I said I would tell you how we potty-trained our 3-and-1/2-year-old and here it is:
We did nothing.
Potty-trained kids by the age of two? Not at this blog! Pinterest-unworthy ideas on how to arrive at your goal…eventually…by making endless bribes of M&M candies? You’ve come to the right place.
There are many things that I feel passionate about: the Catholic Faith, being a stay-at-home mom, cream in my coffee & cooking with butter. Early potty training has just never been that important to me. We’re not that poor. We buy diapers in bulk at the big-box warehouse.
When the child seems ready, this is all we do: put a kid-sized potty in the bathroom and encourage the kid to use it. Oh, and then when he does use the kid-sized potty—which he will, eventually—we try to empty it out as quick as can be. (Ask us how we’ve learned this.)
Once George mastered the use of his little potty, it was only a matter of time before it went away. There were just one too many awkward moments when we went to use the powder room and it smelled, instead, like an outhouse. “George,” my husband proposed one afternoon. “Do you think you’re ready to go on the big potty?”
“Why?” George asked, my poor unsuspecting son. His little throne was gone the very next morning because such are the cut & dried methods of my husband. Once it’s decided…it’s decided.
“Where’s my potty?” George demanded, charging out of the bathroom and coming to me, the blameless spouse. “Um…” I stalled, feeling helpless. “I think Daddy put it away for now.”
“Great,” George muttered, stomping off to do his business.
And that was that.
Son #3 is done.
Who cares when it's done? I don't! Dont' you feel like "I am woman, hear me roar!" after potty training yet another? (I do)
Yay for George! Even bigger Yay for mama!
Bridget is so tiny, we just took out that stinky little potty a month ago or so (she's been trained since June) So happy to not to have to come and dump the poop anymore. You too?
Our famous little home joke is what Bridget tells Daddy after HE wipes her…."Daddy, yer a good wiper."
Can't help but laugh when she says that one.
She never says that to me. And I wipe her 90% of the time!
Oh my gosh, this is so funny! Maggie always apologizes to us "Sorry I'm making you do this…"
Awwwwwww……what a sweetie!
I like your methods. Much less stressful than ours which is the hurry-up-and-get-them-potty-trained-so-they-can-start-Catholic-preschool-at-age-3 and we can stop paying for daycare.
I have gone both ways but tend to be the type to train earlier rather than later…God knows I'm not the patient type. However, God is testing me with my 3 1/2 year old in that our ped told us not to potty train her because of some medical issues. This has killed me. And, people raise their eyebrows and judge (as did my normally polite father-in-law). Why is it that I feel so judged when your 3 1/2 year old is still in diapers? I want her done. God is telling me when she's better…and I just need to be okay with that. I'm glad to hear you are the wait it out kind of gal.
Oh, and when I am needed to wipe a bum, I sing loudly (a la Mighty Mouse…):
Here I come to wipe your bum!
They get sick of it and eventually wipe themselves. 🙂
I was wondering how you were managing to potty train with an infant in the house! I forgot George was 3 1/2! I'm with you…although I started my oldest at 18 months (my friends laughed) she wasn't potty trained until age 3. The rest have all been in their 2's or 3's depending on the kid. It's easier…and it's so hard to be out and about when a 2 year old suddenly yells, "I gotta go!"
I got really frustrated potty training my now almost 3 yr old because I knew she could do it if she wanted and she was just being stubborn. If I thought she could not use the potty then it would have been okay but she would announce she needed a new diaper right after going which was soooo annoying!!!
Now with my 1 yr old when I can tell she is about to go #2 I stop whatever I am doing and rush her to the potty only because I will do just about anything to not have to change a stinky diaper!!! It is more of a thing for me, not expecting anything other than not having to change a diaper : )
This thing of it is though, recognizing that one has wet one's diaper is a much much different cognitive process than recognizing that one **needs** to go, and that one then has to take the second, very important physiological, step of **preventing** the going until one reaches the toilet. Developmentally speaking, recognizing the 'after' comes first for little children.
Margaret, yay for George! I never used a separate little potty, but I did use a cushioned ring to place on the toilet seat — and then had to deal with disappearing it LOL
I too have always been rather low-key about potty training. This was never a financial issue for us because I have always used cloth diapers and cloth training pants. Margaret, you could save hundreds of dollars if not thousands with cloth. Just wanted to encourage you to embrace a real money saving method. Washing diapers is no big deal. Just another load of laundry. We checked when there were 2 in diapers and the electric bill and the water bill never went up!
congrats on lil' george's milestone! my potty training motivation usually stems from fear of being super pregnant or nursing with a little one in diapers. my energy is always lacking.
I am the world's worst potty trainer. It is only by the grace of God that any of our kids are trained! (Of course they now range in age from 22 to 11). It always took them forever and ever. It was a major, major power struggle with my oldest (because I thought she was just being lazy – beware that mind trap!). I potty trained my oldest son at the same time my neighbor was potty training her son. I did it with her method which was supposed to work in three days. Her son was trained; mine became constipated for the next YEAR! It was horribly traumatic and our whole lives revolved around his pooping (or lack thereof). For my 3rd I went with the gentle approach and it took a solid year for him to stop having accidents. In fact, one full year after I'd started, right after he'd turn 4, we went on vacation and for some reason I completely forgot that we were potty training. We were at the beach and I was there to relax, thank you very much. A couple days later I realized I hadn't once thought about potty training and my son had finally gotten it. Apparently it was having a new bathroom at the beach house that turned his fancy. But then I realized my method of potty training, which is much like yours, Mags! In fact neither my husband nor I can remember how we potty trained the youngest two. It just happened somehow. We had the potty seat in the bathroom. We reminded them that they should try it. They had older siblings to emulate and then one day between the ages of 3 and 4, they were trained with no effort on mama's part! So I am simply not cut out to be a potty trainer, but fortunately it all worked out in the long run.
I used to joke that my goal was to have them all trained by college and I have to say I have been remarkably successful. LOL!
Oh my. I've just gone on and on about myself.
Congrats to George on his great achievement!
Yeah for George and a happy day for Momma! I bribe my kids here as well. Works like a charm when they have a sweet tooth and they normally don't get candy. The first day we worked on potty training my little guy he "held off" going all that he could so that he could go potty again in a couple of minutes and get another treat. He must have gone potty 30-40 times a day the first couple of days. There were not any accidents though. 🙂 Kids are smart.
Love it (and those socks!!) With my 4yo — (and being an older mama or what?!) – I got a lot of nagging from *friends* how and when to potty train – maybe they thought I was keeping him a baby or – well, I don't know – and I am not spending time (any more) figuring out other people!) I am serious about my/our own pace training, and it really has always worked best! Congratulations to George and mama!!