Potty Training My Own Kid At Daycare

[LittleScholars]

My son is 17 months old and I *think* he is ready for early potty training. He is stubborn and is generally not a particularly easy kid, but he LOVES (and it mildly obsessed with) routines, especially around hygiene. During non-daycare hours he is less distracted and when he has a bad diaper he will routinely head for his changing table. This is about the only thing that has been easy and I want to capitalize on it, especially since I'm 6 months pregnant.

I'm a little lost about where to start. I've trained plenty of kiddos over the last few years (some started at home, some were trained at daycare before they ever started at home), but those kiddos were all older and I simply kept them on a great schedule until they were independent. We had scheduled potty breaks and the rule was "we all try to go" (sung merrily) and they just happily followed the big kid routine, even when they weren't really going.

So...my kid. I'd love to try one of these quick training methods, but pantless or even diaper-less just won't work for daycare. I'm happy to invest weekend/evening time, but come the weekdays I'm still mom and this is our house and it seems like it would be confusing to suddenly change approaches completely. Unfortunately, I don't have any extended time off in the near future due to my upcoming maternity leave.

Is my best bet to just start the scheduled breaks like I did with my big kids? And when he is ready he will go? I think he will enjoy the potty routine, especially since my big kid group turns over in a week and I'll have all little ones beginning potty training. Will he know what to do if I sit him on the potty? How can I provide a not weird model for him?

[mamamanda]

My son is 17 months old and I *think* he is ready for early potty training. He is stubborn and is generally not a particularly easy kid, but he LOVES (and it mildly obsessed with) routines, especially around hygiene. During non-daycare hours he is less distracted and when he has a bad diaper he will routinely head for his changing table. This is about the only thing that has been easy and I want to capitalize on it, especially since I'm 6 months pregnant.

I'm a little lost about where to start. I've trained plenty of kiddos over the last few years (some started at home, some were trained at daycare before they ever started at home), but those kiddos were all older and I simply kept them on a great schedule until they were independent. We had scheduled potty breaks and the rule was "we all try to go" (sung merrily) and they just happily followed the big kid routine, even when they weren't really going.

So...my kid. I'd love to try one of these quick training methods, but pantless or even diaper-less just won't work for daycare. I'm happy to invest weekend/evening time, but come the weekdays I'm still mom and this is our house and it seems like it would be confusing to suddenly change approaches completely. Unfortunately, I don't have any extended time off in the near future due to my upcoming maternity leave.

Is my best bet to just start the scheduled breaks like I did with my big kids? And when he is ready he will go? I think he will enjoy the potty routine, especially since my big kid group turns over in a week and I'll have all little ones beginning potty training. Will he know what to do if I sit him on the potty? How can I provide a not weird model for him?

My son was an odd one in that he basically trained himself before his second bday. He started telling me "di-di" for diaper at 14 mo when he was wet or dirty. At 16 mo I just put a potty chair on the floor in the bathroom & he would sit on his potty when I sat on mine. By 18 mo he was actually peeing in the potty fairly regularly at routine scheduled potty breaks. I never did the go every 15 min thing. If that is needed I feel the kids just not ready.

My son LOVED underwear so that was my bargaining chip. You can start the day in undies & wear them all day if you stay dry. I changed him back to a diaper once he had an accident. Not if he was trying to get there & just didn't make it in time though. It was more about effort.

By 21 mo he peed in the potty consistently & wore underwear full time. No more poop accidents after 2. He is not your typical child & neither of my other 2 children, nor any of the dcks I've trained were that easy. IMO, 17 mo is very early & unless he is truly leading the way you will likely be doing much more of the work than he will be.

A few things to note, when training early many kids regress a little, especially after the birth of a baby. If you find yourself getting frustrated with potty training allow both of you some grace to take a break & try again when he's older. Also, in my experience kids that train early often take longer to train. Not trying to be discouraging at all, just some things to think about. It can be done, but it can take a lot of work!

