10 Tips To Make Potty Training A Success

Reaching the decision to begin potty training is the easy part. The tougher one is tackling it successfully so the end result pleases both parent and child. To make the potty training process a smooth success, the experts of the PULL-UPS® Potty Training Partners (PTPs) offer their tried-and-true tips to parents.

1. Be Prepared To Begin

Be prepared to begin the process. Potty training takes time and energy. The spring/summer season is often prepared as the warmer weather means less clothes, more vacations and longer days making more time for tots to master potty training. Any season can work though, just be prepared to work with "more" vs. "less."

2. Tailor Your Approach To Find What Works

Tailor your approach for potty training success. Different products offer ways to help make the transition easier. Parents can find a Potty Training Personality Profile at www.pull-ups.com that can suggest a training pant that matches their child’s learning style. Look for products that have wetness liners or other ways to help kids learn.

3. Introduce The Potty Chair Early

Introduce the potty chair at the beginning of the process when your child is showing signs of readiness—stays dry for two hours, interested in the bathroom, etc. Demonstrate how it works and instill a sense of potty ownership in him or her by wrapping it as a present or decorating it with stickers.

4. Get Your Child Comfortable With The Idea of Potty Training

Get your child comfortable with the idea of potty training, and introduce the potty training supplies you'll be using before getting started. Practice putting on training pants, washing his or her hands at the bathroom sink and sitting on the potty chair before he or she starts using it.

5. Remain Positive and Patient

Always remain positive and patient – potty training takes time and setbacks will occur. But remember that children thrive on positive reinforcement. Praise and rewards can help tots feel more comfortable with new skills and keep them motivated during each potty training stage.

6. Be Consisent

Be consistent – once tots are out of diapers – they stay out of them. It’s proven that toddlers train faster if they don’t switch back and forth between diapers and training pants.

7. Use Interactive Approaches

To sustain a child’s interest, use interactive approaches, such as games, videos, songs, books, progress charts and role modeling.

8. Use Teamwork

Use teamwork – make sure everyone in the child's life, from grandparents to daycare providers to siblings, is on board with a consistent potty training philosophy, encouraging your little one throughout the process.

9. Pack Familiar Potty Training Supplies When On The Go

When traveling, pack familiar potty training supplies like a child-size adapter seat and even a favorite book so he or she is as comfortable as possible using the potty in an unfamiliar setting.

10. Use Motivational Rewards

Use motivational rewards for your child, such as listening to a fun, potty training song on the PULL-UPS® Potty Training Totline at 1-877-4BIG-KID or downloading a special crown or badge at www.pull-ups.com for a quick and easy reward that says “I am so proud of you!” Other ideas include stickers or stamps, a token present such as bubbles, or a surprise from a "grab bag" pre-filled with inexpensive kid items.

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Potty Training Step By Step
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Potty Training Step By Step

Potty Train Toddler Steps 1 Readiness

Around the age of 22-24 months, a toddler will exhibit signs of readiness. Conscious pause in play to poop, whining to be changed when wet or poopy are some of these signs. Also, having the verbal ability to communicate the act (a simple "pee-pee and poo-poo will suffice) is important. Make an effort to determine how long the toddler stays dry on any given day. This means checking every hour for wetness. When the toddler can "hold it" for at least an hour, preferably two, he or she is ready for the next phase.

Potty Training Toddler Steps 2 - Doo As I Doo

It may sound strange, but kids learn from example! About a week or two before starting the final phase, make a scene when you go potty. Don't worry, the child will not know you look foolish. Standing outside the bathroom door, grab the front of your pants and put an apprehensive look on your face, and say something along the lines of "oh, no! pee-pee!" and dash into the bathroom. I guarantee the toddler will follow out of sheer curiosity and to see what the heck your problem is. If you aren't comfortable doing the deed in front of the child, pretend. Perform that act once or twice a day. Within a week or two, you are ready to proceed.

Hint: If there are older, potty-trained children around, the toddler will almost likely want to know what on earth is going on in the bathroom, and often will pick up clues by watching them instead. Pick up a potty chair with the child. A simple potty chair is best. No fancy gadgets with bells, lights and sound effects. No toilet paper holder. No book rack. Just. A. Potty. Chair.

