Thursday, February 4, 2010

Potty Training Tips

I promised last week that I would post some of my mom’s tips for potty training on Monday. But sometimes things like announcing the winners of the giveaway or making melting avalanche cakes get in the way.

I've probably mentioned before that I am the oldest of 8 so instead of wasting time reading 50 different parenting books for advice I just pick up the nearest cell phone and shoot my mom a message for the best advice.

She's been on me since his birthday to get on the potty training thing. She believes (and I agree) once a kid is eating real food their poop goes from that strange sweet smell it has when they are breast fed (Are my husband and I the only weird ones that thought breast milk poop smelled good?) and goes to absolute grown man smells when they're eating ice cream and nuggets that they need to be on the potty ASAP!

So we've tended to potty train way before two (and even a year and half) in our house.


So here are her tips.


• Set an egg timer to go off every 10 minutes to remind you to put your tot on the pot.

• Keep on the potty for 5 minutes when there is no accident.

• After an accident put on potty for 2 minutes.

• Take a week and watch your tots "poop schedule" to determine when you should expect them to need to poop.

• Keep them naked during the day. Cuts down on the laundry. But now realize when you do this you may have yourself a little naked chef in the kitchen.



• During nap and night time put a diaper on.

• As soon as your toddler wakes from nap or wakes in the morning put them straight on the potty.

• When your toddler sits on the potty (even if they don't do anything) give them a treat (we use M&M's which are his favorite). The idea is to get them excited about sitting on the potty. And when they do final go on the potty make a huge deal about it!

• During the week you watch for poop times, use the potty as his chair to watch TV and read.

• If your toddler has an accident take her to the potty to show her where she is supposed to go.

• If your toddler seems to be extra cranky or sleepy or your getting close to dinner time end potty training for the day.
• Read to him while he's on the potty.

• Puppy smell remover works best for cleaning up accidents

• Be consistent!

We are now working on our first full week and it's going pretty good but I'm still interested in hearing some of your tried and true potty tips!

6 comments:

  1. When I trained my little boy I would turn on the water, and I've placed his hands in a bowl of warm water. He peed instantly.

    Finding a comfortable potty is also important, otherwise your toddler won't stay put long enough.

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  2. Congrats on the potty training! So glad that it is going better for you than it did for me at that age. I started potty training Emma around that age but she was just not ready...well she finally has mastered it on the weekend of her 3rd birthday and just has to wear a diaper at night time now. And they say it is the boys that are the stubborn ones with potty training! LOL

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  3. Good luck to you! I love the "naked-tushy-kitchen" pic! We actually waited until almost 3 to potty train our girls, so my experience is quite different....I really didn't have to do anything! I feel quite lucky, but then again, there are trade-offs for everything :) Found you from MBC and your "Real Blogs" post.... so glad you asked where we were - lol Happy training!

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  4. Thanks for posting potty training tips. I need to get on it myself. My 2 year old needs to be trained. I know I have been lazy about it..but after reading your post I am feeling motivated!

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  5. Thank you for the tips; we have a one-year-old in the house who might soon need potty training :)

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  6. Great tips!
    As a mom of six (2 stepsons 4 my own), I remember the potty training days.

    My tip....don't stress...if you are stressed your child will feel stressed!

    And I agree with the rewards...potty training should be fun!

    JODY :)

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