Potty Training

Sounds like sage advice to me!!

Great article! We are in potty training limbo. My 2 year old daughter is naked from the waist down for most of the day. She will tell me when she has to potty, and she hasn't pooped in a diaper for over 6 months. She still wakes up wet though and will pee in a diaper if she is wearing one during the day. Not sure where to go from there, but I will go with the flow. I figure she'll be completely trained when she is ready.

I totally agree on the disposable trainers, although we use them as "night time underpants." I like the suggestions on making the cloth feel different. I will try that. Thanks!

I really like this article. It's very reasonable advice. I think that disposables in general have created lots of problems with potty training because the key is is that they need to be uncomfortable to learn to change the behavior. My sister's older kids are still in pull ups at night (6 and 8) and I think it's because there is no motivation to change behavior because they feel dry. I like the boot camp! I say get 'er done! :)

" We would try it for two days, and if we weren't 90% done in those two days, we would put the diapers back on and try again in a month or so. " ..I could not agree more with this!!!! It worked best for us with our first, and I am hoping that our second will be just as easy! lol

this is exactly where we're at right now... ok i love my cloth diapers and so i admit i'm holding her back, but Miss O tells us when she needs to pee or poop and then runs to the potty.. problem is, she doesn't know physically how to poop sitting down... is that weird? she can pee on the potty just fine, but canNOT poop. so she gets sad, hangs her head, gets down and then goes and poops in the corner all bummed out... so that's where we're stuck! any advice on that? otherwise i think we'd be a l

I am pregnant with my first baby, so I may be a tad early to be thinking about potty training! But I have never thought about "big boy" or "big girl" pants being the same to a kid as diapers. Very excellent point! Thank you :)

We need to try potty training boot camp here. This weekend! We will still likely use our trainers while out of the house at first, though. I like the Imse Vimse because they look and feel like underwear. The Gerber ones are nice, too...and cheap.

Thanks for posting. My almost 3 year old sees the potty as a veritable monster. Sigh. I'll give up for a month and try again.

well timed! my 2 year old is soooooo close to ready and i needed some refreshers. my daughter was easy, not thinking my son will be!

I HATE disposable pull ups. They are exactly what you said, a diaper with different closures. I've been getting frustrated potty training my first and now am feeling more motivated to try again. Thanks for the Suggestions!

great tips! Setting a timer can help when potty training. :)

great advice. I think the most important advice is child readiness. it doesn't matter if YOU want them to be PL'ed by 18 months, it matters what age THEY feel ready and display a desire to PL.

Fab article! I used disposables with my first two daughters. We never bought special pity training diapers. Too expensive and I heard it can delay the process. We bought some regular big girl undies and within a week they woke up dry every morning! Now, with our newborn we are new to cloth diapering and ready to figure all this out.

Love this! This is great. Just what I needed to hear!

I have potty trained all 3 of my boys using a method similar to the Potty Training Boot Camp and I think it is the easiest way in the world. I cannot imagine messing around with pullups or trainers for months on end. My oldest trained when he was 2.5 and my twins were just a little over 2 (not nighttime dry until much later but that was fine with us).

Thanks for the advice. We potty trained our now 5yr dd fairly quickly and easily and without pull-ups. And we still have a ways to go before we even think about it with our 1yr old : )

My Pediatrician just mentioned potty training for my 18 month old. I am nervous to say the least. My oldest was 3 when she was potty trained.. wonder how different the two will be.

love these tips. i am sturggling with my son right now. he shows all the signs and when were home he always goes in his little potty then when were out he doesnt want to go!

Hmm. Wish I'd have read this before I bought all those trainers!!! But, a fluffy mail habit is so hard to break...

It isn't a myth that cd babies potty train earlier and easier. It was def true in my experience. Sometimes I think us CDing mamas don't want to give up our diaper addiction.... even if baby might be ready ;)

Oh man, this is well timed for me! Our almost 2 year old tells me when she's pooped, she doesn't hide to do it, but tells me and signs "change diaper". Thinking we'll try this after our long weekend on vacation!

This was a good read!

I'll have to try the prefold in the pocket... My 2 year old doesn't mind his dirty diapers at all!

Awesome! We start potting tomorrow. Perfect timing!!

I agree with most of this..BUT we just recently switched to cloth so here is our situation. I started potty training my two year old before switching to cloth, we would do panties all day and a princess pull up when going out. She knew to keep the 'princess' dry and rarely would wet in it. She does need a diaper for naps and night. WELL I started cloth for my 3 month old and bought mostly one size diapers. Figured I would try them on my 2 year old for naps well they are too small. My 2 year

My child hasn't been born yet but this is good information for when the time comes

I think that was awesome advice! I'm nowhere near close to potty training, (7months old) but when we get there I think that is the method I'll use! Thank you!!

