1. Find A Potty Training Book That Your Toddler Really Enjoys

There are lots of potty books that are great for teaching kids how to go potty in a fun way. Get a book and read it for at least a month, every day to your child in a fun and enthusiastic way.

2. Buy A Potty Training Potty

Purchase a potty training potty and have it out for your child to see. Explain what it is and look at it every day saying “there’s your potty”

Start educating your toddler on what pee and poop is. When your child goes pee or poop in his diaper, explain that he just went pee pee and say “pee pee goes in the potty” or “poopy goes in the potty”

3. Watch And Learn By Example

Have your toddler watch you go potty and teach him what it sounds like and looks like. Teach him how we sit and wait for pee pee and poop to come out, then we wipe, flush and wash our hands. This is a great way to introduce the concept of going potty.

4. Pick the Right Time To Start

Based off what we discussed earlier in the post, make sure you pick the right time to start potty training your child. Is he showing signs of readiness? Is he in the appropriate age range?

Hopefully your answer is yes and you are one step closer to beginning potty training.

Also, are you ready mom? Do you have the time to commit to the training? Are you available to give your toddler the attention he needs during this important phase in his life? Don’t pick a day when you are busy with lots of errands. Definitely don’t pick a time when you are about to go on a trip or spend time away from home due to a holiday coming up.

Pick a time when things are more relaxed at home, you have nowhere to go and you just plan on keeping it low key for a few days. Potty training works best with consistency and staying consistent in the home with the same potty is definitely the best way to start. And that leads to the next tip.

5. Use The Same Potty

Using the same potty training potty is more accepted by your toddler because he is more comfortable and familiar with it. The potty as a whole is foreign so make sure you introduce the potty in a fun and exciting way. Maybe give it a name. We call our potty training potty “The Blue Potty” (even though it’s green, haha! My toddler still doesn’t know her colors quiet yet :-))

When it’s time to use the potty, we say “Let’s go find The Blue Potty!” and it turns into a little adventure

6. Have A Potty Station Somewhere Convenient In Your House

No matter what size house you have, having a potty station in the middle of your home (hopefully on hardwood, laminate or tile floors for easy clean-up) is best so no matter where you are, your child knows exactly where to go to find his potty.

At this potty station, set up some necessary potty items:

• Potty book
• Entertaining toys
• Extra undies
• Toilet paper or wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Paper towels
• Grocery bags for messes/trash
• Reward chart
• Stickers
• Reward snack (if you choose to do so)

Having these items close to the potty will be handy when you feel like you need them quickly. You have a little dribble on the floor, grab your paper towels. Maybe you have a big dribble on the floor, plus wet undies. Put it in a grocery bag for quick clean up. Your child had a successful aim in the potty and deserves a sticker on her reward chart. YAY! Show her the chart right away for immediate positive reinforcement.

7. Positive Reinforcement Tool

Parents have many different techniques for giving positive reinfocement. My prefered method is a reward chart. I like to add stickers to a chart for each time my toddler pees or poops on the potty. It’s simple and very rewarding for the child.

My toddler, however, wanted a check mark and a sticker, so that’s what we did! She felt extra special getting both.

Some parents give an M&M every time their child pees on the potty. I try to stay away from candy, but for some reason my child out of nowhere asked for a cracker as a reward. I had never mentioned that to her ever before, but since she felt like she deserved a cracker, I thought there wouldn’t be any harm in rewarding her with a wheat Ritz cracker.

So, maybe three things is a bit overkill, but it worked for my child.

What’s most important is that you find a reward system that works best for your child.

The most important thing with reward is doing it immediately right after she pees or poops in the potty. At this age, immediate positive reinforcement is the most effective technique (rather than waiting for one big reward after the entire day goes with 5 successful pees).

8. Follow Up With More Positive Reinforcement with Excessive Praise

Praise is so appreciated by little ones when they do something right. Never scold or put down your child when they make a mistake, have an accident on the floor or can’t pee as quickly as you want them to.

But what really works with potty training is pouring lots of praise all over them once they successfully peed or pooped in the potty.

