Hey y’all!
I asked for advice from fellow mothers on what to do throughout the journey of potty training! This process has been nothing short of absolutely intimidating to me and honestly I didn’t even know where to start. I decided to start having Adele watch me while I use the potty in hopes that she would learn what to do visually (with little boys this might not be as successful as woman are obviously built differently than them so maybe have them watch dad?). I have taken a very relaxed approach to potty training and I’ve been letting Adele take the lead as I don’t want to overwhelm her or make her hate the big girl potty. I am clearly no expert and have never been through this before so I will list a few of the suggestions I received from other parents below.
- Use a sticker chart – This was the most mentioned out of all the suggestions I received and quite a few parents said this worked for them. Parents mentioned that not only was it a huge encouragement for the child to see the sticker on their “potty chart” but that it was even more effective when the child got to put the sticker on the chart themselves. I linked the potty chart I like here I particularly like this potty chart because it comes with a “diploma” and I think that will be a cool reward/keepsake for the child to have when they’re older.
- Make a big deal about it when they go on the potty – Clap for them and say encouraging words like “yay” “good job” “you’re such a big girl/boy.” This gets them excited and lets them know they did something right. I have done this with Adele every time she has peed on the toilet and now she starts cheering herself as soon as she starts going and it is just the cutest thing to see her be proud of herself.
- Give them a reward – When they go on the potty give them a piece of candy or let them color in their coloring book for 10 minutes afterward. This lets them know that they did something right and it gives them something to look forward to. One mom suggested giving them a small reward such a candy bar or a small toy at the end of the week if they used the potty all week long. Currently Adele gets two jelly beans if she goes pee on the potty and she gets three jelly beans if she goes poop. She still has yet to poop on the potty but she is always so excited to get her reward when she goes pee pee on the potty.
- Training Panties – These are just like regular panties but with more padding in them so they still get used to regular panties but if they have an accident it won’t be near as messy. I think I am going to try these because I feel that pull-ups confuse kids, they are the same material as a diaper so they are more likely to think that it is a diaper. I thought these training panties were so cute! They’re girls but if you click the link you will find boy training undies as well.
- The Potty – This is arguably the most important component to potty training. I received opinions of both kinds, some parents said they strictly only used the potty seat that sits directly over top of the the toilet because their kids were confused about the portable potty and then some parents used the portable potty with no problems at all. A friend of mine who nannied said the portable potty worked great for the little girl she nannied, she would take the potty from room to room with her even having her sit on it while she watched tv and it never caused any confusion. So far my favorite one is the Fisher Price one that sits directly on top of the toilet, my only reason for that is because I don’t have to actually clean up a mess after she uses the bathroom.
This is obviously still a work in progress and Adele is not yet successfully potty trained so I will write another blog post telling you our successes and failures once we graduate to big girl panties full time! Good luck to everyone that is embarking on this journey with us! Please leave me feedback on your experiences I would love to hear your suggestions and your do’s/don’ts.
With Love, BM