OK, so I looked at a couple of the other potty training questions posted, and didn't see anything that really seemed to apply here. My twins are 19 months, and are showing a lot of interest in the potty. I did not expect this for a while longer, but we are trying to go with it. I have 2 little training chairs, and the kids like to just play with them. Once in a while they will sit there with their clothes and diaper on, but every time I ask if they want to take their diaper off and sit on it to go potty, they will freak out, like they are suddenly scared of it. Should I just put the training chairs away for a while, or should I let them continue to just sit on it with their clothes and diaper on? My son especially likes to watch me, and will close the toilet lid and flush the toilet for me so I think they are showing early signs of being ready. I definitely don't want to push them, I think that just makes things harder. I am also ok with them waiting a while longer; like I said I didn't expect them to show interest or be ready until they were 2ish. Have any of you had anything like this happen with your kid(s)? Or if you know of any books that are good, let me know that too. Thanks!
Well, there was a variety of responses that I got, and I am still at a loss as to what to do. For now we have moved all of the diaper-changing equipment to the bathroom, so the kids will hopefully at least start to associated their bodily functions with the bathroom. I also think for now we will either leave the training potties out, or at least make sure they are easily accessible. I don't want them to become a toy, but the twins do like to sit on them while I am fixing my hair, etc. or just before/after the bath. Pretty much we'll let them do what they seem to be ready for, and increase the exposure as they are more ready. I am definitely a big fan of not pushing infants/toddlers to do things they are not ready, but moving on their schedule. In the meantime, heave a big sigh and head to Costco for more diapers!
I was in the same predicament w/ my b/g twins. after 2 weeks of having the potties out- they just lost interest or would just sit and play around. I finally just put the potties back away until they are more ready. My advice is just to put them away- or go full throttle, without pull ups. I would definitely advise against sort of doing it- you will probably get frustrated. good luck!
I totally thought this with my b.g twins at 18 months old too- for all the same reasons.
My daughter would sit there forever though, entil she went- my son went maybe a handful of times, if that, but mainly would sit there for 45 minutes then get up and walk 5 feet and pee where he stood. My envisioned goal of them getting potty trained together was scrapped-
My daughter, at 2 1/2 suddenly was overnight completely potty trained. The diapers at night only lasted a few months (pull-ups at night were called "panty-diapers") and now, she will be 3 next week and sleeps in panties.
I knew she was completely potty trained overnight when she woke up that morning, went to potty, and then went outside to play later and asked to come back in to pee.. nice! She KNEW when she needed to go and could hold it til she got there- that is the key I figured out! She does #1 and #2 in the potty, always. She is already climbing on the big potty by herself, no stool, no seat thing.
NOW- my dear dear son.. will be 3 next week, and still doesnt care a thing about the potty. He doesn't understand the feeling of when he needs to go at all, and will still pee in the floor if left with nothing on.
On a postive note though, when my dd decided she was potty trained, he went in a completely different "brain direction:" and suddenly was a VERY fluent talker! She is still hard to understand a lot, but he translates for me! LOL!
Their brains focus on one developmental thing at a time, I have learned, and I don't know about you but MY b/g twins are EXACT OPPOSITES of each other in every feasible way!
Email me if you want more- I have written a book here!
I have two little girls that I have potty trained, my first was 18 months old when I bought the potty and started trying to train her to use it, she was about 2 1/2 when she was really trained, with infrequent accidents unitl she was 5. With my second daughter I did not even start to try to train her until she was 2 1/2 and she was very well traiend in just 3 months time, she even has fewer accidents than my first had. The moral of the story is that a child will not be potty trained unitl s/he is ready, whether you start young or not!
sure, kids can show signs of being interested much earlier than they're really able to do it. my sons were both interested in some aspect of potty training around 18 months, but my oldest wasn't completely potty trained until 4, even though he could pee at the toilet, sitting or standing, before 2. my second is 2 3/4, has been pooping only in the toilet for quite a while now, but only about 3 weeks ago decided he was done with pullups. i've been having to take him to the toilet every 1 to 1 1/2 hours, but he's getting better and better at going on his own when he feels it. he's getting better at holding it for a longer amount of time. it's a process. personally, i had better luck with the soft seat that you put on top of the toilet seat (under $7 at walmart) and a step stool. potty chairs take up a lot of space in the bathroom and you have the added work and frustration of cleaning them out, the kids using them for containers for other things, etc. it could be a long time from now before they are totally potty trained, so that's how long the chairs will be there if you keep them. just a thought. good luck!
