Potty training Daughter - (single dad).?

Question

I would like some advice on how to potty train my little girl (she's 18mths). I am a single dad with no family living nearby?
Any advice that you could share would be much appriciated!

Answer 1

I'm just potty training my daughter too. Sit her on the tiolet and sing a silly song. Buy a doll that pees and sit the doll on the potty to show her. Take her shopping and let her pick big girls pants with pretty cartoon characters.Be aware that some girls aren't potty trained until 3 yrs old.

Answer 2

Do you feel she is ready? If so start by getting her used to seeing the potty without any strain to actually use it. If she is familiar with it then using it won't be 2 new things to learn at once. With my 1st I got him into a routine of peeing before bath and bedtime then it got more and more from there. Pull ups are a grey area - they let them feel big (like using pants) but they keep the kids dry. Wearing normal pants to let her feel wet might work better.

After every meal try her on the potty. She might sit a while but once she gets the idea it'll be no time.

So long as you can stay calm when there are accidents and still take her to sit on the potty after an accident she should hopefully click the 2 together. No 2s can be trickier (and messier!) but usually once the pee is mastered the other falls in to place behind.

I bribed one of my kids with a sweetie from a special box for every time he got it right. It didn't last for long - once he had the hang of it he wasn't looking for reward any more.

You can also get a potty that plays a tune once the base gets wet. Might be good fun!

If she's ready it will be easier. Don't feel pressure. The age range and time taken varies widely from child to child.

And don't worry about being dad trying to train a girl - I have trained 3 boys, so it doesn't matter who does it. The job's the same even if the equipment is a bit different!

Good luck!

Answer 3

I also have an 18 month old daughter (my 6th child) and we are just starting what I like to call pre-potty training. I'm just kind of introducing the potty to her and letting her sit on it with her clothes on to get used to it. Next I'll get her to sit on it with her clothes off in a couple of months. Just one or two times a day. If she actually uses it I'll act really happy but no pressure yet. You have to take it slow at this age. When she gets closer to 2 years old I'll put a little more pressure on her and use underwear during the day and Pullups at night or if I'll be out and about for a lot of the day. This is how I potty trained my other 5 children and they were completely trained during the day by about 26-28 months. Some of them used Pullups at night for longer and some didn't. Each one was different. I know this seems like a long process and it is, but for the next few months its very low key, then a couple of months of more intense training, then a couple more of occasional accidents, and then it should be done. Don't worry about being a dad training a girl. I'm a mom and trained 3 boys, dad being at work most of the time. She won't feel weird about it at this age and won't remember it at all when she gets older. Congratulations on the start of a beautiful thing. The relationship between a dad and his little girl:)

Answer 4

This is what worked for my daughter. Buy big girl pants, with princess pictures etc. Make a big thing about how she will be able to where when she is a big girl.

Read her bed time books with a potty training theme.

She will tell you when she is ready to go into the big girl pants.

Once in, keep an eye on her and ask if she needs the toilet - especially when hopping from one foot to the other.

Use pull ups for night time. Again she will tell you when she is too big for nappy. Use protective mats for bed.

You will get a few accidents. But the point is to use the hype so that she wants to potty train. A great many older kids will suffer from bed wetting because they were pushed into potty training too soon.

Good luck

Answer 5

Is she ready? Does she tell you when she has peed or take her own diaper off if she has?
If she isn't ready, potty training now will be a frustrating fiasco for both of you. If she is really ready, the potty training won't take more than a few days.

Buy her a potty. Let her run around without pants. When you run bath water, let her sit on the potty, because running water will stimulate her urge to go. If she does, make a big deal out of it.

If everything you try doesn't seem to be working, go back to diapers for awhile, and try again later. Don't be in too big a rush.

