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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Potty Training Readiness??
KarenSue 06:44 AM 12-02-2015
Does anyone have a list for signs of potty training readiness. I have 3 toddlers that are about 16 to 18 months and the parents are hinting. I know they aren't ready. I found different policy threads but not a list of readiness signs.
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Blackcat31 07:24 AM 12-02-2015
Originally Posted by Karen0801:
Does anyone have a list for signs of potty training readiness. I have 3 toddlers that are about 16 to 18 months and the parents are hinting. I know they aren't ready. I found different policy threads but not a list of readiness signs.
NannyDe lists specific things a child must be able to do before training in the following article.

https://www.daycare.com/nannyde/pott...to-parents.htm
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KarenSue 08:00 AM 12-02-2015
Very helpful. Thank you.
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Max 01:25 PM 10-06-2017
Just found this! Has anyone ever printed and gave this to a parent?
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Blackcat31 02:34 PM 10-06-2017
Originally Posted by Max:
Just found this! Has anyone ever printed and gave this to a parent?
You mean like the printed info I PMed you?

It's handed out to a parent the second potty training is mentioned.
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daycarediva 04:48 PM 10-06-2017
I use guidelines like nannyd, able to pull up/down clothes, able to verbally express the need to go, able to get on/off the toilet independently.

THEN I give parents my potty training policy, and it outlines the above, then what I WILL/WILL not do. No alarms, no naked or just underwear, no coming to daycare in underwear until they are two weeks accident free, no food rewards- that sort of thing. Then I say what I will do- encourage and support, remind child to ask to go, bring at regular scheduled personal hygiene breaks in our schedule, assist at first with clothing, etc.
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Ariana 04:51 PM 10-07-2017
Be prepeared for parents who think they know everything about potty training eventhough this is their first kid
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Georgiads 12:41 PM 10-08-2017
When we talk about kids being trained by 18 months we are not talking about kids in childcare. This was possible when kids were home with mom and maybe a sibling or two.

Parents think that we can accomplish this in childcare. It's not possible.

I'm having this problem right now.

Type A Mom did the 3 day method at home two weeks before scheduled c section with an already intense high needs 22 month old.

She says child has no accidents at home.

Here child has a minimum of 4 "accidents" per day.

Child has yet to poop in potty.

Child poops in pants in the morning (her usual time to poop) and in pull up at nap. Child still does not have solid stools.

Mother does not want child in pull ups. After several accident on the first few days I required plastic covers. (I was dumb for allowing child in underwear at all)

Now child still pees in pants between trips to the potty. I will not take the child to the potty every thirty minutes.

Results : Mom has a shopping bag full of soils clothing to take home every day.

Mom was so adamant that the child would be out of diapers before the baby arrived. The child was never trained. At home it is possible to take the child to the bathroom constantly. Here at carr it will not happen. Now that the new baby is home the child is even more stressed and becoming distressed when we go to the potty on regularly scheduled breaks. I think this is cruel but it's the parents choice to push the issue. The plastic pants protect my floors so I'm fine to let the child go with out pull ups. I don't do the laundry so it's not my problem.
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Josiegirl 03:03 PM 10-08-2017
Originally Posted by Georgiads:
When we talk about kids being trained by 18 months we are not talking about kids in childcare. This was possible when kids were home with mom and maybe a sibling or two.

Parents think that we can accomplish this in childcare. It's not possible.

I'm having this problem right now.

Type A Mom did the 3 day method at home two weeks before scheduled c section with an already intense high needs 22 month old.

She says child has no accidents at home.

Here child has a minimum of 4 "accidents" per day.

Child has yet to poop in potty.

Child poops in pants in the morning (her usual time to poop) and in pull up at nap. Child still does not have solid stools.

Mother does not want child in pull ups. After several accident on the first few days I required plastic covers. (I was dumb for allowing child in underwear at all)

Now child still pees in pants between trips to the potty. I will not take the child to the potty every thirty minutes.

Results : Mom has a shopping bag full of soils clothing to take home every day.

Mom was so adamant that the child would be out of diapers before the baby arrived. The child was never trained. At home it is possible to take the child to the bathroom constantly. Here at carr it will not happen. Now that the new baby is home the child is even more stressed and becoming distressed when we go to the potty on regularly scheduled breaks. I think this is cruel but it's the parents choice to push the issue. The plastic pants protect my floors so I'm fine to let the child go with out pull ups. I don't do the laundry so it's not my problem.
That poor child doesn't need to be pushed into something he's not developmentally ready for, along with a new baby in the house. Poor kid. What stress he must be under. And frankly, I'd refuse to participate; dcm could find someone else to care for him.
You're right about kids that used to be trained at 18 mo. All my siblings were trained around a year, I was the late bloomer at 18 mo.
Kids will be trained according to their time table with a little guidance from us. Anything else could backfire.
My 3 yos(turned 3 in June) do well about 75-85% of the time. But so far, no pooping on the potty and hardly ever do they tell me they need to go, we just do at certain times such as before going outside, before naps and going home.
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nannyde 04:23 AM 10-09-2017
Originally Posted by Georgiads:
When we talk about kids being trained by 18 months we are not talking about kids in childcare. This was possible when kids were home with mom and maybe a sibling or two.

