Potty trainning (Potty Training Tips)

Member Name: adam171275

Product:	Potty Training Tips
Date:	29/04/09 (263 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: they need to do it! it can be positive

Disadvantages: can be hard work

I would say that one of the hardest things that we found when bringing up our daughter was potty training. The amount of books that we read and advice we had from other parents was massive. I would say that there is no right way and every child is different. Here are some tips and advice that we found very useful.

First some background, our daughter is now six and we too have a little boy whose 20 months. When we started to train my daughter I had just finished my degree, so I was around to help my wife as to us it was alien and seemed a massive tasks, believe me this it was.

Most children will show signs of needing to be potty trained around 18 months, to three years, but every child is different. They do say there are some signs that should give you an indication that they are becoming ready, these are:

Taking an interest in the toilet and being interested when you use it or another sibling.

Telling you when they are going to the toilet in their nappy, or when they have done it.

Being dry for larger periods of the day and/or having bowl movements at similar times in the day such as after breakfast.


When our daughter was two it was the summer as she is a summer baby. For a while she became very interested in the toilet and whenever we would go she would follow. We had already bought a potty which she would bring out all the time. She would sit on it often a pretend to go without actually going. She would also whenever she had done a poo in her nappy instantly come and tell us and we would have to change it straight away. It was almost like she was realising that it really wasn't very nice to have the poo in her nappy and became irritated by it. By these signs we decided that we would start the dreaded task of potty training. As we were both at home, we thought that it was the perfect timing, as most things are done better shared.

Before we started the task ahead we decided that we needed to be fully prepared. Here are some things we did:


We already had the potty so that was in place we had two bright pink ones. One upstairs and one downstairs.

We took her to our local woollies (when it was open) and got her to choose the pants of her choice. She chose Disney Princess, as this was her favourite at the time. I think we brought about ten pairs to start with, as we didn't want to run out if she had accidents.

We brought some training pants. I think they were Huggies. You can buy them in most supermarkets for around the same price as a pack of nappies.

When we started we thought we were all prepared. The first morning we sat her down when getting dressed and explained that she wasn't going to wear a nappy today, as now she was a grown up girl who was going to wear her new grown up pants. She seemed very happy about this and loved putting on her new pants. We explained to her that every time she needed the toilet (number ones and twos) she needed to tell us and use her potty.


The first day I remember being an absolute nightmare! She would be standing in front of the T.V. circling around as she needed the toilet. We would say "do you need the toilet?" she would reply "no." The next thing she was doing it all over the living room carpet! We didn't get cross with her we would just say "Never mind let's try again next time." This carried on all day she seemed so reluctant to do it on her potty now when before she would sit on it all the time. After many carpet scrubbing sessions with the 1001, we decided that it simply wasn't working, so the next day we decided to use the training pull up nappies, as this seemed the safer option and would also save our carpet! The next day, we tried again we put on her pull up training nappy and told her again to tell us when she needed the toilet. Again this seemed to be failing miserably. I don't think she used her potty once she didn't even sit in it like she did before? After another bad day potty training, my wife and I decided that maybe she simply wasn't ready? Should it be this hard? We both felt a bit stressed so we did bite the bullet and decided to try again in a couple of months.


Unfortunately, I was working next time, so we decided to try so my wife had to do it alone, but this time we thought she was ready for sure. This time we did more research and decided to do it a bit different. This is what we did:

We decided to only use pants rather than pull up training nappies. We read that this can be quite confusing for the child whilst potty training. We did feel that this was a very valid point as pull up training nappies are very much like nappies; the only real difference is you can pull them up and down without having to unfasten them like normal nappies. Although they are good for a safety net it is a little conflicting, using these nappies you want them to use them as pants but they can still go to the toilet in them. It's like giving someone a knife and fork and expecting them not to use it. So we ditched the training pants and brought more pants, again we got her to choose them.


