With Olivia's 2nd birthday approaching, it's time for us to start potty talk. She has been showing interest, surprisingly, since we were potty training Gus. But I restrained myself from potty training her as well because I didn't want to potty train two little ones at the same time. Now that she is two...it's time to get more serious with it.
We had a bit of a tough time training Gus---It took us a little while but after a few months he finally got it and he only wears a pull-up at night to go to bed. I can't even remember the last time he had an accident. So I am calling that successful. :)
If your child in school even if it only part-time, ask his/her teacher if they help out with potty training. Many do give that support to parents. We formed a great school/home team with Gus' teacher and helped a lot.
+Buy a toddler potty and have it around for them to get comfortable with :This was huge for us. Gus wouldn't even sit on the potty when we first bought it. I suggest buying a potty with something that attracts them. We bought Gus a cars potty and he loved it!
+Buying Undies/ Panties : Take them to buy their first underwear or panties and let them pick them out. Make a huge deal about how much of a big boy/big girl deal undies/panties are! They love that!
+Choose a weekend to kick off the training and let them run around in their new underwear/ panties and shirt at home: Quite frankly, I think pull-ups completely defeat the purpose of potty training. The little ones get smart really fast and know they can just pee in the pull up. (at least that's what my experience was) I really only used pull-ups if we were somewhere public.
+ Roll up all of your rugs and block off areas with carpet: You don't want to find yourself scrubbing down your carpets every time your toddler has an accident.
+ Reward System: rewards or bribery tends to work great with toddlers. Encourage them to go to the bathroom in their new potty and reward them. Maybe a reward sticker chart would work for you? We rewarded with Dum Dum's. Gus would get a lollipop every time he went to the bathroom in the potty. (I may or may not use this tactic for everything ;))
Other reward ideas:
stickers
M&M's
skittles
gummy bears
+ Get some potty books, shows, games: I know Sesame Street has some good potty material. Here is a good Elmo Potty Game that Gus loved!
+ Start regulating their liquid intake: Start out by trying to take them to the potty about 30 min after they've had something to drink. If nothing keep trying every 10-15 minutes.
It's really quite simple. It just requires an extreme amount of patience and understanding.
There will be accidents. Plenty of them. And you will be sanitizing your floors multiple times a day but just think about how wonderful it's going to be to not have a toddler in diapers!! yayyy!
Let me know if you have questions or comments and if there is something different that worked for you I would love to hear about it!!
I agree with the get then comfy with their potty. We've had Aria for eons it feels like. And she knew what it was, so one day she just used it all on her own while I was getting her bath ready.
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