Potty Training @ 18 months - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

mjbrandon · 11-16-2008, 04:06 PM

One of the other threads made me think to post this.

DD started "potty training" a couple of months ago. She had been telling us before she went poo poo and pee pee, and she was showing some interest, so we decided to give it a try.

So, she pees in it really well. I can keep her dry almost all day. She has now gotten to where she will pee as soon as she sits on the potty. She occasionally stays dry through her naps.

So here are the problems we are having.

First, she won't poop in the potty. She will tell me she needs to go, and walk to the potty. But when I put her on it and she starts to poop, she immediately asks to get down.

She is telling me when she needs to pee, but often I don't get her to the potty fast enough. She is getting a bit better about holding it and waiting for the potty, but we still miss it sometimes. Most of the time, I have better luck if I just try to anticipate the pee pee before she actually tells me.

Also, I don't really know where to go from here. I know I can still work on getting her more consistent with the pee pee's, but I still don't know what to do about the poo poo.

I just realize that I wrote pee pee and poo poo WAY too many times in that post.

So, do any of you Mommy's with older kids have any suggestions? I realize she is still really young, and I am not stressing it at all. I realize it will be a long time before she is completely potty trained. She actually seems to enjoy it, and she LOVES all the praise going on the potty gets her.

I guess I am just looking for some suggestions for what I should do next. Anyone have any ideas?

WhiskersOnKittens · 11-18-2008, 09:52 PM

MJ--
I just wanted to congratulate you on doing so well with the potty training, at such a young age! Of course, ds is not even CLOSE to being trained (although we "introduced" the potty to him a couple days ago), so I don't have any advice for you, but she's still very young so try not to stress!

And what a smart girl knowing when she needs to pee, and getting to the potty in time! From most of what I've ever read, getting them to pee in the potty is much tougher than getting them to poop.

Whiskers

mjbrandon · 11-19-2008, 04:26 AM

Thanks Whiskers-

We finally switched to panties today. She had a couple of dry days previously, so I thought I would give it a shot. She did pretty good. She was dry all day with one pee pee accident. She told me when she needed to go potty, and she even stayed dry during our two outings out of the house.

Hopefully it will continue to be good, and I hope that things go well with your LO. From your post, it sounds like he may be ready to train too. From all the reading I am doing, they are saying that there is a optimal window for training right around 18 months.

Thanks for the reply, and the encouragement. I needed that, this potty training is tiring!

Brooke85 · 11-21-2008, 01:39 AM

Wow mjbrandon I'm jealous! j/k...I am happy for you and I think that's wonderful your DD is potty training. I'm just frustrated because my almost 3 yr. old has yet to be even close to potty trained

She's went pee a handful of time in her little potty seat, but she has got to be the most stubborn kid on this planet because I think I've tried every darn technique or tip out there and she just doesn't want to do it! (I posted something like this in the children's health section)

I will keep the 18 month optimal window advice in mind when my ds gets that age.

You sound like you're doing great with it all, especially not stressing it much. I'm sure once she fully masters the pee-pee part she will start going #2. I think it is also scary for them...I was watching that pamper's DVD and them seeing the turd dropped in the toilet scares them because they might think, "wow, that came out of me?! ahhh!!!" It sounds reasonable when you think of it from their point of view

mjbrandon · 11-21-2008, 10:24 AM

Hey Brooke,

Take my advice with a grain of salt, since I have never potty trained an older one, but from what I have read, these may be a few things to try:

Tell DD that it is time for her favorite daughter to potty train. Have your DD potty train her doll. You can get into this as much as you like, with underwear, or whatever. Make a big deal when the doll goes potty. Give hugs and kisses to the doll and make it like a potty party.

Have you tried putting her on the big potty? I bought an adapter seat for the big potty, and that is all DD wants to go on.

Put cheerios in the potty and tell DD that she has to try and sink the cheerios with her pee pee.

Put blue food coloring in the potty and tell DD that it will change colors if she goes pee pee in the potty.

Anyway, it is just a couple suggestions from the things I have been reading. I haven't tried any of them.
Hope that helps!

UPDATE:

DD has been in panties for 4 days now. She is staying dry all day (except during bed, and occasionally naps. She really likes her Elmo underwear, and wants to keep him dry. We are still working on the poo poo, but yesterday she went on the potty, so hopefully that is getting better too. Just thought I would give an update.