If it were me, I'd incorporate the potty into our normal DC routine, being careful to continue the same routine on the weekends as well. He'll either take to it or he won't. Then follow his lead from there! Best of luck to you!!!

[Josiegirl]

Can you put him in the thicker training pants during dc hours and have him just go in with the others who have to go? A little positive peer pressure? How much time are you taking for maternity leave; would that give you enough time to incorporate training? Does he go long periods of time without wet diapers? I don't think there's anything wrong with orienting him to the process but I wouldn't push it. He has to be able to 'hold it' and that's a difficult thing to get the concept of. I loathe potty training because every child is so different and anything we do can backfire so easily.
Through my experience, 3 seems to be the magic number. I've had so many dcks turn 3 and all of a sudden they 'get it'. But then, before that, you talk it up, read books, show them, give them lots of time to absorb and try out the process. I agree with the pp who said if you start early it just seems to take that much longer.

[happymom]

My son trained at 17 months and I LOVE potty training at that age.

We used the oh crap, potty training method. It goes in blocks
block 1: bare bottom, stay at home 100% focus
block 2: commando, stay at home 100% focus
block 3: commando, add back your regular routine including trips outside the house
block 4: add underpants

I highly recommend the book but do not agree with their night time training method...and I'd probably skip the daycare section since it will only make you mad happyface

[LittleScholars]

My son was an odd one in that he basically trained himself before his second bday. He started telling me "di-di" for diaper at 14 mo when he was wet or dirty. At 16 mo I just put a potty chair on the floor in the bathroom & he would sit on his potty when I sat on mine. By 18 mo he was actually peeing in the potty fairly regularly at routine scheduled potty breaks. I never did the go every 15 min thing. If that is needed I feel the kids just not ready.

My son LOVED underwear so that was my bargaining chip. You can start the day in undies & wear them all day if you stay dry. I changed him back to a diaper once he had an accident. Not if he was trying to get there & just didn't make it in time though. It was more about effort.

By 21 mo he peed in the potty consistently & wore underwear full time. No more poop accidents after 2. He is not your typical child & neither of my other 2 children, nor any of the dcks I've trained were that easy. IMO, 17 mo is very early & unless he is truly leading the way you will likely be doing much more of the work than he will be.

A few things to note, when training early many kids regress a little, especially after the birth of a baby. If you find yourself getting frustrated with potty training allow both of you some grace to take a break & try again when he's older. Also, in my experience kids that train early often take longer to train. Not trying to be discouraging at all, just some things to think about. It can be done, but it can take a lot of work!

If it were me, I'd incorporate the potty into our normal DC routine, being careful to continue the same routine on the weekends as well. He'll either take to it or he won't. Then follow his lead from there! Best of luck to you!!!

My thinking (and I could be totally wrong), is that he's very ready for the routine aspect of it. I think he'd actually enjoy sitting on the potty (he's weird) and he really hates a dirty diaper. He tries to hold it at night and then immediately SOAKS his diaper as soon as he has a fresh one on. My hope is that moments like that might lead to some early success. I could also see how starting early means we will be training for longer. I suppose that's fine, but the repeated bending isn't going to be particularly fun as my belly grows.

Just undies terrify me, but I'm willing to try it! I'll absolutely start by making it part of our routine and see what happens. Thanks for the advice!

[LittleScholars]

Can you put him in the thicker training pants during dc hours and have him just go in with the others who have to go? A little positive peer pressure? How much time are you taking for maternity leave; would that give you enough time to incorporate training? Does he go long periods of time without wet diapers? I don't think there's anything wrong with orienting him to the process but I wouldn't push it. He has to be able to 'hold it' and that's a difficult thing to get the concept of. I loathe potty training because every child is so different and anything we do can backfire so easily.
Through my experience, 3 seems to be the magic number. I've had so many dcks turn 3 and all of a sudden they 'get it'. But then, before that, you talk it up, read books, show them, give them lots osf time to absorb and try out the process. I agree with the pp who said if you start early it just seems to take that much longer.