Parents think that we can accomplish this in childcare. It's not possible.

I'm having this problem right now.

Type A Mom did the 3 day method at home two weeks before scheduled c section with an already intense high needs 22 month old.

She says child has no accidents at home.

Here child has a minimum of 4 "accidents" per day.

Child has yet to poop in potty.

Child poops in pants in the morning (her usual time to poop) and in pull up at nap. Child still does not have solid stools.

Mother does not want child in pull ups. After several accident on the first few days I required plastic covers. (I was dumb for allowing child in underwear at all)

Now child still pees in pants between trips to the potty. I will not take the child to the potty every thirty minutes.

Results : Mom has a shopping bag full of soils clothing to take home every day.

Mom was so adamant that the child would be out of diapers before the baby arrived. The child was never trained. At home it is possible to take the child to the bathroom constantly. Here at carr it will not happen. Now that the new baby is home the child is even more stressed and becoming distressed when we go to the potty on regularly scheduled breaks. I think this is cruel but it's the parents choice to push the issue. The plastic pants protect my floors so I'm fine to let the child go with out pull ups. I don't do the laundry so it's not my problem.
There's a very good chance the mom is lying about the child being accident free at home. There's a good chance she is actually diapering him when she gets him home.

I wouldn't do the plastic pants over underwear. It's so much work to clean up soiled underwear.

I would tell her he isn't accident free at your house and he needs to go back into diapers ... NOT PULL UPS at your house.

Her having a second child doesn't affect when her first is trained. She should have thought about not being able to afford diapers if she had a second child before the first one was out of them.

She's home now with the first so this is a perfect time for the child to stay home with her and have her potty train the child. If he is not having accidents at home then it should be a breeze.

To me, this is an issue for you of "do you want the money" or do you not. If you want the money then either buy diapers for the child to use at your house and send home in underwear or keep dealing with a child having four plus pee and poop pants a day.

If you can afford to loose the money than tell her the child isn't trained and she needs to keep him home to train him or she needs to provide diapers. If he is trained at home and not having accidents, we are talking a dollar a day in diapers to have him at your house.

She can't claim he will get confused because he already is if he is completely trained and accident free at her house and not trained at all in daycare. It's not going to matter what you have on him in daycare. The outcome at daycare is the same with or without diapers.

When it comes to parental lying... number one is lying about illness. Number two is lying about potty training success at home. I have a suspicion she is lying.

Can the child say the words "I have to go potty?" How well can the kid talk?

You may want to pick up a copy of my book. There's a full section on potty training lying. It may prepare you for the storm. Many parents pull their child out of a daycare that doesn't allow underwear and put them in another daycare who promises to. That daycare either buys diapers and uses them until the kid goes home or eventually tells the mom the kid isn't trained. Once the parent is told twice.. sometimes three times... they finally surrender... BUT.. by that time you aren't making any money and will never hear about it. The kid could be in diapers for another year and you would be none the wiser.
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Mom2Two 12:09 PM 10-09-2017
Originally Posted by nannyde:
There's a very good chance the mom is lying about the child being accident free at home. There's a good chance she is actually diapering him when she gets him home.

I wouldn't do the plastic pants over underwear. It's so much work to clean up soiled underwear.

I would tell her he isn't accident free at your house and he needs to go back into diapers ... NOT PULL UPS at your house.

Her having a second child doesn't affect when her first is trained. She should have thought about not being able to afford diapers if she had a second child before the first one was out of them.

She's home now with the first so this is a perfect time for the child to stay home with her and have her potty train the child. If he is not having accidents at home then it should be a breeze.

To me, this is an issue for you of "do you want the money" or do you not. If you want the money then either buy diapers for the child to use at your house and send home in underwear or keep dealing with a child having four plus pee and poop pants a day.

If you can afford to loose the money than tell her the child isn't trained and she needs to keep him home to train him or she needs to provide diapers. If he is trained at home and not having accidents, we are talking a dollar a day in diapers to have him at your house.

She can't claim he will get confused because he already is if he is completely trained and accident free at her house and not trained at all in daycare. It's not going to matter what you have on him in daycare. The outcome at daycare is the same with or without diapers.

