How We Potty Trained Our Two year Old in 1 Week - A Bountiful Love

How We Potty Trained Our Two year Old in 1 Week

  Do you get stressed when you think about potty training? Is there a difference between potty training girls from boys?

There was a sense of accomplishment when you had potty trained your child, however just a few things to remember: Potty training is not about who does it faster, sooner or better. A 2-year-old or younger kid may be ready for potty training or not ready at all.  They say it is faster and easier to potty train a girl than a boy.  You have to consider not just your kids' readiness BUT yours as well. Why? Because it takes consistency, patience, and dedication.  You may have the right tools for potty training, but there is no consistency, you will fail.

  There is an abundance of books on different ways on how you can potty train your kid. My only advise on that plethora of information is that you do what fits best for you and your child







UPDATE: SHE IS NOT WEARING PULL -UPS at night anymore. A couple of weeks prior to Lily's 3rd birthday, we noticed that her pull-ups are dry every morning..for consecutive days.  Every morning she wakes up, she goes directly to the bathroom.

   This potty training method worked for both of our two girls :
     
  • With Lucy when she was 2-years-old ( she is 4 yrs old now) - NOT a good talker at age 2.
     
  • With Lily at 2-yrs-old - a good talker and has good communication skills.
Since this post is about potty training, my apologies in advance if I can not sugar coat the terms: poop and pee.  I did try though..so here's a few terms :

Call of nature -- poop
Oopsies -- accidents, both poo, and pee.
Yay -- A successful potty trip
Number 1 - pee pee
Number 2 - poop

We started on a Monday but the day before.. we had our place ready. We have a fabric couch and cleaning it, scrubbing it is one thing that we do not want to deal with. We covered it with a huge trash bag ( cut in half to make it longer).  We then used a blanket on top of the plastic trash bag. A blanket that you really don't care about. We removed the carpet and play mat. Just bare floors. There will be accidents. Lots of them. Easy cleaning is one of the goals too.



We used :
  1. Potty Chair

2. "Gadgets"

This is to keep her from standing up while she's in the potty chair. It will occupy her mind. This can be books, coloring pages or singing with your toddler. Anything that you already have, you don't have to buy extra "gadgets". Just a variety, if your kids are like ours..they get excited when offered something new. Remember the goal is to potty train them, so reinforcement is okay in my opinion.


3. Timer




4. Stickers and books

Stickers for a reward, for a YAY ( see my not so hot terminology above) and Books. You don't have to buy one either, I'm sure your local library has a lot of books about potty.



We made a basket with : ( this was placed on the bathroom sink)

Stickers -- for rewards
Smart Pad -- or any tablet.. to make her sit down for a little longer in the potty chair.


 Lucy who is not a good talker yet at the age of 2 back then, we had to teach her how and what to say when she needs to go potty. A week prior to my potty training days with her, I would bring Lucy to the toilet with me and make her sit down to the potty chair. For some kids, this might be a little too much for them. So a smooth and slow introduction is good. With Lily, who has a very wide range of vocabulary, asking her to tell us when she's ready to go " wee- wee" was a breeze.

  On the first day..the morning they woke up. I stripped the diaper off and told them that today, we would say goodbye to their diapers. Explaining that they are big girls and big girls wear underpants or underwear.  I showed them their potty chair, and told them that is where they will go number 1 and 2.
After their morning milk, I set the TIMER for 15 minutes.  When the timer goes off, we go to the toilet and I tell them again..this is where we go "wee wee" or "pee". While sitting down, I told them that they will get a reward when they go potty in their potty chair. In our case, my girls love stickers! 

   I make them sit for about a minute or two. You can offer a gadget to make them sit still.  Now, don't expect that they will actually "go" right away. If they do not, don't be upset. When my girls did pee, I made a huge out of it. I clapped and told her that it was very awesome and offered the sticker reward.

Now set your timer again for another 15 minutes. Yes, every 15 minutes to start with. You will get a pretty good idea as to how often they actually can go. I eventually changed it to every 10 minutes..then every 20 minutes. Always remember CONSISTENCY, DEDICATION, AND PATIENCE.

1st-day naptime: I did put a diaper on her while she was napping but took it off as soon as she woke up. Why? Honestly, because I was already a little tired and don't want to change the bedsheets..eek!
1st-day bedtime: I moved her last milk of the day to an earlier time. Instead of 8pm, I gave it with her dinner. Before we tuck them in, we went to the potty to do business. We did use a diaper after that for the night.

Note  Expect  a lot of  oopsies or accidents. "Accidents" on both the pee and poop. Our kids had been on diaper for months and we certainly can not expect them to know the drill.

Second day I did the same thing. Stripped the diaper off, went to the potty right away. Give the morning milk and set the TIMER again. Only this time, our daughters know the "program" as they are already aware of the routine. Every time , the timer goes off, they reminded me that it is potty time. Expect less accidents. But still, always remember: CONSISTENCY , DEDICATION AND PATIENCE.

2nd day naptime : I still did put a diaper on her while she was napping and took it off as soon as they woke up.
2nd day bedtime : I still moved her last milk of the day to an earlier time. Before going to bed, we went to the potty to do business. We did use a diaper after that for the night.

