I’ve potty trained six kids in my years of nannying, and I’m smack dab in the middle of training my son, and it is hands down my least favorite part of bringing up a child. No, actually I HATE potty training!
There. I’ve said it.
If you’ve got a child around potty-training age, then you may (probably do) have the same sentiment as I do about this rite of passage into being a “big kid.” However, after training six and a half kids, I’ve learned a few little tricks and tips to help you keep your head on straight and to get those diapers gone.
Today is part one of a three-part series about potty training. I’ll take you step by step through what has worked for me, including unnecessary methods. I encourage my fellow mamas out there who have great ideas to leave comments, too!
Here we go!
Getting Prepared
How do you know WHEN to start?
I’ve heard a lot of different opinions about when a child should start potty training, but there is no “right age.” Every child is different (you will hear me say this OFTEN), and each will train at different ages. I’ve seen children train at 18 months, but I’ve also seen kids who didn’t train until four or five years old. Simply put, your child will train when they’re ready. Here are some tips to help you gauge if it’s time:
- Your child can walk.
- Your child shows interest in YOU going potty.
- Your child can indicate he went to the bathroom in his diaper (verbally or physically).
- You are FED UP with changing diapers (I’m SURE it’s a real adult development).
- Your child can sit for five minutes or more.
Now, that list is not “must haves.” These are just indicators your child is probably ready. Want another indicator? Try it out! If your little one has a positive reaction to trying the potty, then he or she may be ready!
What do I need?
There are a ton of products out there geared to the potty trainer! But what do you REALLY need, and what is just a waste of money? Well, my first suggestion is to buy your little one a book or two about everything potty. There’s a bunch out there, but some of my favorites are:
And a great system for parents and kiddos to use is the Potty Train system by Baby Signs. I used baby signs with my son from birth, so using their potty training method to “Get on Board the Potty Train!” was natural for us. It’s a great tool that includes books for parents and for the child, a DVD for the child, stickers and a train whistle. It’s especially great to train younger children who can’t talk yet.
Potty Chair
You’ll also need a potty chair! There are so many out there, how do you choose? Well, you could let your child choose it! Including your child in the preparation can boost their potty-training enthusiasm.But if you’d like to just run to the store and get the best potty out there, here are my top picks:
What I love the most about this toilet (which we are currently using in our home) is the white potty looks just like an adult toilet! No need for crazy frills or sounds. This potty chair is comfortable, easy to clean and looks simple and modern. It’s made to be used by a boy or girl, with no pee guard to move/add on.
I LOVE Boon’s products—all of them. Their potty bench is no exception. This modern-looking bench seat includes a removable “deflector shield” to cater to a boy’s needs, or you may put it away for your daughter. What I love about this chair is it has extra storage on the sides to place your potty books or wipes, and it can be used as a stool once potty training is finished!
I also love the potty seats that just sit on top of an adult toilet, saving on money AND space!
Underwear
I also recommend purchasing underwear. I’m not fully against the pull-up training diapers, but I see them as unnecessary. They are just like diapers, making it harder for your little one to train. It’s like having those training wheels always on your bike—they’re GREAT to start with, but when it’s time to get going, if they’re still there you’ll lean on them. You’ve got to take them off to really learn.
Buy lots of underwear. You will be changing them often, and it’s nice to not have to do underwear laundry twice a day. Let your child choose the underwear (if they’re old enough to care) If they’ll be wearing them then they should like them, right?
If you’re worried about the mess, get over it. JUST KIDDING. You aren’t alone. I had a former boss lose it when I told her I would train with just underwear. She was worried out about the floors, couches, carpet, beds etc. If that freaks you out, there are plastic covers (found near children’s underwear at the store) you can pull on over the underwear that will help catch the mess. These are better than training diapers because they can feel it when they make a mess!
Starting young? Is your child too small for the 2T-3T underwear? Well, fear not! H&M makes underwear for the littlest girls and boys in size ONE! We use H&M undies and I highly recommend their tighty whiteys. They even have underwear with characters on them that your children will love!
Timer
A tool that’s not a necessity but I have found to be a great help is a hand-held kitchen timer. Your child will need to go often, and having a timer to hold will help remind him (and you) to try again!
Motivators
Every child responds to some sort of praise. That’s the most important part of training—letting the child know how well he’s doing! Having something physical to give a child when he goes will help motivate your little one. Some parents use M&M’s or stickers, some make a basket of dollar toys their child can choose from. It may take a few tries to figure out what the best motivation is. For my son it was Dum Dums. For the boy I nanny for now, he would pee on command for (I kid you not) a high five. So find you child’s motivator and stock up!
A Potty Chart is another great motivator for some kids—mostly older children. My son is still a little young to understand the whole chart concept, but sometimes having that chart right there to add stickers to is GREAT motivation.
Want a potty chart of your own? Click HERE and print ours!
(Click on the link, then right click to save to your computer and print)
Place it into a page protector for easy sticker re-use!
Stay tuned for the next part of the Potty Training Series—Getting Started!
Finally, remember there’s no “wrong way.” I have seen and heard moms telling people they’re doing it wrong, or telling them the way they’re doing it will never work. Talk about a blow to your already wavering confidence in training your child! We mamas need to encourage each other, and remember that you’re doing it the right way for you and your little one.
Questions about potty training? Leave a comment and I’ll try to help out!
Catch up on the next two installments of our Potty Training Series!
READ POTTY TRAINING BASICS PART 2
*I was not compensated for naming ANY product listed. These are all my favorite products that I have tested and love.
