Gina Ford potty training - does it work?

[Lochie]

I am into third day of potty training my 2 yr 7 month old son, and have been using the Gina potty training book.

I was just wondering of those who have read and used it, how realistic have you found it? My son is not hitting any of the milestones that she says will happen in the first 3 days i.e. 'by day three most of wees and poos should be in potty' - I feel like chucking it in the bin as find it far too prescriptive and clinical but am wondering if I am using it too casually (my son has been in garden for past 3 days pretty much 8 hours a day splashing around in water so his pants get wet easily).

He is also developing a hatred of being told to sit on the potty/loo every 15 mins as she suggests and so the Gina routine seems to be building a negative effect on his relationship with the potty.

FYI I have no opinion on Gina and haven't properly read her contented baby book so am neither a Gina fan nor non-fan, I just want to know if anyone had similar problems with her 'potty training in a week' book, or whether it really does work for all if you apply it 100% as she suggests. I am not particularly stressed about it and don't care if it takes months to train him but I don't want to confuse my son by being 'Gina' one day and more relaxed the next!

[rachel83]

We tried GF the first time. My daughter was not ready and refused to get involved with any sort of potty training. We waited till she was about 2 years 10 months and managed day and night nappies in one go but not using GF, we just took her out of them and never mentioned them again!

[Fuschia]

Haven't read the book but I think our strategy with child no 1 (remove nappy, stay home for a few days, sit on potty very frequently) did work ... At 2y 9m

Twin 2 potty trained herself from 2y 2m

Twin 1 showed no interest and eventually at 3y 5m I tried the same approach ...after days of it we finally caught a wee but the whole process took mOnths ... I would say it was done by 3y 8m

[Fuschia]

So my answer is, if they are ready it will work .. Prob in a week - 10 days

[Lochie]

ok thanks both. I don't think i'm being premature in training him as his nursery have told me he is more than ready from the way he behaves when he's there. Am determined to see it through!

Better stock up on washing powder

[Pickle]

I used it for child #1 and found it full of useful tips as I was completely clueless on how to even begin! We followed it, not to the letter, and he was potty trained pretty much within the week aged around 2 years 4 months. That said, he is now 5 and still has to wear a nighttime pull up as none of the techniques we try seem to help him stay dry at night. Sigh.

Child #2 drove whole process herself, having declared just after her 2nd birthday that she wanted to wear pants. I was sceptical, but I can count the accidents on one hand, very very easy (day and night done at the same time).

Chocolate buttons worked well as a reward for my son in the first couple of days.

Good luck!

[julia2009]

I was reluctant to start potty training as didn't know where to begin, then nursery brought it up and said I should bring spare clothes in for my son and he started training there during the week. As there were a few of them training at once, he went to the toilet no problem (already hated the potty at home) In the first week he only had a few accidents. It took about 2 weeks for him to use the toilet at home too (we got a new seat for the toilet at home that has a small seat within it, so he could sit on the big toilet). This was all in December when he was 2.5 yrs old and last week, he announced he didn't want to wear a nappy at night and that seems to be that...In our case the peer pressure worked a treat as his friends were using the toilet. At home giving him stickers/watching fireman sam in the bathroom on the laptop worked so that he felt the whole thing was fun....as he is due to have a little brother this week, this could all change!

[Sanne Panne]

We had most success with naked bottoms and chocolate buttons. I can imagine forcing frequent potty visits can make some kids hate it but every child is different.

As for nighttime training... I thought it was more dependent on the presence of a hormone that wakes them when they need to pee. And that no training will really work unless that hormone is present. But not sure where I read it and how true it is.

[Belle]

as with all things Gina, I found bits of it helpful and I ignored other parts. Especially the 'by day 3 x will be happening' bits! We tried when my oldest was same age as yours is now, and i found he wasn't ready as he was just weeing all over the place, whereas when we tried again nearer 3, something had obviously changed as he was able to hold for longer. the false start had been in warm weather like this which i'd thought would be perfect but actually the successful attempt was over Xmas! I actually didn't do rewards as my little one is SO wily and demanding I knew he'd just play that one for all it was worth, but I did stickers for a day or 2 and just loads of praise. I'd say it took about two weeks for the penny to drop, but after that we've only had a handful of accidents. haven't tried with nights yet - going to take my lead from him, but his nappies are dry-ish in the mornings.