This is right where we are right now so we really needed this. Thanks!

Thanks for the advice! I kind of trained my son backwards. He was always dry through the night and I should have started there with the first morning pee but I didnt. So it took us a little longer. I hope to do things a little differently this time. lol

I posted on fb too. We are trying to PT again here. My 2 1/2 year old is 98% pt'd at home. He even stands to pee LOL we haven't conquered leaving or night yet. I also bought customade trainers. Waste of money! Too similar to a CD and he would do his business as usual. Go straight to big boy/girl undies! :)

I posted on fb too. We are trying to PT again here. My 2 1/2 year old is 98% pt'd at home. He even stands to pee LOL we haven't conquered leaving or night yet. I also bought customade trainers. Waste of money! Too similar to a CD and he would do his business as usual. Go straight to big boy/girl undies! :)

Good advice! Our oldest had to be potty trained before preschool so we had ten days before her first day.  We told her she had no more pull ups and she could only wear underwear.  She had a little potty put in her room.  She had an accident and didn't like how it felt and used her potty the next time.  We had her trained, day and night, in a few days.  We've been very lucky that she hasn't had problems at night so potty training was a breeze for us.  I chose not to use any method that required

Great article as I just bought a potty seat the other day;)

I think you're on to something. I never had really thought of the training pants to just be a diaper with a different closure. Thankfully, we aren't quite to potty training so I haven't bought anything extra yet. I'm thinking now that we'd go for the boot camp method and just use some underwear!

We tried everything with my now 3 year old. She was ready to potty train around 19, 20 months, but then her sister was born when Bella was 20 months and it took FOREVER to get her potty trained. She is now, and has been for some time, thank goodness, but I still have no idea how to get her night time trained

I totally think that boot camp is the way to go! We are getting ready to start with our daughter who will be 2 in May. She is showing all the signs of being ready! Can't wait to try it!

Looks like I got cut off....I chose not to use any method that required a timer. Our second daughter has special needs and is dependent on us 100%. If only one of us was home, using the timer method would have been difficult. What we did worked for our family.

I think this is a prime example of different methods for different parents/kids/situations. If my son was older, I might try a version of this, but he just turned two and for the past 6 months we have been encouraging him (but not pushing or pressuring) to poop in the toilet. In the past month or so, he has started to really take the initiative in this, so that he usually is pooping in the toilet, and occasionally pees. He's rewarded with a few M&Ms and lately he tells me what color he wants, so

We prefer a more natural approach and let our kids potty learn. :) Both my girls were fully pl'ed by 25 months.

[rest of comment] so it's a double learning experience. ;) I fully expect to be potty training for another 3-6 months before he starts wearing underwear, and that doesn't bother me in the least.

We prefer a more natural approach and let our kids potty learn. :) Both my girls were fully pl'ed by 25 months.

My version of "potty training boot camp" was more intense, but I think that's what we needed for my kiddo. Very good tips!

Love this. Love the boot camp method. Making sure my boyfriend reads this when he gets home

We are in the midst of potty traing right now and Nothing has worked. Putting these tips to use TOMORO! Wish me luck!!

We got lucky and Eli just basically trained himself. We made big and little potties available, asked him often if he needed to go, but never had any formal plan. He wore his regular cloth the whole time. I think the biggest thing is to be patient. When they are ready, they'll do it.

I really want to have my 2yr old pted by my next baby, due in april and was going crazy, he is the boy outta my 3 girls, this is some advice I will carry with me! Thanks;) I was also wondering if you would recommend a potty chair or the "big" potty

Wow! Wonderful, wonderful advice. I have been trying with our almost 4 year old and I feel like a failure of a parent. He has wanted nothing to do with the potty and has been perfectly fine going the bathroom in his pants. Many times not even telling me that he has. I think this weekend we shall give the boot camp style a try and see what happens. Thanks Lily great advice and I have never looked at training/pull-up pants this way before and you are SO right!

Totally agree with the Boot Camp method, I've trained 2 boys at 26 and 28 months in one week never going back to diapers. Very few accidents!

Great read! Our son will be 6 months on Sunday, a little early for potty training, but it's great to read some successful advice!

Thanks for the advice! We're going to try the bootcamp method this weekend.

Thanks for your honesty. My daughter is 16 months old and has not showed any of the signs/readiness, but I'm not in a rush. She'll do it one day.

I agree with this. We may try to do the boot camp version this weekend. I just worry his sitter will have trouble keeping things up since she keeps 3 other kiddos. Suggestions for that? Other than waiting until I'm off for a week in March? I'm due with #2 at the end of May and would like to get this one trained first if possible!

my son potty-trained around 2, but there are still frequent days that he has accidents, even though he only wears underwear and gets taken to the potty often. A lot of people tell me this is common for boys...I don't know, but I am ready to stop changing wet clothes!

