Guide to Potty Training

Guide to Potty Training

Those scary words: potty training.  "when will you start potty training?" "is he/she potty trained yet?"  If you have a toddler at home, I'm sure you've been asked these questions!  Teaching your little one to use a potty doesn't have to be miserable - it might get a little messy, but it is sure to be a fun accomplishment for you and your toddler!  

We've come up with a list of tips that we've found to be helpful when teaching our 4 kiddos to use the potty.

1.  When your toddler becomes aware of a wet diaper or can verbalize that he/she needs a new diaper, it's time!  We found that around the ages of 2 - 2.5 is when our children were aware of the potty process and were willing to try this new task! It's different for all kids.

2. Pick a time when you can spend the majority of the days at home, for 2-3 days in a row, without added distractions, i.e. out of town visitors, holidays, etc.

3. Find some undies and a potty chair that your little one is interested in!  We loved our Be Mindful potty chair in pink for our girls.  It is so cute to look at and has a convenient cover.  It can also be used as a step stool for washing hands.  

4. Bottoms Off!  In our experience, the most effective way to teach your child to use the potty is to have him/her wear no pants or undies.  If you have an area of your house with hard floors, I'd highly recommend hanging out in those areas during the first couple of days. :-)  

5. Set an Alarm- this was helpful with our kids.  It was a good reminder to "try" to use the potty.  We'd set it for every 45 minutes and then we'd run to try to pee.  

5. Lots of Cheering and Encouragement!  No accidents = cheering, Pee in the Potty = cheering, Trying to use the potty = cheering -- you get the point, lots of positive reinforcement will help and make learning more fun.  

BONUS -- ** An m&m or some sort of (small) sweet treat can make this even more fun!  :-)  We'd keep a little cup of M&M's handy and would give them 1 for pee and 2 for poop!

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