[scrappinchar]

I'm going cross-eyed. lol
For the past few days, I've looked at so much info and products online for potty training that my mind is just in a jumble.

I, honestly, can't remember the details of Ethan and Hunter potty training. I think they were a little over 2 (they are 10 now.) And I don't remember thinking it was taking a long time or giving me issues. Then again, I think they were wearing pull-ups...then finally thick training underwear. But, by then, I must have felt pretty good about it, 'cause I didn't have any plastic, vinyl, rubber covers. I think I had a little potty for them to sit on. But, I don't remember cleaning it. lol So...maybe we just used a small seat sitting on top of the regular toilet seat???? Argh!!! Where, oh where, has my memory gone?!

Nathan has shown extra interest in the toilet this week. So...we ran some errands this morning.
We came home with Elmo's Potty Time DVD, an Elmo potty book, another potty book, and several packs of undies. Cute Thomas the Train and Cars undies. Nobody had training undies or plastic covers in his size. He is a tall, big boy. Doesn't look chunky to me. Just looks like a 3.5 year old. (He'll be 2 in just less than 2 weeks.)

All of the little potty chairs look sooooo squat for him. I decided to go with the insert for the top of the toilet seat. Brought home 2 different kinds.

But...what about the training undies??? I'm having to look online for them in his size. I'm looking at Potty Scotty brand.
Should I:
A} get just the waterproof covers that go on over training undies? And, if I do that, can I just use those regular (thin) undies I bought today? Or...
B} get the waterproof covers and the training (thick) undies that are not waterproof? Or...
C} should I get the training (thick) undies that they have that are also waterproof? Which means I wouldn't need the waterproof covers?

I'm going nuts here. lol Before I place an order, I thought I'd get some opinions.

It sounds like I'm thinking of skipping the pull-ups this time.

Of course, he might not be ready at all...but maybe he is.

[Cheri T]

Here's what I did with DS#3, who was the easiest of mine to train. Could have been I was more experienced, but definitely was the different personality and readiness of him too:
The first 3 days he wore a regular pair of 2/3T underwear, a thin baby washcloth all folded up in the strategic area in front, and a nice tight diaper or pull-up over that to keep the washcloth in place. My goal was to not waste 7000 diapers b/c they are so expensive, but not have to clean the carpet and furniture when he had accidents. I took him to the bathroom every 30 minutes the first day or two and then lengthened the time. At first he had multiple small accidents, but within the 3-4 days caught on quickly and started saying when he needed to go. For another day or two after that, he was still having little accidents but usually on the way from saying he needed to go, to actually getting in there.

Within a week or so he was out of the diapers entirely - way faster than my older 2 boys.

So I wouldn't worry about spending more for the thicker training underwear. Just be an el-cheapo like me and use a thin washcloth, lol. I can be very resourceful!

That said, the two places I actually saw training underwear was Target and JCPenneys, but I don't know how large they come in.

Also, he's pretty young. He may well be ready, or he may "play along" with the novelty of it all and then go back to diapers for a few months. It's all good, it's all normal:)
Good luck!

[CRS]

First of all, wow! I can't believe he's two already. It seems like you just had him!!

I potty trained 3 girls (my niece, too) and I know girls are different from boys. But I used the little seat that fits on top of the toilet and a step stool for them. The little potty seat was annoying to me and the bathroom just wasn't big enough for it. I used pull ups for awhile in the beginning and then just plain underwear. All three girls were completely trained by their 3rd birthdays. We made a big deal out of making sure their "stars" (or whatever design was on the pull up) didn't disappear (meaning they stayed dry). They also had a special sticker book and got a sticker each time they used the potty.

Whatever you decide, try not to stress about it. Nathan will pick up on that stress. Good Luck!

[Smiles]

I always remember the professor I had for child psychology - he said, "Parents worry too much about it. I've never seen a college student who wasn't potty trained."

[Nica]

Smiles, on 26 July 2012 - 01:52 PM, said:

I always remember the professor I had for child psychology - he said, "Parents worry too much about it. I've never seen a college student who wasn't potty trained."

Agreed! When the kids are ready, they'll figure it out. We've had to rearrange our expectations for our youngest a bit. A.K.A. He was home with me instead of going to pre-school, but even my #3 with FAS figured out what he was doing by 5 1/2. I'm also the ever practical parent. The less expensive something is the better. However, the day care that my kids went to when I was working didn't allow cloth diapers or training pants. They were too big of a mess to store until the parents picked up, so we use pull-ups. I also have two that still wet through the night, another thing that the Dr. says not to worry about until after puberty, and pull-ups are better than cloth in terms of them being able to care for themselves.