Potty training before 2.5 - what to expect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would start after you get back from your trip. At a week we were just getting the hang of it and were still going without bottoms. You may be able to swing commando at that point, but we also liked having the little potty out at all times (in the middle of the living room) so that DD could see it. I agree with above PP, it'll just add unnecessary stress to an already stressful experience.

I hear that and it's definitely what I'm wary about, but should clarify I won't be able to take a full week off after the trip. The car ride is only one day there and back, so would have the potty at our destination.

I totally get you. I would be more worried about the time at the destination than the travel to and from, especially if there are excursions involved. If you're just visiting your parents and staying in the whole time, it shouldn't be an issue at all. Worst comes to worst, if the trip is too much of a wrinkle, you reset over a weekend, and hopefully it clicks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just do oh crap. No need to prep him first. I've PT'd two 20-21 month olds and it really is as easy as the book says.

+1

They’re pleasant, complaint, eager to please, and need to learn something. Age 2 is PERFECT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, thanks everyone! Any issues with holding poop? How quickly did they do that on the potty? When he was bottomless for hours, DS just didn't go and ended up constipated later.

We used miralax ONLY when training during that first week, then they got the hang of it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, so for those who did Oh Crap, how long did it take before they sat down *before* going pee? How quickly did you go back to regular activities/childcare and were there a lot of accidents?

And sounds like you ditched diapers for sleep as well? I bought a bunch of pull-ups and had planned on distinguishing them from diapers for sleep.

We didn’t do sleep.

By day 2, they peed in the potty.

Days 4-5 were a regression and I wanted to quit. We stuck with it.

We did pantless at home for a LONG time, but put on loose shorts to go out. Yeah, he peed himself, but it was part of the process.

[Anonymous]

We “potty trained” first DS at 2. Lots of accidents, had to stay on top of him, etc. Also had a new baby so it was all a mess.

For kids #2 and 3, we trained right before age 3. They trained in a few days and it was much easier.

I’d recommend waiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just do oh crap. No need to prep him first. I've PT'd two 20-21 month olds and it really is as easy as the book says.

Same. I followed the book to a T. It's for 20-30 months, so don't wait longer if you want to use that method. The first day or two, they DON'T have a recognition that they're peeing and that's actually what you're training them to understand. Diapers are a bit too good these days and kids don't feel it when they pee. We spent the first day out on our back deck. They could be naked, pee all over the place, and there was a potty nearby.

Btw, I think a lot of success with this book is when you hit it hard and never backtrack. Don't do teensy half measures like sit them on the potty or put them back in diapers. Nope. On day 1, you just tell them this is what we're going to do and it's a new, fun skill. And then double down and just do it. They'll see your dedication and will follow your lead.

FYI, this was NOT my experience at all. Oh Crap was a total nightmare for my family when we tried at 24 months. By far the most miserable parenting experience I have ever had. After over a week of misery, we backed off, put her in pull ups, and she ended up potty trained in a couple of months with much less stress.

Some kids do catch on quickly. My 26 mo figured it out within 48 hours and was basically trained. We had to remind her to go potty when she was engrossed or before we left the house, but had very few accidents (maybe 5?) after that first 48 hours. The same was also true for my second. It was easy.

[Anonymous]

Just read the book.

Expect a potty trained child.

Or peruse the archives here where this topic has been discussed approximately 2.7 million times already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just do oh crap. No need to prep him first. I've PT'd two 20-21 month olds and it really is as easy as the book says.

Same. I followed the book to a T. It's for 20-30 months, so don't wait longer if you want to use that method. The first day or two, they DON'T have a recognition that they're peeing and that's actually what you're training them to understand. Diapers are a bit too good these days and kids don't feel it when they pee. We spent the first day out on our back deck. They could be naked, pee all over the place, and there was a potty nearby.

Btw, I think a lot of success with this book is when you hit it hard and never backtrack. Don't do teensy half measures like sit them on the potty or put them back in diapers. Nope. On day 1, you just tell them this is what we're going to do and it's a new, fun skill. And then double down and just do it. They'll see your dedication and will follow your lead.