Note : There are  still accidents but a lot less. Even though I still have to remind her or ask her about going to the potty, I just kept at it.  They will get it. Consistency. As for the poop part, this time when she did an oopsie/accident, I told her ( with a gesture) that she needs to poo in her potty chair and not her underpants. I reminded her all through out the day. Yes, I sounded like a broken record but I kept my eye on the prize.

Third day: Started the same way as the first and second day. She knew what to expect and as soon as I took the diaper off and went to her potty chair, she did successfully pee without coaching! I stopped using the timer. I just reminded her over and over again: To tell mommy if she needs to use the potty. When I was potty training Lucy (who again at 2 was not a huge talker yet) , even though her words are limited, she can tell me " mama wee..wee" or can answer me a yes or no. As with Lily, she can communicate her need to go restroom fine!

3rd day naptime : I still did put a diaper on her while they napped and took it off as soon as she woke up and resume the training :)
3rd day bedtime : She is still drinking her last milk of the day in an earlier time. Before going to bed, we went to the potty to do business. We did use a diaper after that for the night.

Note: Since I was already having a cabin fever by the third day, we all braved heading out to take a breather. I did put on a diaper on her BUT reminded her to tell momma when she needs to go. We took her to  public restroom so she could get use to it. It was also helpful that they are both able to poop before we head-out.




Fourth and Fifth Day: This is the magical day from day 1 where she had 6 accidents and only 2 successful use of the potty chair. You will notice how the accidents declined quite a bit. I logged her "OOPSIES and YAYS" / "accidents and wins". You don't have to do this but I wanted a written account if we were really getting somewhere. Consistency, patience and dedication paid off because not only that she had more successful potty trips. She does tell us when she needs to go. And this was the same with Lucy.

naptimes : I didn't use a diaper this time. I did used a thick towel underneath her, just in case.

bedtime : She is still drinking her last milk of the day in an earlier time. Before going to bed, we went to the potty to do business. We did use a diaper after that for the night.

Sixth and Seventh Day: At this time , my husband and I were totally proud of them. Trust me, consistency is the key.  Both of them had better bladder control during the day.  They were able to hold  more volume of  pee before feeling the need to release it. At this time they were more aware of when they had to go.

naptimes : I  didn't use a diaper and still use a thick towel underneath her, just in case.

bedtime : Same routine and used the pull-ups instead.

Note:  Even though we still buy a pack of diapers for night time, it still has saved us money! One diaper per day/night as compare to 4-6 diapers a day..what a deal :)

According to a leading pediatrician William Sears M.D., children ages between 18-24 months  will  first master nighttime bowel control, then daytime bowel control, followed by daytime bladder control. Nighttime bladder control is the last:  -- this is why we decided not to push the potty training during the night. 


Night time bladder control may take weeks , months , even years to master.  ( See : Reference on night time bladder control )

As with Lucy, even if she was potty trained during the day , her night time bladder control was gained before she turned 3. She is now four-years-old bed and have no bed-wetting accidents.

Lily is potty trained ( hip hip hooray!) and we will trust own body schedule as to when she is ready to be free of diapers at night. Which is not a big deal, potty training her during the day is our goal and that alone deserves a happy dance.

P.S :  What happens if you do not have time to do the 1 week potty training? If you work full time,  We think that 2 consistent and dedicated time is still the key. Start on a Saturday and if you can dedicate your time on just staying at home for 2 days..do so. Again, this may not work for everybody but it did for us.

There will be days when your toddler seems to be pre occupied with playing and you will experience set backs..that's OK .  Just keep at it. A loving reminder of  "it's time to go potty" is good.




http://www.abountifullove.com/2014/08/how-to-teach-kids-to-dressed-by.html


http://www.abountifullove.com/2014/08/skills-your-preschooler-needs-to-know.html






10 comments

  1. Wow great job! I think it all depends on the child. My daughter took a slow approach to potty training, but she did really good with it. And yes, we're still in pull-ups at bed time and I'm ok with that.
    Thanks for linking up at the Shine Blog Hop!

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    1. hi there! definitely.. me too she is still using diapers at night.. it works for us. Thank you very much for stopping by..

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  2. Congratulations!! It is always a sense of accomplishment when it is successful. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!! And congrats on being tied for most clicked this week!

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  3. This post was so helpful! My son has been 3 for a few months but has no desire to get out of diapers. He could care less if they're soiled. This plan sounds great. I was going to wait a couple more months to give him more time to be ready. There's no daycare at the end of next month so I think we'll take that time to do this since we'll have the whole week free. Pinning this so I don't forget!

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  4. Great job, Mama :)
    XOXO
    http://www.mrsaokaworkinprogress.com

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  5. Love this. My second daughter was trained quickly, partly because she watched sister do it. Also, I took 3 solid days of being naked, on tile floors, and used M&|Ms. But, they do have to be ready! Don't try to push too soon!

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    1. Hi there! mine too, she did had the advantage of having a big sister..and that is right just like what I mentioned above..it is not about who done it faster , both the kids and the caretaker needs to be ready. Every situation and kid is all different. Thank you for stopping by.. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  6. Thank you so much for this post! I am going to begin potty training my 18 month old next week and this is exactly what I needed.

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  7. Yaaaay! Congrats, friend! You are such an awesome Mommy! Where was this when my twins were potty training??

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Thank you for stopping by and know that all of your comments are appreciated !