Also I wouldn't necessarily take the nursery recommendation too much to heart if you feel you want to leave things for a while - we had been told that J was ready for quite a while but we felt he wasn't and I'm glad we waited till nearer 3, in our case.

[Grotty]

I tried potty training my 2yr 1 month old recently using GF as she was showing all the signs listed in her book of being ready including demanding to wear pants and refusing to wear nappies - however on day one there was no wee in the potty at all despite sitting on there lots of times for up to 10 minutes as stated - we just had a lot of frustration and 6 changes of clothes! I figure that she just doesn't know when she needs to wee or is resisting it for some other reason. According to GF if no success on day 1 its a sign they aren't ready. So when do I try again?

Any advice gratefully received!

[Belle]

def agree that accidents can be useful so they see what it's all about! thinking about it, my son def had plenty accidents in the first week or so, and successful potty visits were kind of by chance more than anything. Then it seemed to 'click'.

[Grotty]

Thanks etta thats really useful and encouraging advice. Having read that yesterday we've decided to give it another go today as my daughter is still anti-nappies/pro-pants so seems crazy to be ignoring that. Did you just take nappies off forever or put them on for naps/nighttime as GF suggests. And then how do you know when you should ditch nappies for sleeping too?

Not looking forward to next few days but hopefully we'll come out the other side ok.

Just preparing a star chart now!

[Grotty]

How are you doing Lochie?

[mrsbee]

Good luck today Grotty. I'm currently potty training my 2.5 year old so know what you're going through! He doesn't have a nap so we don't have that issue but when potty training my older boy I kept him in pull ups for his nap until it was consistently dry which didn't take too long once he was dry during the day. Night time was a whole different matter probably took another year before he was dry at night.

[Grotty]

I'm so grateful to the forum - according to GF no pees on day 1 = failure. Just wished i persevered first time round. Anyway it feels a lot more relaxed today as i'm not expecting any wee's in potty so everyone is less pressurised. Watch this space...

[mrsbee]

The other thing I would say is if it isn't going well don't be afraid to stop and start again in a couple of weeks/ months. I persevered with my eldest and it took a while to get there. With number 2 I tried a couple of months ago and although we had some success I didn't think he was truly ready so stopped and restarted a couple of days ago and we haven't had one wee accident so far (however poos seem to be taking a little bit longer to master!)

[Lochie]

@grotty - thanks for asking. Still a bit hit and miss to be honest. Main problem is reluctance to sit on potty for any length of time due to boredom factor. My son is very 'trying' at the best of times and so to make him do something he doesn't want to can be difficult. iPad does seem to be helping though to make him stay on the potty - had about 50% poos/wees in pants and 50% in potty today. Am going to perservere.

We also ventured out and he lasted all through a pizza at Pizza Express but then did do a wee on the toy shop floor - probably over excitement bless!

He also seems confused about why we congratulate him and give him stickers for doing a wee/poo in the potty - he did a poo in his pants today and started cheering - I think he thinks a wee or poo anywhere is a good thing and doesn't get the importance of the potty!

Nursery tomorrow so that'll be interesting ;-)

Am going bonkers with all this wee/poo chat it seems to be my life at the moment!

[Grotty]

Hope nursery goes okay with your son today Lochie. We've resorted to putting on Postman Pat to get through most of the potty times. We had no wees in potty at all yesterday but so far today we have only had one accident and she did a huge wee in the potty. Hooray. I'm thinking that only 2 wee's between 7.30 and 1 is not bad going! I put a nappy on for her afternoon nap and within 20 minutes she did a poo, which is normal for her. I guess thats not a bad thing. We can master wee's first and then move on to poo!

Today is Day 2 and i was reading GF again - I never made it to Day 2 last time but wish I had read on as she says "A few of the children I have trained seem to have endless accidents the first couple of days, then suddenly it all falls into place by third day" - slightly contradictory to her initial message that no wee in the potty on day 1 = not ready.

Anyway, very happy with one success today, hopeful the afternoon will produce more and things will progress over the rest of the week!