Shout, cheer, clap, jump, hug, kiss and giggle with praise once your child successful went in the potty. Your child will definitely recognize that he just did the right thing and mommy and daddy are proud.

9. Teach Potty Training Routine

Now that your child went on the potty and was rewarded and praised, it’s time to teach your child the routine after going pee or poop in the potty.

Teach wiping, pulling up undies and then pants.

Teach how to dump the contents into the big potty to be flushed away.

Have your child flush the potty and watch it go away.

Teach your child to shut the potty lid

Next it’s time to wash hands (and wash the inside of the potty out as well).

Dry hands and return the potty back to where it belongs.

Praise them again for a job well done!

Jena’s Tip: Make sure to teach the lesson of no pee or poop in the undies and to tell Mommy “I have to go potty” when it’s time to go again.

10. Drink Lots of Water

To encourage a day filled with lots of potty breaks, I have my toddler sit on the potty while drinking a large cup of water with a splash of juice in it (my family doesn’t drink a lot of juice but for this occasion it was something special for my child).

When my toddler was drinking cup after cup of liquids, my daughter had to go to the potty 6 times in a matter of 3 hours. It just makes it easier to train when you have more chances to go. Repetition is key!

Having a healthy, balanced diet filled with high fiber foods will definitely help your toddler go to the bathroom more regularly and without difficulty. If you notice your child does not poop once a day, try increasing fiber into his diet.

Dress Your Child in a t-shirt and undies, or you may want to stick to undies only. But I would definitely advise you to avoid dresses or long shirts because your child ends up focusing on her clothing and holding it up from the potty – this can be a bit distracting.

You want to make it as easy as possible for your child to pull undies up and down each time your toddler attempts to go potty.

Don’t get into the habit of having electronics and devices as a way to entertain your child on the potty. It’s actually more of a hindrance because he ends up being distracted from the sensation that cues him that pee and poop is coming. Also, it would be rather hard to always bring a device into a public restroom every time your toddler needed to go. Have your child learn the normal way, without the assistance of a device to coax him.

14. Use Pull-Ups For Naps And Bedtime

Don’t expect for your child to be perfectly potty trained during the day and night. That is setting your expectations a bit too high.

Potty training in its entirety (day and awake hours, nap and night time) typically isn’t accomplished until age 5 and 6 (this is not the case for all, some may be earlier).

Go ahead and stock up on some pull-ups that are specifically to be worn only while sleeping in bed (for nap and night time). Explain to your child that these are not diapers and pee and poop do not go in the pull-up. Teach them to try not to pee in the bed if they can. Explain to her to let you know when she has to pee at night.

Your child needs a simple way to easily communicate with you that he needs to go potty. Use one word or one simple phrase that your child should say to get your attention.

Some ideas are

“Potty”

“Have TO GO Potty”

“PeePee” “Poopy”

“Have To Go”

“Potty Time”

16. Have your Car Packed With Potty Training Supplies

Have a spare potty in the car, with extra undies, wipes, clothes, socks and shoes just in case your child has some accidents while out. Have some extra plastic bags for dirty clothes to go in. Stick all these items in a basket to keep in the trunk for emergencies. Accidents will happen even when your child is potty trained, so having a stash of extra things in the car helps everyone to stay calm during possible times of frustration when out for the day.

Related: 17 Expert Tips For Cry-Free Shopping With Kids

The Final Take-Away

The final tip for successful potty training is: don’t rush it! There’s no point in attempting potty training if your child is unwilling. Let your toddler decide when to start.

Accidents can be frustrating, but punishment or scolding during or following an accident may lead to regressions and make potty training take longer overall. Be patient with your toddler. Eventually he will learn to go on the potty. 

Related: How To Parent With A Positive Attitude After A Day Of Chaos

If your child does not seem interested, never force it but wait for a time when he is ready. When he is willing and ready, he’ll get excited about becoming a big boy or big girl. 

Your toddler will be more successful with potty training if he is rewarded and given positive reinforcement. Make sure you reward your toddler with something that you know he will enjoy and be encouraged to try going on the potty again.

