My three are just over 2 years old and are starting to show an interest in going potty on the toilet.

I've figured out which potty to buy but don't know how many to get. Our house is a 2-story and there is not a bathroom on the main floor (built in the '30s). I plan to put a potty in the office on the first floor rather than schlep/race up the stairs so much. Should I get three for in there plus one for the upstairs bathroom? Except for their nap, they spend their entire day on the first floor. So I could carry one or more of the potties upstairs at bedtime.

We have hard wood floors in the office. Do you think I should put some kind of grippy stuff underneath the potties or will they probably not slip? Or maybe a tarp underneath is a better idea?

This is completely uncharted territory for me, so any help and suggestions are appreciated.

Mom to GBG born in July 2009 at 30w6d: 3#10oz, 3#12oz, 3#2oz

What potty are you going to buy?? I got the Bjorn ones and took them back. I didn't thing the pot up big enough. I got the $12 Fisher Price Frog Potty at Target and they have been WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! Since they were so cheap I got 6...3 for up and 3 for down. I got tired of carrying them up and down everyday.

I started potty training mine in June...about a month and a half before their third birthday.

My advice is to get at least 3 potty chairs. You can carry them up and down the stairs...sort of a pain, but you could do that. At first, they might all have to go at the same time and you don't want anyone to have to wait so 3 is necessary. Some people get the insert for the big potty. I found those to not be very useful. Mine were a little leary about getting on the big potty so we just used the small ones. After about a month or so one by one they would use the big ones, but we still use both and I'm fine with that.

When we started mine wore their undwear for nap, too. They did have some accidents, but I think it was so worth it!!! I just didn't want to break up the day by having them put a pullup on and then underwear again...know what I mean? At night I have never used the word "pullup" I have always called it their special night underwear...they believe me. ha ha After 4 months they wake up dry some, but sometimes they don't. Also, 2 of mine will get out of bed, go potty, and go back to bed which helps them stay dry.

Anyways, in the beginning (and now)I always make them sit on the potty before nap, going outside, and bedtime. Other than that, they go on their own. I did a version of the 3 day potty training bootcamp. Put them in underwear and did turn back. It was a VERY hard first 3-4 days, but it did get better and I'm glad I stuck it out. That program does tell you to let them sleep in underwear, too, but I just couldn't let mine do that. I didn't want them to be wet at night, etc. Also, they say that sleeping all night and not wetting is a developmental thing and not to focus on that, just focus on the day. That's what I did and I'm glad. Also with that program you don't sit the kids on the potty every few minutes. You let them tell you when they need to go. And you keep saying, all day long...."Let mommy know when you need to go potty". If they have an accident you rush them to the potty and say, "Now where should pee pee and poop go??" Of course don't make them feel bad about having an accident. I had to remind myself that they really have to learn what it feels like to have to go. And they do....

I know I'm rambling. Hope it makes some sense. I was scared to death to start, but was glad to get through it. I also didn't use treats as an incentive. I went at it as...this is what you are supposed to do, etc. I just didn't want to have to wean them from treats, stickers, etc.

Girls are definitely easier because you don't have to worry about pee going everywhere.. ha ha For your boy, and you might know that, be sure to make him lean forward when he pees. That will help with keeping the pee in the potty. And, if he goes on the big potty, have him sit on the potty backwards...facing the back. He can lean forward and rest his hand on the back of the seat and it doesn't "spray" everywhere. ha ha

Last, since you have hardwood I don't think you need to put anything under the potty. You could put a towel if you want, but hardwood is easy to wipe up.

I wish you all the luck and patience in the world. You can do it!! And, like I said, lots of people will have opinions on what they think worked...these are things that worked for me

Kim ~ Proud Mom to GBB Triplets
Born @ 35 weeks on July 24, 2008

I had 3 Bjorn potties at first, but didn't need all of them at the same time.

At our house, not all three were ready for potty training at the same time, so they were staggered.

Also, I found that one child liked the poty chair, while another child liked to sit on a potty ring on the toilet.

You might want to have a couple different options available to see what each one prefers.

We also have hardwood floors, and I placed the potty seat on a bath mat style rug. Easy to put in the washing machine, and kept the chair from sliding around.

Sheila
GGB 10/29/06 (33 weeks)

So, will I not be able to night train them since they're still in cribs? I hadn't thought about that before, but since they're asking to use the toilet, I don't want to keep saying no. So far they only sit there, but they are showing interest so I plan to see where this takes us.

I want to get the Bjorn Smart Potty. It's the only one that received 5 stars from every single reviewer on BRU and they're reasonably priced.

Mom to GBG born in July 2009 at 30w6d: 3#10oz, 3#12oz, 3#2oz

We night trained in cribs. They just called out for us. Unfortunately it will be a bit of a game for a while. I would rather have them calling out rather than making a game of getting out of bed on their own to to to the bathroom.

