Potty training can be a mom’s worst nightmare or become the best thing since sliced bread for your family. I’ve found five keys to potty training my kids which are patience, practice, readiness, reward, and positive reinforcement. Here are five tips to help you potty train your toddler.
Patience
Don’t pray for patience because if you do, God will give you a child to potty train. I’m kidding. (Sort of!). When I was potty training my twin girls, it took us almost a year to master going #1 and #2 in the potty. Even though the girls are twins, we still had to potty train both of them. The rule at our preschool was that they had to be potty training by the age of three and the summer before school began, we were sitting them on the potty every twenty minutes to encourage them to go. The area that I had to learn to be patient in the most was when they had digestive issues causing them to have really hard stools and lots of tears. If our kids sense that we are frustrated, impatient, or angry with them, they are not going to go potty.
Practice
One of the biggest obstacles of potty training is getting your child in a routine to go potty. As parents, we have to take the initiative to put our kiddos on the potty so they can train themselves to go. Put a reminder on your phone to tell you when you should set your child on the potty each hour. Try not to get discouraged if your child still goes in their pull-up…for many kids it takes much more than a weekend to potty train.
Readiness
When our twins began to potty train, they were not ready until late in their two’s. Our younger son, however, has started to potty train a week before his second birthday. Potty training typically begins sometime when your child is two but don’t push it if they are not interested. Also, wait if you are going through a busy season or about to go on a road trip. Potty training is about setting up a routine and sticking to it. Rushing it will not make the process go any faster!
Reward
Treat them if they go potty! Seeing their little faces light up after they’ve gone potty is such a joy, and kids love to be rewarded with a sweet treat (m&m’s are a favorite at our house!). Do the potty dance with them, clap your hands, and tell them how much you love them because going potty is a BIG deal for a two year old and deserves special attention while training!
Positive Reinforcement
Potty training is not always a pleasant activity. Some kids can have a lot of trouble with bowel movements, making it hard to go in the potty. There will be tears from both you and your child. A way to make the experience more enjoyable is to stay positive, even when you wonder if your child will ever become potty trained. Kids feed off of our energy as moms, and the last thing we want is for potty training to trigger a meltdown for our kids. If they go in their pants, walk them to the potty and tell them that is where they need to go next time.
Potty training comes during one of the hardest seasons of mothering – the toddler years – but this is only a season. Hang in there, stay positive and have hope that soon your child will conquer the art of potty training!
What have you tried that helps toddlers learn to potty?
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