I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Pull-Ups. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating. This post contains affiliate links.
I am a Pull-Ups First Flush Ambassador and I will be sharing posts as I embark on the potty training journey with my son.
Changing diapers for 2 or 3 years is quite a chore isn’t it? It is especially horrible when your child starts eating solid food. And if you are pregnant and morning sick, it’s miserable. (I’m not pregnant, but I’ve been there in the past, morning sick and changing super yucky diapers).
I’m sure you think you are ready to stop changing diapers, but is your child ready to say goodbye to diapers yet? There is nothing worse than trying to potty train a child that is not ready. You will do so much work and put so much effort into it, and you will not have the outcome you were hoping for.
Here are some signs that your child is ready to be potty trained.
1. Is your child is becoming more independent and loving the praise he gets from you when he does something by himself? This will help him respond well to the praise he will get when he goes potty on the toilet. He is old enough to understand positive reinforcement.
2. If it has been a while since you checked his diaper and it’s still dry, this could mean he is learning to hold it in when he is busy. My son would not go #2 until we got home from the store, or preschool. He didn’t want to go when he was in public. He would go in his room and be quiet for a while. Eventually I caught on and would have him sit on the toilet when we got home.
3. If your child has older brothers and sisters, he will notice that they don’t wear diapers and might want some of the cool underwear that brother is wearing. Spiderman was on key to our potty training success. Spiderman underwear.
4. Sometimes he would want to sit on the potty because I got him a really cool potty seat that sat on top of the toilet. It had the Avengers on it and he would tell me everyone’s name.
5. He’s realizing how uncomfortable the cold wipes are and hates having to get his diaper changed because of it.
Once your child is showing signs of being ready to start potty training you need to come up with a plan.
The first thing I did was go out and buy Pull-Ups. I swear by these things! They really work! I’ve used them on 5 kids and they have helped each one of them through this process. They have the most popular characters on them and different ones for boys and girls.
Why Pull-Ups? Well first of all, my son can pull them up and down without any help so they act just like real underwear. Also, Pull-Ups are designed to NOT soak up the mess as much as diapers so the child can feel that he is wet or messy. My kids don’t like this feeling AT ALL. I love Pull-Ups because I don’t have to clean up accidents and he can still feel wet and uncomfortable.
As I stated earlier, we purchased a fun potty seat that sat on top of the toilet. It had his favorite characters on it so he was excited about using it. I am not the type of person that would mess around with a potty chair that requires me to clean it out. YUCK!
Next I thought about how I wanted to reward him. He really likes treats, so we got a bag of M&M’s. He receives 2 when he goes potty and 3 when he goes poop. There are many different ways to reward potty trainers. You can print a grid on paper and get some fun stickers. Every time they use the potty they can add a sticker to the grid. When they fill up a row they get something bigger, like a candy or small dollar store toy.
Get out your timer. Set it for about every 20 minutes and when the timer goes off, set him on the potty. Give him a fun book to read while he is there. Make it a fun, positive experience. Talk about how mommy, daddy, brother, and sister sit on the potty when they need to go. Talk about how it’s totally normal and not scary at all.
When he is “done” (even if they didn’t go) give him praise! Let him have a treat or add a sticker just for sitting there. Let him flush the toilet and watch the toilet paper go bye bye. When he actually does go potty or poop, let him call daddy or grandma and tell them how big he is for going potty on the toilet. He will soak it in.
If he is scared or doesn’t want to sit on the potty, put the lid down, sit down and put him on your lap. Read him a book. Help him understand that it’s not a scary place. Some kids are scared of the sound the toilet makes when it flushes, give him some headphones or earmuffs and let him flush the toilet and he will get used to the sound eventually.
Let him watch daddy or brother stand up to go pee so he can see how to do it. Add a piece of toilet paper or a cheerio to the water and have him see if they can “hit the target”.
Did you know that Pull-Ups has an awesome web site called “The Big Kid Academy”? They have awesome resources available for potty training parents to use like a printable chart that helps you track your child’s accomplishments. They also have a celebration wheel that your child can spin each time they use the potty. You can follow Pull-Ups on Facebook and Twitter for more support and encouragement.
