Some Tips For Potty Training Children – From One Mom To The Next

Potty training a child can be a scary task for most parents. Helping your child learn to talk, walk, and play is the fun stuff, but teaching them to pee or poop somewhere other than their diaper, now that’s scary! 

But there’s no need to worry, because honestly it doesn’t have to be a scary, frustrating, or overwhelming process. You just need to have some idea of how to go about it. So today I’m going to share some of my top tips for potty training kids.

And this is coming from someone who has potty trained two kids herself, with one being a bit harder than the other. But we’ll get into that a bit later. 😉

For Now Let’s Talk About Timing

Timing is everything when it comes to being successful in potty training your child. And I’m not talking about society’s timetables, other mothers’ timetables, or other children’s timetables. I’m talking about your child’s timetable. 

More important than your child’s age is their readiness to potty train.Trying to force a child who isn’t ready will only lead to frustration for both you and your little one. It will also make the process so much longer than it has to be. 

Many children will start showing some signs of being ready between 18-24 months, there might be a few that start before that, but there will be many more that might not be ready until they’re around 3 or so. Here are a few signs that your little one might be ready to start potty training.

1. They start to show an interest in the potty or question the fact that mommy/daddy goes to the potty.

2. Your child is able to stay dry in a diaper for more than 2 hours, occasionally wake up with dry diapers, or they start to have a more predictable pooping schedule.

3. Your child might start complaining about a wet/soiled diaper, or even try to take it off.

4. They are able to understand and follow basic directions.

Just remember that even if your little one is showing signs of being ready, they may have a harder time than expected once you start. If you begin to feel like your child isn’t ready after all then just wait a little while longer to begin training. Trust me, your child will be ready eventually. Don’t rush the process.

Remember To Stay Consistent

Just like with everything else that has to do with kids, you have to stick to a routine. Kids thrive when they’re on a schedule, so you’re going to need a set schedule for potty training as well. Try to take your kids to go potty at regular intervals, or if you can try to have specific times of day that you take your kids to the bathroom. You could even try to do both.

After a while of potty training you’ll find what works the best for you and your child, and whatever that is you need to stick with it! Consistency is one of the biggest tools at your disposal, trust me.

And consistency isn’t just limited to time-related things. If there’s something that your child is used to about the potty training experience then try to do that thing every time. Something as simple as using the same soap, or singing the same silly potty song could help your little one in building the habit of using the toilet.

If you’re not with your child all day, and your child attends daycare or someone else babysits it at certain times then you need to sync everything up the best you can. Try to compare notes so to speak with whoever else is part of this process, and make your child’s experience in each place as similar as possible. 

Try And Stay As Patient As Possible

It can be so easy with something like potty training to want to try and get it over with as soon as you can, but like I said earlier you really can’t rush it. That goes for the process overall, and also if it takes your child half an hour every time to do their business. Rushing your child during this time could have consequences, so try to make the best of it.

Try to come up with ways to make it fun for the both of you, so you can treasure these moments with your child. Be creative, make up fun little games, create a little potty song, or tell your kid a story while they’re on the toilet. Children will feel much more comfortable with the concept of potty training if they’re having fun.

And make sure to celebrate each victory with your little one, no matter how small of an accomplishment, make it a big deal. Kids thrive when they’re being praised by their parents. You might choose to just praise them vocally, maybe have a special potty time reward, or even just give them a hug. Whatever works best to motivate your child is what you should do.

Pay Attention To How Your Child Is Reacting

As we’ve already discussed, potty training isn’t exactly simple. So there may be bumps in the road, unique to your child, that you need to identify and address accordingly. For instance, your child might have some sort of fear related to the potty that you need to talk through with them.

It’s not uncommon for kids to view their bowel movements as a part of them, and therefore have a fear of watching it flush away. Some kids may be scared of how the toilet itself looks. Or in the case of my youngest child, she was afraid of the sound her pee made when it hit the toilet.

Depending on what your child’s fear is, and of course their personality, you might have to be extra creative on how you handle your child’s fear. But this is why it’s important to pay close to attention to your child’s reactions. The faster you can nip a fear in the bud, the better.

A Note To All The Mommies Who Are Discouraged With Their Progress…

Remember that every child is different. And I don’t care how many stories you hear about children doing things early or with almost no problems, we all struggle at times with different things. I don’t know a perfect parent or child, I know some that claim to be but that’s a whole other post. 😅

The most important thing about raising a child in my humble opinion is to not compare them to other children and not to compare your parenting to others. So what I’m trying to say is, don’t beat yourself up if your potty training experience isn’t going as fast as some people’s experiences. Or even your own, if one child is potty training differently than the other!

I have two kids and they were as different as day and night when it came to certain things, potty training is a prime example. The oldest couldn’t stand to be in a dirty diaper for more than a few seconds. As soon as she did her business that was it she had to be changed. The youngest couldn’t stand to have her diaper changed even if it was overflowing, she cried the whole time unless I sang to her.

That just goes to show that you simply can’t expect things to be the same for everyone, there are far too many variables in this world. And above all, I just want you to remember to try and enjoy this time, even though it’s not as fun as teaching your child to talk, walk, and play. Every single moment with our children is special.

I would love for others to share their tips and tricks in the comments below.