We also loved the frog potties...they were the favorites of the several we had. I also loved the toilet lids that have a smaller ring incorporated into the lid. It makes clean up and storage so easy. You can get those at Home Depot, Lowes, or Menards.

Susan

Parent to GGG born 31 weeks 4 days 4/26/07




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I would not stress yourself out potty training them at just over two years old if it turns out that they don't seem as intersted once you start doing it. That is great to try and hopefully they are ready! If not though, don't stress and just stop and then wait and try it again later when you think they are showing signs again. Good Luck!!


http://tripletmomplusone.blogspot.com/

Mom to BBG Triplets and singleton boy. Charlie, Jake and Kaylee are three years old and Sam is one.

That's my plan. I just don't want to keep telling them "no" when they're actually asking to use the potty. Our pedi said much the same as you, that they'll do it when they're ready and not before. We'll see how it goes, but I'm not going to make our lives revolve around this when they're still so young.

Besides, now that we get out and about almost everyday, diapers are pretty darn convenient.

Mom to GBG born in July 2009 at 30w6d: 3#10oz, 3#12oz, 3#2oz

Mine turned 2 in August and have shown signs that they are ready since July. I have one potty trained except at night. She is even doing good through naps. The other two I have tried but they just are not there yet. Though I believe that my little girl might be ready and I am going to try her again in a week because we are planning on a trip next weekend. So you might have one or more that is ready now. I figured that they did everything at different ages and potty training has proved to be no different.

I think we have too many potties, but we have a one story house. I have all sorts. In the washroom which is just off the den/play room we have a frog potty from Fisher Price, the one that sings & play music when they pee which is only good for the girl, and the Baby Bjorn.

In the two bathrooms we have one potty chair each - in case they want to pee with us, which they don't yet (just turned two). Plus I just bought a step stool & potty seat for the big toliet so they can get used to that. I have tile floors & don't need grippy stuff under mine. Plus I think it would just get icky and now I can clean spills quickly.

Good luck, I'm hoping my start training in earnest this fall.....

http://vincenttriplets.blogspot.com/

We bought 3 froggy potties. They came highly recommended and work great (the kids love them and they have a high splash guard for my boy). We have a one story house though.
On my blog in the articles section I have some potty training tips that helped us. Good luck and hope it goes well for you!

www.thetripletlife.com

http://www.zazzle.com/the_triplet_life


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This is a post I'm working on my for my blog to help triplet moms in the potty training stage. This is not a plug for my blog, I have not even posted this yet. I'm still working on it, but I saw this post from a few weeks ago that you starting potty training so I just wanted to share some things that helped me when I started taking our triplets out of the house during potty training.

This is a response from a mom that is an expert in surviving the stages of potty training triplets, not an expert in potty training. I will dedicate a future post to our experience of potty training our triplets. I think the more pressing issue for now is to share with you what we have found invaluable in surviving potty training triplets when we are out and about with them.

I’m a big believer in staying home as much as you can when you first begin potty training and will talk about this in a future post. To sum up what potty training triplets is like; I will tell you that it is not uncommon to hear the question, "Is that poop on the floor?" around our house. Other common conversations around our house are, "I'm poopy." "Why did you poop in your pants?" "Cause I did." Also if you hear the boys yelling, "Ready, Set, Go!" in our house, dont' worry they are not having races in the house. They are just peeing at the same time in the same toilet. The next thing you will hear is let's do that again. Often times our baby is standing next to them angling for a spot around the toilet. He will be laughing with them and pretending to pee with them or maybe he isn't pretending, but I don't care because he is in diapers.

At some point it will be necessary to leave your house with potty training triplets. One of my first times leaving the house was for my Tuesday Bible Study at church. I’m still amazed I ever even made it there that morning. By the time our triplets ate breakfast, I got them all dressed, each of them went to the bathroom several times, one of them had an accident as we were leaving, changed and fed our baby, before we even made it into the car, I was in tears.

It has always been a huge effort to get our triplets and baby ready to leave the house and in the car to go somewhere when they were in diapers. Having potty training triplets and a baby brought this getting ready to get out the door and into the car process to a new level. Clearly I had not even begun to master surviving this new level of craziness.

Being on time feels more peaceful and sane, makes for a more relaxed entry to wherever we are going. This way we won’t be hurrying through the bathroom and walk in late and frazzled. We will be on time and ready to join the fun of whatever is going. I know people would understand if I’m late, but I still feel it is important to be on time and really want to continue to be on time for things. I should have let this go this first morning of taking potty training triplets somewhere with me. I was not gracious to myself and this made a stressful morning even more stressful. I didn’t even get to have coffee; I hate it when that happens.

This Tuesday morning would be the first of many times being the first to arrive to events. I did arrive at church twenty to thirty minutes before the Tuesday morning Bible started in order to have time to take them to the potty and check them into their classrooms and still be on time.

