This is our first child, Alexa, and she is 18 months old. We want to start thinking about potty training. Can someone give me some advice on how to get started. What is the best potty seat to buy and how to get her used to and acclimated to it. Any tips at all. Thanks for any responses. :)

weve already started, i guess you could say. We bought a fisherprice potty that plays music. We were origionally going to let her pick her potty out, but my parents went ahead and bought this one. We put it in the bathroom and she plays with it. when she comes in the bathroom, and i am in there, i sit her on it and talk about the potty. When we change her diapers, we talk about how wet diapers are uncomfortable, and then talk about using the potty.. It will be a long while, but i figure getting her used to the language, and the sight of the potty, will help.

Well, we got one..........but all she does is to 'climb' on it and put her foot down in it :roll: :? .....but I guess getting them used to see it and try sitting on it for short periods can't hurt . Good luck!

Lena

We bought a potty chair that makes music when you sit and when you actaully "do the duty." It worked really well to get Lainey interested, but now that she is actually sitting on it and going, it is sort of a pain. It makes sounds when she sits and everytime any little drop falls into it. And everytime it makes a noise she stands up to see what she did. She will usually then say..."big turd" something her daddy taught her!

She actually prefers the big potty, but I need to get one of those seats that fit on top of the big seat so that she doesn't fall in!

 I Followed my moms advice. She said to go straight to cloth undies. you can buy ones that say "Training pants" but they are just doubly thick cloth undies. Then i got a few plastic covers (which didn't really help very much after the first few days). The first 3 days she peed consistently. She just kept a steady flow of one or two drops. The first morning I had 8 spots to clean by 9 am!! I was not impressed. It took about 3 days for her to start peeing real quantities at a single time. So she'd pee (maybe maybe not in the potty) then again about an hour -two hours later. Which was a vast improvment BUT then she'd pee so much it would make a mess outside of her plastic covers. Which was ok. I was resigned to cleaning pee for a few weeks- i bought lysol wipes they were great! Anyways....I would lock her in the bathroom wiht me when i would shower and put her on the little potty (not the potty topper b/c i didn't trust she wouldn't fall) and give her a book or toy of some sort. She would poo only when she had some privacy. She had her first handful of poos in the potty...now she will poo anywhere anytime but she was really shy to in the beginning!.....Then i started playing the "can you make a splash" on the potty topper ...icky but successful!

I do not believe in giving children sugar but i gave her an m& m and told her she could have another one if she could pee in the potty. It took a few days for her to figure it out and in the beginning i'd need to run water to help her go.....but within about a week we were at the point where if i told her to go and i knew she had to go then she would.....then she would eventually ask for it as she was peeing...then 6 seconds before she would pee.....and then after what seemed like forever here we are...potty trained for 2 weeks already!

We used potty elmo- press his hand and he ask for water then to use his potty. It is magnetic so when he sits on it hurray he did it otherwise ..uh oh he had an accident! And we got the potty book for girls which we read EVERY day.....and I read everything i could get my hands on and honestly nothing was very helpful. Consistency was the key with naomi and changes to it caused regression. HEr and dh were at the park one day and she said she had to go- dh should have said ok try to hold it and walk back (10 min...she couldn't have held it but known she was supposed to) instead he said "um....i guess you can pee in your diaper this time" which is NOT the right answer. I actually have two potty topper and two potties...one for home and one for travel. The travel potty i would carry in my stroller to place down wherever she needed to go but now she can hold it well enough to keep it in the car so we can run out if needed and i just carry a potty topper with us at all times.

Children: the challenge suggested not making TOO big of a deal about it- be happy and excited and reward them but don't let them think you are the one who wants them to do it b/c then it can easily turn into a power struggle. We see that when she asks for potty even though she doesn't have to go just to get a bit of reading or to get out of going to bed or to get out of church when she is bored!!

Good luck!

I got the one that plays music 2, but i got it when he first started walking cuz i wanted him to get interested and know what the potty was...well, he though it was a great toy...and go too cumfy wit playin wit it and now the sensor doesn't work anymore..to let you know they done the duty...now he goes on the potty, but he keeps sitting there...i need him to get to understand that once you go you can get up.....

I was having that same thought a few days ago actually. My Kaitlyn is 22 months old and she began talking off her diaper and peeing and pooping on the floor.  Which I have to say is very frustrating if you are a control freak like me.  A few weeks ago when this happened, I bought pull-ups. My in-laws bought her a winnie the pooh potty and we jumped in head first.  The problem was Katie ended up with a massive rash - turns out she's allergic to the pull-ups.  So I swallowed my pride and asked my mom what to do.  I don't ask for help from family too often so for me that's a big deal.  Anyway, she said she had me trained in a week. Here's how:

First put the kid in regular underwear. No diapers no training pants. Sit her on the potty for as long as it takes for her to pee (it's easiest to start right before bed though we did it at like 4 in the afternoon). Then put her in bed. My mom said to go about my normal routine and then wake her up before I go to bed and put her back on the potty but the first night she ended up staying up 2 hours later than usual and the next night it was 2 1/2 hours later.  Let me just say one thing.  This is the least fun parenting thing I have done to date but it is necessary and she has fun. 

We got lucky twice with this one.  We just bought a puppy about a month or two ago and we have been housetraining her. Whenever she goes potty outside she gets a treat and Katie pats her on the head and says "good girl!" Now whenever she goes in the potty she says "good girl!" and gets a great big grin on her face. Strangely, she also praises me for going on the potty.  I have to say, it is rather refreshing to get praise for a job well done. LOL!  Also, I got the stomach flu yesterday (day 3 of potty training). My husband called in sick to work to take care of Kaitie and the dog so that I can get some rest because nothing is less fun than a sick pregnant lady who has to deal with a screaming toddler and a very active puppy. Anyway, my husband in all his infinite wisdom came running out of the bathroom after his second time taking her potty and said "I figured out the secret to potty training".  And I thought I was good at this parenting thing! I had to hear this.  He said when you point down there and say "look" or "watch" she looks down there. If she truely has to go potty she will (on command).  I have never laughed so hard in all my life. I thought he was off his rocker.  But it worked - seriously.

I am proud to say she has had 3 nights dry and 1 night with an accident that made me realize we need a backup lovey because she peed all over it and got mad when I said "sorry honey, pooh's all wet".  Everyday we have accidents, but it seems to be less and less every day.  Here's hoping. I really am so proud of her.  Oh and she did very well on her first outing today to walmart (first since we started this anyway). No accidents. Yeah!

I hope everything goes well for you and your daughter.  Just remember, not every kid will train the same way or in the same time frame so if it's not working one way you may want to follow her lead and try something else.  Just give whatever you do a fair chance to work.  As they say, rome wasn't built in a day. Good luck.  Let me know how it goes!

Krystal