Bring Out the Potty Chair
We’ve been potty training our toddler with some success ( and failure!) for some time now and I thought it would be both appropriate and relevant to share some toilet-training know-how with all of you in this brand-new series.
First of all, a big Thank You to generous sponsors, Bum Boosa and Potty Tots! If you’re looking for eco-friendly or toddler-friendly toilet training solutions, these are your go-to people, folks!
Kickstarting the series without any further ado, let’s look at the number one step before you introduce your li’l one to the potty chair: potty training readiness.
How to gauge when your preschooler is ready to slip out of diapers and onto the potty chair? Do you start early? Do you wait for a sign?
Here are some tips to help you potty train happily from parenting authors and this mom of a nearly toilet-trained toddler.
Potty Training Readiness
The books tell you to toilet train at 2 or earlier. However, you know your baby best. So, watch for signs of readiness. According to Kim Bookout and Karen Williams in The Everything Guide to Potty Training, “The first step your child must demonstrate is the ability to feel the urge to urinate and have bowel movements…The next step involves your child mastering the ability to hold in urine or stool.”
So, really, when do you start? Elizabeth Pantley, in The No-Cry Potty Training Solution, writes, “As with so many aspects of parenting, there is no right answer. There really isn’t only one exactly right time to potty train…Examine your child’s needs, personality and readiness. Contemplate your own readiness. Look at your calendar…, and then do what feels right to you.” Yes to that!
Mom Take: My toddler was not toilet trained for a long time (read my story below to know why). However, when she started showing signs of discomfort peeing or pooping in a diaper and hiding when she wanted “to go”, we knew it was time to bring out the potty chair. So, don’t just go by the book or by what the other moms are doing in this case at least. Do what feels right to your toddler and you.
How to Assess Potty Training Readiness in Your Toddler
There are a few signs of readiness that your toddler will show when it is time to ditch those diapers.
- Is inquisitive about the toilet or the potty chair
- Does not like being wet or soiled
- Tells you when she is about to go
- Knows the words for peeing and pooping {and develops a fondness for using them in front of company}. Yay for that!
Are You Ready for Potty Training?
Here’s my take on being ready to toilet train your toddler or preschooler. I’m sorry for the long story but I hope it will help you understand how important it is to assess your own readiness to toilet train your toddler.
While my daughter was a baby, I saw friends and family members take their little ones and put them on the toilet every hour or so to pee or poop. While I had the greatest admiration for their patience, I just knew that this type of toilet training was not for me. Our lives were in a busy season and this was something that wasn’t going to impact our daughter negatively in any way, so we were okay with letting her go about her business in diapers. I wasn’t ready then.
Then, she turned two and she was still in diapers. We brought the potty chair out. But she’d just started preschool and was very anxious. Moreover, my husband had been diagnosed with TMJ, followed by chronic inflammation, keeping him in a lot of pain. He was my focus. Putting food on the table was my focus. Taking care of myself and our daughter was my focus. Working to put said food on the table was my focus. The potty chair went back in. Clearly, I wasn’t ready for potty training.
When she turned three, our lives had more or less settled down. We were somewhat used to living with my husband’s condition. The writing jobs had morphed into a business successfully. Our daughter was happily settled in her preschool. Yes, I was ready. Off came the diapers and out came the potty chair.
So, how do you know when you’re ready for potty training?
- You are not dealing with major life changes such as a move, a new job or a new baby.
- You are not dealing with major life stresses such as an illness, job uncertainty.
- You have the time and the energy for multiple bathroom visits, cleaning up “accidents” and plenty of praise and encouragement.
How did you know when your toddler was ready to be toilet trained?
Join me and series sponsor Bumboosa as we simplify potty training for toddlers and moms this month. Stay tuned for exciting giveaways along the way as well!
