(Maddie's favorite Potty Time Book)
Hope this helps you guys as much as it did me!
10 Practical Tips for Potty Training
(In no particular order)
1. Don't force it - If your child isn't ready you both will end up frustrated and worn out. I was seeing "signs" of Maddie being ready to potty train in October so I bought a training potty. She was interested for a day or two but then REFUSED to sit on it and threw huge fits if I mentioned it. I decided to put the potty away and wait a few months to pull it back out. This proved to be the best decision I could have made.
2. When you start, Commit - When you start and realize they ARE ready, you have to commit. And let me tell you, this is a HUGE commitment for you as a parent. This means taking them potty every time they say they need to go (even when you've taken them 4 times in the last 15 minutes and they haven't gone or you're in line to check out at Wal-Mart).
3. Bring on the Undies - Put your child in underwear. Keeping them in diapers or pullups (which are just diapers) don't help in the training. They pull the moisture away from them so they can't feel that they are wet. The discomfort of them being wet is what teaches them and motivates them to use the toilet. You WILL change a lot of pants and undies and it WILL be gross at times but it will also help them catch on faster. Pull ups are very helpful but I will talk more about that below.
4. Using Pull ups - Pull ups are very helpful because there are times where putting an unpredictable toddler in underwear just wont work - traveling, shopping trips, church, etc. I needed to put her in pullups but I didn't want to teach her that using the toilet was only a sometimes thing. Then I got this wonderful tip - put them in undies with a pull up over them. This was genius to me! The undies allow them to feel that they are wet and they will tell you but you don't have a huge mess on your hands 2 hours away from your final destination!
5. Take them potty before and after every meal - This is a good standard time to take them. You will have to take them more than just these times but it was a helpful starting point for me.
6. Read to Them - I had a hard time keeping Maddie on the potty she would sit down, say done and immediately stand up. At the beginning she didn't know what it felt like to have to go so she needed to just sit for a while. I brought in several books and we would read a book while she sat on the potty.
7. Pray about it - This was a tip I got that was a real eye opener. As a believer I know that God answers prayers but I never even thought to pray about potty training! We added it to our nightly prayer before we put her to bed so she was praying for it too (or at least hearing us pray about it). When I started praying it started going better.
8. Praise them - Rejoice with them when they go (it's not hard, you're excited!) and when they try (this is a positive step forward too!). I switched up how we did this and didn't notice one working better than other. We started with candy but then I didn't want to make that a habit so we switched to stickers, then we had basket with dollar tree toys that she got to choose a prize from if she went a day without an accident. Always praise them verbally and add other positive reinforcement if you so choose.
9. Be Patient - Patience is a BIG one. When you think they have it down all of the sudden they have several accidents in a day. This is so frustrating as a parent. You know that they know what to do and they just don't do it. I chose to be stern but you must control yourself. I would say "Maddie, where are we supposed to go peepee?" and she would say "In the potty" and I would say "that's right, in the potty, not in our pants." Accidents happen and they are young. They get distracted or forget or put it off until it's too late. It's important to let them know it's not ok but to also let them know that you are there to help them learn.
10. Trust Them - Maddie quickly got tired of me asking her every 5 minutes if she had to go potty and making her sit every 10 minutes. Once you notice that they are able to control their bladder (dry diapers most of the time you take them) ask them now and then but trust them when they say no. Sometimes I still make maddie try (before we leave the house or if she hasn't gone in a while) but I trust her to tell me the majority of the time.
A big thanks to all the mommies that gave me such great advice!
(Rachel Burns, Jacque Jones, Angie Scasta, Kristal Kuehl, Stephanie Ochsner, & many more!)
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