As the mom, try to devote all your attention and time on accomplishing this milestone. Just for one day. Be by his side and have fun while he sits on the potty. 

Let me know how your potty training experience goes with your little one. Comment below and let me know what tip(s) worked best for you and your toddler.

Next up, continue reading “17 Expert Tips For Cry Free Shopping With Kids“.

Keep Smiling,

Dr. Jena Bradley, DPT

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

How to potty train a child: step by step instructions | Chalk

The moment when a child himself asks for a potty can be safely compared in significance with the first step and the first word. How to bring this time closer - and is it possible? Let's figure it out.

When to start potty training a child

This is perhaps the most important question asked by parents of children from 1 year old. But there are no exact recommendations regarding both the lower and upper limits of the age of potty training. It is believed that by the age of 3, children should already be able to cope with going to the toilet on their own. But in the West, you can often meet children who wear diapers at the age of 3 or 4 - and no one pays attention to this.

In any case, both our and Western experts now agree that each child is individual and it is necessary to focus not on age, but on the level of his development.

An approximate lower age range that can be identified is from 14 months to 3 years. However, doctors usually clarify: if you start potty training at 14-16 months, then the process can stretch for several more months, and if you start at 2 years and later, you can do it in just a week.

Why such numbers? The thing is that the signaling system is responsible for the process of urination and defecation, and until it matures, you can try for as long as you like, but there will be no result. In fact, if you are trying to teach a six-month-old baby to consciously potty train, this can be compared to trying to teach a newborn to walk: a child at this age is simply not ready for this process from a purely physiological point of view.

Up to 16–18 months, excretory processes occur reflexively, without involving the nervous system

From a physiological point of view, potty training can begin when the child has learned to walk, can squat, holds himself in space, can take off his clothes and gestures show what he wants. As a rule, a child masters all these skills by 1–1.5 years. But here a psychological moment comes in the way, namely the crisis of the first year, when the child becomes capricious and uncontrollable, for the first time begins to say “no”.

How to know if a child is ready to use the potty

• He shows interest in the toilet and what other family members are doing there;
• Understands when he went to the toilet, requires gestures or words to change the diaper or wash it. That is, he experiences discomfort and understands the reason for this discomfort;
• Child stays dry during naps or more than two hours during the day;
• The child shows by gestures, words or facial expressions when he wants to go to the toilet. It is not uncommon for children to hide behind a curtain when they are doing "big things", squat down, move into another room, or hide in a corner, trying to simulate the isolation of the space for their intimate needs.

In addition, it is very important that at the time of the beginning of potty training the child is healthy, cheerful and cheerful.

7 reasons that should make you put off the pot until better times:

• the child is sick;
• the child is teething;
• the child did not pass the crisis of the first year;
• you are weaning or weaning a baby from a bottle/pacifier;
• a younger brother or sister was recently born;
• moving to a new location;
• mother's going to work (and other stressful situations that knock the child out of his usual rhythm of life).

How to start potty training

The first step is to get yourself a potty. The choice of a toilet accessory should be approached with all seriousness. It often happens that it is the wrong potty that causes the child to categorically refuse to "go to the toilet like a big one. "

• Plastic with rounded soft edges - it is much more comfortable to sit on such a pot than on an enamelled specimen from Soviet childhood, warm plastic does not scare away;
• With rubberized pad on the bottom - keeps the pot in place and does not allow it to slip, which means that the risk of falling and injury is minimal;
• Not a toy - It is clear that a pot in the form of a throne, a car or an animal can be bright and attractive, but it is still a toiletry item, not a toy. Choose calm colors, without bright ornaments, etc.;
• Without musical accompaniment - potty, equipped with a sensor that plays music or a song when the child has successfully completed his task, designed to motivate the child to do it regularly. However, sudden loud noises can simply cause fear. And music as an encouragement after toilet chores can reinforce the wrong reflex, from which you will then have to wean.

Potty Training Instructions

Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the potty. Tell your child what the potty is for, call a spade a spade. Yes, saying the words "pissed" and "pooped" may not be very comfortable, but this is physiology, and you can't do without it. Remember that if you are ashamed to talk about this topic, then this feeling of shame will be transmitted to the child, and this can subsequently provoke a number of problems and difficulties not only with mastering the potty, but also with the psychosexual development of the child.

