My son was fully potty trained (day and night) a few weeks before his second birthday. To be honest, I was dreading potty training. I would always hear from other parents how hard it was to potty train boys and how much work it is for the parents. As with everything in my personal parenting style, I take cues from my child. Between 18-24 months, I noticed he was starting to hold his bladder for longer periods of time and having dry diapers during the day and night. As we approached his second birthday and he started becoming a better communicator, I decided to introduce him to the potty. Here’s the approach I took:
Slowly introduce the potty in the evenings. Since my husband and I were both working full-time jobs during the day, we decided to start spending our evenings at home completely diaper and pants free. That meant we had to watch him more closely for any signs that he needed to use the potty, and it also provided endless opportunities for him to communicate to us that he had to go.
Start with praise. We don’t give a cookie or other reward for using the potty, we simply give praise. My son gets so excited when he sees us excited that he is using the potty.
Give him the space to go on his own. We started off with a little potty we could keep in his room and noticed right away that he preferred his privacy (who doesn’t!). We eventually stopped taking him to the potty and he would just excuse himself from an activity by saying “pee in the potty,” and go use it himself.
After mastering no pants, move to pants with no underwear. Once your child is consistently using the potty, start adding pants to the equation. They’re loose enough that they won’t mimic a diaper and this will help transition your newly potty trained toddler to also being potty trained outside of the house. Be sure to teach him or her how to pull them up and down so they can eventually do this on their own.
Use the same approach for day and night but expect different timelines. My son was potty trained during the day before he was at night, but he picked up both within the same week. They just required different timelines… He would be able to wear pants during the day with no accidents but at night he needed more time without pants before he was accident-free. This was mostly due to him still perfecting the art of pulling his pants up and down by himself.
Those are the key takeaways I want to leave you with as you begin your own journey with your child. If potty training has you feeling overwhelmed, the endless amount of resources available to you will likely leave you feeling equally as overwhelmed. I didn’t read a book or take a course on potty training, I simply watched and listened to my child’s cues, and I encourage you to do the same! Every child is different. Every child’s potty training journey and timeline will be different. Be patient with them and yourself. Accidents will happen and each one teaches us a new lesson along the way.
Parents who have potty trained: What other tips would you add?