Expert / 16 December, 2019 / My Baba

Everything You Need To Know To Potty Train Your Child

If you are about to take the plunge in the world of potty training, take a look at our top tips to get started, including our recommended shopping list of products you will need to start the journey!

Top tips on how to prepare my child for potty training

If your child is near or has passed his first birthday, you can begin incorporating pre-toilet training ideas into his life. They are simple things that will lay the groundwork for toilet training and will make the process much easier when you’re ready to begin.

• During nappy changes, narrate the process to teach your toddler the words and meanings for bathroom-related functions. Include descriptive words that you’ll use during the process, such as wet, dry, wipe, and wash.
• If you’re comfortable with it, bring your child with you when you use the toilet. Explain what you’re doing. Tell him that when he gets bigger, he’ll go in the toilet instead of in his nappy. Let him flush the toilet if he wants to.
• Help your toddler identify what’s happening when she wets or fills her nappy. Have her watch you dump and flush.
• Start giving your child simple directions and help him to follow them. For example, ask him to get a toy from another room or to put the spoon in the dishwasher.
• Encourage your child to do things on her own: put on her socks, pull up her pants, carry a cup to the sink, or fetch a book.
• Have a daily sit-and-read time together.
• Take the readiness quiz again every month or two to see if you’re ready to move on to active toilet training.

What products will I need to potty train my toddler?

• Buy a potty chair or trainer seat, a dozen pairs of trainer pants, four or more elastic-waist knickers or shorts, and a supply of pull-up nappies or disposables with a feel-the-wetness sensation liner.
• Put the toilet seat or potty chair in the bathroom, and tell your child what it’s for.
• Read books about going toilet to your child.
• Let your child practice just sitting on the toilet without expecting a deposit.

Which potty is best for potty training?

I have found some potties are not deep enough and when your child gets older, this can create a messy problem! The Potty Chair from OXO Tot is great because it’s nice and deep. You can remove the inner potty for easy cleaning, – just remember to put it back afterwards!

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Which is the best potty training toilet seat?

There are some great removable seats and fixed seats that you can use once your little one is brave enough to start using the big toilet. You’ll also need a footstools or step to help them climb up onto the seat.

Which is the best travel potty?

You might be (understandably) afraid of venturing out for the first few days, but these two products are fantastic to ensure you have something for your little one when they can’t manage the big toilet.

The Carry Potty is really good as their funky designs make it fun for your little one and they will enjoy carrying them around too. The Potette Plus is also a great option as you can use it together with its accompanying bags, so it doubles up as a potty or as a simple on-the-go trainer seat.

How can I motivate my toddler to potty train?

Reward charts, books and stickers are a great way to encourage your little one. The Potty Training Pack from the Potty Training Academy includes everything you need to start the journey. The pack includes stickers, a reward box, a storybook, DVD and a certificate for when your little one gets the hang of it.

Which clothes / training pants are best for potty training?

• Try to dress your toddler in clothing that’s loose and as easily as manageable as possible. Skirts for girls especially in the summer are fab, and for boys, I’d opt for nice loose-fitting pairs of trousers. This encourages them to try and tackle the potty by themselves. I know my son took a long time to go on his own until I realised the jeans he was wearing day-to-day were quite difficult for him to pull down on his own!
• Some people say its best to go cold turkey and put children straight into normal pants but if you want peace of mind that you won’t be dealing with accidental puddles everywhere, these Pull-Ups and Trainer pants are fantastic as they can still be pulled up and down like normal pants. They are great for nighttime too, as it may take a lot longer to be dry during the night. What I like about these pants is that they prevent your child from waking if they do have an accident in their sleep.
• Create a toilet routine–have your child sit on the toilet when she first wakes up, after meals, before getting in the car, and before bed.
• If your child looks like she needs to go – tell, don’t ask! Say, “Let’s go to the toilet.”
• Train both boys and girls sitting down. Boys can learn to stand when tall enough to reach.
• Your child must relax to go: read a book, tell a story, sing, or talk about the day.
• Make hand washing a fun part of the routine. Keep a step stool by the sink, and have colorful, child-friendly soap available.
• Praise her when she goes!
• Expect accidents, and clean them up calmly.
• Matter-of-factly use nappies or pull-ups for naps and bedtime.
• Either cover the car seat or use pull-ups or nappies for car trips.
• Visit new bathrooms frequently when away from home.
• Be patient! It will take three to twelve months for your child to be an independent toileter.

How will I know if we need to stop potty training?

• If your child has temper tantrums or sheds tears over toilet training, or if you find yourself getting angry, then stop training. Review your training plan and then try again, using a slightly different approach if necessary, in a month or two.

Quick Facts About Toilet Training

Toilet training your child shouldn’t require an instruction manual the size of a telephone book, nor should it require a class in toilet training techniques. However, you may be like many other parents who get the idea that this is a complicated, difficult undertaking, and can’t possibly be done with ease. I have good news. As a parent educator and four-time veteran of the toilet training process, I know that toilet training can be simple, pleasant, and yes, even fun. The first step is to know the facts.

• The perfect age to begin training is different for every child. Your child’s best starting age could be anywhere from eighteen to thirty-two months. Pre-training preparation can begin when a child is as young as ten months.
• You can begin training at any age, but your child’s biology, skills, and readiness will determine when he can take over his own toileting.
• Teaching your child how to use the toilet can, and should, be as natural as teaching him to build a block tower or use a spoon.
• No matter the age that toilet training begins, most children become physically capable of independent toileting between ages two and a half and four.
• It takes three to twelve months from the start of training to daytime toilet independence. The more readiness skills that a child possesses, the quicker the process will be.
• The age that a child masters toileting has absolutely no correlation to future abilities or intelligence.
• There isn’t only one right way to toilet train – any approach you use can work – if you are pleasant, positive and patient.
• Nighttime dryness is achieved only when a child’s physiology supports this–you can’t rush it.
• A parent’s readiness to train is just as important as a child’s readiness to learn.
• Toilet training need not be expensive. A child-sized chair, a dozen pairs of trainer pants and a relaxed and pleasant attitude are all that you really need. Anything else is truly optional.
• Most toddlers urinate four to eight times each day, usually about every two hours or so.
• Most toddlers have one or two bowel movements each day, some have three, and others skip a day or two in between movements. In general, each child has a regular pattern.
• More than 80 percent of children experience setbacks in toilet training. This means that what we call “setbacks” are really just the usual path to mastery of toileting.
• Ninety-eight percent of children are completely daytime independent by age four.

When you approach toilet training with knowledge, respect, patience and a plan, it can be as normal and uncomplicated as teaching your child how to walk, talk or use a spoon. Toilet training can be a wonderful learning experience for your toddler and an easy task for you.

This article contains excerpts from The No-Cry Potty Training Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Child Say Good-Bye to Nappiesby Elizabeth Pantley. (McGraw-Hill, 2006)

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