We decided to ditch the potties, now my wife really hated them anyway, she always felt that they were a bit unhygienic, but every ones choice is different. Instead we bought a toddler toilet seat for her and put one in the downstairs and upstairs toilet. If you do not have a toilet up and down you may not think this is the option for you. Also the other great thing about potties is they travel with you so can be taken everywhere. We decided that we wanted to teach her to use the proper toilet but this really is personal choice.


We bought some nice toilet wipes for and some special hand wash as we liked to call it. Again she chose the ones she wanted and we made a point of telling her that they were only for her use and that what made them special. She loved this idea, if I remember she bought the most expensive ones there were! You can get great kid's toilet wipes and hand washes from any shop now at quite a reasonable price, I recently bought in Tesco some bob the builder ones for a £1! The idea of the hand wash was to educate her into washing her hands after going to the toilet, her own special hand wash did the trick and she would normally spend age's washes her hands afterwards! Still teaching her good hygiene!


We decided to make a little reward chart which we stuck on the fridge. Every time that she used the toilet properly she has one star and when she had ten she would get little treats. We have always found reward charts very useful and effective. It gives your child an incentive to try harder and when they see all the stars add up they want to get more and more. When she had ten stickers she would have a treat this could be anything from a visit to the park, some sweets or a toy! Each time she would be excited to see what she would get. I think reward charts very positive with children and really help to encourage them. At the same time, it's not good to discourage them. If she had an accident we didn't be negative. All we would do was to tell her not to worry and to try again next time. If you focus on the negative and make them feel they have done a bad thing, it may hamper their progress and you may undo some of the good. Every time she used the toilet, we would give her praise so she'd know she had done well, giving children praise we have both always felt is so important for any child. The amount of times we have given our children praise for something totally ridiculous is endless, but children love it! I know it can be hard when all you do it wash wet clothes or wash carpets, but you do get there in the end.


During the day, we never waited until she was dancing around, as she needed the toilet we decided to ask if she needed the toilet every half an hour. This was good, as it did prompt her to remember she needed to go to the proper toilet. It also meant that it wasn't too late and she had already done it on the carpet. Children do need reminding and sometimes their concentrating span is not very good.


Although probably the best time to do potty training is the summer, it really isn't possible for some. As stated above, we did start in the summer and it didn't work out so by the time we tried it again it was getting colder. When children are potty training, it is important that they can easily pull their clothes down to go to the toilet. If they have mountains of clothing and lots of zips and buttons, this can prove hard for them to make the toilet on time. We put her solely in elasticated waisted trousers so she could pull them down easier. When at home, she would only wear her pants as this was the easiest for her and it also got her used to wearing them.


These are the things that we did the second time around and did find it much easier. I think the key is to make sure they are really ready, if they are not there is no point trying. I do think a lot of parents feel under pressure to potty train their children before they are ready. At the end of the day, every child is different. My little girl walked early, talked early but when it came to potty training didn't find it easy. She was dry in the day until three. Once we mastered the day, we went on to do the night. With the night you just need to keep going as long as you feel they are ready. If they are dry in the morning this is a good sign. With the night my three pointers are:


Limit drinks after tea time
Invest in a plastic sheet or use bed mats
Put them on the toilet before you go to bed.



I won't bore you with anymore! The only thing at I want to add is that I recently read that do not try and potty train if you are moving house, or having a new baby, as this can be too much for the child to take in.

To end the review the key points are:

Make sure they are ready
Encourage them and reward
If they have an accident don't make it a big deal or tell them off
Make it seem important let them choose new pants, potties etc
Keep pursuing if they don't succeed the first time try again and just keep going!
Remember that it isn't easy especially for some, but it's one of those things when bringing up children that our have to do.
Don't walk before you can run! Do the nights then proceed with the day?
Hope this helps and Good luck! Just think we have our son to do soon so fingers crossed!

Summary: Make sure they are ready and pursue