How We Potty Trained Our Daughter

I’ve been so proud of Mrs T recently (even more so than usual) as she has totally nailed using the toilet! It’s such a relief to get rid of the nappies and now she can do all her dirty business straight into the toilet. Here’s a bit about our experience and some tips which may help if you are looking to potty train your child. 

Warning: As the title suggests, this post does contain language related to toilets, bottoms and what comes out of them.

At two and a half years old, Mrs T had already been showing signs of being ready to get toilet trained and she had, off and on, used the potty. I did attempt when we were in Chicago but we were out and about too much and it was all a bit unsettling. So, we waited until we were home and she had settled back into her normal routine. Then, we pretty much went cold turkey on the nappy front. To prepare for it, here are a few things we did in the months/weeks beforehand.

1. Bought her a children’s book about potty training. We had been reading this at least four months before the intensive training stage, to allow her to understand more about the process. There are a few books around but we got Princess Polly’s Potty. She loved it and still insists on us reading it. It even has a button to press on it. There’s a version for boys too.

2. Spoke a lot about the toilet and encouraged her to sit on her potty (and she’d done the odd wee and poo on there before). We also repeated lines from the book such as: “you’re not a baby anymore, you are a big girl, big girls wear pants” etc. 

3. She saw us using the toilet. As those of you with toddlers know, there is no such thing as privacy –  even on the toilet. She would frequently open the door barge in asking: “What are you doing mummy? You on the toilet”. And so I would talk her through what I was doing and why, and taught her about using toilet paper and washing hands.

4. Went pants shopping and she helped to decide which ones she wanted (Minnie Mouse, a Disney selection and Frozen ones). This was invaluable in the early days of convincing her to wear them!

5. Went potty and toilet seat shopping and let her pick them out. A pink Peppa Pig potty and blue seat were the chosen items. A potty is very handy to have at the beginning, if they can’t get there in time, and for them to get used to sitting on, but the toilet seat is so much easier (no cleaning) and gets them used to actually sitting on the toilet. Having a combination worked really well and, as we have two toilets, we had one for each.

So, before we began our week of intensive ‘no nappies’ there had been a gradual introduction of the whole toilet scenario.

EARLY DAYS

We started out and it went really well. We would ask her several times a day whether she needed the toilet and would sit her on it fairly frequently (every couple of hours) and at key times such as when she woke up, after meals, before her nap and before going out. 

It is best to set aside some time when you are in the house and aren’t going out loads. It’s a good idea to put coverings on the carpet/furniture and put away the nice fancy cushions (thankfully ours were washable)! We tried to stay in the kitchen as much as possible where there is no carpet and is close to the toilet.

It Is inevitable that you will have to go out at some point. I was slightly hesitant at the start to go out and about with her just having knickers on – in case anything particularly messy should happen. So, for the first few days, I did allow her to wear her nappy/training pants but it did get a bit confusing switching around.  

She started really getting it and despite the few accidents now and then she was making good progress.

GOING BACKWARDS

Then we hit a stumbling block. Mrs T got ill. She was really struggling with a high temperature and it felt like we were going backwards. There were tears when we tried to get her to use the potty/toilet and put her pants on. She just wanted to wear nappies. We persevered but didn’t push it too much and were understanding with her. Although four accidents in a day (two of the brown variety) and my patience was wearing a little thin. One instance saw me having to cut off her knickers at the sides and chuck them away!

She soon got better both in health and in using the potty, the whole toilet training just seemed to click. Now she is brilliant! She’ll tell us when she wants it and is learning to hold it in for longer so we have some time to get to the loo. 

Yes, there are accidents, setbacks and some whining but patience and perseverance definitely paid off and we are so glad to be on the other side – hurrah!

POTTY TRAINING TIPS

1. Make sure they are ready. Don’t push them if they aren’t showing the right signs, forcing them to do it could be counterintuitive. We’d already introduced Mrs T to toilet habits so a couple of weeks of ‘training’ and she’d cracked it. YOU also need to be ready and prepared to do it.

2. Set aside some time when you will be in the house and don’t have too many plans to go out and about. There is no point doing it half-heartedly so just ditch the nappies. If they show signs of being ready then it should only take a week or two.

3. Don’t make a fuss or get angry when there are accidents. Stay calm and reassure, telling them you know they are trying really hard etc. Toddlers are sensitive things and you don’t want to put them off.

4. Praise them when they do well. Lots of high fives, hugs, clapping and telling others how proud you are of them. They love a bit of adulation! 

5. Star Chart – This worked quite well, particularly when she was going through her illness stage.

6. Clothes – For the first few days, we dressed her in a top and leggings rather than dresses – less mess and when we were in the house did away with the trousers.

7. Don’t bother with training pull ups – it can be a bit confusing for them. When Mrs T had her blip, she kept trying to convince me THEY were her pants and I didn’t have a brilliant argument back. I understood why she was confused. Much easier if it’s just pants or nappies.

8. Consider getting a booster step so it’s easy for them to wash their hands.

9. For the first few weeks, keep them in their nappy when they have their afternoon nap until it is consistently dry. The bedtime nappy will stay for a fair bit longer.

10. Make it exciting – flushing the toilet, washing hands, wearing new pants, getting a sticker. Make them feel involved, engaged, interested and as fun as possible.

Apart from that particularly hideous day described above, it was actually easier than I thought and feels brilliant to no longer have  to wipe poo off their ass!

How was your potty training experiences? I would love to know, just comment below.