Ha! I know it’s been years, but I have a friend in her 40’s who has already raised 2 children who are in their 20’s. But now she has a 2 year old that she needs to potty train. For her first two, she was a stay at home mom, so she’d like tips on how to do this as a working mom. Have you any advice?
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as a working mom.
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Well, if the little one goes to a daycare, likely there is training going on there…it can be kind of a group activity.
Thanks, she says that they are great at potty training during the day if you are doing it at home. I think it’s time for me to back away.
The key to potty training is to wait until they are ready. I potty trained my children while working, and it was accomplished in a weekend. But the key is to wait until they are ready. Translation - 3 years old.
I thought they had to be potty trained to go to college 
1214mom we all know that. You’re hilarious. I was trying to help out a friend who has college aged kids and also a 2 year old. Suddenly, this Parent Cafe is only about college related subjects. Not fashion or weddings or weight loss or…anything. My own kids are really good at peeing. Me too. I pee like a champ.
HotCanary, I am going to bookmark this thread! Next time some new kid pops in here and inquires why we talk about weddings and kitchens, I’m going to link your thread instead of my old standby - the Colonoscopy thread.
I think readiness is the key, too. Our ladies were done by the time they were 2! Girls… Can keep it in longer. 
Pretty undies with kitties and lace… helped.
I think I recall spending a day with a half naked grandson and a potty chair in the kitchen. Readiness is definitely the key. You can usually tell when they want to quit wearing pull ups. My dd is struggling to get her ds to make it through the night now.
@HotCanary - sorry, I couldn’t resist. Of course there is no problem posting about this topic.
I remember it being quite stressful, but I worked with my daycare provider, and eventually, it did happen. My boys were closer to 3 before they were trained though, and not wetting the bed came even later.
Good luck to your friend.
BTW, they stopped sucking their thumbs before college too, but I wasn’t always sure that would happen
BunsenBurner, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comment! I told my friend that I had been a SAHM, but I knew a of group of very helpful people (mostly moms) and I’d ask to see if they had any tips. I guess it all depends on when you ask,and how you ask. In the meantime, I’ll check out the Colonoscopy thread. I’m due.
If there is a plan that is working during the day whereever the child is then she should just try and continue that routine when she is off work and home in the evenings. Sort of doesn’t matter what the adult’s routine is (SAHM or working mom) as long as the child’s routine stays consistent.
I think if the child is ready it doesn’t take too long. Unfortunately sometimes external forces dictate the schedule, like the kid can’t go to the next daycare level unless he/she is using the potty reliably. Then it can be difficult.
Pre-schools my kids went to, kids had to be potty trained before they were allowed to go. Both of my kids were potty trained before they were 2. I think around 15 months for D1 and 18 months for D2. I don’t know if they were ready, but they were trained. I trained D1, and left my nanny to train D2. For 2-3 days she stayed home with D2. She took diapers off D2, let her run around apartment. After few accidents, D2 figured it out. I put diapers on them at night for a little while.
For D, at 20 months, it was all about wanting to be a ‘big girl’. For S, at 3 years, it was all about the underwear (Power Rangers, Spiderman) and the prizes. Please don’t flame me… If you #1, you get a small prize (Tootsie Roll, Smarties) and if you go #2, you get a wrapped prize (MatchBox Car, coupon for trip to the park). It took D two days and took S nine. No accidents, no diapers at bedtime.
I think the hyper absorbent diapers and Pull-ups (available in up to size 5 or so - horrors!!) delay potty training, since the toddler doesn’t get what “wet” feels like and doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
We bought some of the old-time “training pants” (and I think used the old plastic pants over them, at least when not at home)
Most kids are ready to be trained at age 18-36 mos, and if you wait too long you kind of “miss your moment” and can be really screwed, then can end up with all kinds of power struggles surrounding the issue. When the kid shows signs of readiness, go for it!
We didn’t do this, but I read somewhere that at about age 2 you should just strip off the diaper and let the child run around naked. Apparently making a mess in a diaper doesn’t bother young children, but having their poop fall on the floor or unine run down their leg does.
My son, for whatever reason, was unwilling and actually afraid to “poop” on the potty. We had held off getting him a toy gun despite his requests for one, and so we bought a Nerf gun and put it on top of a tall cabinet where he could see it when he was placed on the potty, with the promise that it would be his once he actually used the potty for his sitting down business… It took a few weeks, but he finally got the gun and we got a lot fewer messy diapers.
You can’t wait until the child is 3 to potty train, because they can’t start 3-K or other programs until they are fully potty trained.
And if you think potty training is hard, wait till it comes to bedwetting…
Mine were three, and they wore dresses with no pants.
I was not in a hurry to train them, because it is much easier to change diapers, than to find a non sketchy public bathroom.
I think we had a doll for younger D.
http://www.onceuponapotty.com
13-- Shouldn't a tootsie roll have been the prize for #2? ;)
I have 7 kids. Only one of them trained before age 3. The rest around 3-3 1/2.
My first kid was trained at exactly age 3. This is how it happened. We had a police and fire station down the street, and S was afraid of the sirens. He thought police were the bad guys and firemen started fires. So I told him that it was against the law for 3 year olds to wear diapers. " It would really be a shame if the police came and arrested you on your birthday, because they won’t let you have birthday parties in jail. So, none of that yummy cake I was gonna make you. . ."
(Yes, it worked. Instantly. And yes, my son has forgiven me.)
Good one, atomom. Yes, the Tootsie Roll should have been the prize for #2.