This was the must-have baby product when I was pregnant, and along with all the other moms of newborns that I knew at the time, I bought one, despite the nagging doubt that I was wasting $40 on a blob of plastic. The buzz on the Internet swayed me – rave reviews from other moms saying their 1-6 month old babies LOVED their Bumbos. Or more usually, LOVED!!!!!! with plenty of exclamation points.

I ordered my Bumbo from the internet, and it arrived, and it was indeed a blob of plastic, a sizable, sturdy lump of plastic, but still a lump of plastic. I started to feel that I’d been duped.

I plopped my son, who was at the age where sitting up is almost a possibility, into the seat. He looked startled. Then a big grin spread across his face. He flapped his arms, kicked his legs, and grinned. From that day, every time I needed to pee, answer the phone, or do anything that needed concentration or two hands, I set him in the Bumbo and he was perfectly content for several minutes, sitting up and watching the world go by. He used it for a couple of months, until sitting up was old hat and crawling was now the new black.

Then fast forward almost three years. My son is now capable of climbing on top of the five foot high radiators, then sitting and grinning and kicking his legs, and we also have Daycare Baby (age 1) and Boyfriend’s Daughter (age 6). We just moved house, and when I was packing, I pulled out the Bumbo from the back of the closet, and all three kids crowded round. “What is it? Is it a potty?” They asked. “It’s a baby seat”, I said. “I want to sit in it!” They all said. Actually Daycare Baby said “aa? aa? aaaaaaaa!!” but that seemed to be what she meant.

It’s a baby seat, guys. But they all had a go. Daycare Baby tried to get in backwards, which she thought was very funny. My son sat in it and peed, which they all thought was hilarious. The Bumbo had a wash. Then Boyfriend’s Daughter had a go. The Bumbo got stuck on her bottom, so she crawled around the house like that. It kept them all entertained for a good thirty minutes. Never mind that it’s a baby seat.

The Bumbo Baby Seat is a very useful lump of plastic, perfect for babies aged 1-6 months. And 1-6 years too.

Just a warning, in case you were expecting gems of potty knowledge: I have no idea. I’m hoping you can help.

My son is 2 1/2 and is not potty trained. Progress so far in potty training is thus: purchasing a potty at Ikea today. Of course out of the six colors available, he wanted a pink potty, but I wasn’t going to argue if it’s the one he wanted to buy. I’m guessing he’ll be more likely to use the one he wants, than if I had overruled him and insisted on blue.

Another woman in the store was buying one for her baby, who was barely toddling and looked about 18 months old. I’m feeling like I’m very late to the party.

But I have a friend with an intelligent, developmentally perfect in every other way, 3 year old who is not potty trained, and not even close.

So where does my son fit?

There’s various reasons why I haven’t started potty training, or potty learning, or whatever the politically correct term is now. In the last year, we’ve moved house several times, been traveling a lot, his dad moved out, new roommates moved in, family visiting, so there’s been plenty of other activities going on and change happening. I haven’t wanted to add in any more stress.

And I guess as long as he is out of diapers before he starts pre-school (which is at least a year away) it doesn’t matter. It’s not a race, is it? Just an end of doing diaper laundry. Yeah, I use cloth.

I’d love to have three fewer loads of laundry a week, and no diaper pail in the bathroom. I wouldn’t know what to do with all the extra time and space.

So I’m not worried that I’m starting late. But the problem is that I don’t even know where to start.

Let him run around naked? Sit him on the potty a couple of times a day and hope for success? Anyone have any potty advice, books or videos to recommend?

My son is now almost 18 months old, and I am beginning to think about potty training. He isn’t really showing signs of being ready to begin the process yet, but I’ve decided to do some research on potty training boys.

My four previous children are girls and with DH away a lot traveling with his job, well, I’ve decided that I might need a little bit of assistance with this whole experience. Is it true that boys are more difficult to potty train the girls? I’ll let you know as soon as I do.

The real reason for this post was to encourage everyone to check out the PULL-UPS website which I just discovered. The disclaimers: I don’t really get to spend a lot of time on the internet just checking out sites, and when I do get the time, I like to make it count. I assume this is the case for most parents with young children. Because of these things, I felt it was important to share a quality site which is actually worth your time to sit down and explore.