Potty Training Toddler Steps 3 - Seven Step Program, Part One

As in, seven days. Pick one week where you can give the child your completely undivided attention! In the days before the week commences, take the child shopping, and pick out "big boy" or "big girl" underwear. These should be the 100% cloth training pants that are basically underwear, with an extra thick padding in the middle. Not pull-ups, not plastic-lining-on-the-outside underwear. If the kid feels like he or she is wearing a diaper, guess what? They will treat it like a diaper. At bedtime the night before the week-long training begins, remind the child that tomorrow he or she will be a big kid and will wear undies! YAY!

Potty training toddler steps 4 - The Hard Part

When the child wakes in the morning, make a big deal about how they are such a big kid! Remove the diaper, clean as usual, and then put the new training pants on the child. And that is all the child should have from the waist down! This gives the kids a chance to feel when they have wet or pooped. (I have done this method in EVERY season, they never freeze to death, I promise)
Throughout the day, offer the child dry snacks (to increase thirst just a little) and follow up with plenty of drinks, milk, juices, water, whatever the child will drink. This helps the child actually feel the bladder fill, and eventually correlate the act of drinking and peeing. Every hour, take the child to the potty chair, help them pull the underwear down, and help them sit. Encourage them to pee, using extremely simple language. "Time for pee-pee"! etc, using facial expressions of effort (yes, the grunt face). Wait a few minutes. It won't happen immediately, and most likely, it won't happen at all in the potty the first two days. After about five minutes, consider it a good effort no matter what happens. Offer praise (good try!).

The first two days, the child will wet themselves every single time. It's just how it is. You aren't doing anything wrong. It has to "click" for the kid. You will be very frustrated, but persevere. Backtracking to diapers during the day is confusing. When an accident happens, feel free to look disappointed. Phrases I have used: "aw man! an accident!" and even "ew, stinky poo!" It's not making a child "feel ashamed of bodily functions". It's making the child aware that big people don't walk around pooping and peeing on ourselves and sitting in it.

At nap time, place a folded old towel under the child, or have some other absorbent but unobtrusive padding under the lower half of the toddler.As soon as he or she wakes, excitedly take them to the potty if they are dry. If they are wet, it's ok to be disappointed and say "aw, you had an accident!" in a sad voice. They can "help" clean up, and when all is right again, say "good job!" and give great big hugs.

At night, continue the bedtime routine, but insert a potty chair trip just before the last bedtime diaper is put on.

Potty training steps 5 - Figuring It Out

The third and fourth days, continue the same steps as the first days, offering snacks, and fluids, but you will notice that the child will pee about 50% of the time in the potty and most likely will have a poop on the potty. Continue to watch clues! When you see the child grunting or pausing in play, especially if he or she is fairly regular like most kids are, say "poo-poo?!?!" and hold their hand, and dash to the potty. Even if they don't make it, they form the opinion that this poo-making business is serious, and therefore must be paid attention to. When they have a poo-accident, make sure they watch you dump the poop into the toilet, have them wave bye-bye to it, and holding their hand for reassurance, flush it. Some kids get nervous with the flush. But most kids have seen/heard it plenty by now, just from following you into the bathroom oh so many times.

Potty training toddler steps 6 - Fine Tuning

The fifth, sixth and seventh days are the fine tuning days. The child now gets the concept, and is working to perfect this new skill. You can now return to the regularly scheduled snacks and drinks. Do continue to ask the child every hour if the potty is needed, just as a reminder, especially when the child is concentrating hard at building a tower or some other fun task. On the seventh day, take the brave step of a trip outside the house. Pack a change of bottoms. Pee before you leave, if possible. Ask every hour if the potty is needed. And don't take more than an hour and a half before going back home. This is almost like a test. The child sees that "Wow! People leave the house like this?!" As for giving up the night-time diaper, wait until the child goes for at least 2 weeks without a single night-time accident before you let them sleep in their undies. Don't forget to do the happy dance when there is success in the potty, no matter how minute. The child will make a grand effort just to see you do that again. Good luck, and happy trails

Simple Approach To Potty Training

The first approach in child toilet training will give you a lesson that you can take advantage. potty training girls and boys have different success ratios increase. but on the success of your first child readiness in recognizing the toilet and throw diapers that is one best ways.

Since this post is about potty training, I am forced to use the words poop and pee to differentiate between the kinds of body waste. So consider yourself warned before you continue reading this post.