FYI, this was NOT my experience at all. Oh Crap was a total nightmare for my family when we tried at 24 months. By far the most miserable parenting experience I have ever had. After over a week of misery, we backed off, put her in pull ups, and she ended up potty trained in a couple of months with much less stress.

Some kids do catch on quickly. My 26 mo figured it out within 48 hours and was basically trained. We had to remind her to go potty when she was engrossed or before we left the house, but had very few accidents (maybe 5?) after that first 48 hours. The same was also true for my second. It was easy.

I'm glad that was your experience. I'm sharing mine because a big part of the Oh Crap! messaging is that if it's not working for your family, it's because you as a parent are doing something wrong or aren't trying hard enough--and that if you use pull ups or back off, then you are in for some kind of terrible consequence. That part of the book personally caused us a lot of stress but turned out not to be true in our experience. Just want people to know that they're not necessarily doomed or a failure because they can't get the Oh Crap method to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just do oh crap. No need to prep him first. I've PT'd two 20-21 month olds and it really is as easy as the book says.

Same. I followed the book to a T. It's for 20-30 months, so don't wait longer if you want to use that method. The first day or two, they DON'T have a recognition that they're peeing and that's actually what you're training them to understand. Diapers are a bit too good these days and kids don't feel it when they pee. We spent the first day out on our back deck. They could be naked, pee all over the place, and there was a potty nearby.

Btw, I think a lot of success with this book is when you hit it hard and never backtrack. Don't do teensy half measures like sit them on the potty or put them back in diapers. Nope. On day 1, you just tell them this is what we're going to do and it's a new, fun skill. And then double down and just do it. They'll see your dedication and will follow your lead.

FYI, this was NOT my experience at all. Oh Crap was a total nightmare for my family when we tried at 24 months. By far the most miserable parenting experience I have ever had. After over a week of misery, we backed off, put her in pull ups, and she ended up potty trained in a couple of months with much less stress.

Some kids do catch on quickly. My 26 mo figured it out within 48 hours and was basically trained. We had to remind her to go potty when she was engrossed or before we left the house, but had very few accidents (maybe 5?) after that first 48 hours. The same was also true for my second. It was easy.

I'm glad that was your experience. I'm sharing mine because a big part of the Oh Crap! messaging is that if it's not working for your family, it's because you as a parent are doing something wrong or aren't trying hard enough--and that if you use pull ups or back off, then you are in for some kind of terrible consequence. That part of the book personally caused us a lot of stress but turned out not to be true in our experience. Just want people to know that they're not necessarily doomed or a failure because they can't get the Oh Crap method to work.

DP, can I ask what you did to train her successfully after Oh Crap failed?

[Anonymous]

It comes down to you, OP.

Decide you’re going to do it. And do it. Don’t quit. Read some of the posts on here about kids pooping in diapers at age 4.

Don’t quit. It’s hard work, but so is learning any new skill.

[Anonymous]

PP here who is currently training DD (27 months). Just finished Day 2 (still on Block 1 of Oh Crap - meaning we are keeping her naked except for naps and nighttime). Here's how it's going so far, for anyone interested:

Day 1: We took off DD's clothes and diaper first thing. DD did not pee for a couple of hours, then peed while drinking water, I reacted poorly by yelling "Ahh" (out of surprise, not anger - she peed a little on me), she cried, we took her to the potty and got a couple of drops in it. Rest of the day she would show signs on wanting to pee, would happily go to the potty and sit while we tried to distract her, but would not pee. Had a couple more pee accidents, one of which we did get her to sit on the potty and get some pee in. No poop.

Day 2: After 3 plus hours of no pee, but periodically showing signs of needing to pee and willingly sitting on the potty, she had a pee accident. Shortly after she said she needed to use the potty, showed signs, she sat, and I put her feet in a bowl of warn water. That helped her release the pee. No more pee accidents that day, she peed in the potty 3-4 times the rest of the day. Last pee of the day she self-initiated. She finally pooped in the evening, on the floor. Unfortunately DH yelled while she was pooping (not in anger, more urgency) to tell her to sit on the potty, which freaked her out. There were a lot of tears, as with the first pee yesterday.

