Potty Training Case Studies
Click here for 'My Story - Potty Trained in One Week'Jack, age 2 years and 10 months: Regression in Potty Training
Jack had been potty-trained since he was two and a half. He had no accidents and was using the big loo.
One day Jack wet himself. He was playing with friends, but that had never been a problem before. His mum changed him and didn’t really say anything. The following day, he wet himself and laughed. His mum later told him he was a big boy and to use the toilet, but didn’t tell him off. She reiterated that "nappies are for babies", like his baby brother, and that he was a big boy.
On day three, he wet himself and pooed his pants.
His mum knew this behaviour was a reaction to his nanny going, his brother becoming more active and Jack having to share his toys more. Whilst she knew that regression is common, she did not know how to deal with it. By mid-December Jack was wetting himself everyday. No incentives worked.
Caleb, age 2 years and 9 months : Withholding Poo
When Caleb was potty trained he took to doing a wee on the potty like a dream (he was dry by Day Three) but refused to try to poo on the potty. In the first week he held on to his poo for seven days and finally went in his pants at a point when he clearly couldn’t hold on any longer. The same happened the second week despite his mother trying all the tips regarding putting a nappy in the potty or giving him the chance to poo in his nappy during sleep times or during the night.
However, once Caleb was out of nappies was that it was clear that Caleb’s urge to poo came early on in the poo saga. Once he had done a poo; the urge to poo again came quite soon later. The urge would come and he would say, ‘I need a poo’ but perform a jiggy little dance to make sure it didn’t come out. His mother realised that perhaps his withholding poo was more psychological than physical.
Arun & Ravi, age 2.5 years : Potty Training Twins
At 2.5 years old Arun and Ravi’s mother decided it was time to potty train them. Because Arun and Ravi were so different in nature - Arun highly-strung and Ravi laid-back – their mother felt that by potty training them separately, she could give them the individual attention each needed. Arun was born first and has always been the first to do anything: talking, crawling and walking. Because he also showed signs of readiness far earlier than Ravi (see Potty Training in One Week, p12), she decided he would be trained first, and she would then tackle Ravi as soon as I saw that he was also ready. Gina mentions in her Potty Training book that it is unwise to push twins to be trained together, as this could cause emotional stress if either of them is not quite ready. Arun and Ravi’s mum therefore decided the individual approach was definitely the way to go.
Lucy, age 26 months : Potty Training
Stage 1 went of potty training went well. Lucy would happily co-operate by sitting on the potty whenever her mother asked her to, provided she was kept amused by watching a video or reading a book. She didn’t actually do anything in the potty until a couple of weeks later, when she started to do very little wees, followed by a big wee as soon as the nappy was put back on. Lucy’s mother tried not to worry and continued to praise her both for sitting on the potty so nicely and also for doing the tiny wees now and again.
Stage 2 was a complete disaster. Lucy would still happily sit on the potty each time her mother asked her, until she felt something coming. At this point, she would leap off the potty, almost in a panic, and move to another part of the room to have an accident. On day 2, somehow one big wee did manage to land in the potty, but despite loads of praise, a sticker for her chart and a chocolate button, she was not tempted to put in a repeat performance. Day 3 was the worst day of all, with her becoming anxious and holding in both wees and poos for as long as possible before having big accidents accompanied by lots of distress. She was desperate to have her nappy back, so her mother gave in and had to admit defeat