Yay! Another twin potty trainer! I have twin boys (25 months right now) and it sounds like they're EXACTLY like yours. I also have two potties, they also like to play around with them, they also like to flush the toilet and close the lid, and will also often sit on the potty fully clothed. Once in a while I can get them to both sit naked (the "peer pressure" of two works well with this...), and I even got one of them to pee in it once last week (the brother wouldn't do it but enjoyed sitting and helping praise the pee-er). They started being interested in the whole potty thing around 18 months, but have both been averted to actually using it or sitting with no diapers until just the last week or so. Anytime I can tell that they're trying to poop in the diaper and ask if they want to sit on the potty, they always shake their heads no and back away. I think they like the idea, but since they're not really sure how to do it, it's a little daunting still. So... I think it's good to have the potties out and let them play and get used to sitting on them. That way they can get used to what they are and what they're for and eventually be more comfortable actually using them. I'm not much farther along with the twin potty training than you, but so far it has been completely different from my older daughter. Partly because of extreme personality differences between her and her brothers, and possibly partly because they're boys and she's a girl. I've heard it's different for the two sexes. I really couldn't say. I'll definitely be reading the other responses to this question though. It will be interesting to see what other twin moms have to say that have successfully passed the potty training with theirs. Good luck. Sorry I'm not more helpful. At least you know there's another set of twins doing what yours are!
The biggest sign of being "ready" is waking up dry in the morning or after naps. Until they can do this, I would wait. Once they can, check out easypottytraining.com. My daughter was potty trained at 22 months, and it only took 4 days.
I don't know whether it's that different training twins than singletons except that they may encourage each other or hold each other back a bit, but they will still ultimately have to do it on their own individual time table- could be at the same time, could be at different times! I would continue to leave the chairs there so they get comfortable sitting on them, but since they freak out over sitting on them undressed, I would probably drop suggesting that for a couple weeks, and then check back periodically. At least they are showing some interest, which is the first step in the right direction! Them watching you is great, also. Watching Dad may help your son, as well. You're definitely on the right track in not pushing them. Good luck, and enjoy those babies!
O.K,first of all i have b/b twins and trained the boys by placing a line of m&ms (Use your childs favorite candy) from his room, to the potty. Tell him he gets the candy only if he tries to use the potty. Also let him pick out his first pare of "Big boy underwear" and let him wear them only on the days he succesfully used the potty.
Training girls is much easier than girls (or so ive heard) but I would use the same techniques.
Best of luck!
Hi, I have b/g twins that are 22 months and are ready to potty train. They started showing interest as early as yours are, but when I put them on the potty or took their diaper off to sit they started crying and saying they were done. So I just left the potties out for them to play with and whenever I went to the bathroom and they came with me I would say mommy is a big girl she goes potty on the big girl potty. They started getting to the point where my girl would take her diaper off just after she goes and says mommy potty and got excited about it, and my little boy would say potty and run to the bathroom. I am just now starting to potty train them, because they are definitely ready. Get super excited when they go in the potty, my son went for the first time this weekend in the potty and we got so excited and he saw that he did it and he was excited about it too. Once you start potty training keep them in panties the entire time, if you switch back and forth you will confuse them, and make sure they are waking up from their naps and in the morning with dry diapers, then you don't have to night-time train them. Good luck, let me know how yours goes :)
The ARE potty training...they are becoming familiar with the potty, getting used to it being around, understanding when and how to use it. Will the actually 'perform' by going in the potty? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, having the potty around and getting comfortable is Step #1. How long will it be before they get to Step #2, and going? Who knows. They're 19 months old...cut 'em a little slack. Step #3 of course if recognizing they need to go and going by themselves.
For us...my DD showed serious interest in the potty at 20mos. She even went a couple times. Then....nothing. I never forced the issue. On June 2nd 2007 when she was 34 mo's she went diaper free day and night, never looked back. So 14 mo's of watching me, trying it out on occasion, etc before she finally decided on hew own that she was ready. I kept her in diapers and never, ever forced the issue (ie, running naked and dragging her to the toilet ever 1/2 hour) and she 'trained' overnight.
Roll with it. Its just like anything else you learn to do. When you want to learn how to use a computer you go to the stores, research them, maybe take a class. Same with potty training, learn about it before doing. GL!!!