Thank you for this post! Some of the thinking is different than what I expected. I love the tip about the newborn prefold on top of the pocket!

I'm trying to decide what to do and when. DD is almost 2, and somehow i don't think she's ready to even try yet - but i'm not sure what i expect to happen, to know that she's ready. Plus, I'm unemployed right now, so doing a naked week is feasible...

I loved this article. All too often I see mothers on CDing pages asking for an absorbent day or night trainer. That is not the point/or should not be the point of a trainer. It is not suppose to be very absorbent because your child needs to feel wet/dirty. I also worked in a daycare for many years with 2 year olds and told many parents to just put underwear on the child. The parents were always worried about accidents. If you are not ready to change wet clothes than YOU are not ready to potty t

I totally agree with you about the pull-ups. I total waste of money. I did use them for my older son you wet the bed until he was 4 1/2 yrs old but for a younger child not worth it. Great advice about potty learning. If you pay attention to your little ones they will let you know when they are ready.

I loved this article. All too often I see mothers on CDing pages asking for an absorbent day or night trainer. That is not the point/or should not be the point of a trainer. It is not suppose to be very absorbent because your child needs to feel wet/dirty. I also worked in a daycare for many years with 2 year olds and told many parents to just put underwear on the child. The parents were always worried about accidents. If you are not ready to change wet clothes than YOU are not ready to potty t

We've done both...bootcamp really stunk for two days, but it worked faster..but, the night time thing didn't happen like that at all for us.

Very informative!

Thanks! Our kiddo is still too young, but I am thinking more & more about this.

Thank you for this! My son is at the age where we could do potty training and we a just in limbo. He will sit on the potty but do nothing and then ask for a diaper... Soon, soon and thank you for the instruction!

VERY helpful! My little guy is 2.5 and when he decided to finger paint with the contents of his dirty diaper, we decided to begin potty learning! :)

VERY helpful! My little guy is 2.5 and when he decided to finger paint with the contents of his dirty diaper, we decided to begin potty learning! :)

We knew LJ was ready when she started taking her diaper off before peeing or pooping on the floor!

Love the article and the idea that nothing special is needed. Our daughter is 19 months and is potty training herself with nothing but the potty and panties. She's naked anytime that she's awake and home, but we're still using our diapers during naps, outings, and at bedtime. She's definititely not ready for night time potty learning, but so far, so good!

Great article! Potty training always sounds so scary but this lays out the steps in a way that doesn't sound so bad.

Thanks for this! I can tell already that my son will train WAY differently then my dd.

So happy to hear I'm not the only one that thinks trainers are pointless! Great tips, thank you!

So happy to hear I'm not the only one that thinks trainers are pointless! Great tips, thank you!

This is definitely a different approach then what we did but I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with it! I think they made some great points about pullups and the expectations about potty training in them. We never used pull ups either, we went straight to undies. Our approach was one more of gradual long term familiarity! My son got a potty for his 1st birthday (yes we did this intentionally!). Every night while I prepped his bath he sat on the potty with a toy or book. Every time

We do elimination communication so my baby has been using the potty since two weeks old. We are not "diaper free" so we still use diapers to catch accidents. Right now she gets 75% of her poops and maybe 50% of her daytime pees in the potty... she is not yet 8 months old. Don't know what we will do in terms of trainers or regular underwear when she's a little older, but we'd like to have her completely graduated by 18 months.

Potty training me first was a stress filled disaster. I still have nightmares about it and he's 6.5 now. My middle son pretty much did it himself after my youngest was born, he was only wearing pull ups at night. Now that my youngest is almost 23 months we've introduced the potty. He pees in it sometimes, mostly not. I'm not going to push it, though. We don't do the "boot camp" because it just ended up with the parents mad and the kids mad and everyone in tears. :-D

Great article! We are starting to potty train my 2yo. I do not want to let him run around naked though because I do not want an accident on my wool carpet or new couches. I know that sounds bad but I would rather not deal with big accidents (when he is wearing nothing at all). I can deal with the occasional accident after he is potty trained because those happen and I don't mind changing his clothes when they are wet. The only reason I am considering investing in trainers is the side panels

Ah...potty training. We pretty much did your first method with our first child. Our son was literally potty trained in two days at 3.5 years old. Waiting until he was older seemed to make the process much easier. He was already dry through the night. We are on the home stretch with our second son. The "preschool factor" caused us to quickly train him two weeks before the start of school. He's never had an accident at school or in public, but he does have some messes at home. We're using

My comment got gobbled up!!! :( Well they definitely did it differently then we did but I don't think there is anything wrong with their way! I agree with a lot of the points they made especially about the pull-ups and the expectations some parents have about them. We didn't use pull-ups either but went straight to undies.

