I’m sure we’ve all heard about the 3 Day Potty Training method…especially if your child is fast approaching toddler-hood. Vanessa talked about potty training here, which is another great resource to reference. When it came to potty training, I imagined it to be the most daunting task of motherhood.
For me, I put off potty training for as long as I possibly could. My oldest son was probably more than ready before I actually started. I know for a fact it totally annoyed my husband that I was being “lazy” with the whole potty training thing, but honestly, I think the key to successful potty training is making sure your child is truly ready. So in the grande scheme of things, it was probably good that I waited as long as I did.
Every child develops physically, mentally, and emotionally different so what age works for one may not work for another. And girls versus boys are 1000% different so gender needs to be taken into consideration as well. For us, the magic number for our BOY was just after his 3rd birthday.
Here’s a snippet of potty training and below is a detailed explanation of what worked easily for us!
- Make Sure Your Child is Ready
- Buy the “Right” Potty
- Naked is Best
- Absolutely No Diapers
- Underwear Can Be Confusing
- Be Dedicated to 3 Full Days
Is Your Child “Ready”?:
First and foremost, I encourage anyone who is thinking about potty training to check out this readiness checklist from Baby Center. I looked at this probably 25 times and would read it to my husband who swore he was ready. There were a couple of areas where it showed he was ready and then there would be a couple of areas where he wasn’t ready. I waited until I was able to check off each box for his “readiness”. Don’t let other potty trained kids intimidate you. I remember vividly other moms who would either post on social media or personally talk to me about potty training their child who was the same age as my son or sometimes younger by a year. I didn’t let their child’s readiness dictate mine. I’m going on and on about this point, because I know potty training will be less frustrating and more successful if your child is truly READY!
Finding the “Right” Potty:
I really think you can get duped in the potty business. There are so many choices, types, characters, heights, etc. when it comes to choosing a potty. I still hate the potty we chose, but refuse to invest in another one.
I really didn’t want one of those icky child potty’s and was determined not to have to use one. So I started with this. #BadIdea
It’s the kind of seat that literally just sits on top of your existing toilet seat. You will need a step stool since the toilets are typically too tall for your kiddo to climb on. So the con of starting with this kind of toilet is that the toilet is so high off the ground and more than likely your child’s feet will just be dangling. This leads to your child being frightened. I bought this toilet when he was so not ready… we tried it once or twice and then it sat in the bathroom for more than 6 months. This type of toilet is perfect for when your child is a bit taller and more familiar with the toilet and already potty trained. Currently, this is our potty of choice now and we are 5-6 months post potty training.
Once I discovered that this just wasn’t the right toilet for a new potty training child, we quickly switched to one of those icky potty’s. We went with this one.
Yes, my son is obsessed with Cars. So overall, this type of toilet is the way to go, but honestly, this particular toilet was disgusting as hell. It’s probably difficult to tell, but the potty is 3 parts. That means 3 parts to get urine all over, 3 parts to start stinking, and in general, 3 parts to deal with. It was so gross. {Applicable for boys only} ***In addition, the urine guard wasn’t high enough and he almost always peed out of the potty.*** At my son’s preschool they have what we call the “Frog Potty”, which has a much higher guard, is only 2 pieces, easier to clean, deal with, etc. I’ve passed the potty on the baby aisle at HEB 1000 times and was tempted to make the purchase, but we were so close to transitioning back to the padded seat, that I resisted. Here it is for future buying reference.
To Pull Up or Not to Pull Up:
This is an easy one. Don’t pull up. Yes, I purchased them and quickly realized that it was a waste! Basically, it’s a diaper and it’s so confusing. If your child is still napping, I recommend putting a regular diaper on them during naps and immediately removing when they wake up. My son occasionally naps and I choose not to put anything on him since they are so rare. If I catch him right when he’s waking up and take him potty immediately, we typically don’t have an accident.
Underwear:
So this may sound weird to everyone, but we went commando for like a month. I started out with underwear and found that it gave my son a false sense of protection. His mind couldn’t wrap around the fact that he was wearing underwear, but wasn’t suppose to pee in them. It was as if it was an extension of his diaper. Now, we wear underwear; however, I made sure that he was very much potty trained before we made that transition. Again, it was at least a good month, but you’ll know best.
