Potty training before 2.5 - what to expect?
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Anonymous
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DS is 26 months old and we hope to potty train him before DC #2 comes when he's 2.5 yo. So far he is open to sitting on the potty/toilet when we suggest it and has peed and (only twice) pooped while on it, but there seems to be no recognition before he has to pee. We've tried going bottomless and we relocate him to the potty mid-stream. He struggles to poop while sitting/squatting at all.
Planning to use the Oh Crap method but is there anything we can do to help prep for success? He seems to just constantly pee right now - should we not even try before he stays drier longer? Just don't understand what to expect after the initial bottomless stage, how quickly he should be recognizing the need to go before he actually does, and how to continue the training once in underwear/out of the house/while in childcare. Thank you! |
Anonymous
| 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. |
Anonymous
| You don’t need to train before baby 2 arrives if that’s your only reason. In fact you might have a big setback with the upheaval when baby 2 arrives. It just sounds like he’s not ready. We pt’d closer to 3yo with a baby brother at home. It’s not bad you just have to offer good incentives as they are more bribe-based and less eager to please. It worked out for us anyway. |
Anonymous
| Expect setbacks. Expect a regression when the baby gets here. Expect it not to be as simple as when kiddo can use a diaper - car trips, trips to the store, going to the park, etc - all have to work around using teh bathroom beforehand, accidents, and urgent needs to use the bathroom. Waiting until even age 2.5 makes it easier bc they understand more and have more agency. All 3 of mine trained at 2.5 on the dot within 3 days, without bribes - but it still meant all of the inconveniences listed above. |
Anonymous
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. |
Anonymous
| The main prep for Oh Crap is letting them know that you're ditching diapers. A week before we started discussing at bedtime that on Friday we were going to get rid of our diapers and we were going to only use the potty from now on. |
Anonymous
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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. |
Anonymous
We did it at 20 months and it took 3-4 days. We didn't have setbacks though, not even when the baby was born when my oldest was 22 months. We did diapers until they were dry at night. DD was dry at 3.5 and DS was dry at 3. I don't like pullups. They knew diapers were "baby like" and wanted out of them. Pull ups make it seem more okay to still be peeing yourself. That being said, we did pullups for long car rides or airplane rides until they were 3. It made it easier to use public restrooms and if they fell into a deep sleep in the car, they couldn't accidentally pee the car seat (which we couldn't fix on a long roadtrip). |
Anonymous
Day 2 Hell no to pull ups. |
Anonymous
NP but I agree with PPs on the oh crap method. A lot of people who claim they followed it and it didn't work didn't actually follow it. They would claim they "asked them to go but they refused" - that's not oh crap. Oh crap is lifting them up mid stream or following them around to catch pee. Then CELEBRATING big time when that happens. Absolutely no shaming or scolding when accidents happen. We potty trained with both kids at around 25 months and at the end of day 2 they would identify the sensation and go sit down and pee. Day 1 felt hopeless though, but day 2 was a huge improvement, and day 3 was like night and day. We had 1 accident in six months. |
Anonymous
| We just potty trained ds at 24 months. We had followed oh crap with our daughter but were more casual with ds and it worked fine. Day one he was kind of peeing all over the place. Day 2 he peed in the potty half the time, and on himself half the time. Day 3 was daycare and he had a couple of accidents but the idea of trying to get to the potty had clicked for him. Day 4 onwards was all potty. It's been about a month with no accidents. We do diapers for nap and bedtime. Had him in a pull up for a road trip last weekend but he didn't need it, and it stayed dry. I think oh crap is helpful for parents in giving us rules and support but she's a lot more militant than either of my kids ended up needing. |
Anonymous
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We used Oh Crap at exactly 22 months and it’s been a success (he’s 3.5 now). The only thing our nanny did in the two weeks prior was put DS in training pants when they were in the yard to get him used to the feeling of urinating. The stay dry diapers mask that for kids which is probably why we train so much later than earlier generations.
The sooner you start, the better OP. I wouldn’t wait if I were you. |
Anonymous
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We did it in Feb just a couple weeks shy of 2.5 and a month before baby #2 was born which yes, everyone says don’t do. It went great! We have never looked back. Yes we do pull ups for nap and night and that’s fine with oh crap. Now at 33 months she is usually dry after nap and every so often dry overnight, so she is getting there over time.
Read the book in advance so it sinks in and you’re avoiding the donts. Other than that, just go for it. The main thing I liked with oh crap was it convinced me this was very doable, which gave me the confidence to stick it out and be consistent. |
Anonymous
He sat down to pee and poop on day two. Never use pull-ups except for sleep. Very few accidents once he got it around day five. We still went out on day three (park and art at grandmas). It really does work easily when they’re young. |
Anonymous
DS1 had like 1 pee accident the first day and then no accidents after. What we did re: activities was wait until he peed, then do something. We started small, like walks around the block. Then as confidence was built, we extended. |