With both my son and daughter (and eventually son #2), I did the no-pants method. I let them run around the house in just a shirt and kept the potty in the living room. I'll admit to using pull-ups with my daughter, but my son was a breeze and went straight from diapers to naked to underwear.

I'm about to start with my toddler so thanks for the tips.

This is some great info! I was totally lost on how to potty train my son. I didn't even know when to start! I just ordered a potty for him, I know he is young and won't be using it for a while, but having it available for him to see is going to be great. I thought about purchasing some cloth trainers, but now that you've put into perspective for me, it would be silly to buy! Thank You!

We did something close to the second method and my little boy was totally potty trained right around 2 1/2, this was with spoisies. I plan on cd with baby number 2 (on the way) , so i am totally hoping this happens closer to 2!

Great Advice. My daughter hides to poop and it is the funniest thing. She has a tent that she goes in or hides in a corner and I can hear her pushing it out. She is only 15 months though so I think we still have some time before trying.

Potty Training Boot Camp! I love that! We trained Mia this way and it was so easy. My family couldn't believe how fast she was using the potty like a big girl. I hope #2 ditches the diapers as easily.

Great post, Thank you!!

I really enjoyed reading this and agree with most of it ;) For us, having cloth potty learners was a must. We didn't treat the same and Scotty knew they were big boy undies. We didn't let him pee and poop in them but did use them as a back-up, especially in the car. Since we are back and forth between the city a lot, we just felt we needed something waterproof after our first 'omg our carseat is soaked' incident. Using cloth potty learners worked well for us, but I think it's only because Scotty

I agree that you must test the waters and then forget about it so that your little one does not get freaked out by the process; however, I disagree with not using an alternate such as trainer pants. My little guy (will be 3 in March) started using the potty at 2.5, but only if he was naked. He would not go in the potty if he had a diaper on. We got the padded underwear with plastic covers (super cheap I must). We repeatedly told him these were not a diaper and it was not "okay" to go potty

Good resource when the time comes for our child!

I think we're getting kind of close. She tells us when she pooped so now we just need her to catch on to the pee part. Good tips though, I'll have to check back when we're ready to get started.

We are in the throes of gradual potty training with my 3yo. I can't wait to be back down to only 2 in diapers! I discovered something that works for us - I put toddler underpants on my son and put a newborn flip insert inside. It holds just enough so pee doesn't cover my carpet plus he feels that he is wet and tells me so!

Boot Camp method? Hmm sounds like something I might try.

well... I have been reading about the 3 day method, might consider it in another month or two!

More than anything though, it is important to wait until the child is READY. Our daughter potty learned on her own between 22 and 26 months and was fully day trained at 26 months. I thought she would never night learn, but at 40 months she declared she was sleeping in underwear. We followed her lead even though she always woke with a wrong-able wet diaper. And we never looked back! I was so sad to see my cloth stash put to rest when she day learned-had to have another baby just to feed the

I mostly agree with all of this. My 2.5 year old (who was CD'd) potty trained at 27 months using a made-up method most similar to the bootcamp you suggest. Our biggest problem, though, is that she is no where near ready to be in underwear at night. So many methods suggest putting them in underwear for nap/bed time and they'll eventually "learn" to hold their urine all night. We're pretty AP in our parenting style and this just seemed unneccessarily mean to me - not exactly like CIO but a

Thanks Lilli, This is exactly the info I needed. We are trying to potty train Valentino, and It hasn't been smooth sailing.

Great advice

Great advice! My 17 month old has been showing clear signs of potty readiness, and I have been considering how best to proceed (*very, very* gently since she is so young!). Your perspective is helpful.

I agree about the trainers. I don't think they are necessary at all. We have a few pairs of training underpants (Bummis) for when we leave the house because my 3 year old is starting to finally refuse diapers altogether. Unfortunately, she's not willing to use the potty 100% so I need to put something on her to go out so an occasional pair of cloth trainers works for us. I use them for overnight too occasionally but really she's never peed in her sleep so I rarely have to worry. I'm very laid

Loved this article. We are trying to potty train our oldest as she wants to. These tips will help. Thanks!

Great article for future reference. I have a 7mo old ;-)

hmm, great advice. thanks. we're not there yet, but will try to keep this all in mind.

As always, great ideas. Thanks for being truthful about what a waste training pants are rather than trying to make a sale.

Great advice! Our 18-month-old is starting to talk about poop and pee and will sometimes tell me when he has to pee, but he has NO interest in the potty, even the little potty we got for him- he ONLY wants to pee on the floor! The best we can do so far is to get him to pee on the bathroom floor so he gets the idea of going to a special place. For now we're not trying to get rid of diapers, just encouraging him to keep talking to us about his potty needs!