Wow, great article Emily! We are right around the corner from potty training so I will save this article! Thank you for the great tips!
Hi! when i went to a mommy and me class months ago they said to start potty training my son that early, i think it was like 9 months but i never did because he didnt want to sit on it just play with it. Now he is 14 months and i dont know if thats still to early, he notices when i go potty and is interested, he wont sit on his though he screams. should i wait?
Hi Natalie! I think 14 months is an ok age to bein introducing, but if your little one is really upset about it, I would take a break for a bit. Stay tuned next week for my next post-I will talk all about that.
Thank you so much Emily! I can’t wait for the next post, we had to stop for a little bit. Katie is 2 and just not ready yet. She likes her underware but doesn’t like her little potty that she picked out or the big potty with a princess seat we picked out for her. We also tried M&Ms cause she loves chocolate but that wasn’t enough to tempt her. Also how do you get the littles to realize that # 1 and #2 are different?
It took me a few tries to figure out what each child needed as motivation. Sometimes things like a sippy cup of milk or juice cold even be the kicker! I’ll chat more about #1 and #2 next time, but making sure she knows both words is a great start, talk about it, and when she has a #1 diaper, say “Oh, it’s just pee pee” and for the #2 say, “Oh, you have poop in there!” That will be a great start.
LOVE this post! What great tips, Emily!
I loved this post! My daughter is 18 months and showing LOTS of interest in using the potty. I think our biggest challenge is that she’s a very active child. She doesn’t like to sit for more than a few seconds – whether it be for dinner or anything else. A million times a day she screams “potty!”, drags me into the bathroom and insists I take off her pants and diaper. She’ll sit on the potty for about 5 seconds and then refuse to get dressed again. If that doesn’t happen then she just wants to play in the bathroom, which I’ll admit is not my favorite room in the house to hang out in. Haha. I’m trying to be patient and I know that this is probably the early stages of potty training, but it’s starting to get seriously annoying. Can’t wait for your next post. I think I’m definitely going to benefit from it!
Veronica-Your daughter sounds SO much like my 18 month old son! What adventures we have ahead of us!
Great article with a lot of information! I had no issues training my oldest son. Liam was more of a challenge. He was finally potty trained at 3 and a half years old. Nathaniel is 16 months now, so I will be starting in the next few months.
I will be using all your advice for Nathaniel. Thanks for all the great information 🙂
My son is just shy of 2 years old and he was interested in the potty for a couple months but now he doesn’t care. He will sit with his clothes on while we go but that’s it. My mom INSISTS that he should be potty trained right now but I think he just isn’t fully ready. But, I’m nearly 8 months pregnant and it would be nice to have him trained soon. Any suggestions?
Hi Wendy! 2 years old is around the time a lot of kids are ready, but to be honest, I’ve seen some boys need more time than that…I wouldn’t really worry about it being a problem until he’s over 3. As far as having him trained before baby comes, THAT I understand! It’s ideal to have only one child in diapers at a time. If you have the time to do the full training I used (check the next article, Getting Started) it almost always work, except in extreme situations when a child is obviously delayed or very stubborn. I recommend giving him a bit of a break with no potty talk and then give it a try again full force. Sometimes kids just need to take a step back to be able move forward! As far as your mom goes, dare I say she’s wrong? Sure, some kids ARE trained by this age, but it’s not a reality that every child should be trained BEFORE two! Keep your head up, you’re not alone.
Hi, I just read your article and sounds great! I have been trying to potty train my son for about a month! And we were starting to make headway. But then, I had to take my nephews and Niece to meet their mom half way. Which was an all day trip and i used a diaper because it was faster to do that. And i didnt have to worry about the pottying in the car seat! Wrong Idea i know! But i had a time limit to get the kids there. 🙁 When we got back he wouldnt go potty in the potty! So i thought we would do it again the next day and he would be fine! Again, I was wrong because it has been like 3 days and not once has he pottyed in the potty!! I can sing and dance and read him a book or 5!! And wait again and turn on the faucet and try to make him feel like he needs to go! He starts leaning up and says done several times. So i will eventually after a long long wait will let him up and only put his underware and plastic underware over those and no pants so we can get to the potty quickly! No success! We have went way far backwards!! I was wondering if you had any tips? Should i stop for a while and then start again in the summer or what? O, He is 23 months old! And now since we got back he is acting like he hates going potty! He wines when i put him on it! I dont want this to be a bad experience for him either!
Oh no! No fun at all. You didn’t do anything wron by putting him in a diaper. Long drives can be very hard for a newly trained toddler! I would say that if after a week he is still refusing, give him (and yourself) a little break. You don’t want him to hate the potty, and you don’t want yourself to burn out, either. 23 months is still early for a boy to be fully trained, so don’t get down on yourself. You’re doing a great job mama!
Okay, Thank You very much for the quick response! I was so excited because he was doing amazing at it! He had even poopied in the potty at one time! And he did it on purpose! But never again! And he really just enjoyed when (after he went potty) we would dance and shout hurray and just have fun after! But if he didnt go then i would say o, okay, we will try again next time! 🙂 And he just seemed to try and go so we could do the shout and hurray thing! But that faded and now he doesnt even care! And it breaks my heart because he was doing so great and then i feel like i ruined the whole process! I think i may try and take a break and then during the break have him read potty books and watch potty videos and stuff so he can better understand maybe. I dont know. But if i do that then i would definitely start again in summer and get a travel potty chair so he can use that in the car!