My youngest turned two last month. She has been completely diaper free (nights, naps and travel included) for over six months. She was completely potty trained by the time she was a year old. It often surprises people when I say this , or when they watched my one and a half year old drop her pants and run towards the potty when she had to go.

Everyone is curious to learn about how I trained my kids, so here it is my approach to potty training, some simple beliefs, and how I think you can potty train your young child too.

My approach to potty training girls or boys

Just like with anything else I do in my life, I set out with a goal and I work towards it. I practice consistency and persistence. I forgive myself when I fail. And I will give up if I think something is taking over my life in ways I never imagined.

That was my approach with potty training both of my children. I started training them between nine and twelve weeks of age. I took breaks several times, but I never gave up because I worked on it in stages. But it worked both my kids went to the potty first thing every morning, and I have rarely changed a poopy diaper beyond 12 to 15 weeks of age.

My beliefs, and some facts to consider

1. If infants can signal hunger, they can understand and signal wanting to go potty.

Kids cry when they are hungry. We watch for the signals of hunger and train them to ask for food as they grow up. I strongly believe it is the same with potty training. When the child is too young to go to the bathroom by himself or herself, we have to watch for the signals and take them to the bathroom. And in this process, patience is an important virtue.

2. Bodies have a rhythm.

We eat at regular intervals and we go to the bathroom at regular intervals. Bodies have and like rhythms. It’s important to watch and maintain these rhythms for little kids as well.
If you help cultivate these rhythms when they are little, they grow up into adults with healthier digestive system and habits.

3. Everything does not work for everybody.

It is important to take baby steps and improvise. As with everything, find what works for you and your family. Raising kids in not an easy job. If you start early, you will succeed, so long as you give yourself time to fail and learn. So start sooner than later and find what works for you.

4. Set the right expectations.

In my case, my kids rarely soiled their diapers beyond four months of age. They were both walking by the time they were ten months old and started to make trips to the bathroom by themselves. By 15 to 18 months, they were both completely potty trained.

But, as in every situation, there were exceptions and accidents. If you want all these things to happen, you should be okay with rushing your child to the potty when you see that little pressure cringe on his or her face, even if you are at a friend’s place. We still take the kids to the bathroom to empty off their bladder at 11 p.m. every night.

If your life or personality does not allow for these things, you have to give yourself more months to potty train your little ones.

Potty Training Girls Equipment Needed

No toilet training equipment for children that are specifically required, but may be some equipment that can help your child understand the toilet easier. potty training girls would be easier than potty training boys. potty training a girl does not need a substantial cost, but you really have to invest in order to achieve success.

You don't really need anything special for toilet training, but you may want to invest in some specialty items such as a toddler-sized potty seat, books, rewards and motivational items, or potty-training friendly clothes. This brief guide offers some recommendations for gear that can make the transition from diapers to big kid pants easier. Potty Train in Three Days Tips And Techniques

Potty Seat. There are a wide variety of options to meet your child's comfort and needs as well as your budget, including stand-alone chairs and toilet seat covers. If you do opt for a toilet seat cover, consider buying a stool as well so your toddler can sit comfortable without her feet dangling; it usually allows toddler to feel more comfortable which will help them be more successfull.

• Disposable or cloth underpants. Choosing which type of underwear you want to train with is a personal decision, and you may want to experiment with one way before switching to something that works better for your child.


• Clothes for Potty Training. Choosing easy-to-remove clothes helps with the toilet training process in two ways: it makes it easier for you to get your child on the potty quickly, and it allows you to give your child a chance to undress herself and then redress, which helps to build independence and confidence.


• Potty Training Books.Potty training books help to teach toddlers the basic how, when, and why of using the potty, but they can also be a comfort while your child sits on the toilet. Having special books that he can read while he's using the potty can entice him to sit longer and try to finish. you can learn tips and methods about this Here .


• Potty Training DVDs. These short animated shows (usually starring a beloved character) are most helpful and motivating when you watch them with your toddler so you can explain what’s going on and refer back to the scenes later on when you're together in the bathroom.


• Flushable Wipes. A nice to have, but definitely not a necessity, flushable wipes can be an expense you don't need, but they can also help you manage the mess that accompanies potty training and make a child more comfortable during the transition out of diapers. They are sometimes especially helpful when your child is reluctant to use the toilet for a bowel movement.