I really appreciate the fact that you offer two different methods of advice (not just what you did) and the option to have cloth diapers you already own as an option verses just trying to sell something. I have always valued the fact that you and Adam try to help not just sell me something

Thanks so much for this! I'm starting to potty train my daughter who will be 2 in April. I was contemplating the flip trainers and I have been using pull ups which I hate wasting money on! All that aside I may have to try boot camp very soon and see if it will work. Just gotta have my shampooer handy! LOL

I will remeber this when we get to potty training, in a few years. I love that you recommend NOT making additional purchases to accommodate the transition.

Great blog post! I am of the same view with the training pants. I'm not sure what I would think had I not trained my son with regular underwear. He saw them at Target and wanted them because they were Bob the Builder. I told him they were special and he couldn't poop or pee in them. That was good enough for him. 2 accidents and 7 days later he. Was 100% trained at 20 months.

I like your methods. I always get parents asking me about potty training at work. This is some great advice.

Great advice! I am just wondering if there is anything else I can do with my almost 4 year old overnight? She has never had more than 2 nights in a row that she has been dry and it is few and far between.

Lilli, amazing. Just amazing. This is EXACTLY what you told me a couple months ago and though Kevin wasn't ready for it then, he is definitely, showing interest now! All the signs are there. I will be putting him a long sleeve shirt, a pair of socks and some baby legs and away we will go! ***I am guessing this is the "LECTURE" you wanted to give me =)

Potty training my son was a nightmare. We used sposies with him, and of course, we switched to the expensive pull-ups to potty train. He saw no difference and fought me to the end. Then, we went to gerber training underwear, which was even worse because I had puddles of pee to clean up. We stopped and restarted at least 3 times. I finally did a diaper count down starting at 5. When we got to no diapers left, we didn't buy anymore. We stuck to our guns and he eventually caught on. I am pr

Great article...I would also add that 'potty training' potties are a hard habit to break. I actually had to carry ours in the car during a move because our son did not want to use a 'big' potty with a seat insert...I will not start potty training that way again...

Great article...I would also add that 'potty training' potties are a hard habit to break. I actually had to carry ours in the car during a move because our son did not want to use a 'big' potty with a seat insert...I will not start potty training that way again...

Thanks for the advice! Still awhile until we start potty training, but I've been wondering how to go about doing it with clot h diapers.

I figured we'd just go with the flow, too! When our daughter was just under 18 months she added the word, 'poop!' to her vocabulary. (peeing, pooping, and farting were all 'poop' until recently.) We have a super small apartment, with no doors in the upstairs, so she goes everywhere with us (shower, bathroom), and she just wants to do everything we do. I don't think I've changed a poopy diaper for 8 months! I really liked the ecoposh trainers that you carried until recently; they were tr

I am desperate for ideas on potty training my 3 year old. At first he was terrified of his potty chair and when he got over that, he was not happy about sitting on the chair all of the time...I even bought him trainers, but he keeps begging for the diapers. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and try the boot camp method.

I am desperate for ideas on potty training my 3 year old. At first he was terrified of his potty chair and when he got over that, he was not happy about sitting on the chair all of the time...I even bought him trainers, but he keeps begging for the diapers. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and try the boot camp method.

I am desperate for ideas on potty training my 3 year old. At first he was terrified of his potty chair and when he got over that, he was not happy about sitting on the chair all of the time...I even bought him trainers, but he keeps begging for the diapers. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and try the boot camp method.

Thanks so much for the advice. It was exactly what we were looking for. I think were ready to start. Thanks again!!

Very helpful article, Lilli. Potty training bootcamp worked well for us. I think that readiness is the key that made it less painful and less messy, too.

Great information! I have just started the potty training research for when my boy is ready so this is wonderful. Sounds like the boot camp method may be the thing we try first.

Thanks so much for the advice! I am having a really tough time potty training our 2 yr old so I will definitely give this a try!!

O! This all sounds so fun (insert sarcastic smile) I am glad I still have a little while before I have to worry about this :)

Go big or go home... Love the advice. Just starting to read up on the topic now that my baby girl is almost 1!

Lilli...great advice. I'll admit to being one of 'the ones' who asked you and Adam about trainers when I was in the store. I took your advice and didn't buy anything special. DD just went naked or had a pair of her favorite Yo Gabba Gabba undies on around the house. I ignored family input/pressure and let her lead when she was ready. There were minimal tears and the process went fairly smoothly. Right now, she is still in a nighttime diaper, but wakes up dry most nights. I guess after rea

Love this! I fully admit to dreading the effort of potty training. I'm thinking the "boot camp" is the way to go. I think I pushed my 1st before she was ready and it ended up being so frustrating for both of us.

Thanks for a great article. My second baby will arrive when my son is 19/20 months old. I don't want to put his potty training behind schedule due to his new sibling keeping Mommy busy. Having these tips and a plan to fall back on will really help!

