I found this blog by a mom who, much to her surprise, is potty training her little guy at just 15 months.
http://imsimplymomma.blogspot.com/2012/07/potty-time.html
What do you think? Good timing? Too early? Just right?
Tag Archives: potty training boys
Book Review: “My Big Girl Undies” and “My Big Boy Undies”
My Big Girl Undies and My Big Boy Undies by Karen Katz
This book comes in two editions, one for boys and one for girls. These books celebrate the fun of underwear, and also acknowledge the occasional accident. The prose is largely the same, just switching out boys and girls. Neither book is really gender specific, at least not beyond the patterns on the underwear and the gender of the children in the illustrations. In other words, your child won’t learn anything about the differences in going potty when you’re a boy or a girl, such standing up or sitting down, wiping front to back, etc. Nonetheless, this is a carefree and fun way to enjoy the potty process, particularly the celebration of wearing underwear.
We have two great resources for training boys and girls here on the blog that do help with gender specifics, and these would be a good addition for Mom and Dad if using these books.
Potty Training Boys and Girls: A mom to 11 kids talks about some of the insights she got from raising her family.
Specific Tips for Girls and Boys: A list of tips specific to training each gender.
Community Question: This One is Tricky!
Question: My daughter doesn’t tell me she has to go potty. I’ll sit her on the potty sometimes she goes other times she screams but she takes her diaper off all the time… when I put big girls panties on her five min later there wet… what can I do? She’s two.
Book Review: “A Potty For Me”
By Kim Fries, MA CCC-SLP
This bright colorful lift-the-flap book follows a child, along with a very patient Mommy, through the potty training process. At first the child is hesitant to use the potty, then tries but has an accident and finally goes and gets to wear “big kid pants.” The child is nondescript and could be seen as a boy or girl. Parents will like the opportunity to discuss accidents and opportunity to “try again.” The book has a sing-songy rhyming rhythm that flows easily, and the sense of pride the child feels at the end brings a smile to your face.
I have used this book for years in my Signing Classes. I loved the vocabulary (potty, try, diaper, big kid, accident, proud) and emphasis on children trying rather than the pressure to succeed. The author’s focus on child readiness and use of emotion vocabulary (happy, proud) was also a big draw for me.
With the release of the Potty Time board book, “Hopkins Uses the Potty”, I now use both. They work well together and give the parents in my signing classes an opportunity to practice vocabulary while reading a book to a toddler. When parent go home and sign during the potty routine, or sign another book, they have shared with me that the additional practice helps them feel more confident and comfortable with signing. Signing with your child is good not only for potty training, but early literacy skills too!
A Potty For Me matches the Potty Time philosophy and goes well with the songs “Stop and Go”, “Accident” and “Celebrate!” (click on the songs to hear a sample!)
Kim Fries is a Certified Master Signing Time Academy Instructor. You can learn more about Kim and her signing and speech classes by visiting her website HERE
Community Question: My Daughter Isn’t Interested!
We get lots of great questions on our Facebook community, and sometimes we like to answer them on the blog too.
Question: Why doesn’t my 2-year-old daughter give a hoot about using the potty??? I thought they were supposed to train earlier than boys… Continue reading
Potty Training Adventure
Here’s a great video chronicling one family’s potty training adventures.
Do you have an adorable video of your kid in the process of potty training? Share it on our Facebook page!
Like the chart they use? Be sure to check our version as a free download on the Resources page!
A Potty Training Video Guide
Here’s a great video with gentle advice for supporting a child’s potty training process, including following the real-life adventures of one little girl.
Book Review: Potty Time (a Sesame Beginnings publication)
This book is listed for ages 24 – 36 months on the cover and contains simple illustrated representation of the loveable Sesame Street characters. What I particularly appreciate about this book is that each character is at a different stage of development, one who goes all the time, one who has the occasional accident, and one who is just not interested at all yet. This may be very reassuring to children and parents alike!
The text invites children in by asking occasional questions and explains what each character is doing and why.
One page even mentions how a character calls her time in the bathroom “potty time”, which is a rather convenient link to the Potty Time program too!
To read our other book reviews, click HERE
Book Review: “Too Big for Diapers”
Too Big for Diapers (a Sesame Street Babies publication)
In five quick page turns, this book follows Baby Ernie (shown as a stuffed doll) through the potty training process. It has very simple words describing what he is doing on each page, stressing the “stop and go!” concept in a similar way to Potty Time.
The photos of the dolls and props are large and bold, likely very engaging, especially to children who are training a little bit on the younger side, or who absolutely love Sesame Street.
A really nice companion to this book might be our Baby Hopkins plush who can be snuggled with as the story is read, and used to act out what Baby Ernie is doing in the book.
To read our other book reviews, click HERE!
Book Review: “You Can Go to the Potty”
We are reviewing some potty training books! Our entire collection of reviews will be housed HERE.
You Can Go to the Potty
By William Sears, M.D., Martha Sears, R.N., and Christie Watts Kelly
This book is from the Sears pediatrician team, particular favorites of those who like the attachment parenting method. It’s also one of the books I (Colleen) used with my own son! It actually starts out with tips for parents, and explains some of the choices in the book, as well as giving a few tips if you are experiencing any difficulty during the potty training process.
The story starts out talking about the baby days. In line with the attachment parenting approach, the illustrations show both nursing and co-sleeping, which some families will greatly appreciate and others may not as much. It then transitions into what big kids can do, and talks about where pee and poo-poo might go, first in a diaper and now into the toilet.
This book takes a specific approach to the timing of potty training, telling children they will switch to underwear when they can keep their diapers dry. Some families will do well with this timing, whereas others may find a different approach is going to work better for their child.
The book moves on to the process of potty training, including a supportive take on accidents and of course lots of great celebrating. A particularly nice aspect of this book is the little insets on some pages called “Answers for the Very Curious”. These boxes contain questions children might ask about going potty and simple answers that they can understand – very helpful!
As this is geared towards little ones but is very factual, it would make a nice companion to a more playful approach, such as our book “Hopkins Uses the Potty”