me off to that idea for now. 

Myranda:  At night time I don't do a diaper or a pull-up we just go with panties. Make sure and buy a plastic mattress cover and cut out drinks for an hour (or longer) before bedtime. With my Leila (age 2) she has to have water before bedtime, so we let her have water but just a few sips, not an entire glass. We put our girls to bed at 8 PM, then to cut down on accidents, I wake them up at 8 AM to go potty, this way they do not wet the bed (as often). 

Sara:  We go right before bed and he still wears a night diaper.  In a couple of weeks I would like to transition this and see how we do.

Misty: Benjamin is always drinking something so we havent tried it either! Good to know It takes a while!

Q – Share a funny potty training story with us J 

Jamie:  Potty training is funny, in general.  You have to laugh or else it is really easy to get frustrated.  When she was first learning about controlling her pee, she would sit on her potty, start to pee and then lean back so she could try to watch the pee come out but by doing that, the pee stream would fall out of the potty.  Every time.  Now, she is every part an independent two year old who does not want any help from Mommy.  She screeches, “No, me Mommy! I get myself on potty!” if I try to help her climb up.  She uses the wall at home to brace herself.  When she goes into a bathroom without a wall or vanity to hold on to, she usually falls into the toilet.  Can’t help but giggle J

Kara-Kae:  We trained in the spring, and didn't have the ac on in our house. TWICE she stood over our floor air vents and peed into them. Twice. I was so terrified that when we turned on the ac our house would smell so bad! Thankfully it didn't :)  

Dawn:  It actually happened today!  We were at a small horticulture store and Ms. Middle had to go to the bathroom (poop, of course).  Oddly enough, the NP that worked with my throughout two of my pregnancies was there.  She spotted us and said hi.  While we were talking, Ms. Middle came up to me, frantic, "Mommy, need toilet".  So, my NP knew where it was and showed us.  She pooped and said, "Mommy, I need tell Daddy".  We went to find my husband and we saw my NP and she says, "Addie, my went poopy on toilet!  {Yelling now} My went poopy on toilet!"  She laughed and said, "good job" and so did the rest of the store.  All eight or so people gave her a high-five! 

Myranda:  My daughter Leila was taking a nap and I heard her in there moving around and yelling that she had to go potty, so I told her to come out. When I reached the bathroom, she had pooped her panties and had then proceeded to get on the toilet and finish going potty, needless to say I had a large mess on my hands. She has the habit of saying she has to go potty when she has in fact already gone :) The most important thing to remember is that it is frustrating, and difficult to potty train, but remember consistency is key. It does not just take the child to be ready, the parents have to be ready too, so if you are not ready just wait. Children shouldn't be punished for accidents, or potty mess ups, because then they may be scared to go.  

Sara: My male boss has two sons both of whom are potty trained.   He asked me how Little Bear was doing and I told him about the issue of not having a potty shield (from my sister’s hand me down potty).  He just kept looking at me like I was totally strange.  Finally he was like why is he sitting to pee?  Umm, I don’t know because that it was logically makes sense to me.  I never really thought to introduce Little  Bear to potty training standing up.  I know he is a boy and that is how they go, but let’s just say he doesn’t have good aim.  In fact now that he gets the sensation of doing pee pees we have started standing up and I have had to mop the wall tiles on more than one occasion.

Misty: My fav so far is the first time Benjamin took a big pooh in the potty.  He got up and said MOMMY THERES A SNAKE!!!! Flush it flush it!  then told everyone about the snake in the potty! 

Thank you girls SOOOOOO much for participating! I know this helped me a ton! We are ready to start working on our lil Princess! Next week we are going to be discussing finding Mommy Me Time! I am still looking for 2 more mommies to participate so please email me at monkeysandtutus@gmail.com if you are interested Also here are the rest of the September topics: Please email or comment with any more topic ideas/questions etc! Sept 13 - Playing with Kidos - need 1 more mommy Sept 20 - Eating with Kidos - need 1-2 more mommies Sept 27 - Juggling kids and chores etc - need 1 more mommy
Also feel free to give me any advice that would make this easier for you? Was it an ok format? Know a better way? Send me more questions, topics, your answers to these questions, make some friends!