It’s not a race for speed, it’s a race for success – Jeffrey Lurie
And that pretty much sums up my perspective on potty training. In my son’s 3rd year of life, he finally said goodbye to diapers after a long potty training journey. I had heard other mothers talk about how easy it was for them…how their children trained in a day…or a week. That just didn’t happen with my son and it’s definitely not happening with my daughter.
One of the very first things we did with both of our children was to gauge their readiness. We looked for things like whether or not they could identify when they needed a diaper change and how independent they were with tasks like dressing themselves, washing their hands, etc. Once we identified readiness, we introduced them to the concept by placing a kid-sized potty in a visible, readily accessible location. Books, videos, games, and reward charts were and are invaluable to the potty training process.
Our overall approach is to always convey a tone of positivity with regards to potty training. We want our children to see potty training as something big kids do.
We JUST started potty training our daughter after she decided one day that she wanted to go potty too…like mommy and daddy and big brother. But so far, she’s only crying wolf. She’ll sit and sit while we wait and wait, hoping this time will be it. So far, her successes have been few and far between. But each and every time, we praise her and tell her how much we love her and how proud we are of her.
If you’re one of those parents who’s child did not potty train in one day, check out Pull-Ups’ website which offers a ton of resources for parents and fun activities for children. The theme of the website is the Potty Break, which seems fitting, given the fact that most children don’t want to stop what they’re doing to take a potty break. On the site, parents can download a timer and kids can play games. Additionally, this month Pull-Ups began offering personalized phone calls from DisneyPixar CARS characters and Disney Princesses to motivate children to start or continue their potty training journey.
Pull-Ups is now featuring Disney designs including Disney Princesses and Minnie Mouse for girls and Disney/Pixar CARS for boys. The website is fun and interactive for kids and was designed to help families approach potty training in a fun, positive manner.
Did your child spring to the potty training finish line or take the leisurely stroll towards mastery? I’d love to hear your tips…what worked? What would you have done differently?
I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Pull-Ups. I received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.
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After potty training 9 children, all I can say is this:
1. Patience
2. Let your child be the guide on when they are ready to train.
3. Positive reinforcement.
4. Remember, that often, when people claim that their children were potty trained at a very very young age..it was probably mom and dad that were trained – not the children. If you put a newborn on a potty often enough – you’ll hit “the jackpot”.If you wait until your child turns 4 or 5 to begin the training process, it will most certainly go more quickly:-)
5. Although technology can be a wonderful thing…sometimes it backfires in one way or another. Before all the disposables, and fancy super absorbent cloth diapers were around, little ones were more uncomfortable in cold, soggy, wet and soiled diapers…which meant that they were more amiable to potty training.
Just my 2 cents.
Great tips!
We don’t have kids yet and I am kinda scared! lol. These are some great tips, though!
Potty training can be so challenging and I am so glad that I am done.