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Dr Carol Cooper Chat 13/3/07
One twin potty-trained, the other not...
Hello Carol, I have 3 year old twin boys. We didn't start trying to potty train them until quite recently, as they just didn't seem ready, but we decided to try a few weeks ago. One of them did really well, and was pretty well done after 2 days, with hardly any accidents. After a month, he is usually dry at night too. But his brother is showing no inclination at all. He says he 'loves' his pull-ups and doesn't want to use the potty or toilet, in spite of seeing the praise (and chocolate) his brother gets when he does it right. We don't scold him or do anything to criticise him for not doing it. He basically just can't be bothered. We've tried putting him in pants and he will sit on a potty for ages, but very rarely does anything in it, he will stand up and wee on the floor. Should we just leave it and wait for him to take the initiative, or should we just bin the nappies and pull-ups and hope he gets the message?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Dino xx
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One twin potty-trained, the other not...
Hello Carol, I have 3 year old twin boys. We didn't start trying to potty train them until quite recently, as they just didn't seem ready, but we decided to try a few weeks ago. One of them did really well, and was pretty well done after 2 days, with hardly any accidents. After a month, he is usually dry at night too. But his brother is showing no inclination at all. He says he 'loves' his pull-ups and doesn't want to use the potty or toilet, in spite of seeing the praise (and chocolate) his brother gets when he does it right. We don't scold him or do anything to criticise him for not doing it. He basically just can't be bothered. We've tried putting him in pants and he will sit on a potty for ages, but very rarely does anything in it, he will stand up and wee on the floor. Should we just leave it and wait for him to take the initiative, or should we just bin the nappies and pull-ups and hope he gets the message?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Dino xx
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Hello Dino
As it happens, I've got twin boys too (and wrote a book on twins - guess who inspired that?). I have learned from experience that twins don't always do the same things at the same time, or develop at the same rate. If they weren't twins, but, say, two children the same age who are cousins, then you probably wouldn't have posted this question at all.
It's only been a few weeks since the other twin became dry, and there's no rush, so don't worry. My advice is to leave it to your son. Don't scold, don't bribe. He knows he has a potty to hand (it has to be his own, not shared), and he knows what it's for. Eventually, he'll use it. If, come the summer, he still shows no desire to use a potty, then you can leave him with his nappy off, perhaps out of doors, and see what happens. I'm sure he'll become both clean and dry before you know it.
Good luck and have fun with your boys.



