I’m no expert, by all means, but I was referred an insightful book called “Oh Crap! Potty Training” by Jamie Glowacki and it worked wonders for my little one. In just 3 days we nailed this whole thing which got a lot of friends asking, how?!
The book of course goes in to ALL the details, with no question left to ask. The author has dealt with all kinds of personalities and situations which you may too, however she clearly breaks it down how to handle and overcome them all. From poop to those terrible twos and even threes.
So again, these are just my major takeaways from the book and what worked for us.
- Age: Suggests to begin this process within the age of 20-30 months. The younger the more difficult to process and the older, the more constraint.
- Buy a Potty Training Toilet: They will transition to the big toilet after a month or when they are ready, but having a smaller potty that they can easily run to and assist themselves will help speed up the process.
- Dedicate a solid 3 days: We started on a Saturday morning and I took Monday off. We didn’t leave the house with the exception of some backyard play to stay close to the toilet.
- Ditch the Diaper: I told Adaline that morning that we were “throwing away all the diapers, no diapers!” and she loved it. She still will shake her finger at me and say “no more diapers, we throw them away”.
- 3 Days:
- No diapers and no pants for 3 days. Having nothing on the bottom is what I think did the trick. The diaper triggers a reaction to release with comfort as they were born in to that but having that bare bottom is a whole different feeling. After the 3 days you can transition back to pants and then to underwear after a month.
- Liquid: Increase the liquid because you need the encouragement. We don’t give Adaline juice much, if at all, so for those 3 days I offered her some (after diluting of course) and she downed every cup. This made her go much more often with more opportunities for her to practice.
- You have to watch them like a hawk. Those 3 days are precious where you need to be able to react in the moment and figure out their body signals for when they need to go. When they have accident, you need to tell them it’s ok but that’s not where we go potty. When they use the potty you need to praise them and get them excited but with a high five, not a treat!
- Keep the potty nearby, it doesn’t need to be placed in the bathroom just yet. Somewhere close that they can see and run to.
- Childcare: SO this is the one that gave me the most anxiety, because it feels like it’s out of your control especially after all that hard work you put in, you don’t wan’t someone else messing it up. Make sure you talk to your providers and care watchers and explain to them how you would like to continue the training process. My daycare unfortunately has a policy where they must wear underwear which was not part of the plan! As you can imagine, I freaked! But Adaline did just great and was able to transition smoothly back in. Her daycare does a good job at potty training themselves (but with pull ups which is not part of our plan) with frequent potty visits to “practice” preventing too many hysterical children needing to pee all the time. I think this process has helped her transition with the underwear, but nonetheless make sure you speak thoroughly with them and what has worked for you.
- Naps & Nigh time: They can ONLY wear a diaper during naps and at night but it’s important to tell them why and explain that they only wear them when they sleep.
Hope this helps anyone looking for encouragement and motivation. I strongly suggest picking up the book (or downloading the audible version, like I did) to get the details in full but for those trying to grasp the overall idea, there ya go!
xo
Michelle
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