Here are the other posts in the series:
Make Potty Training Easy, Fun and Stress-Free with the Potty Tots
Potty Training Resources: Books, DVDs, Charts and More
Photo Credit: Abigail Batchelder
I have to say that I have waited (2 1/2) until I thought she was “ready” but now I think it’s too late and we are having such a hard time! My advice: start early, as soon as they are standing by helping them first become aware of their bodily functions by switching to cheap or cloth diapers (the cheap diapers are actually really helping us at the moment, she hates them!); help them know the appropriate place by changing them in the bathroom and popping them on the potty each time you change them (don’t try to make them go on the potty, just get them used to sitting there). These are just things to help them become more self-aware so that when you decide that you and they are ready (good advice for that in this article) it will be a LOT easier!
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Hi Liz, thank you so much for sharing! That’s very helpful advice especially the tip about using cheap or cloth diapers and not trying to make them go on the potty. I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. Have you tried using books or videos on potty training with your little girl? I’ve found them really helpful with our daughter. She gets really excited when she thinks she’s doing the same things as the kids in the video or book. You can check out our sponsor Potty Tots (www.pottytots.com) and let me know if you need book suggestions, I’ll send you a list:-)
Thank you for a GREAT post! I have a 3, 2, and 1 year old. Their changing table has always been in the bathroom, and we have used cloth diapers with all three from day one, so they are very aware of when they need to be changed. We even tried doing the potty thing for a couple days last week. But by the end of the day, they were asking for diapers again and had very few successes to show for the days effort. We have had a lot of changes in our family lately, so perhaps we are all just not ready and need to let things settle down first.
Hi Rivka,
Thank you for the warm appreciation and for sharing your experience with potty training! You are right. When there are a lot of changes, chances are you and the kids will be stressed and so introducing something new is a bigger challenge. Let things settle down and then, bring out the potty chair once more!
I’m starting potty training for the 4th time. With the 4th child, let me clarify.
The first 3 were girls; this one’s a boy. And I’m a bit nervous about the difference.
All of them have been different, but 3 seems to be a good age for me to start training them. The girls didn’t take long at all. In fact, my second daughter already knew how to go potty and would ask to go in public but wanted nothing to do with it at home. When she turned 3, I put her in underwear. She didn’t even try to go potty the first three times. She thought I’d put her back in diapers if she made messes. Once she figured out that wasn’t going to happen, she only had 2 accidents the rest of that week, and that was the end of it.
I’m thinking my little fella isn’t going to be quite that easy.
Revka recently posted..Coupon Class in Huntsville, AL on July 16
Hi Revka, thanks so much for sharing your potty training tips! Glad to know that you found 3 to be the right age for your girls and yes, from what I’ve heard from friends and family is that it is very different with a boy! So, all the best and do keep us posted:-)
Great post! I have a 7 & 3 year old. I was working a million hours with my 7 year old, so I was fortunate to have my nanny potty train her. The 2nd time around things are different; I’m at home 24/7! I had no clue how to start the potty training process, but when I went to visit a preschool for her, the director gave me some tips. She told me to make a potty chart, take her to the bathroom every hour and/or 30 minutes after she drinks something, mark it on the chart and give her a sticker. I either gave her the sticker to put on the chart (made her feel like a big girl) or put one on her hand. After a few days of doing this, she was fully trained.
Hi Demika, you’re right. Potty charts do work wonders. In fact, one of our sponsors, Potty Tots has some really cool potty training accessories, including a fun chart:-) I’m SO glad to know that using stickers and charts worked with your little girl.
Thank you so much for this post. I feel guilt sometimes as if I am not matching up to other moms because my almost 3 year old is not potty trained yet. She has shown some of the signs and we have tried but keep being met with resistance. I agree wholeheartedly with the “are you ready?” part as well. There have been stressful times in the past year when it would NOT have worked at all. I think my next big push will be after we get back from vacation. Anyway, it’s so encouraging to hear others have struggled and I’m not abnormal. Thank you for sharing. I wrote about some of my potty battles here: http://flatheadmama.blogspot.com/2011/05/will-i-be-potty-training-forever.html
Hii Prerna,
Nice post…..loved the part that come under the heading “Are You Ready for Potty Training?”……we often miss this out when we think about teaching kids to do master the art of doing things. And the narration wasn’t long….it was to the point and thanks for that because it is a reminder for mother like me that we have to 1st prepare ourselves before we get down and do it.
Thank you once again for inspiring us all!!
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