aaaah it’s time to potty train: where do i start???

Your little one is out of bottles and into sippy cups, out of baby talk and starting to say a few words and now ready to be out of diapers and into pullups or underwear. Just like going to register for a new baby…your first question is WHERE DO I START??? Since I have been going through the potty training process, I wanted to share my tips that worked for my son.

How do you know when to start?

• If they show any sign of interest in what the potty is, start letting them sit on there
• If they tell you when they do poo or pee in their diaper, bust out those pull ups
• If they are grossed out by dirty diapers, give it a try

How should I as a mom prepare myself?

Dedicate yourself to the 3 P’s of potty training: Patience, Positivity and Persistence

Patience: They have setbacks, they may go for a week straight and not want anything to do with the potty the next week. Learn to be patient, this is a very new and hard concept for them to grab and if you start losing patience, they will feel your frustration and will lose interest in potty training.

Positivity: No matter if they have an accident or if they don’t care to sit on the potty, make it into something positive.

Persistence: If you are home with your child, take them every 30 min to an hour on the potty at the beginning. Even if they do not go, it will keep reinforcing their understanding of “peeing” in the potty. If your child is in day care, get their teacher on the same page so your child won’t get confused.

What potty do I buy?

It all depends on your preference and what your child prefers but here’s my thoughts:

The Potty Chair: I did not use this one on Ayven because I was worried that it would just be another transition from the potty chair to using the actual potty. I have heard it works great for other moms though!

The Light Weight Potty Seat: Getting a character potty they love is crucial! He loves using the “Elmo” potty. The downfall..now that he is trying to sit on the toilet himself, it slips off because it is not secure on the toilet.

The Toilet Trainer: This one is great because it screws onto the toilet seat, but not as fun as the Elmo one. It does not slide when he tries to sit on the potty by himself.

What do I need when I travel?

Piddle Pad: This pad is easy to just lay in the car seat so when there is an accident, you don’t have to clean the entire car seat
Travel Potty Seat: This is awesome because it is compact enough to fit in any travel bag
Disposable Potty Seat Toppers: These have little stick ons on the back so when you travel you don’t have to worry about it sliding off those public restroom toilets
Disposable Potty Cover: This is for those moms who are clean freaks (like me!) that cover the entire potty seat from top to bottom

Pull ups or underwear?

I learned through his teachers at school I needed to pick one. I noticed when I kept going back and forth, he got confused of when it was “ok” to pee in the pullup/underwear and when it was not. For night time, you just have to be patient, that will take more time.

What are some tips that may work?

• CHOICES!!! I can’t stress this more! Don’t tell them go to the potty. Ask them, “do you want to use the downstairs or upstairs potty, do you want to sit on the Elmo potty or the cars potty.” This gets them excited about feeling independent to make choices. They don’t feel like they are being nagged anymore, rather feeling like a big kid that gets to make a decision
• Buy underwear with characters they love, it will get them more excited to wear them and if they have an oopsie, explain to them that the character is sad
• Give them books to read on the potty or that you can read to them, it keeps their mind off going pee pee and makes it come more naturally
• If you have a two story home, keep a potty downstairs and one potty upstairs
• Make a potty chart out of their favorite animal, character or anything they love. I made a different sea life animal for each bathroom in my house and he gets to choose which one gets a sticker

• If you reward them with stickers, fruit snacks, surprises..make sure they tell you why they are getting the surprise so they don’t expect it
• Utilize YouTube. I got my son to poo in the potty before evening peeing by watching vidoes of other little kids potty training. I even set up the IPAD in the bathroom and he sat and watched them, it kept him distracted yet focused on the task at hand 🙂
• Buy a Step Stool so they can wash their hands by themselves and for boys stand up and pee!

We are very close to being potty trained but moms if you have any other tips, I would love to hear them 🙂 Good luck!!!