WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE POTTY TRAINING EASIER!?

Tina - posted on 05/29/2009

When you go in to potty yourself take the child in as well. Put the child on their potty at the same time. They will get the idea. See what happens.

Christine - posted on 05/28/2009

First, like everyone else is saying, your child has to be ready...don't push for them to train when they are too young. It will just drag out the process and it will seem more frustrating to you and your child...they'll feel that you are angry at them or that they didn't accomplish the task and they will lose interest. Second, I found that a training seat worked better than a regular potty chair, plus you don't have to clean out the potty chair bowl. Also, instead of telling your child to go potty on the toilet or asking if they have to go potty, try telling them to "sit on the toilet for a minute" when they wake up, before and after meals/snacks, about 40 minutes after they drink something and before they go to bed. I think that by telling them to "sit on the toilet" instead of "go potty" takes the pressure off of them. When my daughter went potty in the toilet, we had a potty song and dance and then she was able to pick out a sticker and put it on her potty chart..one sticker for going #1 and two stickers for going #2. I'd put the time of day next to her sticker so I can kinda keep track of when she went so I knew about what time she might have to go again. I did try rewarding her with m&m's, but that was a bad idea because then she'd only go if she knew she'd get the candy and if we were out of m&m's then she give up on going in the toilet. She wasn't allowed to drink anything 1 hour before bed and we stopped using pull ups at night one week after she wore underwear during the day. Good Luck

Jennifer - posted on 05/28/2009

i agree about the waiting another thing is to BE CONSISTENT try not to go back to diapers or pullups after you go to the underwear they will catch on don't get discouraged!!

Stacy - posted on 05/28/2009

What we have done with all of our kids is put the potty in the bathroom with their potty book and then let them get comfortable with it. Mandy is right...they have to be ready, but in the meantime it never hurts to have it there and let them sit on it. Our baby just turned 2 this month and I ask him every time I see him with his cup if he needs to go and sometimes he says yes and most of the time he says no. We have also used incentives like Dum Dum suckers or a special surprise for every 7 days in a row they go. For night training we always start off waking them up between 1 and 3 am every night and before you know it they will be doing that themselves and I found that to be the easiest approach there.



Remember to keep your cool and let them do it when they are ready. Oftentimes we compare our kids to others and want them to do it before they are ready, but that will never work. Good luck!

Mandy - posted on 05/28/2009

Make sure the child is actually ready because when the child is ready it is so easy. I waited with both of my kids and when they were ready it was simple and fast.

Charmaine - posted on 05/28/2009

Make it a grand thing that they "can" do as they are big now. You need to have patience and congratulate them when they do things right. Don't shout and moan if they do not take to it quickly.