Potty training.

I would personally prefer to introduce many (if not all) new things to my little one myself. That way u can control the emotions and experiences created, instead of someone else, who might not have your/ your baby's best interests at heart. And if you feel he is not ready, you should be able to tell them to hold off too instead of forcing him and creating problems that could go with him long into his childhood and later too. Hope you take the right decision, its a crucial phase, this!

Hello jessi, my kids were scarred of their potty first (they're at 2 - 2.5 years), and I didn't force them also. And they've been through it all because I put them on the toilet and hold their arms, keep telling them that they won't fall of, 'mommy was here to hold you, go ahead hunny it's safe..'. After 2 months training they scarred no more, I just put them on the toilet seat and came back after they've finished. Good luck with your son jessi.

Be careful of forcing it!!! My child has bowel problems and gets backed up sometimes (he's six) and one of the things his GI said was NOT to make it a power struggle because you can't win. He also said if it does become a power struggle, sometimes children will hold it for a long time and then they get backed up. We did not have the power struggle with him, but we think that him getting backed up was partially due to him "holding it". It's not a bad idea to encourage your child (ie: rewards), but I would be really careful if your child puts up a real struggle about it.

I would not force him to use the potty. He will use it when he is ready. However, I would encourage him to at least try. I have a friend that bought her son these stickers or pieces of paper that you put in the potty and it turns colors when gets wet. Also, with my daughter I made a treasure chest and put inexpensive toys in it so that when she was successful using the potty she got to choose a prize. But you have to be careful with the prize thing because it can very easily be turned into bribes. Just search the internet for ideas. There are a lot of good parenting web sites that have a lot of great advice and ideas.;)

hi Jissi
Your discussion is the a wirte but now. the daycare starts potty training at a certain age. because inforce it so it would make it easier for him to understand. shoul i make him sits there. he has his own. i just want to force.

even I \m confused when it comes to potty training for my child. He is now 2 yrs old and still he's on diapers. Everybody tells me to potty train him, but I try without any success then ultimately give up after a few days, thinking it will take its usual time. Here in india grandmoms get you crazy if your child is not potty trained ASAP after birth, so its really pressurizing for me..

he is unknown kid .how can he know by himself...and more the sorroundings.changes.a lot.so be patience.let u take care of him in each and every activity from potty training .to all till he walks........

I used to work at a YMCA daycare in the 2 year old room. We had every child sit on the potty regardless of whether or not they would go just to promote the habit. Perhaps it is easier for him to sit on the potty at school because he sees that all the other children are doing it, or maybe he's afraid to say no to his teachers, or maybe he likes the reward that he gets for sitting (a sticker or a stamp or whatever it is that they use as incentives). It is really hard to saying without knowing your child a bit more. But I would have to agree with your teachers, if he goes even if only sometimes that is a sign that he's ready!! If he is scared to sit on the potty don't give up, keep working with him!

Here are some tips:
- Use small incentives. Stickers, special snacks, whatever it is he likes. Since he is afraid of the potty I would start small, and offer him incentives simply for sitting on the potty regardless of whether or not he goes. You could enforce a set period of time (say, 1 minute to start). Get a timer out so he knows when he's done.
-If he still refuses to sit on the potty, you could also try instructing him on how to change his own diaper instead of doing it for him. Some of you might think that's cruel but if he refuses to sit on the potty he still has to learn to be self-reliant in another way when it comes to the bathroom! Obviously if he refuses you will still need to change him yourself, lol.
-When he's at the point that he feels comfortable sitting on the potty, buy him some cool pairs of underwear and tell him if he starts going to the bathroom in the potty at home you'll let him wear them like a big boy. And keep your word on it. Sometimes kids have to feel what its like to walk around in wet/squishy underwear to truly understand why they should go on the potty.

For starters my son is now 2 years old and is into the potty training stage. He also sometimes go and sometimes don't. although I don't inforce it, but I do ask him every 10 minutes if he has to go and he will sometimes tell me yes and he will just sit on his tolite for ever. At least sometimes it seems it and he won't go. You don't want to force your child to go if he does not want to because that will just cause hetic then and it could end up making him scared to even go. For a great tip that might help is to take his little potty and sit in the livingroom or the room that you are in the most and let your son run around naked because this will get him to want to try to go. Although if you don't feel comfortable about doing that because of the floor if he does not make it to the tolite you can sit him down on his tolite with a book if he likes to look at the pictures and read. That sometimes keeps him busy while sitting there. For me I allow my son to run naked in the livingroom where his tolite is and it seems to work because he will run right to it when he has to go. I hope that this will help.
Happy Mylotting

We're in the middle of potty training our almost 3 year old boy. We have 4 children and we homeschool. He stays at home. So, we don't have the daycare issue you do.

We use the M&M method at first. We place a tarp on the floor and with the potty seat in the middle and let him watch TV while keeping his sippy cup full. We get him to drink a lot and keep asking him if he needs to go. When he does go, we praise him and reward him with a couple of M&Ms. This gets them excited about going potty.

Next, we have him wear training pants around the house. You still got ask him often if he needs to go and sometime force him to sit on the potty. With M&Ms and praise still as a reward, he's usually pretty compliant to forcing him to try.

We're not yet up to the point of venturing out of the house yet without a pullup on.