I have awhile until we start potty training, but will be keeping all of this good information in mind!

My daughter is almost one so hopefully this comes in handy in a few months. Although, I'm thinking of at least introducing her to a potty chair sooner than 18 months since she already hides to poop. I just don't want her to be scared when the time comes to actually potty train. My one question, we use mostly prefolds. How do you make a prefold feel different? I guess we'll have no other choice than potty training boot camp.

Any recommendations for if you are already using fitteds? My 2 year old doesn't seem bothered by her wet/dirty diapers, probably because she's always been in (cotton) cloth diapers. She hides to poop, and has used the potty but is a stubborn monkey!

I found this approach very interesting Lilli. My daughter was trained just before she was 2 years. We bought little girls panties and introducted them to her each weekend since I worked full time. I always tried major changes on 3 day weekends. Fiinally one Saturday morning she got up and said "I wear big girl pants today"" and refused to put a diaper on after that. I tried putting a diaper on her the first night just to make sure she didn't wet the bed and she woke the next morning very u

I found this approach very interesting Lilli. My daughter was trained just before she was 2 years. We bought little girls panties and introducted them to her each weekend since I worked full time. I always tried major changes on 3 day weekends. Fiinally one Saturday morning she got up and said "I wear big girl pants today"" and refused to put a diaper on after that. I tried putting a diaper on her the first night just to make sure she didn't wet the bed and she woke the next morning very u

I found this approach very interesting Lilli. My daughter was trained just before she was 2 years. We bought little girls panties and introducted them to her each weekend since I worked full time. I always tried major changes on 3 day weekends. Fiinally one Saturday morning she got up and said "I wear big girl pants today"" and refused to put a diaper on after that. I tried putting a diaper on her the first night just to make sure she didn't wet the bed and she woke the next morning very u

Thanks for the advice.

continued from above... very upset to see she was wearing a diaper so I knew that was the end of diapers for her and she didn't even have an accident after that.

Great article! Even though my daughter is only 9 months, I do not have any idea were to start. And to tell the truth i am very nervous about the whole situation of potty training.Reading this gives me a good idea on how to start and ways to try. Thanks!

continued from above... very upset to see she was wearing a diaper so I knew that was the end of diapers for her and she didn't even have an accident after that.

Thanks for the Great article! Boot camp worked the 1st time for me with C1, I'm about to go thru it a second time with C2 though (preschools approaching) -hoping it sticks this time, C3 is only 10 days old so I've got a lil while before my last boys is potty trained ;)

I haven't read the article yet, but plan on it next. Thanks for all you guys do!

My 19 month old is not ready quite yet, but we do have the little potty & attempt to get him to sit on it without forcing. I am nervous about how nighttime is going to go. He wakes up with a massively dirty diaper almost every morning! How do I change the time he poops!?

Great post. I generally agree with most of your points, but I do think absorbent trainers could be useful for outings. Its harder to clean up a messy accident when you are away from home.

Common sense wisdom. Works for me : )

Good timing on a great article! Thanks!

I have found that potty training my 3 girls was harder than my son. But, I agree with the boot camp method! It has worked really well for us!

Great article! Thanks!

Great post and interesting comments. My son is 2.5 and physically ready but says he wants to wear diapers forever. I think having a 5 mo old sister has something to do with that. Will try the prefold in his pocket diaper.

I couldn't agree more! My older son wears a nighttime bedwetter pant due to heavy sleeping and frequent wetting (underdeveloped bladder). We PT'd him the same way! My middle son is any occasional nighttime wetter, and enthusiastically gave up diapers after 1 day. Can't wait to PT our youngest son and say adios to dipes all together!

Love that articl very well written. Im proud to say my daughter wsseay to petty train

My daughter is only 6 months old so I'm not at this stage yet, but have thought about it, even before I was pregnant. My own 2 cents: - I think pull ups came out around the time my sister was at that stage (she's 5 years younger than me). Later on, it dawned on me, it's just a diaper. Probably more difficult to get off too, since there aren't really "closures". Other than that, like you said, no difference. - I kept reading that CD babies potty train better, yet from reading on blogs a

cont... it sounded like a lot were potty training LATER. Other comments here hit the nail on the head though, CDing mamas don't want to give up the cute adorable diapers. I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one that has noticed that. - I think another sign that a child is ready is when they can tell you that their diaper needs changed. If the kid can tell you that they need to be changed, it is probably time to start that transition. - My mom had both of us potty trained around t

(last one i swear) - My mom had both of us potty trained around the 1.5-2 year mark, so I am AMAZED to see how many kids are still no where close at 3-4 years old. Even when my sister was around that age, she was long potty trained when other kids weren't. I've wondered to myself before if it's a weird generational thing, but it probably comes back to the advent of the pullups (and therefore making it a culture change) that kids are trained later. And some may disagree with me here, but some

Thanks for the advice!!!

thanks for the advice. we have the night problem. our 6 yrs. old out wets any disposable diaper, pull up, or cloth diaper. every night!!!

