Comments on: Cooper: Potty-Training Update at 23 Months

By: Beth R

Beth R — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:25:11 +0000

I noticed with our little guy that he was more ready at 3. Actually the month after his 3rd birthday he decided he wanted to potty train himself. I reminded him the first day and the second he said no mommy I don’t need your help. He has had a total of 5 accidents, and was potty trained overnight within a month. I think it is definitely easier on everyone to just let them be ready. I know not all kids will make the choice but that was wonderful for us

By: Becky@ Purposeful Homemaking

Becky@ Purposeful Homemaking — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:09:53 +0000

I LOVE the blackbird design. Can’t wait to try it on our son. My cousin told me she loves Thirsties so I’m expecting great things!

By: Marcelaine

Marcelaine — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 13:16:14 +0000

My 3.5 year old finally seems to be going for it. After our fourth attempt last summer (fiasco!) I threw up my hands and decided he was just going to have to potty train himself. When he started expressing interest over Christmas break I left him alone and only offered help when asked, and now he is using the potty of his own initiative 1-3 times a day, and getting better all the time. I am thrilled that it is finally happening! We tried all the fast methods and it just doesn’t work with his personality.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 00:27:22 +0000

I’m using part time Elimination Communication with my 4 month old baby girl. We use cloth diapers for back-up and my baby girl really seems to like it. She’s my third EC’d baby and my fifth child. I noticed with my 4 month old and with my last baby that neither one liked sitting on the potty at first because it was cold. Once I made fleece potty cozies for them they calmed down and started to enjoy sitting on the potty.

I wonder if making a big fun to-do about potty training would help? I tried to conventionally potty train my first two children and it was a nightmare both times. My next two were EC’d but for reasons that would take too long to explain here, they both ended up in disposables later on. When it was time to potty train them I threw them potty parties ala Teri Crane. Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day: Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro is the name of her book. I also used a DVD called Potty Power. My son was fully potty trained in a few days and my daughter in a couple of weeks. If for some reason EC is interrupted with my current baby I’ll be throwing another potty party when it’s time for her to be out of diapers.

Good luck!

By: Christel

Christel — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:04:18 +0000

You’re both doing great! He will know when he’s ready! He might even surprise you one day and just be ready all of a sudden.

By: Bekah Kuczenski

Bekah Kuczenski — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:39:00 +0000

That is exactly what my 22 month old little girl does lol we’ve peed on the floor lots, but have yet to go in the potty. I guess we aren’t ready either…

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 18:16:08 +0000

I’ve been doing part-time EC with my one-year-old since she was 3 months, and she’s given signs that she sometimes knows what she’s doing. When weather warms up and she’s a little older we plan to roll up the rugs and boot camp her. It would be awesome for her to be trained by the time we’re ready for number 2!

By: Shanda

Shanda — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:12:46 +0000

We made it a special occasion for my daughter. Bought special stickers and she got to buy special big girl undies, when she got a certain number of stickers for going on the potty, then she got to choose the undies that she wore. It worked like a charm and by the end of the weekend she was ready. But I also never used the little plastic potties, I always had a step stool and a seat cover for her to use on the big girl potty. Keep trying! You can do it!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:10:49 +0000

Yeah, we tried this too. We were very laid back and low key until he turned 2.5 (almost exactly) and then we boot-camped it for a week when we were all home and could focus on it exclusively. It worked! I think it was a combination of age, being ready/able and the personality of our son. It was stressful until he actually went when he sat down. Once he went that one time, we essentially threw a ticker tape parade for him and because he loves praise, that was all he needed. We were good from there on out. However, a year later, he is still in super undies at night, but I’m not too concerned since he’s 100% self sufficient during the day. Night time stuff will come. And I have to wash his sister’s diapers anyway, so no big to throw his in there with hers. Good luck on your journey!

By: Cari Miller

Cari Miller — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:21:55 +0000

My 2 year (and 2 week!) old is now fully potty trained, including reliable self-initiation. For the first two months or so without diapers we had to prompt her, but she still got it mostly right.

I’d recommend reading O Crap Potty Training (http://www.jamieglowacki.com) – that’s the method I followed. She actually argues against “casual” potty training and just suggests you go for it and make it a Big Deal for the kiddo.

Good luck