We will continue Block 1 tomorrow and hope to get another poo, hopefully in the potty this time. Will have to figure to out how to guide her without freaking her out since she really likes her privacy for poops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here who is currently training DD (27 months). Just finished Day 2 (still on Block 1 of Oh Crap - meaning we are keeping her naked except for naps and nighttime). Here's how it's going so far, for anyone interested:

Day 1: We took off DD's clothes and diaper first thing. DD did not pee for a couple of hours, then peed while drinking water, I reacted poorly by yelling "Ahh" (out of surprise, not anger - she peed a little on me), she cried, we took her to the potty and got a couple of drops in it. Rest of the day she would show signs on wanting to pee, would happily go to the potty and sit while we tried to distract her, but would not pee. Had a couple more pee accidents, one of which we did get her to sit on the potty and get some pee in. No poop.

Day 2: After 3 plus hours of no pee, but periodically showing signs of needing to pee and willingly sitting on the potty, she had a pee accident. Shortly after she said she needed to use the potty, showed signs, she sat, and I put her feet in a bowl of warn water. That helped her release the pee. No more pee accidents that day, she peed in the potty 3-4 times the rest of the day. Last pee of the day she self-initiated. She finally pooped in the evening, on the floor. Unfortunately DH yelled while she was pooping (not in anger, more urgency) to tell her to sit on the potty, which freaked her out. There were a lot of tears, as with the first pee yesterday.

We will continue Block 1 tomorrow and hope to get another poo, hopefully in the potty this time. Will have to figure to out how to guide her without freaking her out since she really likes her privacy for poops.

Big reward for any poop that gets into the potty! Remember that pooping on the floor is a good sign. Just get her on the potty when you see her. DS had a hard time the first time. I had to hold him over the potty with knees up as he was pooping and he wasn’t happy. But then he got two new cars and we did the poo-poo dance and that was it. He’s pooped on the potty (now toilet) ever since.

And everyone likes to poop alone. It’s human nature. She just can’t in the first few days as she needs your help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here who is currently training DD (27 months). Just finished Day 2 (still on Block 1 of Oh Crap - meaning we are keeping her naked except for naps and nighttime). Here's how it's going so far, for anyone interested:

Day 1: We took off DD's clothes and diaper first thing. DD did not pee for a couple of hours, then peed while drinking water, I reacted poorly by yelling "Ahh" (out of surprise, not anger - she peed a little on me), she cried, we took her to the potty and got a couple of drops in it. Rest of the day she would show signs on wanting to pee, would happily go to the potty and sit while we tried to distract her, but would not pee. Had a couple more pee accidents, one of which we did get her to sit on the potty and get some pee in. No poop.

Day 2: After 3 plus hours of no pee, but periodically showing signs of needing to pee and willingly sitting on the potty, she had a pee accident. Shortly after she said she needed to use the potty, showed signs, she sat, and I put her feet in a bowl of warn water. That helped her release the pee. No more pee accidents that day, she peed in the potty 3-4 times the rest of the day. Last pee of the day she self-initiated. She finally pooped in the evening, on the floor. Unfortunately DH yelled while she was pooping (not in anger, more urgency) to tell her to sit on the potty, which freaked her out. There were a lot of tears, as with the first pee yesterday.

We will continue Block 1 tomorrow and hope to get another poo, hopefully in the potty this time. Will have to figure to out how to guide her without freaking her out since she really likes her privacy for poops.

Big reward for any poop that gets into the potty! Remember that pooping on the floor is a good sign. Just get her on the potty when you see her. DS had a hard time the first time. I had to hold him over the potty with knees up as he was pooping and he wasn’t happy. But then he got two new cars and we did the poo-poo dance and that was it. He’s pooped on the potty (now toilet) ever since.

And everyone likes to poop alone. It’s human nature. She just can’t in the first few days as she needs your help.

Thanks - we will try this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here who is currently training DD (27 months). Just finished Day 2 (still on Block 1 of Oh Crap - meaning we are keeping her naked except for naps and nighttime). Here's how it's going so far, for anyone interested:

Day 1: We took off DD's clothes and diaper first thing. DD did not pee for a couple of hours, then peed while drinking water, I reacted poorly by yelling "Ahh" (out of surprise, not anger - she peed a little on me), she cried, we took her to the potty and got a couple of drops in it. Rest of the day she would show signs on wanting to pee, would happily go to the potty and sit while we tried to distract her, but would not pee. Had a couple more pee accidents, one of which we did get her to sit on the potty and get some pee in. No poop.