Step 2: Find a place for the pot. The pot must be within reach. If you close the door to the toilet so that the child does not throw toys and other things into the toilet, it is better to keep the potty in the corner of the child's room or in the bathroom. If you are worried about cleanliness around, you can put the potty on a disposable diaper (make sure it does not slip on the floor) or a rubber mat.

Step 3: Show how to use the potty. Place a teddy bear, rabbit or doll on the potty. The role-playing game will allow you to consolidate the pattern of behavior. If there is a baby doll who can really write if you give him water to drink, then this will be even more of a help.

Another important point. There are children who do not want to sit on the potty, but prefer to immediately sit on the toilet "like a big one." Excellent - a special toilet seat and your own example will help solve this problem.

Step 4: Remove the diaper. A child who constantly walks in a diaper will not learn to go to the potty simply because he does not correlate the processes in his body with the result of what is happening. To establish this connection, he needs to see everything with his own eyes and feel it for himself. That is why panties for potty training began to appear, which do not immediately absorb all the moisture.

For the time when you remove the diaper and potty train your baby, it is better to use comfortable clothes that the toddler can easily take off by himself. Most accidents most often occur for a banal reason: the child does not have time to unbutton and zip on jeans, pull off tight leggings and tights, and then also panties. Make it easy for him.

One mother, for the time of potty training, simply covered the entire floor in the apartment with disposable diapers, and undressed the children, and they ran around naked. Her life hack has since been used by thousands of fans, and it really works. When a child sees that a puddle appears on the floor after he has peed, he begins to understand how this happens, which means that a causal relationship is formed faster.

Step 5: Offer the pot on a "schedule". This does not mean that you need to set an alarm clock and put your child on the potty by the hour. No. A simple rule works here: a potty after sleep and before bed, plus 15–20 minutes after eating, as well as before and after a walk.

The season, oddly enough, also matters, especially in our latitudes. Easier and faster potty training occurs in spring and summer, when a child can run around the countryside naked, and in the city - in light shorts or panties and a dress. Accidents, which will undoubtedly happen at first, do not damage the psyche of parents, which means that the number of shouts and shameful words is minimized, since even the most patient and conscious parent has the right to break down at some point and not withstand the next wet pants.

By the way, in Japan, children are potty trained in the summer for purely hygienic reasons. It’s just that in winter, tatami mats lie on the floor in houses, which are very difficult to wash in case of unforeseen situations.

Step 6: Remove the diaper completely. When you potty train your child, at first, the diaper should be worn only for daytime and nighttime sleep. Then he is first removed for daytime sleep, covering the bed with disposable diapers, and after some time (for some children it may take a week, while for others it may take several months), they begin to remove the diaper for a night's sleep too. And here you need to be prepared for the fact that wet nights will happen, even if you put the child on the potty in the middle of the night. This is completely normal.

Potty training hacks

The process of potty training should be easy and fun for all involved, both parent and child. What can be done for this?

• Motivation system. Have your child put stickers on the potty for each success;
• Beautiful lingerie. Buy beautiful panties and panties for your child. which will be a pity to get dirty. The main thing - in no case do not scold if the toddler still did not cope with the task. Everything can always be washed off;
• Habit calendar. Together with your child, start a calendar in which mark the date when he will become very big and learn to go to the pot - in a month and a half. As we remember, a habit is formed in 21 days, and this period, on average, is enough to teach a two-year-old child to go to the potty. Cross out days together, celebrate successes (we don’t celebrate failures) and be sure to celebrate X-day;
• Fairy tale therapy. Read therapeutic stories about potty training or make up one yourself.

Mistakes of parents in the process of potty training

The period of potty training is quite stressful for both the child and the parents. One word can sometimes spoil everything that has been achieved in a few weeks.