It will be fun to take this journey with you. My son is 3 now and ready to be potty trained. I can tell by his actions. He is ready to be a “big kid”. By the way, my boys were harder to potty train than my girls. So wish me luck.
What are some potty training secrets you have that have worked for your kids? How were your boys and girls different when being potty trained? I’d love to know! Leave me a comment and we can learn from each others experiences.
My son will be 3.5 on 5/22. He has been going in th potty for over a year now…..only on his terms. I don’t know what to do….I have tried everything!
1. Candy, ice cream, peepee dance, picking out a toy
2. Taking away diapers and saying they’re all gone
3. Telling him that wipes are part of wearing pull ups so when he wears underpants and goes in the potty, he won’t have to have wipes
4. Praise, being upset, any reward system I’ve read!!!!
Some important things to consider:
He is an on,y child
Divorced parents
2 homes
Preschool 4x/week
He won’t go potty at school or in public. He only likes certain pottys. He’s smart amd stubborn. Nothing works. I think I’ve tried everything.
He says ” why do I need to go in the potty when I have a diaper on?”
HELP
Any advice!!! ANY!!! Thank you!!
I know that it’s frustrating when they are not wanting to potty train. I’ve been there. My oldest son was almost 4 when he finally potty trained fully. The only reason why he finally did is because I told him we wouldn’t go to the pool until he didn’t wear diapers any more. He really loved swimming so that did the trick. He was very smart and stubborn too. It sounds like he needs more time. It WILL NOT happen if he is not ready. I’ve heard from pediatricians that it’s actually normal for boys to not potty train until they are about 5. When they know they are going to kindergarten, they want to be a big kid, so it jump starts the process. Stressing him out about it won’t help at all. He needs space and praise and I think he’ll be just fine.
I have 3 boys and everyone of them was different my oldest by far was the easiest. I learned really fast when he went in his room or behind the furniture he was up to something and after that we started potty training. I didn’t used pull ups with him he went straight to underwear. My middle son was a little harder I tried like I did with my oldest only with pull ups but he used them just like diapers. Talking with a foly friend when I was a out to give up she said she trained her boy to go by letting him run around the house naked. So I tried it and it worked!!! He had one accident on the floor and from then on it was just pull ups at bed time and after 2 weeks no more pull ups. And finally my last I’m going to try the same way as my middle boy only he is scared so we are going with some treats and movies to get him to go and so far so good. I think in my opinion you have to listen to your kids they will tell you if the way your trying to do it works or not for them if their not comfortable with how it’s going they won’t learn.
Hi,
I have used the PeapodMat to potty train my two childern (boy & girl). It saved me many times of having to wash the bedding sheets and when my children came into my bed at night it saved me from getting wet!
Dont you think using food as a reward can give a bad message about food to your child!?
No I don’t think it can give a bad message. None of my kids have eating disorders. We eat everything in moderation here and a tiny little treat for a job well done is completely fine. 🙂
My son does great at daycare and in public. But at home only goes potty if he is naked. If we have underpants, a pull up, elastic waist band pants- anything he goes in his pants. Also he doesn’t tell us he needs to go, we just take him about every half hour or so. Any advice?
Be sure to take him potty on a regular basis at home. Set a timer and take him weather or not he say’s he needs to go. Hopefully that helps.
I really enjoyed reading your blog. This gave me some hope. My Son is 3 Years old and he is just wont go #2 on the potty. He is good with pee but will continue to also go in his pants. Even after I ask him several times a day if he feels like he needs to go. We have tried everything.
This had been the most helpful information I have come across. I have read a lot ! I do have a couple of questions though. Is it better to use the big potty with a little seat or to use an actual potty chair? My son is not actually talking in complete sentences, just like one words, he just turned 2 a few weeks ago. How do I determine if he is ready to go to the potty if he can’t tell me?
I use the big potty with a little seat on it and a stool in front to help them climb on so that when they are big enough to sit on the big potty it’s an easy transition. And who wants to clean up those little potty’s? NOT ME!!! Ha Ha!
Great tips on how to make potty training process less scary for the child. Thanks.