[LillyD]

Sorry if this is hijacking thread but I am desperate for advice. We 'potty trained' using GF. My 2 1/2 year old son was initially resistant but was dry within a couple of days. Poos are however another matter. 8 weeks on, he does a poo in his pants every day. He clearly has a phobia saying he can't do it or that he is scared. We are at our wits end. We have tried to stop the process with a view to waiting a month or so and try again - but he won't, he wants to wear pants. We have tried to suggest that he tells us when he wants to do a poo and puts on pull ups. But again, he isn't interested/able/prepared to tell us. He just does a poo and then immediately asks to be changed. We have tried all matter of stickers, star charts, bribery etc. but it doesn't work as he really does not want to get on the loo or potty to do a poo and panics when we try (even when its in response to him saying he needs a poo). I feel as if we are at an impasse and am not sure how to progress things from here. Any advice?

[Fuschia]

My 3.5yo twin 1 did that too (mostly at school!)

It was very worrying ...

The best advice I can give is to take the Pressure off and reassure him

That lOts of children take a while, that it doesn't matter and you love him and you will help him learn

Just keep trying, eventually it will click

It's worth sitting him

On the loo or potty to

Read a story at likely poo time

Apart from that just give it time, go prepared

One poo in

Pants per day isn't a big deal

He will get there

Bet within 4w he will get it

[Fuschia]

Have you invited him

In to the loo

When you go, to help you flush after, etc?

Some books about the toilet to discuss together?

There was an episode of 'come outside' about sewers ... Wonder if it's on you tube

How about watching 'flushed away'

[Saffron]

When he has an accident do you do all the bum wiping for him? I've heard that at some stage it's helpful to get your toddler involved with wiping him/herself. We're not quite there yet, so I haven't tried this with our toddler yet. I just thought I'd throw it out there for you.

I think the potty training threads are really helpful and interesting from a developmental perspective. They definitely show what a variety of personalities and developmental leaps are involved in learning. Actually some of my earliest memories (around 2.5 yrs) are of potty training, and they are really happy memories of learning independence.

[snowboarder]

Hi - we had a slightly different poo issue in that small snowboarder genuinely seemed troubled by using the potty for poo and liked to stand up to do them - result was panic and crying and holding them in and absolute hysterics when it once came out in his pants, BUT seemed to get over it by an intensive session of reading 'everybody poos' and 'poo goes to poo land'. Both seemed to go down v well - 3m later and he asked for 'everybody poos' as a bedtime story last night and we still talk about poo being a somewhat troublesome character who wants to join his family in the toilet(!) and who can sometimes make your tummy hurt by not coming out when he should (as in poo goes to pooland).

Seriously thought potty training was one of the low points of motherhood so far!! Emotionally as well as physically!!

[janna]

Having tried the Gina Book I would say personally it didn't work for us and I threw it. I wouldn't want to say do the same in case it does work for you.

We just went cold turkey in the end and stayed in for a week ( hard I know but I have a baby too, so couldn't face going out and dealing with accidents.

It worked, as he did have accidents but they got less and less. I stopped asking too and just let him work it out, soon I could tell as he was holding himself so could suggest a potty trip might be good. As for poos, we only had one 'present' but then he seemed to just get it. He didn't like having to stop what he was doing and still doesn't, sometimes holding on until the last moment.! I told him his bum is much cleaner now too and I think seeing his younger sisters poo bun helped.

I would just say try to relax and I'm sure it will work out fine. We still use night pull ups at the mo, as he demands a drink just b4 sleeps. This I am working on next !

I like what snowboader says about poos as I know some kids don't like doing them, so I'm sure a fun story would help.

Potty training in no fun, it is exhausting but now we have come out the other side, its sooo much better having him all grown up !

[LillyD]

Thanks all for replies. We have previously done pretty much all you have suggested (save the bottom wiping!). I think the problem is his extreme control freakery coupled with an absolute refusal to stay still. I don't think he is scared of poos themselves as he always is pretty enthusiastic about getting involved with flushing his accidents down the loo.

However, I think you are right Fushia re patience, as today he did his first ever poo in the potty (8 weeks in). It coincided with bedtime stories so I think he was in the frame of mind to stay put. Hooray. Am hoping it's the eureka moment. Fingers crossed!

X