[VinniesMommy]

When do you know when you should start? I think Vinnie might be ready, or at least ready to try... but this is the stage of parenthood I dreaded ((weird, huh? I have not even thought about the teenage years!!)) because I honestly have no clue how to do this? See, my biggest problem is I have Vinnie, 23 months and CeJay, 13 months. While in the bathroom with Vinnie, CeJay either screams until I let him in, or tries to get into EVERYTHING ((eating soap, getting the shampoo, trying to get in the tub, playing in the big potty, hitting his head on the sink, unrolling the toilet paper, etc)) while in the bathroom, so I can't focus a lot on Vinnie. But if I take the potty out of the bathroom, then the whole time I am trying to keep CeJay off of it, with or without Vinnie on it! I'm not quite sure how to do this?? Another thing is, I have no idea if he is ready... he says peepee all the time, but when I take him in, he'll just want to play? I don't want to discourage him, so I want to take him in, but how do I work around him always wanting to play? Any help would be wonderful!

[lavatea]

Well, I tried off and on with my daughter once she got to be around 18 months old. She would act interested for a while and do pretty well and then it would just go down the toilet (ha ha). I finally did "naked training" about 3 months before her 3rd birthday and it worked really well. I don't know if it's just because she was finally ready or if it was the method or a combination of both. Anytime we were at home I just had her run around with no bottoms on. If she had an accident, she helped clean it up. After a couple of weeks of this, we moved her into real panties. She has occasional accidents, but it was so much easier than I thought potty training would be.

As far as your little one wreaking havoc while you try to focus on the older one, I wouldn't worry so much about it. Maybe show your oldest what to do on the potty when Dad's at home to watch the other one. Then during the day when you need to take your oldest, just hold the little one while you escort the older one. He'll know what to do so you won't have to do much hands on stuff, but you'll be in there to supervise.

[jatheul]

My oldest daughter, Audrey, was trained before she was 2 years old; not necessarily b/c I did everything right she was just ready. When she started talking about the potty at 16 months (she was very verbal early on) we went and bought a small one and had it available. Several months went by and not much happened. I bought a book called once upon a potty for girls and checked out the accompanying video. My daughter loved reading this book and really "got" what it was all about. My second daughter came when Audrey was 22 months old and she was out of diapers within a few weeks. Whatever you can do to encourage Vinnie is the best thing I think you can do. And when he is ready...go for it. And if you don't know...go for it....and if you have to back off for awhile do that and don't think you are a failure b/c you are not. Every child is a unique individual. Good luck!!

[ProudMommy77]

I appreciated this post -- it'll give me somethings to try with my daughter. She's 2 1/2 and she always says "No!" (and quite adamantly) when we ask if she wants to try the potty (especially for poop because we know when she's about to go). I think we'll back off and try again in a bit -- maybe the naked training would work for her!

[mama2riley]

Riley is the same way- he is 2 (tomorrow!). We talk about the potty all the time. We read potty books and watch potty videos. He will tell me when he is going. But he is adamant about NOT sitting on it. I think he is scared of it or something even though we talk about it all the time. He is always saying how everyone else uses the potty so I think we will give it a little more time and see. I'm afraid if I push it too soon it will do more damage than good. I think every kid is different and are ready in their own time. Just make it available and accessible to them. I like the naked idea though we may try that if this goes on too long .

[LeanyBean]

My best advice to let them set the pace.

Noah was nearly 4 before he was fully potty trained and now we're dealing with bedwetting issues~he's wet most nights-Thank you Good-Nites! Ridley was fully trained right around age 3 and we've tried with Charlie but he's not ready yet. Charlie is 25 months currently and he knows what the potty is used for, but he only sits on it about once a week.
I've often wondered if us trying to force him to be potty trained by the time Ridley arrived (Noah was just 2 1/2 when Ridley arrived) had anything to do with his toilet issues. We think he has spurts of encropresis (sp?) when he gets stressed out by change. But I don't beat myself up about it. I believe everything happens for a reason even if it isn't the reason we think it is.

Good Luck!

[VinniesMommy]

Wow! Thank you all so very much for your advice! I really like the naked thing! I think when he gets up from his nap we'll give it a shot. I'd like to think that he's ready, but I honestly have no idea. My greatest hope is that he will be out of diapers by the time this baby is born! I think we'll hit the library and pick up some potty books too... he LOVES picking out books there and he loves to be read to... that might be a great thing to try... I appreciate your advice and can't wait to try it! I'll keep you updated on his progress

((Happy 2nd Birthday Riley!!!))