• Being stressed. Children are very sensitive to the mood of an adult, and if mom and dad are constantly nervous about wet pants, then the child will worry and everything will turn out much worse for him;
• Hurry . You should move at the pace of the child, and not adjust it, trying to be in time for a specific date or just to brag that you potty trained a child in just five days;
• Shame. The task of parents is to support the child in his independence. Punishing, scolding and shaming means humiliating a child. He has already peed himself and cannot do anything about it, he is already sad and bad about it;
• Put the diaper back on. In the process of mastering the potty, regression often occurs. Usually it lasts no more than 5-7 days, although, of course, there are exceptions. But even for this period it is better not to return to using diapers. This will only push the child further back;
• Disdain . Yes, the story with the pot is not the most fragrant. However, for two years you washed your child's bottom, changed diapers, and now nothing has changed. By demonstrating your squeamishness towards wet and dirty pants, you do not support the child. He is not yet able to share your attitude to the result of his actions. He needs support and absolute acceptance.

Potty training is a rather difficult but exciting quest that every parent has to go through. Be sure: you will deal with it sooner or later.

Cover image: Tomsickova Tatyana / shutterstock / fotodom

How to potty train a child in one day? | Family

Our kids are unique. They cannot be studied by a book, accelerated their maturation and forced to do something at the click of a button. However, it is possible to create conditions for the harmonious development of each child! The critical period of going to the potty makes mothers nervous, angry at the mountains of wet panties and unexpected puddles on the new sofa. Yes, we get angry and that's okay! When it comes to potty, moms fall into two categories:

• The baby is put on the potty from the age of one.
• Wait up to 1.5-2 years of independent maturation.

In this case, there is no right or wrong. No one knows their child better than a mother. She feels him. Dear parents, try to answer 4 questions that will help you understand whether it is the right time for potty training:

After several “Yes” answers, you can start introducing your baby to the potty. And even if the acquaintance begins with wearing it on your head - that's great! The child does not confuse the purpose of the pot, he develops his imagination!

How to start the learning process?

Before putting the baby on the potty, it is important to introduce him to this subject, to tell about its importance. Let the new attribute take place in the house and be constantly in sight. When the time comes to use it, set yourself up for the fact that it is important to finish the job! Take off your diaper for the day and start learning a new skill.

Naturally, each child will learn the skill at their own pace. The task of parents is to use all available tools to attract the attention of the baby to the potty. There are cases when a baby learned to go to the potty in 1 day! And the magic Baby Code stickers helped with this. Thousands of mothers have already tried miracle stickers and confirm their effectiveness with positive reviews.

The principle of the sticker is very simple: when a warm liquid gets on the sticker, a bright and cute character appears on it. To stir up the interest of the baby, our talented designers have developed five pictures: Teddy Bear, Chicken, Cow, Kitten and Puppy. Mom can arrange a surprise by choosing one of the pictures and not telling who will appear on it. Let the baby not know who will greet him when he pees on the potty! So the process will take the form of a little adventure.

Thanks to the feedback, we learned that many children acquired a new skill in 1 day. They understood the principle: to see a handsome hero, you need to go potty! A simple and at the same time exciting game helps to develop a child's visual perception, visual memory, imagination and fantasy, gaming skills and logical thinking. After all, the development of magic stickers took place with the participation of child psychologists and teachers.

Baby Code is responsible for the safety of babies. Stickers are made of hypoallergenic thermal vinyl, printed with safe inks, do not absorb odors. 7 cm in diameter, which allows them to be glued even in the narrowest pot.

Magic stickers are available for every mother, Baby Code allows you to purchase quality goods without intermediaries at a great price.

So, gradually and with love, step by step, an important skill will be consolidated.

You will succeed! The main thing is to be patient and change your pants. If you decide to potty train your baby, don't back down for a day. It's important to get things done! Remember to praise your child for success and show positive emotions. And magic stickers will facilitate and speed up the process with an exciting game.

We want to share some examples from our experience with stickers.

Veronica used stickers for the first time when her son was 1 year and 9 months old: “The potty training process was very slow. I decided to try an interesting method. We really enjoyed! We went potty! In order to pee sooner, the baby even began to drink more water. Beautiful design, drawing appears quickly.

Oksana used stickers for her daughter: “We received stickers as a gift from the site when ordering other products.

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