I had to allow time for whatever might happen between the time we left our house and I checked them into their classes. I did know that you never know what might happen and that I needed to allow time for this.

On this particular morning, the unexpected and expected activities on the agenda were to clean up the toilet paper they unrolled all over the public restroom, referee them keeping their hands to themselves while taking turns on the potty, make sure they all washed their hands, including cleaning up all of the water that they splashed all over the counters, floors and themselves while they were washing their hands. And of course our baby had an explosion in his diaper that I needed to take care of as well.

I did keep thinking to myself, “Why did I come this morning?” “I really should have stayed home.” I did almost turn the car around several times on the way to church that morning. I was already feeling so overwhelmed from the potty training process at home with our triplets for the past ten days or so and this being one of my first mornings really out and about with our triplets and baby since potty training, I just could not get the tears out of my eyes. Thankfully, when I finally arrived at my morning meeting, all of the girls in my small group were very kind and gracious to me because I was not able to stop the tears and that couldn’t have been fun for them!

After more miserable experiences of taking our potty training triplets out of our house, we changed the way we handled being out and about and purchased some products to help us survive potty training triplets on the go.

One of the “more miserable experiences” I was referring to in the paragraph above was our triplets having accidents in their car seats. Nightmare! It is a ton of work to take one car seat apart in order to wash it and then to put it back on the car seat again once it is cleaned. Then to have two or three of our kids all have accidents in the car seats in a single day or even within a few days is a total nightmare. Our life was overwhelming enough in regards to what we needed to get done every day for our family to function. We did not have time, energy or sanity to deal with sometimes daily taking a part and cleaning car seats.

You don’t need to have this stress. Piddle Pads easily solve this problem. They are designed to keep the car seats clean and dry in the case of a child having an accident in their car seat. After we purchased Piddle Pads, if one of our triplets has an accident we simply remove the soiled Piddle Pad and instead of having to find a trash bag to put on their wet and possibly poopy car seat until we return home, we place a clean piddle pad on top of the car seat. Yes we do have six Piddle Pads, but it is so worth it!

Another change that we made in order to survive potty training our triplets outside of our home was to purchase a travel potty chair. After way too many times of chasing our triplets and baby around a nasty public restroom we got smart and now we rotate our triplets through the travel potty chair in our vehicle when we arrive to our destination and then again before we drive back home.

The potty chair enables us to keep our triplets and baby contained as they take turns using the travel potty chair, and this method also protects them from being exposed to who knows what in public restrooms because they are the exact opposite of the kind of people (like me) that try not to touch anything in public restrooms and use a paper towel on the door handle to exit the restroom. (Containment is a major factor to consider with multiples: Child Safety In The Home For Twins and Multiples: Safety Gates For Children.)

Don’t get me wrong we still use public restrooms the time in between arriving and leaving our destination. Stores that have family restrooms are awesome. Learn which stores have them and shop there. It is great to all be contained in a large family restroom and to have privacy so strangers don’t have to hear your kids laughing and talking about poop and butts and poopy butts. It will also spare strangers from listening to two little boys in a stall together giggling saying, “ready, set, go! let’s do that again. Ready, set go! More proud and silly laughter” It is sort of embarrassing when we are in public and they are just as comfortable as they are in our bathroom at home.

I carry a folding potty seat in my diaper bag so that our triplets won’t fall in or be scared that they will fall while sitting on adult size public restroom toilets. Now that our triplets have progressed to stage fifty million of potty training they don’t really need this anymore, but I don’t know how we could have survived the first twenty million stages without it.

Back to some more reasons I really like the Travel Potty Chair. It is wide and stable enough for toddlers to comfortably sit on without falling off or tipping over spilling pee and poop everywhere. There are great bags that we purchase to use with our car potty that have built in absorbent pads. With one child you might be able to get away with any old plastic bag. Take my word for it that when you have triplets, you need the good kind designed for this purpose.

The car potty obviously comes in handy any time you are out in your car and one of your twins or multiples needs to use the potty. Sometimes it is more convenient than pulling over at the nearest restroom and unbuckling all of your kids and bringing them all in with you to touch everything in the nasty public restroom.

The car potty provides the convenience of pulling over and having a potty for your child that needs to use the potty. Also it keeps your other kids contained in their car seats during this process. Like feeding triplets, if possible, have them all go to the potty when you pull over to make a stop for this purpose. Otherwise, as soon as you pull away, another one of your triplets will say that they now have to go potty too. Then when you pull away again, you third triplet will say that now they have to go too and you will be pulling over a third time.

To help encourage using the potty and not having accidents while we were in the car and going places with our triplets we would put Potty Power and Elmo's Potty Training videos into our car's DVD player. I took advantage of all of the help I could get to encourage them to be big kids and they enjoyed both of these videos and would sing along and everything!

http://tripletmomplusone.blogspot.com/

Mom to BBG Triplets and Singleton boy. Our triplets are almost four and our baby is almost two.