Great advice. Our 3 year old has been going #1 in the potty for almost a year now, but we are still having trouble with #2 and none of the methods mentioned have worked.

I will totally be trying this. We need to practice potty learning. Sounds like boot camp is a good choice for us.

Yes! I love the potty boot camp. It's how we trained our oldest at 20 months. It's a little tougher with our younger daughter (she's required to wear sposies at daycare) but she's nearly 100% potty compliant at home. She even wakes up dry some mornings. I can see the light at the end of the diaper tunnel!

I have read reviews of cloth trainers where people complained that they wouldn't hold enough for overnight. Um...isn't it the point to feel wet. I agree, just use a diaper overnight if that's what you want it for.

Totally agree about the sposie pull ups = big waste of money. I have a two year old and we have been using prefolds laid in pocket diapers for a couple of months. At this point he just doesn't really care. He will pee in the potty every once in a while. Tried stickers for a while, but in a week he was totally over the stickers and I am not into giving food as a reward for going to the bathroom at all. I think I will try the "bootcamp" training this spring/summer. Hoping to get him potty trained

Great post! I love how succinct your advice is! In my job I have the chance to help a lot of parents/toddlers PL. Most make the mistake of trying too early when the child can't control when they pee. I LOVE your 2 day, then wait a month rule. I also sometimes suggest parents just PL for a couple hours a day and try for longer periods as they have more success. It is crucial that the child have interest. If you are fighting with your child to get them to sit on the potty, you are going to

It's important to remember that each child is different. My first two trained really young but it took a bit of time to day-train. They were both trained at night before they day trained and never wet the bed. My youngest still wets a lot at night but seems as if the day-training will go a little faster - he's also quite a bit older than the other two were.

I finished the last phase of potty training my oldest--sleeping though the night in underwear -by putting him back in cloth diapers at night, which he didn't want to do. I've always used disposables at night, cloth during the day, but somehow I assessed that he was ready to wear underwear at night (can't remember that part exactly), but I was right, because within 3 days of me putting him in cloth at night, he stayed completely dry every night!

As a future potty training momma, i appreciate the honesty and perspective shared here! Thanks!

thanks for sharing!

I agree with you! :) I call it "extreme potty training boot camp ;) " works like a charm!

I think the three day method is a great idea, especially if you choose to co-sleep. You get it done and over with and the kid feels more independent.

Great article!

I really liek the article- giving me ideas, though with only a 1 year old, I have some time until PTing!

i agree we do big boy pants all day and a pull up at night, but my son will go days without pooping because hes afraid to use the potty for that, we had a peter potty to train to pee and i think that made it 1000% easier

love it, I am starting to potty train my 19 month old and was considering antsy pants, thanks for saving me the money.

We didn't have any luck with "boot camp" in our house. My daughter is nothing if not stubborn and she dug her heels in after being asked to sit on the potty for the third time in an hour. The gradual approach worked, though. We're still struggling at night. She has been out of daytime diapers since summer, but we're nowhere near there at night. She wears pull-ups to sleep and SOAKS hers every night. I think she saves it up!

We just used the boot camp method this weekend with my 20 month old and its working wonderfully! she's doing great in regular underwear and has only had a few accidents.

I definitely agree! My daughter calls training pants "diapers" and pees in them right away. We're working on going straight to underwear.

My nephew is driving us nuts! He was going on the potty and somehow relapsed to pooping under the dining room table! Needless to say, he's back in diapers. I think the bootcamp method is what he needs for sure!

This is a good article. We didn't use cloth diapers with our first child. When it came time to potty train we started using pull ups. It was nothing different than a diaper so we cut them out completly and started using regular panties. It was rough on me at first but she caught on pretty quick.

Great article Lilli. Our experiences was we switched to underwear to potty train our children and has worked well. My oldest potty trained in 2 weeks while on vacation and we had cars that he would get for each big milestone (the last one being dry for a complete week) and we never had overnight troubles. My second we just finished and she had some overnights so we put a cloth diaper on her. Then she would just stand there and pee or poop in it and her Daddy looked her and said no way and so we

We're probably still a year or so away from potty training, but it's something I'll already nervous about so I appreciate the tips and discussion! Both of my nieces pretty much potty trained themselves in a couple of days around age 2, so hopefully their cousin will follow suit :)

I am not excited about potty training at all, we're still a while away from it, but it's coming. Thanks for the ideas and advise.

Well, we're not there yet, and I'm sooooo not looking forward to this! Thanks for the advice - much appreciated. I have a feeling I will need all the help I can get. ;)

I loved all the tips and tons of sage advice in the comments as well.

we're getting to this stage, so I'm going to have to try something soon (he already rarely poops in a diaper, has used the potty regularly for about a year and a half, and is starting to be aware of when he needs to pee, so I think I should take advantage of the timing). Thanks for the suggestions!

