How to Have Fun Potty Training Your Toddler

Believe it or not, you can actually have fun potty training your toddler! I'm not crazy because I successfully trained both of my children before they were 2 years old by using these methods. I hope someone finds this to be useful!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A walking toddler, around 18-20 months old.
• Warm weather because it'll mean less clothing.
• Training underwear...NOT pullups!
• A lot of patience.
• A good sense of humor.

1. The first thing you need to do is establish who's in control and that would be you as the parent/adult. Being in control simply means you are establishing the routine, the limits, the rewards and the consequences. The child is not, and cannot be, in control in order to be successful. By successful, I mean taking a few months to have it perfected, not years.

2. The second thing you need to do is understand that children are creatures of habits and routines. Whatever routine YOU establish they are going to follow. Remember Step 1: You are in control. You must now establish a routine that works best for your lifestyle (toilet only, potty and toilet, when and where, etc). You are the one that must be consistent with the routine, with the rewards and with the consequences. I recommend starting this during warmer weather so you can let the child walk around in the training underwear and a shirt when home and just toss on a pair of shorts if you need to go out. It's much easier for changing accidents because it's lighter pieces of clothing and there's fewer of them.

3. OK, I know you're thinking, "OK Lady, you said something about this being FUN...get to it!" Before I get to the fun stuff, you also must realize what goes in must come out! I know, it's gross, but that's the function. So, if you have a child that walks around with endless bottles and sippy cups all day long, you are setting yourself up for disaster, just so you know. Limit the amount of liquids. Refer to your pediatrician for their recommendation but I think I recall 16-oz. per day being sufficient. That's four-4oz cups per average day.

4. So let's get to the fun stuff. You need to come up with words for #1 and #2 and use them consistently. Whether you choose to use the correct words 'urine' and 'feces' or use other words, like the fairly common 'pee-pee' and 'poop', just determine what you are going to reference it as and stick to it. Again, consistency is key. (That was fun, right?) I found that making a race, who could get to the bathroom first, was a fun way to get the child into the bathroom when they may otherwise choose to ignore your request to 'go pee-pee'. Children are always looking for ways to play so use that to your advantage until you need to enforce consequences for accidents. At that point, the fun is over, but more on that later.

5. I found that training boys and girls are as different as they are similar. A little girl simply sits while the little boy needs to be taught to aim. That always posed a challenge. I taught my son to make 'pee-pee bubbles' when he aimed for the hole in the bottom of the toilet. I know, it's kind of gross, but it got him to aim and it got him to chuckle everytime he went. A little girl may enjoy the process of sitting on the toilet, so let her look at a book, sing a song, whatever you can do to get her comfortable sitting on the toilet or potty. If she gets comfortable she'll go easily. The cushy-booster seats for toilet seats are great and I suggest everyone invest in one of those. Some children fear the toilet because of the size and this will eliminate that fear.

6. I always made my children wave goodbye when we flushed, saying 'bye pee-pee' or 'bye poopie'. I know you really think I'm nuts but what you're doing is allowing them to acknowlege what they did, they get to see it and where it's going. I always high-fived them after they went and then we washed our hands together. Again, a consistent routine works best.

7. OK, so the child has an accident, and yes, they will, so what's so fun about that? It's not fun and like I referenced earlier, that is where the fun ends. For most children, they don't like the way wet/soiled underwear feels and it should only take a few times for them to put together what's happening. Simply undress the child and sit them on the toilet and supervise but ignore them---no eye contact and no conversation. Make them sit there for a minute or so, in case they need to finish any business, and then quickly clean them up; give the whole thing as little attention as possible. Do NOT give a bath because that equals a reward because it's attention. Also if you're going to be consistent then you'll be giving a lot of baths so save the water and the trouble; a quick wipedown with cool washcloth will do the job and make it memorable. Only give a bath if the child is sick, like with diarrhea. If you make the process fun or comfortable, the child will never do differently. You are NOT to yell at the child and you are NOT to scold the child. Control your frustrations and give it NO attention. The next time they do it right, make sure they get an extra high five for encouragement.
   As the parent, make sure you encourage the child to visit the toilet at least once per hour, more often if the child hasn't relieved himself in awhile. Within a couple of days you will know how long the child can go without relieving him/herself so you can start to go longer periods of time without visiting the bathroom and gradually make it longer and longer.

8. I never rewarded my children with material rewards but things like sticker charts are great for allowing the young child to see their progress. I also recommend starting at that age because it's so much easier to train them when they don't have an opinion! Save money on diapers and pull up and train them earlier.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy a few pairs of training underwear, maybe 6-8 pairs, depending how often you are able to do laundry. Training underwear are much thicker than regular underwear.
• Purchase a booster-potty seat for your toilet.
• Always follow the advice of your pediatrician or trusted medical professional.
• These tips are things that worked for the training of my two children and may not work for all children.

[Sanevelyn]

on 11/20/2008 Hi Mizreilly
Great Article! Everyone should follow these guidelines..you are right on point with your tips.

[Tauri]

on 11/20/2008 Excellent advice. Right on the money...it worked for me too! Early was better...no pull ups. Start when you have 2 weeks to be home low key...kids love the extra time and attention. Get the family on board too.