Potty Training & Inventing?

Before our daughter, Sydney, was potty trained, we tried everything from wearing pull-ups to only underwear, to bribing, disciplining, and we often lost our temper. We were so frustrated and felt like we would be fighting dirty diapers, urine stained laundry, bedding, and embarrassing accidents for the rest of our lives. She wet on our couch, on the carpet, and in her car seat several times. I felt like a failure as a parent and finally hit the Internet to seek help because I was too embarrassed to tell anyone how bad our potty training problem was.

I was shocked at how much information there was on the subject-over a million websites!

Many said the same things like:

• never lose your temper or show your frustration.
• try and make it fun
• try and give your child control
• monitor when they are wetting
• set a schedule to use the bathroom every 2-3 hours

Much of the advice was helpful, but I wished there was a product that could...




help to make it fun, give the child control, and help remind us to practice going to the bathroom every 2-3 hours. You know, like a watch the child wears that plays a song every 2 hours to remind them to go potty.

When I told my friends about my idea, they thought it was brilliant and encouraged my husband and I to invent it and bring it to market. My husband and I had never done anything like that before being a teacher and Inside-Salesman.

So, back to the Internet we went to research how to bring a product idea to market. Writing the fun potty training book, and producing the Hop to the Potty Place song was fairly easy, but the actual watch device would be $40,000 dollars just to engineer the chip to play ten seconds of the song every hour, two and/or three hours.

Before committing so much time and money to a project, we wanted to test the idea. So, we bought an $80.00 dollar hand-held digital recorder and put the song on it. We tried it, we had friends, family, neighbors, and friends of friends try it out on their potty trainers. Along with the digital recorder, we gave them a copy of the book, the DVD of the story and music video and a Potty Chart.

The results were very encouraging. We have testimonials from parents saying they tried the doll and that didn’t work, they tried everything, but this was the only thing that worked…. Within two weeks or two days…my child was potty trained… We had pediatricians, child psychologists, and medical professionals test our product and each one wished they had one for their children and endorsed it.

Now we sell our product on our website, Amazon, through a national distributor and in a few Walmarts in the US. We have learned a lot and have more product ideas we are bringing to market. It was hard-work, but we learned a lot and it was so worth it!

Oh and by the way, I can guarantee you will not be suffering through potty training forever! It is never hopeless. Remember, “Put a big smile on your face, and hop, hop, hop to the Potty Place!”

***Read More***

New Potty Training Breakthroughs!

According to some recent studies in Potty Training, the best way to experience potty training success is to stick to a set schedule. Dr. Brasch, Dr. Thompson and others hail the WeeMinder as the best potty training tool out there to keep everyone on schedule, while making the whole process fun.

#1. Make potty training fun!
#2. Visit the potty every 2-3 hours.
#3. Praise the potty trainer.
#4. Give the potty trainer control.

These of four important things to consider when potty training. The WeeMinder is the best and easiest way to ensure potty training success.

***Read More***

Potty Training Power Struggle

Can anyone out there relate to this potty training power struggle? 

My daugher Sydney hides her wet underwear under her bed, in her closet, and in her drawers or even backpacks or purses instead of putting them in the wash.  She just lays in her pee-soaked bed until morning and can go all day wearing wet underwear.  

Yes, you are not alone.  This is one of the reasons we went to so much work to create the WeeMinder.  We made mistakes and maybe you have to.  We punished and scolded and clearly showed our frustration with the wetting accidents!

All of that must stop for you to see any improvement.  The WeeMinder will help give the child control and make it fun.  It will turns things around and the power struggle will definitely be turned around significantly!

Don't beat yourself up for getting frustrated.  That is normal!  Now you know better and plan ahead what you are going to do when they have a potty accident to make sure you don't blow it again!  

Breath and let the WeeMinder do the rest!

It can really help eliminate the Potty Training Power Struggle very soon!

-Heidi 

***Read More***

Problems Poop Training?

Poop Training? I have to admit that I was shocked when I discovered that many parents were handing their potty trainers a pull-up to poop in because the child refused to poop train in the toilet. Being in the potty training business, I get many frustrated parents asking for help with all different aspects of potty training. Lately the most popular inquiry is, "Can you come over and potty train them for me?" I understand your frustration, but there is hope and soon you will be able to look back and laugh about this and maybe even help someone else with potty training their toddler down the road.

The second most popular inquiry lately revolves around the stinky subject of poop training. Why are children having such a problem lately with poop training? Well, it could be diet, environment, stress, or lack of exercise, but whatever it is many struggling families are suffering because of it.

Some parents share that their toddler is just refusing to go poop in the toilet. A few shared that their child complained that pooping in the potty was painful. I can relate to having painful bowel movements and for a newbie poop trainer they might relate the pain to the toilet. Other parents do not believe that the poop trainer is experiencing any pain, but simply are refusing to go poop in the toilet. In most of these cases, the child is successfully peeing in the toilet!