How to Get the Job Done!:
I was the sole potty trainer in my house and honestly, I think it was easier that way. I picked a weekend that my husband was out of town and we started on a Friday. I highly recommend keeping your child naked. It’s a bit awkward at first, but it’s the easiest way to stay accident-free.
Here’s what our day looked like:
- Friday {the most difficult day}: We had absolutely nowhere to go. We spent the day NAKED and on a non-carpeted area. I’m not a proponent of the television, but the TV was on all. freaking. day. It took me several times to learn what my son’s threshold was. I told myself that every 20 minutes we would sit on the potty that was out in the middle of the living room. After 10 minutes he peed in his underwear so I learned real fast that we needed to sit every 10 minutes rather than 20 {this is also where I decided to nix the underwear idea}. He got extremely annoyed and would tell me no and cry and say that he didn’t need to go, but I would just continue to pick him up and sit him on the potty. I would make him sit there until he physically urinated in the potty. And when he did, I went BALLISTIC!!! Screaming, hooting, hollering, high five-ing, woo hoo-ing, etc. He was still irritated to be on the potty, but then I started promising him jelly beans if he would just sit on the potty and that worked like a charm. FIND WHAT BRIBE WORKS FOR YOUR CHILD! I didn’t bribe him to go, but rather just to sit. And then I went nuts when he was successful. We literally did this all day to the point where he started to fall asleep sitting on the potty {as evidenced by the video of Lincoln below}. I diapered after his evening bath and just before bed time. We still diaper at night so I don’t agree with the theory that if your child doesn’t have a dry diaper in the morning that they aren’t ready to potty train. Pediatrician’s say that this isn’t expected until closer to 5 years of age.
- Saturday: We had soccer on Saturday so I made sure that as soon as he woke up, that the diaper was gone. We sat on the potty until he peed. Sometimes he would push so hard just to get something out to satisfy me, but I considered that a win. Since we were in the midst of potty training, we went to soccer commando {underwear and diaper-free}. I knew I was taking the risk of him wetting himself in the middle of soccer, but I knew by putting a diaper on him that I was confusing him. And I’ve already mentioned above how I feel about underwear in the early stages. We took several “woods breaks” during soccer and I probably asked him 2000 times within that 30 minute class if he needed to go potty and I’m sure the other parents thought I was insane, but we were accident-free and out in public! From there, Saturday was a continuation of Friday, but it was getting easier!!! Instead of going every 10 minutes, we were going every 30-45 minutes and sometimes he would even tell me when he needed to go.
- Sunday: We went to the grocery store, again, commando and just continued going to the potty frequently. By Sunday, he started telling me nearly every time he needed to go or was physically going and sitting on the toilet by himself. Being naked made this easier for him. Seriously, by Sunday he was pretty much potty trained. I definitely still had to prompt him to go to the bathroom, remind him, and sometimes, just take him if I knew it had been a while since the last bathroom break.
By Monday, we were at preschool and I let them knew we had just potty trained so to make sure and take him frequently. To this day, he’s only had 1 or 2 accidents at school and it was no big deal. The teachers told me it wasn’t a full blown accident, but more like he went a little and then told the teacher.
At home we’ve definitely had a few accidents. It mostly happens when he is playing outside with his cousins and simply forgets to make going to the bathroom a priority. But, he’s only 3 so I can’t expect perfection.
I definitely still prompt him to go potty, help him up on the potty since he’s not 100% comfortable with the stool, and sometimes just take him even though he hasn’t said a word about the potty; however, we haven’t worn a diaper {with the exception of bedtime} since that Friday when I started potty training.
Potty training wasn’t easy. I definitely had to devote all of my energy and efforts on the potty, asking, reminding, forcing, etc. My family would look at me like I was crazy when they’d come over {even a couple of weeks after beginning our potty training venture} and Lincoln was running around naked, but I swear, it worked!
Is your child potty trained? Were you able to do it in a week or less?
