Let me just start by saying that I strongly dislike potty training, but I mean who doesn’t?
I probably would feel differently if I was not potty training my two year old while having a 4 month old in the house, who needs to be held 90% of the day, otherwise potty training with my daughter would be a breeze. Despite my feelings of potty training my daughter has done very well for our very laid back approach and basically she has potty trained herself.
There has been some things that have happened and that we have specifically done to help her along on this new step in her life and here are 10 of the most helpful:
1. When you have to use the bathroom let your child go in with you, like we have a choice right? Tell them what you are doing so they can learn what they need to do.
This is the number one step. This is so important for helping your child’s interest in going potty to peak. Almost everything they learn to do is by watching you do them so why would going to the potty be any different?
2. Buy them their own potty.
We bought my daughter her own potty when she was about a year and a half. It was too soon to start potty training but having it in the house peeked her curiosity. We would ask her about once or twice a week, at first, if she needed to use the potty and it definitely helped to get her interested and excited about going to the potty.
3. Let them help you pick out the potty, open the box their potty is in and help you set it up.
What better way to get them excited and help them feel like they are a part of this new journey.
4. Put them on their potty right away. Explain to them what this potty is for.
They don’t have to do anything but this will help them understand why this new object is in their house and how it can help them.
5. Ask them frequently if they need to use the potty.
We would ask her if she needed to use the potty and if she said no than we would move on but if she said yes we got her ready, sat her down on her potty with some books and let her sit there as little or as long as she wanted whether or not something happened. If they do say no then just ask again later.
6. Put the small potty in a central location.
When my daughter first got interested in actually using her potty on a regular basis I was breastfeeding our new baby pretty much ever hour which is basically all day with 10-20 minutes in between each feeding. So in order to keep up with my daughter going potty all day I had to stop feeding my son multiple times in order to let my daughter into the bathroom. We then decided to set the potty in the living room for a few weeks so I could supervise without having to upset the baby.
7. Let your child run around with no clothes on.
This one has been a lifesaver! My daughter is not ready to wear underwear yet, how do I know? Because every time I put them on her she has an accident within 5 minutes of wearing them so it makes laundry a daily task which is very hard to do when you are stuck on the couch most of the day feeding and holding your 4 month old. My daughter does a great job though when she has no clothes on. She knows when she has to go potty and she can run in and go to the bathroom without any help. Eventually, probably within the next week or two, I will start having her wear underwear and helping her understand what they are for but until then this system is working great
8. Don’t worry if they don’t do number two right away.
This was something I worried about for a little while. My daughter would only pee in the potty and would hold everything else until she was wearing a diaper during her nap or at night. I started to worry less when I found out that this was not an uncommon problem and then one day she went into the bathroom and was in there longer than normal so I went to check on her and she had done it! All on her own and she has done it multiple times since. So don’t worry it will eventually happen.
9. Set up play dates with kids who are potty trained.
My daughter and I were at a friend’s house when one of the kids had to go to the bathroom. When Savannah noticed that a girl who was so close in age to her was using the big potty she decided the very next day that she would go on the big potty too, and she has not used her little potty since.
10. The most important advice that has helped us the most with potty training our daughter is to not push it. Let your child take their time.
If we were going to be technical than I have “technically” been potty training my daughter for almost a year. But really in my mind I have not started because it has all happened on her own accord and I have not had to push anything on her. We started early so this gave her time to learn and understand what this new concept was. I have a feeling I will eventually have to dive in and make this potty training a more serious thing to help her fully transition to being potty trained, but so far it has been very low key and non-stressful.
Easy peasy right? Well not always. Yes we have had accidents on the carpet and in the bathroom and on clothes but if you follow these tips, especially number 10, I know your child will have great luck at the beginning stages of being potty trained!
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