Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Potty Trained by 2 years old!

All mothers know that potty training is not easy. My daughter became completely potty trained (day and night) by the age of 2. My case is not the average and many have to wait longer to see it happen. Once we started the process, it took my daughter and I approximately 4 months for her to reach her potty 'independence' and be completely diaper-free. It was a long and often times trying process. I had to be consistent and remind her every 30 min that she needed to go potty. One technique that worked for me and is advocated by many pediatricians is that of positive reinforcement. I always made a big deal whenever she used the potty. I gave her stickers, we sang funny songs and did the "potty dance"! "The most important way to keep a child interested in being diaper-free is to provide loads of encouragement and positive reinforcement for even small steps on the right direction", says Andrew Garner, M.D., Ph.D., FAAP, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health.

Some kids get potty trained very fast and early and others may take a very long time. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "most children start to show interest between the ages of 18 months and 24 months and some children are not ready until they are 2 1/2 years old". "As a general rule of thumb, children are developmentally ready to use the potty around the age of 3. However, remember that children develop at different rates and that not all children are ready at the age of 3." says Tanya Remer Altmann, M.D., FAAP, editor-in-chief of the book, The Wonder Years: Helping your Baby and Young Child Successfully Negotiate The Major Developmental Milestones.

Before we started the process, I took my daughter with me to the store to buy a new potty and told her that it was a very special potty only used by big girls. She was very happy and proud of herself. She knew that she was going to use the potty and was no longer a baby.

In addition to the new potty I also bought her "Elmo's Potty Time" DVD which WE absolutely love. It is very educational and encouraging with a lot of cute songs. It discusses diapers, training pants, kids underwear, having accidents (it is ok), wiping, flushing and washing up, all in a very gentle and fun way. It also mentions that it takes time and requires lots of practice. At the end, all characters and actors sing together a nice song that makes you sing along saying that everybody goes: mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, brothers, doctors, teachers,... and that they do it every day. Very, very cute. I recommend it!



I believe that the key for a successful potty training process is to be consistent and patient and if you get frustrated (which is normal), try not to show it!


Note: I haven't received any monetary compensation to write this post. It is my personal experience and opinion.

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5 comments:

  1. I'll be entering the potty training stage soon. My daughter showed a keen interest in it when she was 18 months old and even did pee on it a few times. Then, she lost interest. She hasn't been interested since. I"m not worried though. When she's ready to go through it again, we'll be there to help her.

    I will look into that DVD too!

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  2. I think you are doing great! The best thing is not to push or pressure them and to let them tell you when they are ready to use the potty.

    If you decide to buy the DVD or if you know someone who would be interested in buying it, you could order online using the link on this post! It is really a great DVD!

    Ps: Thank you for the follow!

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  3. My oldest took a long time from start to finish so I am trying to wait longer with my second. She is starting to try to go in the potty but I am still keeping her in diapers.

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  4. I had a very odd experience. When my daughter was 2 1/2 she still had no interest in using the potty. She told me when she was 3 she would "pee pee" in the potty. I said "ok". On her 3rd birthday she "pee peed" in the potty and never had 1 accident. I asked her when did she want to "poop" in the potty? She said "when I am 4" I thought about this for a while and said "ok". Whenever she had to "poop" she took off her underwear- put on a pull up- did her business and then put her underwear back on. On her 4th birthday she pooped in the potty and never had 1 accident. This makes me think that a lot of it has to do with the child feeling in control. Anyway- we had an extra year we had to buy pull-ups, but it was all stress free!!!

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  5. Great post! When it comes time for our guy I really want to prevent him from being "stressed out". I'm glad that you & your little one had a good experience. I just much check out the Elmo DVD you mentioned! He loves Elmo.

    Cynthia
    Mommied Life by Cynthia | My Life as Mom

    I discovered your blog through Bloggy Moms and look forward to reading your future posts!

    ReplyDelete

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