I admit it … I’m a little afraid and intimidated by this particular mountain of a task. Monkey and Bugs are two and a half now …. definitely time to be considering and entering into this lovely little phase of life.
Toward the end of last school year, I put it off saying that it is so much easier to potty train when it is warm and they can run around in their little skivvys without fear of frostbite. But then I decided to put it off again because … well … let’s face it, having 6 children using one toilet is NOT the greatest time to train.
I tend to do the no potty seat, no pull ups method of training. They learn to pee sitting, then not too long afterward very quickly go to standing. I’ll admit though it has been a couple years since the last potty training experience and although I have trained 4 boys already, the thought of training twins who simply must do everything at the same time (their choice, not always mine!) is almost too much to handle.
So I’m joining Works-For-Me Wednesday’s backward edition this week to seek out other moms who have potty trained TWIN BOYS! Throw it at me girls!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm 1
I’ll be honest, I have not had the pleasure of potty training twins, but my two youngest are very close in age and potty training overlapped. (After five babies in succession I am so done with diapers! :))
Getting them each their own little potty chair is a must. All my kids (4 of which are boys) loved the idea of ownership, and they very easily made the transition to standing up at the big potty. We did this only occassionally at home so that they would go when we went somewhere. The trick with this was dropping a Cheerio in the toilet and telling them to “drown” it.
If they had to go #2 they felt more secure if I sat them on the toilet facing the seat. We also did the no-pull-ups method.
They also received a Skittle or M&M only when they went potty. If they went #2 the first couple of times they got ice cream or some other bigger treat. Positive reinforcement always works.
Obviously as much as they want to do things together, they will not always have to go at the same time, but I think it’s easier to train two because if one catches on, and made a bid deal over, the other is sure to follow. Consistency and making it fun is key.
You can do this. You gave birth to twins! This will so be a piece of cake.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm 2
I saw your dilemma and had to comment! I have twin boys that are now 3 1/2. Having had no prior p/t’ing experiences with boys (I have two older girls), I thought that having to train two at a time would be much easier than just training one girl. Ha! Let me just say that girls are much easier. My boys are finally fully trained, but it took a lot of bribery to get them there. I still have one in pullups at night and no matter what I try, cannot get him to make it through. It’s very frustrating. I wish I had advice for you, but training twins for me was no different than if they had been born years apart — they did their own thing and only when they wanted to. Good luck!!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:48 pm 3
You have so much experience already that you just have to bite the bullet and do it. I only have my 1 set of twins (boy/girl). They did not train at the same time. At first I tried to train them at the same time but neither one was ready and it was a nightmare. Then my daughter just pretty much stopped using diapers overnight. She was a breeze. My son waited longer before he was ready and he had many, many more accidents than she did.
My only advice to you is that you know what you are doing and have lots of experience already.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:53 pm 4
I’m just here to say I am so glad that I am not training twin boys! I do though have a two and a half year old little girl who is probably ready and I must say I am putting it off for no good reason! Good Luck!
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm 5
Thanks for asking this because I have enjoyed reading the answers. I don’t have any (answers) myself, but with two little girls, I was encouraged to read that girls tend to be easier than boys. My son was hard!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:15 am 6
Rolling over laughing falling down. I am the mother of 5 year old twins. I know what you are going through. I hate potty training time. But it does make for some VERY memorable moments! Good luck!
September 4th, 2008 at 11:47 am 7
I had a hard enough time training my one boy. He had a terrible time going #2 on the toilet (don’t ask me!?!?) Best of luck. I am sure it will be a load of fun and laughs
September 4th, 2008 at 9:06 pm 8
My best friend tried and tried to potty train her twin boys, and finally, the only thing that worked was to do it separately, one at a time. I have another friend with twins that trained hers separately too. If they insist on doing everything together, they may provide each other with incentive, but if not, it may help to look at both individually and see who’s really ready. Hope that helps!
September 6th, 2008 at 6:49 am 9
I, too, went through the struggles of potty-training twin boys. Some days it felt like I was spending the majority of my day in the bathroom! But I’m happy to report that we finally achieved success! I’ve posted some tips for potty-training twins at http://tinyurl.com/5nwsbr
September 9th, 2008 at 7:28 am 10
I just finished potty training my third child, and while she isn’t twins, she was definitely my most challenging. My other two didn’t need the potty seat, but did like having the little padded insert seat that you set on the regular toilet. So I was going with that this time. But this kid is different. She wasn’t getting the potty training thing at all. I chalked it up to moving and other changes, but we were down to the wire and it needed to happen. For her, it took a potty seat. She saw the girl on the pullups package had a purple potty and she said if she had one like that, she would be fine. And you know what? She was. We bought a $14 potty and she is potty trained. I hate emptying it and cleaning it, but the trade off is worth it. So I guess my advice is to just remember that these kids might not do it like your others did and that listening to them might be the key.