First things first, I am by no means an expert and our potty training journey is still ongoing – however I wanted to share my top 5 tips for potty training your toddler that have worked for us so far. This was originally written in 2014 when Jack was three but I am now updating it with tips from Olivia too as she is now also three and has been potty training.
Chances are your toddler is a walking, talking bundle of personality who tries to be fiercely independent in everything they do – unless they are too tired, of course! Jack loved being in control so we often take his lead when trying new things – if he likes how it goes, great! If he doesn’t, then we can always explore other avenues or take control of the situation ourselves. We have found Olivia is even more stubborn and dominating than her brother ever was so this leads me to the first point:
1 | Follow their lead
There is no point trying to potty train a toddler if they simply aren’t ready. You can try as hard as you like and occasionally you may see some success but if they still don’t tell you if they have filled their nappy and/or grab at it, they probably haven’t quite understood the sensation just yet and need more time to process it. We first tried potty training with Jack as soon as he turned two. He didn’t understand and he didn’t want to know – and we didn’t know when he needed the toilet to put him on there! By following his lead, we have made the ongoing transition from nappies to potty much easier.
Olivia took to potty training fairly quickly and will wee on the toilet happily. She also is very unlikely to wet through – she always knows when she needs it and can hold until she gets to the toilet. We are still working on number 2’s with her but we will get there!
Jack also liked the potty and didn’t like his kid’s seat for the toilet whereas Olivia absolutely hates the potty and likes using her toilet seat! Work out what they like best and go from there.
2 | Reward your child
When they successfully fill their potty or use the toilet, make a big deal out of it – if they see you happy, smiling and clapping, then they will know that they have done a good thing! We always told Jack ‘Well Done!’ if he did something and rewarded him with a sticker for his chart – he got to the stage where he wanted to sit on the potty all the time in order to get more stickers onto his chart – the boy was (and still is) sticker obsessed! Once he got a certain amount of stickers, he got a reward of some description. We have followed the same process with Olivia.
This leads me to..
3 | Be consistent
Once you and your child are both ready to start the journey, be consistent. Don’t take days off. Sure, there are people who manage to potty train their child in a day, a weekend, a week – but keep consistent for as long as it takes you. We always made sure to put Jack on the potty a couple of times a day – each time he requested to and a few other times when we feel he may need to use it.
With Olivia, she generally tells us she needs to go and heads there herself but we do check in with her at different times of the day too.
4 | Make it a family thing
Back when my Mum was little, my Nan did every single nappy for my mum, aunt and uncle and potty trained them all herself with no help. However, if Daddy wants to get involved – let him! No one parent is around 100% of the time during the potty training process so let family aid you – Jack had two potties at our house and one at each set of his grandparents – meaning the potty training journey was ongoing and my child was still learning, despite not being with me.
5 | If all else fails, be tough
Whilst we have mastered wees, we are still yet to get Olivia to do a number 2. She doesn’t use training pants during the day, she is already on knickers so we’ve just got to be tough and getting cracked. Having updated this post, I see this was a problem with Jack too but we eventually got there!
Have you got tips for potty training? What have you tried?
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I wrote a post on exactly this – well, training boys – recently. Definitely agree with the 'let them lead'. N wasn't having any of it – he'd been dry at night since 2.5yrs, but wouldn't do any day time wees. Then 5 months of morning and evening. But at 3, our attempt didn't work, so waiting, and he decided on morning at 3y3m to wear pants, and 2 days later he'd cracked poos as well as wees. So much easier when they do it themselves although there's so much pressure for parents to do things much earlier than a lot of children are ready.
Our struggle now is to get him to use chemical toilets if you're at an event – he'll sit but not do anything. And he's now stopped weeing in public toilets – he'll sit, but say he doesn't need to do anything….then wait for about 5 hours until we get home. Madness!
Good luck with the final stages.
I think it's so easy to overlook whether your toddler is ready and I think working with them is the key to successful potty training. I have seen some comical disasters of potty training and apparently it's all ok in the end but this stage can be such a nightmare for parents and toddlers.
This is really helpful, We're going to potty train our daughter really soon and I think it will be quite a while before she gets used to it!
besos,
M
I do not have kids but my nephew is being potty trained and there are times his super independent and wants to do it all himself and other times he just wont do it lol. These are great tips, shall forward to my brother to see if they can try them if not already x
Myrabev – ajulydreamer.com
Great tips, thanks for the post x
Hi, Bex! Happy Monday. Popping over from This Ole Mom!! I'm your newest follower! Thanks for co-hosting the Click & Chat!!
~Theresa @ Shoestring Elegance
My tip would be leave the potty in the box and go straight to the loo!
Following their lead is definitely the top tip here – it's been a long time since I potty trained my boy, but I remember just letting him get on with it almost, and he was dry during the day by about 2.5 and at night by the time he was 3. I'll be passing on your tips to my sis who's about to start potty training her little one x
Great suggestions – although I do believe it's very much up to the toddler and I've had two train when I absolutely didn't want them to lol, they just did it as they felt ready.
Some great tips for young mums. It is hard work but don't give up.
Great post – I would also suggest having something portable so you don't have to worry about when they need to go when you are out and about. I think I have a post somewhere on my blog.
We potty trained our youngest a few weeks ago, it has gone very smoothly and she cracked it straight away. I think it worked because we waited until she was older and ready. The only problem we have is she refuses to wear pants!
This is all great advice, especially your point about waiting until they're ready. If you try it too early it's just really frustrating!
Some really good tips here. It's definitely true about waiting for the right momemt, I think that's key.
I'd also say not to get stressed over it all – it will happen when it happens x x
great post, I need as many tips as I can get. Not sure how we're going to tackle it with a newborn in the house
Aww go Jack Jack you can do it (sorry no help but support for you both!) x
Great tips thanks for sharing. I have all this to come yet (but not for a while) x
http://www.youbabymemummy.com
Great timing! My 2yo is almost ready (I think!) for potty training. I just need to confidence to get started with her
Thank you xx
We have just finished potty training our youngest. It went a lot more smoothly than with my eldest! Great tips x
Uurgghh! Potty-training has got to be the most dreaded stage of parenting out there! And there's always no shortage of people to tell you how their child was dry before they were one. Meh! They'll do it when they're ready – no point turning it into a battle of wills, plenty of other opportunities for that 😉
My youngest left nappies behind last summer and it was a cause for great celebration – eight years of nappy-changing is enough for anyone.
Some great tips. We are in middle of pt my eldest. I think we've cracked wees but not quite the num 2s. We've tried a fee times but he wasn't ready – the day before his 3rd birthday last week and he decided he was a big boy!
It took months before Aiden was ready to do anything more than wee on the potty. I'd let him run naked hoping he'd do a number 2 but he'd bring me a nappy when he needed to go! One day he just did it, stood up and brought the potty to me with a big grin on his face!