I have zero experience with training pants! All of my dcks have used pull ups, so I need to look into these. He's going fairly long periods without going. He tends to go a little, wait for a new diaper, and then go immediately (he seems to prefer a fresh diaper and I'm hoping that translates to liking the potty).

I've also seem success come later for most kids. I don't typically start here until a family has started or a child is at least 2.5. I'm really only tempted to start because I think I'm seeing signs that he might like the process and I don't want to miss the window. Although, I might quickly regret this!

[LittleScholars]

My son trained at 17 months and I LOVE potty training at that age.

We used the oh crap, potty training method. It goes in blocks
block 1: bare bottom, stay at home 100% focus
block 2: commando, stay at home 100% focus
block 3: commando, add back your regular routine including trips outside the house
block 4: add underpants

I highly recommend the book but do not agree with their night time training method...and I'd probably skip the daycare section since it will only make you mad happyface

So many moms have recommend this method! I'm having a hard time understanding how it can translate into a daycare setting. I work alone and wouldn't feel comfortable messing up our solid routine just for my little one (especially because I have a consistent policy for everyone else). We spend a ton of time outside in the summer, so I worry that couldn't get them all up and down the stairs often enough to be successful.

I do have a MUCH lighter summer enrollment, so I might be able to get away with certain aspects of it. Any advice as to how it might translate to a busy daycare setting?

[happymom]

I cloth diapered and also used cloth training pants. I never found a cloth training pant that I felt worked well.

They are too hard for little hands to pull up and down. The ones that are easier still always leak through the pants (but at least they keep messes off the floor).

Both my kids did better in traditional disposable pull ups. We used them for overnights primarily.

[happymom]

So many moms have recommend this method! I'm having a hard time understanding how it can translate into a daycare setting. I work alone and wouldn't feel comfortable messing up our solid routine just for my little one (especially because I have a consistent policy for everyone else). We spend a ton of time outside in the summer, so I worry that couldn't get them all up and down the stairs often enough to be successful.

I do have a MUCH lighter summer enrollment, so I might be able to get away with certain aspects of it. Any advice as to how it might translate to a busy daycare setting?

I would follow the book and wait for a long weekend where you can clear your schedule for at least 3-4 days and start there. Block 1-2 will last around 1-3 days (but the key is that you decide when he's ready...and if you need to bounce back and forth between the blocks, it's ok) Once you move on to to block 3, he should be doing pretty well.

Take him at transition times, and he'll begin telling you when he needs to go in between.

I found it to be a really laid back approach compared to the 3 day method by lora jensen (used this with my first) and oh crap was easier and had a better result.

[LittleScholars]

I would follow the book and wait for a long weekend where you can clear your schedule for at least 3-4 days and start there. Block 1-2 will last around 1-3 days (but the key is that you decide when he's ready...and if you need to bounce back and forth between the blocks, it's ok) Once you move on to to block 3, he should be doing pretty well.

Take him at transition times, and he'll begin telling you when he needs to go in between.

I found it to be a really laid back approach compared to the 3 day method by lora jensen (used this with my first) and oh crap was easier and had a better result.

That's so helpful! Thank you!

[LittleScholars]

I cloth diapered and also used cloth training pants. I never found a cloth training pant that I felt worked well.

They are too hard for little hands to pull up and down. The ones that are easier still always leak through the pants (but at least they keep messes off the floor).

Both my kids did better in traditional disposable pull ups. We used them for overnights primarily.

This is interesting. Helping pull up and down will be key, especially because I already hate bending over!

[mamamanda]

I'd definitely start with the pullups in the DC setting for sanitary reasons, but when he's starting to get it check out the brand "Baby friend" on Amazon. They underwear are thicker & while they don't hold a full bladders worth, they do contain poop & small 'didnt quite get there in time' accidents well. I've used them with my last 2 children & love them!! Much better than starting with traditional underwear.