So, what do I suggest? Well, the most obvious would be to get some more fruit in the diet. Once you have softened them up, then you need to hand over the poop training to the potty trainer! That's right...scoop the poop over to the one who needs poop training! 
I had to get that in there somehow! But seriously (and I know how serious of a problem this is for many of you) I think your child may be using the poop problem in a passive aggressive and possibly unconscious way to demonstrate a form of control in their life.

There are many reasons why they may be doing this, but the upside is there may be a positive way to get around it. Let's give them the control they want and allow them to take over. How?

• I suggest finding a fun way to make poop training their choice and control. 
• Give your potty trainer a weeminder watch that sings to remind them in the most fun way to try and go potty poop on the potty. 
• I suggest this be set right before a fruit filled breakfast because medical experts have found that most bowel movements occur about 30 minutes after they have finished breakfast. 
• Then, have them read a fun potty book on the toilet while they wait for the bm to come. 
• I also suggest purchasing a fun potty DVD that will get them excited about potty training completely.

Don't give up and do everything possible to NEVER get upset or frustrated when they don't poop in the toilet. Continue to praise them and encourage them to poop train in the toilet. Now put a big smile on your face, and remember the toilet is the Potty Place!

***Read More***

Messy Accidents After Potty Training!

Below is a letter we received via email that we were given permission to share with everyone. 

Dear WeeMinder:

We don't know what happened.  We had amazing success with Wally and the WeeMinder.  We had tried other potty tools that Jacob was not interested in and did not work.  When we got the WeeMinder, Jacob instantly took to the weeminder watch and Wally.  He watched the DVD over and over and he felt so "big" to have his own watch and book and DVD.  Things turned around almost instantly.  He stopped fighting us and took charge of his own potty training almost like he was teaching us.  We had finally found success in potty training, which was good because we were nearing his 5th birthday!

Well, I don't know what happened, but he began to have accidents during the day again almost a year after our success with the WeeMinder.  First, one a day and then two or three times a day. I was shocked.  Now we are back to the old bathroom battle!  Help!

Sincerely,

Sheyenne Jaxson

___________________________________________________________________

Dear Sheyenne:

Take heart.  This is not a problem!  This happens to nearly all potty trainers, usually during a time of change or stress that occurs in their life.  Have you been extra busy lately?  Did you change anything significant in the schedule?  

Many potty trainers have a relapse and how you handle it is crucial, especially if the child already had a previous negative experience with potty training.  Below is a list of the best way to handle these sudden and out of the ordinary accidents when they begin occuring.

1.  STAY COOL! Don't overreact or make a big deal about it. 

2.  NOTICE why.  Be aware of the possibility of a change in routine as the cause.

3.  NONCHALANTLY, begin using the WeeMinder again, but not as a punishment!!

4.  PLAY the movie a few times, bring the book out again, and keep the WeeMinder where everyone can hear it again.

5. CATCH the potty trainer succeeding without overdoing it.  

It usually just takes the family getting back into the routine of the WeeMinder and they are back on track! The key is staying calm and giving positive attention instead of negative.

We wanted to share this email because this is real life!  Real people like you have life LIFE them once in awhile and very often our children subconsciously pick up on it and many times it results in a potty accident.  How we react to this is so important.  The ease and fun of the WeeMinder can save us from unnecessary accidents, frustration, and possibly from serious control problems down the road.  

If you are in need of another WeeMinder Musical Reminder, please email us at wally@weeminder.com and we may be able to sell you a replacement for $9.95 depending upon availability.

If you have any questions or concerns, we are more than happy to help.  Please email us at wally@weeminder.com. 

Hopefully, this is helpful for all parents to keep in mind if they ever come across messy accidents after potty training. 

***Read More***

Top Ten Reasons The WeeMinder Really Works!

1. It not only potty trains, but the children fall in love with Wally the Wallaby and their WeeMinder Potty Training Watch!"   

2.  The award-winning potty training song is super catchy and fun!  Everyone in the family will be singing "Hop, hop, hop to the Potty Place!"  

3.  The WeeMinder Musical Reminder is super easy to use.  You don't have to program a thing. You just choose 1, 2 or 2.5 hour mode and turn it ON!

4.  The WeeMinder Potty Training Kit is of the highest quality and safety.  The watch is so durable we even ran over it with a car!

5.  It makes you smile and enjoy potty training.  "Put a big smile on your face and hop, hop, hop to the Potty Place"!  The whole thing takes the pressure and frustration out of potty training.

6.  It is the only potty training product that tackles the real problem of potty training. Nearly every potty trainer has a relapse especially when the parent becomes busy or distracted for some reason or another.  Without the WeeMinder the parent yells and gets angry after accidents and unfortunately many times a big problem arises.  However, with the WeeMinder the parent takes a deep breath, gets the WeeMinder back out, and "whallah" we are back in potty training success mode!