On the website, you can find videos about potty training tips which are actually quite good. A real bonus is a free DVD on potty training which includes tips, songs and games designed to help your child breeze through the potty training experience. Even if you have a young infant, I’d suggest going online to get your free copy while supplies last. Eventually, you will be potty training your child!

One of the interesting things for me at least was a journal on the site started by Melissa Joan Hart to detail her potty training experiences with her son, Mason. My gosh I remember watching her show on Nickelodeon when I was a teenager. I guess I’m dating myself now, aren’t I?

The bottom line is that when you get a few moments to yourself while your baby is napping – check out the videos and get your free DVD. You may think that potty training is light years away, but the reality is that before you know it, your son or daughter will be ready to transition into big pants.

Be forewarned: You shouldn’t read this post if you’re about to eat lunch. Or dinner. Or a snack, for that matter.

My son has a new habit, and I have no idea how to break him of it. Although he has potty trained with regards to everyday activities, when he goes down for a nap I still put a diaper on him because he’s not quite to an age where he can hold it in while he sleeps. He takes naps most days, but some days he decides he would rather play than sleep.

Here is where it gets gross.

Once in a while he’ll need to poop during naptime. Instead of yelling for me to come help him, or going to the bathroom on his own, he’ll remove his diaper, do his business on the floor, and then smoosh it into the carpet until I come upon this horrific discovery.

Hey, I told you it was gross.

He’s done this three or four times in the past couple of months, and I’m just about ready to just give up on naps altogether just to avoid this situation. I’ve tried making him help me clean it up, I’ve tried scolding, once I even tried crying but that was more involuntary than anything else. Really, who wants to have to clean that stuff up? I think it would bring just about anyone to tears.

Yet today the same thing happened again. My husband seems to think we need to be more stern, but I think I can’t get any more stern without giving the kid a spanking, and since I don’t spank there’s not much else I can do.

I’m open to suggestions on this one.

I’ve talked to many moms and this seems to be a dreaded event in most households. If only there were a smooth, painless, and accident-less transition between the convenience of diapers and using the potty. Unfortunately, there isn’t, and the whole potty-training business still makes parents anxious even with books, and gadgets galore in the U.S. What are the trends around the world?

Germany Parents introduce the potty between 16 mos. and 2 yrs.old, but are lax on a timeline. The children are allowed to go at their own pace. Most are fully trained by age 3.

Cuba Children are potty trained much earlier, by 1 or 1.5 years old. This is most likely because children almost always exclusively use cloth diaper since disposable diapers are expensive. Since children feel wet and uncomfortable more readily than those absorbent disposables, they are more open to “doing their business” in the toilet.

England There is a fierce debate between the older generations on the issue of potty training. The older generation think children should start their training as early as 6 mos. While the younger generation prefer to start much later, at around 2 years old. Again, older generation used cloth diapers, and had more children closer in age. The younger generation have fewer children, spaced further apart, and have the luxury of time to keep them in their nappies. However, some young moms don’t wait until 2 yrs. old and prefer to start at 6-9 mos. like the older generation did. I was surprised to see my friend’s baby, the same age as my daughter, using her “potty” at 9 mos.!

India & China It is customary in both countries to start the process very early. They condition the child to associate a sssshhhh or similar noise with potty training as young as a few months old, while holding them over the toilet. Also, most parents do not use a child’s version of the potty, but go straight to the big throne, so to speak. As a result, children are independent in their bathroom trips as young as 2, making use of the customary split in their pants to make things even easier. I have also heard of anecdotes where some children are held in the streets to go poop. Right now, western influence is slowly introducing diapers to the Chinese, so we’ll see if this practice survives the western assault.

United States Pediatricians advise parents to watch for signs that the child is ready for training like watching mom/dad with interest when they go to the bathroom, understanding what the potty is for, etc. However, the same method that is prevalent in India and China is being advocated by a few parents here and books are now available explaining the process.

