I started potty training Hayven (FINALLY), just the other day I woke up and decided she is ready, let’s get rid of these diapers! I have a few tips and secrets to share with you!

To me knowing Hayven was ready to transition to panties is when she knew what a potty was, she knew where the bathroom was when I said go to the bathroom, and she knew what poop and pee were when I said them. I just imagine if your toddler doesn’t understand what those simple words were then maybe they aren’t ready yet and you still need to work with them on understanding what they are and where they go.

There’s not a mother manual that tells us everything we’re doing wrong or right. We just kind of go with the flow and hope for the best!

My best tips for you are:

1. PATIENCE. If you do not have patience then don’t even try. (LOL) Every time she had an accident I stayed calm and said, “danget, we need to go potty in the potty, not our panties. But that’s okay we can try again later.”  If we get mad or yell at them they will just continue to be scared to pee or poop in fear of getting in trouble. I really don’t think I could have done it without my anxiety meds (Hahahaha) do you know how many times I’ve tried to potty train got totally frustrated and quit? I hate that I did that because it showed Hayven it’s okay to quit and give up. But honestly, maybe she wasn’t ready at that time.

2. CONSISTENCY. Every 10-15 minutes put them on the potty. But first, ask if they need to go potty and just sit them there for a minute or two and talk to them and distract them. Whether that means, bringing legos into the bathroom to make a big tower with or a book to read. Just so they aren’t fighting to get off and aren’t paying attention to what’s happening. It worked for us!

3. PANTIES. Oh my gosh WHY are they soooo expensive?? Seriously for a tiny little bit of material to cover a baby bum is ridiculous in price🙄 anyway, get fun, colorful ones and let them choose which one to wear for the day! We went shopping and of course had to get Mickey Mouse and princess ones! But it works and she gets so excited to choose a new pair everyday. Make sure to stock up because I will guarantee they will have an accident a time or two. And NOBODY wants to do laundry everyday.

4. REWARDS/PRIZE. At first every time she went potty on the potty she got to choose a new pair of earrings. They were on clearance for fifty cents at wal mart so that was a bonus! I made sure to put them on a shelf she could reach so every time she went pee she would run to the shelf and choose a pair. Candy can be used as a bribe also. (Some people don’t agree with that but I am all for what ever you got to do to get the job done!) if your kid is obsessed with stickers a sticker chart would be an awesome incentive! Every time they pee they can put one sticker on it, when they poop they can put two and if they get to a certain amount maybe they can get a toy or new shoes or something. We told Hayven if she can go poop or pee in the potty for a week we will get her a bike… all she’s talked about every time she pees is getting a bike!

5. HOORAY. Seriously when they poop or pee make a HUGE deal. High five, hugs, scream, jump up and down and do a cheer. Let them know how proud you are of them. They will get excited every time the go to the bathroom. It makes it fun for them!

6. PORTABLE POTTY. This was a HUGE MUST for me. Honestly, when I was busy I didn’t want to remember to take her to the bathroom every ten minutes so we took the potty with us EVERYWHERE. If I was in the kitchen cooking it was on the floor and she would just sit on it while I cooked. We took it in the car, when she had to pee when we traveled I would literally pull over and put her on the potty for a minute. If I’m at the McDonald’s line and she has to pee I jump out and put her on it until we have our food.

7. POOP. Look, moms know their baby better than ANYONE does. You can tell when they need to poop. When Hayven was in diapers she would always hide to poop or go in the other room so I always knew she was pooping. She was constipated for 3 days because she was scared to poop in her panties but I knew she needed to sooo bad. She kept telling me her butt and belly hurt. I knew it was because she was holding her poop in. So that night I gave her apple juice (seriously constipation miracle worker) and she pooped within 5 minutes. I put her on the potty and she cried and pushed and it hurt but she got it out and was soooo excited! She was in tears saying, “I got it mommy! Hayven got it!” She was so proud. So I know when she has to poop she always tells me “my butt hurts” and she holds her butt. And I can tell by her face that she has to poop so to the potty we go! Now it’s a joke we have, “BIGGGG poop, I have a BIGGG poop mom!”

8. TIMING. I definitely recommend starting potting training when you’re going to be home for a few days. Unfortunately, we were home for two days then had a family emergency and have had to travel A LOT more than expected right in the middle of potty training! It was a little stressful, I know not for just me, but Hayven too. She had to use bathrooms that were unfamiliar to her and I know it scared her a little bit. So I definitely would stay home for atleast 3 or 4 days during training time just till your little one gets the hang of things.

9. VISUAL LEARNING. It might help if you go to the bathroom first, show them that you’re peeing and it’s okay then they can try it. I know I learn things better by watching rather than listening. If you have a boy, let him go potty after dad or put a cereal in the toilet for him to try and hit while he pees. With all my nephews they learned by peeing outside because it was fun to them! Peeing on a tree or on the truck tire. But be careful with that because they’ll probably want to pee outside all the time and will probably start pooping out there because it’s funner! (LOL) if they have older siblings that are potty trained already I think potty training them by example would be a lot easier! They watch big sister go pee so they can!

10. NIGHT TIME. There are so many ways to night train. You can wake up every two hours and get them to the potty (I really don’t want to resort to that though!) currently, Hayven is still in a diaper at night but I don’t put it on her till she is asleep. I make her go potty before bed and let her sleep for probably two hours then I will sneak a diaper on her. Her diapers are never full when she gets up but I don’t want a mess! The reason I wait for her to fall asleep first is because if she’s awake I don’t want her to think it’s okay to pee in her diaper when she’s awake. You can also stop their night time sippy or put less and less of whatever they drink for bed in it every night. But when they wake up from bed or nap make sure they go to the potty! She sleeps in her panties for nap and have never had an accident!

Now, I am definitely no expert and have only potty trained one kid but she was potty trained in less than a week! If you are struggling, maybe your toddler just isn’t ready! These tips have helped me so much and I wanted to share them with you in hopes that maybe you can get rid of diapers too! Hayven picked it up pretty fast so that made it way easy for me!

If it is frustrating and just aren’t getting it. Pack it up, and try again in a month!
Please feel free to share or leave any feedback for me.

Xoxo

Mrs momma Duncan