Potty training is a BIG DEAL and a HUGE accomplishment for your little one! There are a ton of different approaches to potty training. In fact, so many that it almost makes it even more complicated and nerve racking for parents. I am going to share with you what I have learned and what I did to be successful at potty training. I am happy to say, my 20 month old is potty trained and it took me 4 days!
The first step to potty training is determining if your child is ready. This is probably the most important step. If they are not ready, it does not matter what method you try, you will not be successful. There are 5 signs that your little one is ready to be potty trained.
- Your child can tell you when they have gone potty in their diaper.
- Your child can remain dry for up to two hours.
- Your child has a regular daily bowel movement.
- Your child can follow simple directions.
- Your child shows interest in the bathroom/toilet.
If your little one checks off all 5 things, then they are ready to be potty trained. Some suggest that they are ready if they can check off at least 3 of the 5 but in my experience they really need to be able to check off all 5 items in order to be truly ready. Now, what I did and what I recommend, is to buy the book Potty Training In 3 Days by Brandi Brucks.
Amazon: Potty Training In 3 Days.
I read this entire book, did exactly what she said to do, and I was NOT successful. You are probably wondering why I am recommending you to buy and read it then, right? Well, what I learned is that every child is different and every child needs to be potty trained differently. My child did not fit into the cookie cutter plan laid out in this book. However, this book was very helpful to me because she gives great tips and ticks that I took and manipulated to fit for what worked for my toddler.
The first thing she tells you to do is to have a conversation with your little one about no more diapers and learning to use the big kid potty. My son gets very overwhelmed very quickly, so I really wanted to wait until he agreed to try potty training before just starting the process. I kept talking to him about it once or twice a day until he finally said “yes” he is ready to start trying to potty on the big kid potty. The next thing we did was make a potty chart on construction paper together. This helped him get more excited about going potty so he could get stickers for his cool chart! Then I got a small container and filled it with chocolate chips and I told him every time he goes on the potty he gets a chocolate chip.
On day one, like the book suggests, I waited until after he ate his breakfast, then we went to his room and I told him no more diapers and put him in underwear. I told him no going potty in the underwear, he has to tell me when he needs to go and we go on the potty. All of this is what the book suggested. What I learned is that this does not work for my child. Too many different meanings for the word “potty”. He would tell me he had to go but would go in his underwear. So I started saying “tell me when you have to potty and we have to make it to the toilet”. This helped him distinguish the difference between going potty and where to go potty, on the toilet. I also learned, while teaching him to tell me when he has to go is wonderful and a great habit for him to get into but suggesting trying to go every 1-2 hours really helped eliminate accidents.
By the end of day one, he was just sitting on the toilet eating chocolate chips and not even going potty. So I decided to change up the treat to little suckers. This helped limit one sucker at a time (plus he never eats the whole thing) but after a couple days of that I decided to break cookies into chunks and give him a chunk of cookies after he went potty, by then I was able to get him to go, then give him the cookie. After day 4, I eliminated the treat all together and just did the sticker for every time he went. You know your child, think what will motivate them and use what will work for your little one. Don’t be afraid to change it up like I did either, it honestly worked great for him to (hindsight) slowing step down on the treat.
The book suggests giving your child a lot to drink on day one so they have a constant full bladder and learn what it feels like to hold it to get to the toilet. I do not recommend this, that puts way too much pressure on you and your little one right out the gate. I had a rough guess of my child’s potty habits throughout the day so I used that as my starting schedule to be prepared and when I did give him a cup of juice or milk i knew to expect him to need to go sooner rather than later. Making him have to pee every 30 minutes did not add up for me, I want him to learn his body’s normal potty needs.
Another obstacle I ran into was teaching my son that it is not okay to go potty in his underwear. He would tell me he needed to go and would go a little bit in his underwear before we got to the toilet but would finish in the toilet. The book says to not punish or tell them they are bad because it will discourage them. Well my child does not learn that it’s wrong if you don’t tell him its bad. I would praise him for going on the toilet and give him a sticker but I would make him touch his wet underwear and tell him that was bad. I would remind him we do not go in our underwear its bad. This worked amazing for him, now if he even thinks he might not have been able to hold it he says “bad” and point at his underwear. I take him to the potty and usually he is actually still dry, he goes on the potty and I tell him he did great and his underwear is still dry!
Those are my suggestions, tips, and tricks for successful potty training. With reading the book and altering things to fit my specific toddler I was able to successfully potty train my 20 month old in 4 days. You can do it! Stay calm and positive. Just remember, accidents will happen, even for a few months after they are potty trained and over night bladder control is a completely different thing. Just keep with it and do not go back to diapers. You know your little one, you know what will help motivate them. You got this momma!
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