I’m feeling super smug today. I’ve cloth diapered my son since he was six months old, when I bought a set of FuzziBunz diapers in size medium. He’s two and a half and those diapers still fit him. For that $200 investment, I’ve saved over $500 in disposable diapers in two years. And since I live in an apartment where the laundry is paid for, you can make that feeling extra super-smug!

It helps that he’s slim and didn’t need a bigger size of cloth diapers, which would have added to the expense. Moms who use one-size-fits all diapers, like BumGenius diapers, which fit babies from newborns up to toddlers, can also save money on buying diapers.

Once my son is potty trained, which I currently predict will be when they send Britney Spears to the moon, I can sell the diapers on Diaperswappers.com or craigslist, where they have a great resale value.

Cloth diapers aren’t for everyone, but they’ve been a great choice for us. It helps a lot that I love doing laundry (yeah, i know I’m a freak), they are probably better for the environment, and they have lots of little benefits, like cushioning learning-to-walk bottoms better, and looking cuter than disposable diapers too.

I’ll close with a cute story… My son loves our neighborhood fire station. One of the times we were there, a firefighter dad-to-be asked if my son wore Pampers or Huggies. I use cloth, I told him. The other firefighters standing around chimed in with their opinions on different diaper brands and I can’t imagine a more surreal conversation than a bunch of burly firefighters with axes slung over their shoulders, chatting about diaper pins.

Just when you think life is going to get easier because the kids are out of their nappies, comes the next challenge – finding a bathroom every time the little one needs to go – which is about every 10 meters or every 5 minutes. And there’s no use telling him/her to wait. At this age, bladder control is not yet fully developed.

In my case, it was two little almost 3-year old twin boys asking to go all the time. There were times when I was really tempted to put their nappies back on – except that they refused point blank. “We’re big boys now, Mommy. You said so.”

This problem, of course, can put a damper on travelling plans even if only to the supermarket. But don’t worry, this phase is transitory and will be over before you know it. Here are some survival tips:

Have a bathroom directory in your head. Like having a built-in GPS, a mom or dad should know exactly where the closest bathroom is, and how fast one can go from point to point, with or without a push chair.

Make kids go even if they don’t have/want to. As soon as you see a bathroom in sight, you shout “let’s do it!” despite the little one’s protest. I suppose psyschologists will have a lot of things to say about forcing kids to go. I had the problem of having 2 boys who never seemed to want to go at the same time. And one is always complaining about being dragged to the bathroom without wanting to go – only to ask to go 5 minutes later. I say, be opportunistic and make use what is within your reach. It’s a matter of survival.

Be flexible – and be creative. What happens when there is no bathroom in sight? Sometimes we have to resort to drastic measures that may not necessarily be hygienic. I say, the bushes should do in times of emergency. Or anything, just to keep the kids from wetting themselves and making a mess. My sister-in-law’s girl needed to go urgently and there were 10 ladies lined up in front of them. Nobody offered to let the little girl go first so her mom placed her over the bathroom sink. Of course, she cleaned up the place afterwards. Once in an airport, I was pushing a cart laden with luggage plus 2 boys and there was just no way we could find a bathroom in time. The rubbish bin had to do that time.

Teach the kids the road signs. The big letter “P” sign on the motorway means parking. For my boys, it means “pee” literally. They were trained to ask themselves when they see this sign “do I need to go?”

Have some spare clothes all the time. And a plastic bag for anything that gets wet. Even with their newly found independence – “I need to go but I can wait” – accidents still happeneded to my 4-year olds.

But then it’s over before you know it. My boys are now 5 and feel old enough to go to the bathroom without Mommy. “I know where it is and I can go alone.”

And then they’d be scornful about little ones still in nappies and laugh their heads off about their Mommy’s bathroom tales. And then you’d be asking yourself “what was all that stress for anyway?”