Day 2: After 3 plus hours of no pee, but periodically showing signs of needing to pee and willingly sitting on the potty, she had a pee accident. Shortly after she said she needed to use the potty, showed signs, she sat, and I put her feet in a bowl of warn water. That helped her release the pee. No more pee accidents that day, she peed in the potty 3-4 times the rest of the day. Last pee of the day she self-initiated. She finally pooped in the evening, on the floor. Unfortunately DH yelled while she was pooping (not in anger, more urgency) to tell her to sit on the potty, which freaked her out. There were a lot of tears, as with the first pee yesterday.

We will continue Block 1 tomorrow and hope to get another poo, hopefully in the potty this time. Will have to figure to out how to guide her without freaking her out since she really likes her privacy for poops.

Big reward for any poop that gets into the potty! Remember that pooping on the floor is a good sign. Just get her on the potty when you see her. DS had a hard time the first time. I had to hold him over the potty with knees up as he was pooping and he wasn’t happy. But then he got two new cars and we did the poo-poo dance and that was it. He’s pooped on the potty (now toilet) ever since.

And everyone likes to poop alone. It’s human nature. She just can’t in the first few days as she needs your help.

Thanks - we will try this!

No, bad idea. Do not start giving rewards. The book (which you really ought to read as it covers pretty much every single question you've presented) specifically states no rewards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here who is currently training DD (27 months). Just finished Day 2 (still on Block 1 of Oh Crap - meaning we are keeping her naked except for naps and nighttime). Here's how it's going so far, for anyone interested:

Day 1: We took off DD's clothes and diaper first thing. DD did not pee for a couple of hours, then peed while drinking water, I reacted poorly by yelling "Ahh" (out of surprise, not anger - she peed a little on me), she cried, we took her to the potty and got a couple of drops in it. Rest of the day she would show signs on wanting to pee, would happily go to the potty and sit while we tried to distract her, but would not pee. Had a couple more pee accidents, one of which we did get her to sit on the potty and get some pee in. No poop.

Day 2: After 3 plus hours of no pee, but periodically showing signs of needing to pee and willingly sitting on the potty, she had a pee accident. Shortly after she said she needed to use the potty, showed signs, she sat, and I put her feet in a bowl of warn water. That helped her release the pee. No more pee accidents that day, she peed in the potty 3-4 times the rest of the day. Last pee of the day she self-initiated. She finally pooped in the evening, on the floor. Unfortunately DH yelled while she was pooping (not in anger, more urgency) to tell her to sit on the potty, which freaked her out. There were a lot of tears, as with the first pee yesterday.

We will continue Block 1 tomorrow and hope to get another poo, hopefully in the potty this time. Will have to figure to out how to guide her without freaking her out since she really likes her privacy for poops.

Big reward for any poop that gets into the potty! Remember that pooping on the floor is a good sign. Just get her on the potty when you see her. DS had a hard time the first time. I had to hold him over the potty with knees up as he was pooping and he wasn’t happy. But then he got two new cars and we did the poo-poo dance and that was it. He’s pooped on the potty (now toilet) ever since.

And everyone likes to poop alone. It’s human nature. She just can’t in the first few days as she needs your help.

Thanks - we will try this!

No, bad idea. Do not start giving rewards. The book (which you really ought to read as it covers pretty much every single question you've presented) specifically states no rewards.

Thanks, I have read the book, and as you know the book says you have to figure out what works best for your child. When I said we would "try this" I meant lifting her up and putting her over the potty when she poops.

Btw, Oh Crap is working for us, albeit slowly, but I know for a fact it doesn't work for everyone. We're lucky DD is within the age range and responding well. There are no studies on it as a method. I think I read yesterday somewhere about a method that depends on rewards that has been studied and shown to work. From what I am observing about DD, I don't think rewards would help her, but clearly they can help some children.