Potty Training 101
This post is for my daughter who is potty training her toddler and any other moms who need some pointers. Now is the perfect time to potty train! We are all stuck at home and have time to devote to it. Two and a half is the perfect age. So, here we go, step by step guide to potty training.
Buy underwear. Let your child pick out the designs that he/she likes. Make a big deal out of buying underwear. I also buy some of the thicker, padded training pants, too.
Get rid of diapers. Now that you have decided to potty train, you just have to go for it with no turning back. Let your child know that he/she is done with diapers and is now a big kid! That’s so exciting!
Commit to it. Choose a block of time that you can be mostly home for stay at home moms or a holiday for working moms (coordinate with when daycares are training) and then stay home and commit yourself to potty training. It will go faster, with less regressions, if you just commit and don’t keep jumping back and forth to potty training.
Choose an area of the house to train if using a potty chair or if using the toilet, try to keep your child in a room nearby.
Let them be naked. It is easier for them and for you. Since we are committed to potty training, it will only take a couple of weeks, so they can run around naked for that time. After a couple of weeks, you will be able to have easy to pull down pants for boys or dresses for girls.
I do not use candy or toys. I just cheer and make a big deal out of every success because whenever I gave candy, they would just sit on the potty every 5 seconds for an piece of candy and throw a fit when they didn’t get one. It is easier not to reward with candy. I do give a reward when they are totally potty trained. They get to go to the store and pick it out! We talk about it during potty training so they have something to look forward to.
Now it is time to begin! I give lots of drinks during the day so we get lots of practice. Take your child to the potty every 30 minutes the first few days. Lots of cheers and praise when they go. I completely focus on just potty at first. If they have never gone on the potty before, it will take a few accidents and quickly sitting them on the potty for them to connect the two, or having them sit on it while watching tv and then cheering when they go.
You have to train yourself to remember to take them every 30 minutes, then an hour, then two hours. Don’t get upset when accidents happen, just matter of factly clean up and try to catch them the next time.
It is super important to not go back to diapers. That is so confusing for a toddler to switch between diapers and underwear based on how you feel that day. Remember you committed to this, so stay committed! I even put them to bed without one and put it on after they fall asleep and take it off immediately upon waking and sit them right on the potty.
If you can stay home until they get the hang of it, that is best. It should take two weeks of dedicated potty training. The more you switch back and forth, the longer it will take.
It really isn’t hard, I promise. But, like everything parenting, it requires consistency. The more consistent you are as a parent, the more successful all your parenting endeavors will be.