Our son is just over two. From about 18 months or so, he started to express an interest in the inner workings of the bathroom, we call him the ‘hygiene police’ because he feels that it’s his ‘job’ to make sure that anyone who has used the bathroom washes their hands before leaving. He also thinks that it’s his ‘job’ to flush. This is great actually, because one, we know he’s not afraid of the toilet flushing (which I was as a tot) and two, he gets the whole concept of hand washing after using the toilet. My husband and I took both of these as good signs as well that he was nearing toilet training readiness, and over the past few months has exhibited all of the signs’from being able to go for several hours (sometimes through the night) without wetting to being able to pull up and down his own pants, calling his and daddy’s body parts by the correct names and letting us know that he’s either about to wet or just has. In an effort to help encourage him to use the toilet, I even bought a pack of Pull-ups (big boy underpants) for him to wear. (I still put him in diapers for naps and bedtime though.)

So far, he is taking it all in stride and has made a few attempts to use the toilet, but, we’re not over pushing him, we’re taking the cues from him and helping him come to terms with this new method of waste elimination. My husband and I realize that it may be a while before he’s completely toilet trained despite the bragging by a friend of the family whose grandson is a week older than our son about him being trained already. While we don’t anticipate him still being in pull-ups or untrained when it’s time to head off to kindergarten, but we are glad that there are options for parents whose children seem to be lagging behind significantly when it comes to toilet learning.

Recently, CNN.com reported about a six-week Toilet Training School program started at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. CNN’s Judy Fortin reported that: ‘For some kids, the toilet training process can take more than a year, or longer. [And] The six-week program at Children’s Hospital is one of a handful around the country. Kimberly Dunn, a pediatric nurse practitioner, has worked with some of the 450 young graduates over the years.’

So What Do They Do at Potty Training School?

Many programs use a combination of books about ‘going potty’, calming techniques and allowing the child to go at their own pace depending upon the reasons behind being untrained. According to the CNN article, at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, ‘Dunn meets with a half-dozen children once a week. She uses books, music and art to help the students overcome their fear of using the toilet. She helps them set small, realistic goals. For instance, she said, week one involved just sitting on the toilet for five minutes. She encourages positive reinforcement and simple rewards such as extra playtime with Mom or Dad. While Dunn works on the kids, psychologist Elaine Leclair, an instructor at the Harvard School of Medicine, offers frank advice to the parents in a separate room.’ The program at Children’s Hospital is associated with the Brazelton Institute and Long Island’s Winthrop Hospital is another hospital which caters to the needs of significantly older children (between four and six)) who are not yet toilet trained.

Who Is Potty Training School For?

Most pediatricians agree that a child should be completely trained by around 3 1/2. Potty training school may be right if your child is four (or more) years of age and is not willing to use the toilet. There are a variety of reasons for this including chronic constipation, fear of the bathroom/toilet, or other special needs. It should be noted however that children diagnosed as special needs, including those on the autism spectrum, can take longer to toilet train.

Could ’sposies be the culprit?

Don’t despair and call your local hospital yet to sign up for classes if your toddler still isn’t toilet trained. Children in the United States tend to take longer to toilet train than their peers in other nations and than their peers from a generation or two before them. So, when grandma says, ‘well you were trained by the time you could walk,’ when she notices that your little one still isn’t quite there yet, realize that a) she’s probably exaggerating a bit, and b) more children wore cloth back then, or if they wore disposable diapers, they weren’t as absorbent as they are today.

Disposable diapers and disposable ‘big kid pants’ could be the culprits for a nation-wide toilet training delay. A 2005 article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer cited Houston-based potty training expert Narmin Papira, who stated: ‘The increasing age of potty training correlates perfectly with the history of disposable diapers.’ Papira went on to say that ‘the child who doesn’t feel’ wet isn’t motivated because they’re not feeling uncomfortable.’ Papira’s findings correlated with those of Ann Stadtler, an associate of the famous Dr. T. Berry Brazelton. Stadtler also believes that the increased pace of modern life factors into later potty training, too, she noted in the article. And Donald Freedheim, Case Western Reserve psychology professor emeritus and founding director of Schubert Center for Child Development Training stated that ‘training ‘late’ encourages the child not to take responsibility [and is] just as bad as starting too early. ‘Ideally, the child’s own wish for autonomy should blend with the child’s wish to toilet train.”

With all of this in mind, we follow our son’s lead, but use every opportunity we get to slip using the potty into our routine.