7.  The price is incredible.  If you were to buy a potty training book, DVD and timer, that would cost you over $30.00 and they would all be unrelated products.  There is something to the complete system that really builds the success and excitement! 

8.  You will not find more free stuff and helpful information about potty training on any other website, www.weeminder.com "Tips and Free Stuff".  

9.  We want you to be successful and the Customer Service will do what it takes to help you!  

10.  The WeeMinder has the best time settings for your child.  Other timers have 30, 60, and 90 minute settings.  We found that most medical experts suggested 2-3 hour reminders, but the highest our competitors modes go is 90 minutes.   We also found that by the time the child hopped, undressed, sat/read, waited, redressed, flushed, washed, and celebrated 30 minutes had almost gone by already making the 30 minute mode unreasonable! (We don't mean to mock our competitors, we just want people to know what we found out during our research and development.)

***Read More***

Bedwetting

“Most Potty Training books just speak on the process of Potty Training, which wasn’t really our problem.  This book helped teach my son how to choose to go potty instead of play and wet himself.  The wee-minder device helped remind him to stop playing and go potty. Wally from the storybook and DVD encouraged him to make the right, but difficult choice to go to the potty, then play! We love the song and even though it has been awhile since we potty trained our son, we still remember and love the song.”                                            

      Disa & JohnJennings

"The wee-MINDER saved my life because I have four children, a set of twins, and one on medication. The wee-MINDER gave me the peace of mind nothing else could.  My daughter has a spastic bladder and is seeing a Urologist.  She has therapy twice a week and her “homework” is to try and go potty every two hours.  The wee-Minder has helped tremendously during this difficult time and most importantly made it a fun and positive experience.”

      Beckie Sommerville

 “My 3 -year old daughter, Sasha, loves The wee-Minder!  Not only does it remind her to “Hop, hop, hop to the Potty Place”, but it reminds us.  It’s been a wonderful tool to use when she’s at her grandparent’s house too.  Potty training has been made easy by this trio-  the book, DVD, and wee-Minder keeps Sasha interested in using the potty!”

            Jennifer Damschen

 

“My kids are well past potty training years (thank goodness, urgh), but my sister-in-law and close friend’s kids are nearing the dreaded potty training years and when I saw the wee-minder, I immediately bought two for them. Amazing idea. I wish it was around five years ago!”                                       

            Lori Sherfey

 

“I am a grandmother of 21 grandkids (so far), and when I saw the wee-minder, I was so excited!  I bought seven, so that I would have some to not only use for my grandkids, but to give as baby shower gifts because I like to have a clever and unique gift!”           

             Debbie Dickerson

 

 “Thanks so much for such a cute item! My daughter loved it, and really enjoyed hopping to the potty place. She is having a hard time going potty at school during all of the fun activities, and I thought that the wee-minder would help. It did. Everyone that has seen it has commented on how cute it is. Thanks, again!”                          Suzy Sivley (Purchased on e-BAY)

 

“My daughter loves the song and so does my almost 2 year old.  He sings it all the time, too.” 

             Kristy Huber  (e-BAY)

 

 

"We tried everything and nothing worked.  Our daughter didn’t even want to try sitting on the potty.  With the Wee-minder, she was in control and would remind us she had to go sit on the potty.   In just over two weeks we were completely done with potty training."                                                

            Ron Lahr   (used initial prototype)

 

"It's interactive, innovation, fun and child driven. I wish I had one when we were potty training our children. It is clear that this could greatly reduce the time it takes to potty train."

            Dr. James Brasch

"Before the Wee-minder, we tried everything. Nothing worked. With the Wee-minder Josie hop, hopped to the Potty Place on her own."

            Amy Whitsett

 “The wee-Minder Potty Training System is an innovative system that is not only kid-friendly, but hands over control to the toddlers alleviating the battle most parents face during the potty training years.  From a medical standpoint, the wee-Minder helps build muscle memory which is another key element in potty training.”

             Matt Thompson MD

“The wee-MINDER Potty Training System is superior in appearance, function, and durability!” -The WIN Inventors Services Program, PIES-XII Innovation Evaluation Report. 

            Dr. Pamela Riddle Bird Ph.D. 

            Fax 208-265-4482 - inventone@hotmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***Read More***

FREE WeeMinder Potty Training Kit

We just started our BLOG and have dreams to make it super helpful for families.  Send us your comments and ideas and we will put your name in a drawing to win a free WeeMinder Potty Training Kit. 

Our second deadline is November 3, 2008.  

If you cannot wait to get one until then, buy one now and then you will get a free one to give as a gift to friends and family-they are the most fun gift to give and explain what it is.  It has a wow factor, wee or woo factor, and a "Why didn't I think of that!" favor!  Hit of the party!

Be sure to leave your email address, so we can contact you when you win!!!!

***Read More***