A few months before Mila turned two, she began showing the signs of being ready to potty train. I didn't want to rush her into anything just in case it made her back down and stop showing interest. So I slowly started placing her potty in whatever room she was playing in and let her know it was there if she needed to use it. She went maybe once or twice and was over it. Until the day of her second birthday, when I walked into the bedroom and she had her pants and diaper off and there was pee in the potty. Say what?! I was so excited. Ever since that moment, she has used the potty with no issues since. It was like she woke up and was just over diapers. Hallelujah. Here are a few tips and tricks for potty training that I learned along the way....
1. Don't force or rush it.
You will know the moment when your child is ready. Seriously. If you rush it, you will just set yourself back with any training you have done so far. After months of having the potty around the house and trying to get her to use it, one morning my two year old just took off her diaper and peed on the potty by herself. Ever since that day she hasn't worn a diaper and we are now on month three of being potty trained. Ignore age
2. Three day method.
This worked wonders for us. If they are truly ready and you have the time to do this, I see no reason that this won't work. We would go out back and play for an hour for the first few days, then come back inside and let her use the potty. We slowly stretched out that time outside the home and she has never had an accident when we weren't home.
3. Invest in a travel potty.
We have this one from Amazon. I take it everywhere, just in case she really needs to go and we aren't near a public bathroom. Sometimes she REFUSES to use a public toilet and I don't blame her, so it's nice to be able to pull this out of my bag and let her go on something she is comfortable with. Super easy to clean it up, just toss the bag in the trash. It is also great for road trips and airplane trips!
4. Go diaper free.
Don't rush underwear. I know it is fun and cute to go pick out their first big kid underwear, but these just feel like a diaper to them if used too soon and accidents are more likely. We rushed into letting her pick out underwear and she kept having accidents in them at home, when before that she didn't have a single accident. Let them go pants free as often as you can, especially anytime you are at home. It's easier for them to run to the potty and just go whenever they need to. It also heightens their awareness that they need to go.
5. Pull-Ups at bedtime and nap time.
Once we started potty training and ditched diapers completely, I explained to my daughter that Pull-Ups were her new big kid bedtime underwear. We were able to drop them at nap time completely after the first week but we still use Pull-Ups every night just in case she doesn't want to wake up to run to the bathroom. For more potty training tips and tricks, head here to the Pull-Ups website!
Right now, Family Dollar is having some major savings on Pull-Ups. Get a jumbo pack for just $8.50. If you are like us, and only use them at night, you are only spending $8.50 a month. Such a huge win! Just click HERE to find a Family Dollar near you. Its time to stock up if you are planning on potty training anytime soon. Even if you aren't. save them for later down the road!
OR just text CARE to 28767 to get Pull-Ups® Training Pants for $8.50 for a limited time only!