How will you know if your little one is ready?
Check out these Babies Online resources for tips and tools (listed in alphabetical order):

• Make Toilet Training Fun
• Potty Training 101
• Potty Training Battle of Wills
• Potty Training Secrets
• Seven Stages of Potty Training

After much frustration and reading just about anything I could get my hands on, my 3-year old son is ? POTTY TRAINED. We pleaded, we bribed but all he wanted to do was number one. He was introduced to the toilet from early on; well before his first birthday he was seeing his parents use the bathroom.

We decided not to force him and just let nature takes its course, after all, some of the experts said that he would go when he was ready. I was actually thinking that something may be physically wrong why he wasn?t using the potty or toilet at three. My research has indicated that sometimes physical factors can interfere with potty training.

Last week he went to the bathroom by himself as usual to do his thing, but I realized that he was gone much too long. I went just in time to see my little man sliding off the seat and declaring, ?Mommy, I potty trained myself.? I was dumbstruck and brought to tears ? I had to call his dad to witness what had just happened.

So, at three years and four months, he?s potty trained. Maybe if I am blessed with another child I?ll start earlier, but then again, it?s so easy to make plans. I sure hope my experience with Jalen will give comfort to other mothers, parents who are having potty training issues.

I got an unusual call yesterday: a call to mediate clashes in potty training ideology between my step brother and my step mother. Isn’t that interesting? I got called because, after having 5 kids, they liken me to something akin to a “expert” in the area of potty training. The object of the disagreement? A 3 year old child who staunchly refuses to use the potty. Of course, both sides have very different ideas on how to fix this whole “problem”.

I myself have talked with pediatricians and even a child psychiatrist about this potty training issue. I’ve read lots about cultural differences in potty training, talked with friends at length, and also trained my 5. Who knew there was so much to share on the issue of potty training?

I was shocked when my friend visited China and relayed that none of the infants wore diapers over there. They just went wherever they were. I was equally shocked after reading a church publication (during my years in the Mennonite faith) about people who swear that they potty train their 2 month old babies and that lack of parental discipline is a reason why infants are potty trained so late. These are 2 diametrically opposed viewpoints. The rest of the world falls somewhere in between.

According to the child psychiatrist I talked with, on average, a child is potty trained by the time they are 2 1/2 years old. That means that plenty are trained before, and plenty are trained after that age. My own daughter got potty trained at 4 1/2! I remember that time as a difficult one not only because she wasn’t “getting it”, but because of the judgments of other supposedly well meaning people. I will share some of the wisdom I’ve learned from my kids these past 14 years right here in this blog! Aren’t you lucky?

All kids are different. This goes without saying, but it really does apply to potty training. Just because you know someone who had a child who was trained at a certain age doesn’t mean that your child will train then.

Potty training can be an intense experience for parents. The child psychiatrist told me that one of the most common times for children to be abused was during potty training. Again, your child’s progress or lack thereof is not a reflection upon you or your parenting skills. Eventually, your child will be trained. Don’t stress. Really. Don’t let people stress you out either. Really.

Watch for signs that your child is interested in being trained. Honestly, trying to train a child who isn’t the least bit interested is almost impossible thing to do in a gentle manner. Do you really want your child to associate the potty with discipline?

You can encourage your child’s interest by buying a kiddy potty and placing it in a very accessible place in your house–for example, in front of the TV. Encourage your child to sit on the potty fulled clothed at first.

Read to your child. They really, really do have potty training books geared towards children out there. I’ve even seen videos. These tools were helpful to me.

Announce when you are going to the potty. Sounds weird, but it works. Your child will begin to understand that mommy and daddy use the potty too.

Get on a schedule. It’s helpful to begin a routine with your child. For example, every 1 1/2 hours or so, encourage them to use the potty.

Find some motivation for your child. Each child will have a different motivator. For child number 1, it was candy. Child number 2 really desired big girl panties. Child number 3 wanted little dollar store toys when she was dry for the day.

Child number 4 was my difficult one. I tried everything with that child including buying her the expensive musical potty chair to offering her trips to McDonald’s for compliance. She stubbornly refused to perform.

