I wanted to share five quick tips to potty train your toddler. Oh, the joys of potty training… I feel like you always have those parents who swear they have a super child and that their toddler was potty trained before they even learned to walk. Parents’ pressure to potty train their toddlers can be exhausting and quite intimidating.
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Don’t get me wrong, congrats to the parents that have toddlers who learn how to use the potty in no time. It just doesn’t happen overnight with the potty training for the rest of us. Don’t worry, parents; there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m writing this blog to give some tips on getting my little one to start using the potty. I am not a professional, but I hope the post helps you.
NO MAGIC FORMULA HERE 🚫
If you are looking for the magic potty training formula, this is not the blog for you lol… the biggest thing for me was that I didn’t want to be stressed out or pressured into having my daughter potty trained at a certain time. When she turned two, I knew I wanted to introduce her to trying something new. I also knew that I didn’t want to pressure her if she wasn’t ready.
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Children will give you cues when they are ready to start going to the potty. My daughter would always take off her diaper or tell me that she peed or pooed. She would also start to follow me to the restroom when I had to go. In those moments, I would sit her on the toilet and tell her that this is where the pee and poop go. Again don’t stress over this.
POTTY TRAINING READY 🧻
Many parents feel the stress and strain because their toddler is not ready to be potty trained. All kids are different, and just because one child is potty trained in less than a week, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with other kids who don’t catch on as quickly.
I started by buying a little potty That looked just like the toilet that she sees at home. I would have her watch me go to the bathroom. As I mentioned above, read their cues. If you have a son, this would be a good time for Dad to step in.
Another good idea is to let your kids watch or listen to some potty training videos. My daughter watches a cute video on the kids’ youtube channel called Cocomelon. She saw that it looked exciting, encouraging her to sit on the potty.
CONSISTENCY 💕
If you want to be somewhat serious about potty training your toddler, you have to have a schedule and stick to it. In the beginning, I would set a timer every 5 minutes. Whenever the timer would go off, I would sit my little one on her potty, and she would stay there for a few minutes. If nothing happened, I would have her get off, and I would start the timer again.
There is another method that my neighbor tried with her kids. It may sound a little strange, but I will share it anyway. She would section off a room in her home and allow her diaper-free child to stay in that area for most of the day. The potty stays in that one room. She says this worked because children need to get used to the sensation of having to pee.
Once they get used to that sensation, it will prompt their little brains to sit on the potty. I know this way sounds unconventional, but she says it worked for all three of her kids. If you have the time, it might be worth it to dedicate most of the day to trying this method.
REWARD TIME 🎉
Now here comes the fun part. I would give my little one stickers or treats every time she would tell me she had to go to the potty or whenever she would use the potty. It motivated her to sit on the potty on her own. Sometimes, you will want to throw in the towel, but it will become easy if you make it fun.
There are so many potty ways to reward your little one. You can give them their favorite snack or play a potty training song to congratulate them. My daughter loved when I clapped and sang after she would go. This is a big milestone for your little ones, so they should be celebrated for their accomplishments.
CONCLUSION ❗️
My daughter goes to the potty by herself quite often. We are not 100 percent there, she still has her little accidents here and there, but she is definitely on her way. She is still trying to get used to the regular toilet. If we are out in public, she tells me that the grown-up toilet is only for “mommy.”
Another tip is to stop giving your toddler liquids at a certain time every night. This helps reduce accidents in the middle of the night; pull-ups also help if accidents happen overnight. The last thing I want to add is don’t yell or get upset if they don’t catch on immediately. That will only discourage them. I hope these five quick tips to potty train your toddler motivate you to introduce your little one to the beautiful joys of potty training.