Good tips, straight to the point! I think the most important is having patience. What worked great for us with both our boys was eliminating diapers at home and letting them run around in underwear right from the start. The only tme a diaper went on was when we were leaving the house, but still made a point to take them to the bathroom every 30-60 min. that we were out and about. I just brought along a travel potty seat so the boys would be comfortable sitting on a big potty.

Both my kids went with no pants for two weeks! That worked well for son No1 bit not No2. Different timelines for each kid, but that method worked for us! Yes ppl thought I was crazy!

Great article! Now onto potty training my little guy!

Sounds like great advice to me as I'm closing in on the potty training age!

Good advice! I'll keep it in mind for the future :)

I really like the boot camp ideas. I feel like kids are more adjustable and ready for change (if they're showing signs of readiness) than we give them credit for. I also think it's really important to talk to them about what you're doing and get them involved in it.

Great article! You had lots of good advice. I'm not potty training yet but its never too early to start researching methods. Thanks for the info!

Good article! I love what you wrote about not buying into the hype of fancy potty training diapers!

I use to do early intervention with children with autism, ages 2 - 4. I potty trained MANY children waaaaay before I was even considering having my own children. And the way I trained those children was EXACTLY the potty training boot camp you described. I plan on doing the same with my own kids and I recommend to all my friends to do the same with their own kids. It leaves out any confusion!

Good articles and thoughts! We're still years away from potty training, but you gave me a lot to think about!

For my 41/2 yr old( trained since July 09, no accidents after the first 3 days) and 17 mth old ( in process) we started introducing them to the toilet for doing business from the age of one. They do something we clap and make a big deal. If they did not want to sit no problems we got them up. Summer after she turned 2 put her in underwear ( no pull ups or trainers) and has been in them since. Pull ups used only for naps and night time till she asked to be not in them. Good success with older one

My sister in law followed these methods and my nephew is potty trained at 20 months! NOT kidding! He says "Potty Toilet" when he has to go! It's great! Great advice, to the point and I love it!

My sister in law followed these methods and my nephew is potty trained at 20 months! NOT kidding! He says "Potty Toilet" when he has to go! It's great! Great advice, to the point and I love it!

Great Advice, and I tried to do this with my first, but she could of cared less about pee or poop in her pants - still is not bothered by sleeping on wet sheets at age 4! we basically had to wait till she trained herself. we are hoping that cloth diapers will help the 2nd time around with a boy!

I totally agree! Your boot camp method is almost exactly what we did with our 2 year old (who potty trained around 22 months). Worked great and we didn't have to shell out money on trainers.

I love the boot camp method and am seriously going to try that this spring! I think my almost-two-year-old is on the verge of being ready. I'm sure he will be ready right before the new baby comes in June. :) Thanks for the tips!! I'm definitely going to use them!

I've never been disappointed by a Cannon's advise so I'm taking it. Going to start trying this method in the next month or so!

Wonderful!!! Can't wait to try it.

Starting potty boot camp over here too

Potty training boot camp works great! We did it with all three of our kids, have a variety of issues with each child, unique to them, but we are well on our way with #3 being potty trained. He isn't one to poop on the potty, but I certainly do not make it comfy for him. And th whole time I'm cleaning him up, I remind him that he needs to put this poop in the potty next time. He'll get there, they all do! OH and for those with older kids who wet, LET IT GO. Their bladders may not be fully develo

I think this is excellent advice. Everyone tells me boys are much harder to potty train than girls, and my 6 month old son has me dreading it. This is good advice, and most importantly makes absolute sense. I'm going to try the boot camp and see how it goes. Thanks for the great advice!

I'm going to bookmark this. I only have 1 child so far and we are not at the potty learning stage yet (only 16 months) but since I'm a newb I'm reading up on anything I see related to the topic. Your approach makes sense to me! Thanks!

great advice...i will definitely be using this later!

Definitely sharing this with my other PL families!!

My older one transitioned to underpants during a 4 day stint being homebound by a snowstorm. My younger one is taking a bit longer. Maybe a snowstorm is what we need - God help me!

Good stuff. You should submit this to a parenting magazine. Thank you

Good stuff. You should submit this to a parenting magazine. Thank you

hello mama, m daughter is 19 months and a friend suggested your website. i have just "completed" the 3 day potty training method and it was a major fail, hense the quotations marks. literally today was the 3rd day and shes back in diapers because im so unsure of what to do now, i dont want to confuse her or put her on the potty to "try" because in the book it says they will never learn their body signs and i agree. anyway my baby would tell me WHEN she was peeping and the same with poop, she w