If you have concerns, seek out the advice of professionals. I eventually did this with my youngest daughter because I seriously wondered if something was wrong with her. Once the pediatrician had ruled physical issues, I took her to a child psychiatrist. Both professionals were very affirming and encouraging and put my mind at ease.

Stressful situations will affect the potty training process. Are you having a new child, going through a difficult divorce, or experiencing other trauma in your family? Be aware that this will affect your child and may cause them to regress if they have been trained or may make the process longer if you are just starting out.

I’ve never seen a child start kindergarten in diapers. This nugget of wisdom was shared by my daughter’s pediatrician. When the going gets tough, the tough continue on.

My wish for you on New Year’s Day 2008? That all of your potty training journeys would be easy ones.

I’m no potty training expert, but I’ve successfully potty trained one child and am readying myself to move on to the next one. One thing that I found helped tremendously when it came to potty training my daughter was to start early. I don’t mean that she was propped up on the toilet before she hit her first birthday, but instead that I made sure she always understood what the toilet was for and that it was her eventual goal to use it. This means that she was always welcome in the bathroom when I was using it, and although I did not enjoy losing the last bit of privacy I had I knew that her fascinated stare when I used the toilet was indicative of interest. I also took her into the bathroom to change her diaper once she reached an age when she paid attention to her surroundings. My intention was to demonstrate to her that the bathroom was the place we went to when poop or pee happened, whether into the toilet or into a diaper.

The point, dear parents, is to begin familiarizing babies with the toilet long before potty training actually happens. My daughter never exhibited a fear of the toilet, and I’m guessing that’s because the toilet was always there for as long as she could remember. She learned to use the toilet relatively quickly, and I would like to think that her early exposure to the many treasures of the bathroom had something to do with it.

Then again, maybe that’s just her temperament. Stay tuned as I get ready to potty train my son, because I may soon rescind everything I just said if potty training isn’t a breeze for him.

Potty Training a 2 Year Old

You have heard those stories about the toddlers who are completely potty trained at 18 months old. Their mothers walk around bragging and all smug, while you sit there looking at your 2 1/2 year old, wondering why he isn’t interested at all. Some mothers worry that there is something wrong developmentally with their child if they aren’t potty trained and seem to have no interest in potty training. In reality, this is perfectly normal.

A study put out by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia states that the average age for a child to start potty training is 27 months. This being the average age, there are a lot of toddlers that won’t be completely potty trained till after their third birthday.

You can try to encourage your child to potty train, but you shouldn’t push them or get mad as it could only slow the process for them. When your child starts to show interest in YOU going potty, ask them if they want to sit down and try. Many kids might be scared or might just say no. Try to put them on their own potty chair or on the toilet before and after baths, right before bed, or first thing when they wake up in the morning. Some kids will be more comfortable on their own potty chair, others will want to try it like a “big person”.If you have a child that just doesn’t “get it”, see if you can get them to sit on the toilet or potty chair and try giving him milk, juice or water. Have him sit there till he goes, as the urge might still be involuntary. When he does go applaud and cheer, make a big deal out of it. Chances are he may not know the jist of what he did, but he will know that he pee’d in the potty and you are happy. This praise from parents can often help a child along.

Dr. Phil has his own advice and tips when it comes to teaching your child the art of potty training. Several celebrities have used his methods and believe that they worked in helping them succeed in training their child, including Holly Robinson Peete and Vanessa Marcil. His method includes getting a doll that wets letting the child see this doll going potty and getting praise, so that the child wants the praise as well.

Often times, subsequent children potty train faster than your first. Seeing an older sibling running around is often encouragement for a toddler to hurry up and get there. They want to be like their older sibling. Also, getting a child to not only pee, but poop on the toilet can be a challenge in itself, especially for boys. For some reason boys seem to find it harder than girls to get fully potty trained.

There are no concrete methods that will guarantee your 2 year old will potty train when you are ready for him too, if he is not ready. It is best to remember that you just not push him, get mad, or yell if he isn’t doing it fast enough. Don’t make it seem like a big deal so that your child doesn’t fight the effort to learn. Eventually something in your child’s head will “click” and your child will be ready to potty train. After all, how many kindergarteners do you know who start school still in diapers?