Are you in the midst of toilet training madness?
With twins now aged five, we are well and truly done in that department, but it was trying at times to say the least.
So when a friend proudly [and she darn well should be!] announced on Facebook that her daughter was toilet trained, I understood her elation. I asked her how she did it for readers of this blog, and here is what she said about the process [and yes, that's her daughter, below]:
"We have a Bumbo toilet seat that sits on top of the toilet making it comfortable for my daughter to sit. She started to show interest at around two years old, but I didn’t want to push it. When the weather warmed up and she spent more time naked at home, I started putting undies over her nappies for a few weeks and conditioning her that I was going to "throw away her nappies soon because she was a big girl."
She got it, and started to be excited about it. We did about a month of verbal conditioning. I also purchased some books about girls going to the toilet and used to read those to her regularly. A great book is “Everybody Poos” which is hilarious and has great pictures – that’s her favourite!
When we were at home I got rid of her nappy for a few weeks and told her to tell me when she would need to wee. She was diligent and never had an accident. Then she was ‘toilet trained’ but only for wees, not poos. When she needed to poo she asked for a nappy and this was happening for about two weeks. Then she became obsessed with needing her Bumbo seat.
She calls it her ‘pink potty’ – and basically would hold it in until she had her seat. This became a problem when we were out and about and a big problem at daycare. Daycare were kind enough to let me send it with her which we did for one week, and they weaned her off it. As a rule she never wanted to poo anywhere other than at home, but then my mother in law took her to the beach and she needed a poo, and she said she needed to go to the ‘public toilet’.
Now, pooing in the public toilet has become a somewhat novelty for her (urrrrgh!!) so she loves to go to the toilet anywhere, with anyone, and without her “pink potty”. She has only had one accident in the last three months which was largely my fault – I had put undies on after her bath (she still wears nappies at night and I suspect will do so for a while given she’s now only two and a half years old), and when I was reading to her she told me she wanted to do a wee and asked if she could (thinking she had a nappy on) I said yes and ended up covered in wee. She was really upset and accused me “you forgot to put a nappy on me” but she got over it quickly.
Now she reminds me every night before bed to put one on her! That’s just her nature though... Very bossy!
I knew she was ready because she showed interest and understood the concept. I also knew she knew the difference between weeing in her nappy and in the toilet. We didn’t bother with ‘training pants’ or the potty, we went straight to the toilet. I would say though that the only trouble we had was that she became attached to her pink potty. Even at home she wants to use it, but now is fine not using it when out. She also loves the fact that she’s a ‘big girl’ and uses the toilet – and has incredible bladder control. I am quite proud of my little one."
And so she should be!
What have been your challenges with toilet training your child [or bonus 'fun': your twins]? Are you embarking on this journey now? Or halfway through? Or perhaps have finished the process? Share your stories in the comments section below.
With twins now aged five, we are well and truly done in that department, but it was trying at times to say the least.
So when a friend proudly [and she darn well should be!] announced on Facebook that her daughter was toilet trained, I understood her elation. I asked her how she did it for readers of this blog, and here is what she said about the process [and yes, that's her daughter, below]:
"We have a Bumbo toilet seat that sits on top of the toilet making it comfortable for my daughter to sit. She started to show interest at around two years old, but I didn’t want to push it. When the weather warmed up and she spent more time naked at home, I started putting undies over her nappies for a few weeks and conditioning her that I was going to "throw away her nappies soon because she was a big girl."
She got it, and started to be excited about it. We did about a month of verbal conditioning. I also purchased some books about girls going to the toilet and used to read those to her regularly. A great book is “Everybody Poos” which is hilarious and has great pictures – that’s her favourite!
When we were at home I got rid of her nappy for a few weeks and told her to tell me when she would need to wee. She was diligent and never had an accident. Then she was ‘toilet trained’ but only for wees, not poos. When she needed to poo she asked for a nappy and this was happening for about two weeks. Then she became obsessed with needing her Bumbo seat.
She calls it her ‘pink potty’ – and basically would hold it in until she had her seat. This became a problem when we were out and about and a big problem at daycare. Daycare were kind enough to let me send it with her which we did for one week, and they weaned her off it. As a rule she never wanted to poo anywhere other than at home, but then my mother in law took her to the beach and she needed a poo, and she said she needed to go to the ‘public toilet’.
Now, pooing in the public toilet has become a somewhat novelty for her (urrrrgh!!) so she loves to go to the toilet anywhere, with anyone, and without her “pink potty”. She has only had one accident in the last three months which was largely my fault – I had put undies on after her bath (she still wears nappies at night and I suspect will do so for a while given she’s now only two and a half years old), and when I was reading to her she told me she wanted to do a wee and asked if she could (thinking she had a nappy on) I said yes and ended up covered in wee. She was really upset and accused me “you forgot to put a nappy on me” but she got over it quickly.
Now she reminds me every night before bed to put one on her! That’s just her nature though... Very bossy!
I knew she was ready because she showed interest and understood the concept. I also knew she knew the difference between weeing in her nappy and in the toilet. We didn’t bother with ‘training pants’ or the potty, we went straight to the toilet. I would say though that the only trouble we had was that she became attached to her pink potty. Even at home she wants to use it, but now is fine not using it when out. She also loves the fact that she’s a ‘big girl’ and uses the toilet – and has incredible bladder control. I am quite proud of my little one."
And so she should be!
What have been your challenges with toilet training your child [or bonus 'fun': your twins]? Are you embarking on this journey now? Or halfway through? Or perhaps have finished the process? Share your stories in the comments section below.
