If you have a child ready to ditch diapers then these 5 Potty Training Tips are a must-read.
My girls trained easily. My son took FOREVER. Each child is different. The most important take away is this BONUS TIP: keep it positive. For you. And for the kids. Never shame or give in to frustration. As they say…no one goes into university wearing diapers…unless it’s their frat-night-choice to wear diapers :-)…
5 Potty Training Tips
from Alyson Schafer (author, family therapist, and parenting expert)
- Connect the experience. Teach kids to recognize the sensation of having to use the potty.
- Don’t pressure yourself. You are not failing if our child trains later than others.
- It’s not him. Girls typically take train before boys.
- Nighttime dryness will come. Daytime dryness usually is achieved before nighttime dryness.
- Potty training in public washrooms. Put a post-it not on an automatic toilet flush sensor so that it won’t flush while your child is on the potty.
I admit…#momfail on numbers 2 and 3 for me with my son. As I said…it took him forever and I felt it. I was tired of potty training. He wasn’t interested in potty training. It was a daily struggle.
But I can say Pull-Ups made the situation a little easier. I didn’t have to hold him down for changes (Pull-Ups slide up/down just like underwear and pull-ups have easy open sides for quick changes when needed).
Huggies Pull-Ups #PottyPartnership
The Pull-Ups Potty Partnership is a whole new way to potty train that brings your child into the process as a true partner, and tailored to his/her unique personality. Visit www.pull-ups.com to take the free quiz and find out your child’s “Potty Personality” and receive customized tools, activities, and advice to best potty train your child.
Psst…there’s a link to COUPONS which will help with buying Pull-Ups (my son liked the nighttime ones best)
That’s a photo of Alyson (bottom: 2nd on the left) sharing her potty expertise with us Moms.
Cues that your child is ready to start potty training…
- Interested in others’ use of the potty (big sisters or big brothers)
- Having a dry diaper for a longer than usual time
- Telling you they are about to go, are going, or have just gone.
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Huggies Pull-Ups. And I did use them with my son…forever. As always, the opinions in this post are my own.
My oldest was so hard to potty train, but she was lazy about it. She felt it was easier to just have her diaper changed. My son decided one day he was done with diapers and never looked back. My youngest wanted the reward. We told her once she was potty trained she could pick out any toy, that’s all it took for her. They all went at their own pace and method.
I am grateful that my son is past this point. He would be able to pick out a prize every time that he would go on the potty.
I am so glad that I no longer have to worry about potty training. It’s hard to wait until they are ready but until that time comes you just have to be patient.
We used Pull-Ups for both of our kids. My husband had our daughter trained in just a few days. Our son wasn’t interested. It felt like it took forever to get him potty trained.
Great tips. I had 4 in diapers at once including triplets so I consider myself somewhat of a diaper “expert” LOL. So mind if I add something that worked for us when we had 4 baby potties lined up in our bathroom at the same time (each kid’s potty was color coded)? We had a simple reward system which consisted of a treasure chest filled with little toys that each kid got to pick from as their “prize” for going to the potty during training.
Those are some really great tips! I remember how hard it was to potty train mine. Those were some rough times. lol
Awesome potty training tips! I know how hard it can be to train your little’s to use the bathroom.
Great tips! I love the tip about no pressure. I’ve always found not pressuring myself or my child is a huge help.
My youngest took the longest to get started but trained the fastest. Waiting until they’re ready really paid off for us in that regard.
These are all really great tips!! I think the “don’t pressure yourself” is one of my favorites, because both of my kids were so different and with my second because I felt less pressure the potty training process was so much more relaxed for all involved!
Ahhh….. potty training. I was the luckiest of moms. My kids were out of diapers when they were two. By the time they were one they were dry all night. I simply put them on the potty chair in the morning. They almost trained themselves. The difference from now days is… I used cloth diapers. Always. It was the old fashioned rectangular cloth diaper with big diaper safety pins and plastic pants. My babies didn’t like wet diapers thus they didn’t like wet training pants. They understood the solution was using the potty chair. 😉
Pill Ups are a great tool to use for toilet training. My friend is training her two little girls right now. I will have to share these tips with her.
My kids used Pull Ups when I was potty training them. It made them feel more grown up to wear them.
These are great tips for potty training. I like to use cereal in the toilet to help teach boys aim.
This is GREAT! I am about to potty train my son so I needed these tips!
My children’s doctor always told me that a child has their way with potty training, and we should never rush them. I let my kids let me know when they were ready and it worked out great.
Leaving the pressure off is definitely key. The kids know when they are ready and it will come naturally as long as you introduce it to them.