When it comes to parental lying... number one is lying about illness. Number two is lying about potty training success at home. I have a suspicion she is lying.

Can the child say the words "I have to go potty?" How well can the kid talk?

You may want to pick up a copy of my book. There's a full section on potty training lying. It may prepare you for the storm. Many parents pull their child out of a daycare that doesn't allow underwear and put them in another daycare who promises to. That daycare either buys diapers and uses them until the kid goes home or eventually tells the mom the kid isn't trained. Once the parent is told twice.. sometimes three times... they finally surrender... BUT.. by that time you aren't making any money and will never hear about it. The kid could be in diapers for another year and you would be none the wiser.
Yes, if she won't bring him in diapers, you put him in diapers and pass on the fee for you providing them.

I hope your policies address this or that your contract allows you to change your policies as needed. If not, live, learn, and change your policies.

But if not, you can still find a way to implement this.

And, darn it, underwear accidents cause expensive furniture and carpet damage. I'm sure she would just hate to have to have those charges passed on, and so I'm sure she'll be really happy to go back to diapers. <slight sarcasm>
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Georgiads 03:25 PM 10-09-2017
Originally Posted by nannyde:
There's a very good chance the mom is lying about the child being accident free at home. There's a good chance she is actually diapering him when she gets him home.

I wouldn't do the plastic pants over underwear. It's so much work to clean up soiled underwear.

I would tell her he isn't accident free at your house and he needs to go back into diapers ... NOT PULL UPS at your house.

Her having a second child doesn't affect when her first is trained. She should have thought about not being able to afford diapers if she had a second child before the first one was out of them.

She's home now with the first so this is a perfect time for the child to stay home with her and have her potty train the child. If he is not having accidents at home then it should be a breeze.

To me, this is an issue for you of "do you want the money" or do you not. If you want the money then either buy diapers for the child to use at your house and send home in underwear or keep dealing with a child having four plus pee and poop pants a day.

If you can afford to loose the money than tell her the child isn't trained and she needs to keep him home to train him or she needs to provide diapers. If he is trained at home and not having accidents, we are talking a dollar a day in diapers to have him at your house.

She can't claim he will get confused because he already is if he is completely trained and accident free at her house and not trained at all in daycare. It's not going to matter what you have on him in daycare. The outcome at daycare is the same with or without diapers.

When it comes to parental lying... number one is lying about illness. Number two is lying about potty training success at home. I have a suspicion she is lying.

Can the child say the words "I have to go potty?" How well can the kid talk?

You may want to pick up a copy of my book. There's a full section on potty training lying. It may prepare you for the storm. Many parents pull their child out of a daycare that doesn't allow underwear and put them in another daycare who promises to. That daycare either buys diapers and uses them until the kid goes home or eventually tells the mom the kid isn't trained. Once the parent is told twice.. sometimes three times... they finally surrender... BUT.. by that time you aren't making any money and will never hear about it. The kid could be in diapers for another year and you would be none the wiser.

OMG NANNYDE. I'm honored that you would reply to my post. Your book is an invaluable resource. As are all of your posts on this site. I came from the corporate world and like many I did not realize the amount of work that would go into a home daycare business. Your NO NONSENSE advice has helped me tremendously!!!

Thank You!!!

As to this Family:

Mom is definitely lying... dck wakes up at 6am, arrives at my house at 730, gets home by 6-6:15pm and is in bed by 7pm during the week.

Its possible that for those 3 hours a day that she is "accident" free. But at home she is able to run over to the potty at will. With me that is not possible! I know that she is not physically able to last 1 hour with out peeing so I assume that they don't go anywhere on the weekend or they are putting her in diapers to travel.

At this point its like Don't Ask Don't Tell with these parents.


This family can definitely afford diapers. The mom in this case has a friend who has kids and is imposing all of the friend's children's milestones on her child. The child is very bright but the issue is really the physical readiness of the bladder. This family believes that this issue is a matter of strictness.

I have resorted to putting the child in a pull up in the morning until the first poop and then putting the plastic pants over the clothes after that. Pulling the wet clothes off is not a big deal (its not leaking out of the plastic), to me and I just send home a shopping bag of wet clothes every day for the family to wash.

I wish I could term this child but I have known the family for 25 years. I grew up with the mom and our moms are friends.


I feel bad for the child because home life is rocky(parents argue and are loud/rude) and new baby is a disruption to the routine and mom is not very motherly (accidental pregnancy, vocal about not wanting to be pregnant, talks about how she can't wait to bring me baby and go back to work). I think that sending her to another daycare would harm her emotionally.


I thought this job was about taking care of children, and would allow me to be home with my ASD toddler, but know I see it is SO MUCH MORE!!!!
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