Answer 6

Firstly well done as a dad!!!! I think girls are much quicker potty training than boys. My girl didn't bother with a potty, went straight to the toilet which i thought was better as there is no transition from potty to toilet. You can buy one of those child seats that goes over the toilet seat to make the hole smaller so she wont be scared to fall in and a step so she can get up. I found that the praise thing is the best, whilst at home leave her nappy off and buy her some knickers and ask her to tell daddy when she needs to pee. Take her to the toilet and show her what to do, clap her and praise her tell her what a big girl she is etc..... Have many,many knickers at the ready as you will go through quite a few pairs to begin with...I didnt rate those 'pull ups' or anything like tha they are just rip off....gud luk

Answer 7

I potty trained my son at the age of 18 months. Of course I used a potty chair, I placed it in the room where he would play or be watching tv. Then every so often (in my case I was a stay at home mom so I sat him on it every hour) set your daughter on the potty. If she does nothing thats fine (she's learning) if she does praise her for it. Let her know what she's doing. In the beginning I rewarded my son with cookies when he would use the potty. It does take some time, but be strict and stick to it. Otherwise, you and your daughter will never succeed. It took about two months total to potty train my son. About 4 months, to get him where he didnt pee in the bed at night. Good Luck!

Answer 8

Don't put a nappy or pants or knickers on her at all when in the house. Keep a potty in each room. Everytime she begins to pee or poo sit her on the potty and reward with a penny sweet. It's important at this time to give no other sweets for any other reason so that she'll actually want to go on the potty to get a sweet. 18 months is actually quite young, I did my son this way at 22months but girls tend to be slower at training than boys. Obviously you'll have a few accidents and wet patches but thats all part and parcel of kids anyway as you'll know!! Good luck.xx

Answer 9

She's way to young for this yet!!! Children have no control until they are at least 26 months old and trying before that will just lead to frustration on your and her part. There will be tears and then tantrums so curb it for now.

When she is older just take her to the potty in the morning and after meals to get the feel of it and she will do the rest.

I potty trained 8 kids and believe me would never think of putting a child that young on one.

Also, don't fall into the pull up snare, Get undies that are pretty and she likes. She won't care for the wet or dirty feeling and will train faster if you do.

Answer 10

Many kids are trained at that age, but its a little early for a whole lot more of them.

Put a potty in the bathroom and make a big deal about how that's her own little toilet that she can use any time she wants. Tell her, "Pretty soon, you won't need to have diapers because you can use this." If it interests her and she wants to use it, let her use it. If it doesn't interest her you can ask her every once in a while if she'd like to try to use it.

They do this thing, though, where you go in with them because they say they'd like to try it. You get them all set up, and they're on it. You may sit on the edge of the bathtub, and they just sit and don't do anything into the potty. You're sitting there. They're sitting there. Time passes. You keep saying, "Anything yet?" They say, "No". You say, "Why don't we go out and you can try again later." They, then, may start to scream and say that they don't want to leave - so there you are, sitting on the edge of the tub, bored to death, and waiting for something that isn't going to happen. They just kind of like the idea of sitting there on the cute little potty, and they have nowhere they want to be apparently.
My point in mentioning this little scenario is to point out that this is how things play out when you're the one who brings up the idea of their using a potty.

If you wait until she's past two years old you would be able to gradually reduce the diaper time by taking her out for, say, an hour or so in "big girl undies". Tell her if she needs to go to let you know. You may only have to go out in your yard, so if she needs to go you can go right back into the house. If she can make it an hour or so without a diaper, increase the time to a couple of hours or a little longer. Bring her out to - maybe - the grocery store or for a little lunch somewhere. Tell her if she needs to go let you know. You may have to make a trip to a restroom, and you could bring a diaper. You could tell her, "I'll bring a diaper, but try the big girl pants for just a little while." When you get back from the trip out in the beginning put the diaper back on right away. Later, don't switch to the diaper immediately. Let her hang around for a while and see if she asks for the diaper back. After a while, she'll get used to not wearing a diaper in the day and only wearing one at night. Let her keep that for as long as it takes her to feel sure she doesn't need it.

So, get the potty. Make a big deal out of it. Buy her some really cute undies that have some character she likes on them, and tell her she can wear those if she uses the potty. See what she does. If not much progress gets made try the above approach, although it does work better once they're two or older.