Let’s face it, Potty training doesn’t really seem fun. I know when the time came I asked myself, What do I do? How do I do it? What toilet do I buy? Do I need to buy pull ups or underwear? Do I reward them with toys or treats? Do I punish them for accidents?
So of course I researched. After researching different potty training methods, I found that there really are 2 types. The reward system vs the Montessori potty training. I felt it was important to find what worked best for her instead of deciding which way I liked best. I did a little bit of both. I did find out that no matter what method you choose, there are 2 things to remember.
- Make sure they’re ready, because it’ll take longer if they’re not ready.
- Don’t give up!
I also wanted to make sure I had the tools I felt we needed for potty training. Here’s the list of what I bought and I’ll tell you how each item worked out for us.
- Elmo potty training book
- This book is cute and she loves to play with it. I believe she identifies with it more now that she’s using the potty.
- Minnie Mouse Underwear
- These are great! She loves her big girl chonies! We wear them at home all the time now and I need to buy more underwear for her.
- Elmo 3 in 1 Potty
- I love this because it seems very easy for her to use. She looks comfortable on it. The clean up is really easy too. She likes to help by pouring the peepee into the big toilet that flushes. A friend of mine recommend having one of these in your car so when they need to go, you can pull it out if there are no restrooms nearby. Also if you line the little seat with a diaper it makes it easier to clean up!
- Minnie Mouse & Toy Story Pull Ups
- These are amazing because they pull up and down like underwear and there’s no mess to clean off the floor if she has an accident. Huge fan.
- Sesame Street Toilet seat
- This is definitely my favorite because there is no clean up. She just flushes the toilet and is done. They are pretty cheap too, I want one for every bathroom. I even bought one for Grandma’s house.
- Dinosaur potty training chart
- This Magnetic Potty Training Chart is super great. My daughter loves her chart. No markers, no stickers, no mess. You can keep reusing the chart because it’s magnetic. It can even be reused for multiple children.
When my daughter was a year and a half, I thought maybe she was ready. I put her on the toilet once in a while, and it was hit or miss. When she did go I thought wow, she’s going to be potty trained in no time. This was not the case. I didn’t really have a plan or a schedule and I wasn’t consistent in my training. She lost interest and stopped trying to use the potty. I decided to wait a while.
6 months later I decided it was time. In the beginning I started off taking my daughter to the bathroom every morning, because usually when we wake up, we need to use the restroom. So I started to get her going consistently in the morning. She would sit on her toilet, and then ask to do her potty training chart. She did not go any other time throughout the day though. But I also wasn’t really potty training her. I wasn’t actively asking her to use the potty. So after a month of this I decided I needed to dedicate myself to really potty training and not just kind of doing it.
I reached out to my other Mommy friends asking for any tips as I was ready to really train her. A friend told me to try underwear and not get upset at any accidents. This was great advice. So one morning I decided we are doing it! I put on her little Minnie Mouse underwear and we started. She started to use the restroom successfully. When she would have an accident, she was more upset about it, than I was. We would shower and change her clothes. So now she knew if she had an accident, these were the steps. She also knew if she went potty successfully, she would get to do her potty training chart and she would get a treat. Her treat was a tiny piece of chocolate chip cookie. I was worried about her wanting cookies all day if she successfully went to the potty. Surprisingly I was able to distract her from wanting a cookie every time. Now we mostly have a cookie when she does #2 in the potty and not number 1.
The second day, she had no successful trips and all were accidents. I felt sad and defeated. I told myself maybe she’s not ready and I would give up and try again. Boy was I WRONG! The next morning she woke up and told me she had to potty. She went the entire day using the potty and only having 1 accident. I’m so glad she did not let me give up. She was definitely ready. A few more days doing this, she would only have 1 accident and it was usually a poopoo accident. She wasn’t sure how to identify the timing of her bowel movements. I told her, it was ok, next time we would try to poopoo toilet.
After 1 week she is able to identify when to pee and when to poo. She even sits down on the toilet when she needs to pass gas. It’s too cute! She has not had an accident since day 6 of potty training. I would definitely say she’s fully potty trained now.
I do however, put underwear on her when she’s at home. She will wear pullups at night, when we go anywhere or if Grandma and Grandpa watch her. She still has had no accidents. Most recently we were running errands and she had to use the restroom. We were 5 minutes from home and asked her to hold it. We drove straight home, I was pretty sure her pullup would be full of peepee. Boy was I thrilled when she actually held it and went in the toilet. Her diaper was completely dry! We might just be ready for underwear full time!
I do have to admit, I’m happy yet I’m sad. My little baby is a big girl now. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m going to miss changing diapers.
