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 Potty training

• If you're potty training in the colder months, they can't run around naked. Try tracksuit bottoms - very absorbent and you are less likely to have little puddles everywhere. (bossypants)
• Put two waterproof sheets on your child's bed at night so if they have an accident in the middle of the night all you have to do is peel one sheet off rather than searching for a new set of sheets. (AttillaTheHan)
• Keep your child's clean bedding in the bottom of a wardrobe or in a spare drawer in their room. It's easier to find when you have to make an emergency night time change. (piximon)
• If you are having trouble getting your toddler on the potty, stick pictures of wheels on the sides - now the potty is a car and much more fun to be on! (sockmonkey)
• Put a ping pong ball in the toilet - it's excellent for helping to perfect a boy's aim whilst standing up. Hit the ball and not the floor (lisa34)
• When potty training use jelly shoes or crocs (with socks in winter). If they have an accident and it invariably pours into their shoes, it's easy to change socks and rinse shoes! (Wags)
• Instead of using baby wipes, fold two kitchen towels into four and soak with water. Make a huge pile of them, store them in a resealable sandwich bag and they stay moist and work brilliantly. (Fluffsuptheduff)
• When potty training your toddler, read a book that they like while sitting on it, so they stay put! (AnnieOleTing)
• Forget babygrows or pjs with all those buttons when you're changing nappies every few hours at night....baby nighties are the way to go. No buttons, just pull it up, change the nappy, pull it down again and go back to sleep! (delprinces)
• If you're potty training, bear in mind that service station hand driers are powerful enough to dry a hand-washed car seat cover in five minutes. Tried and tested on more than one occasion. (Flip)
• A ping-pong ball or a cork in the toilet will encourage little boys to aim accurately and prevent mess. (katwith3kittens)
• When you first start potty training at night, keep extra plastic sheets and bed linen out just incase they have an accident and make up a little bed on the floor for them to lie in whilst you swap the sheets. (Bruces)
• While potty training out and about carry a potty with a prefold or terry square in it, the cloth will absorb all the pee so you can just discretely pop it in a plastic bag and replace it with a new cloth for next time rather than trying to find somewhere to empty and clean the potty before they need it again (Pink Tulip)
• Whilst potty training carry a potty with a prefold or terry square in it, when you're out and about. Just dispose of the cloth and replace it rather than trying to find somewhere to empty and clean the potty. (Pink Tulip)
• Wash used disposable babywipes in the washing machine and then use as cotton wool or soft cloth nappy liners (they stretch to fit). Saves cash as well as planet. (Thell)
• Keep your baby wipes moist by storing the box or pack upside down. (chloesophiemum)
• For potty training, try a hand stamp for every successful visit. It's easy and immediate and means your child has something to show off with to anyone who is around. (onemum)
• For potty training, try stamps with face paint - every successful visit gets a stamp on a hand. Your child has something to show off and he/she gets lots of encouragement. (onemum)
• Store packs of wipes upside down. The moisture then filters back through the pack and even the first wipe you use is moist rather than dry compared to the bottom ones! (CarolWV)
• Give your baby the clean nappy to hold whilst changing him/her. The nappy is light, easy to hold,has interesting textures to explore and covered in bright pictures. What's more, you always have a clean nappy to hand! (nell12)
• To get your little boy to aim into the toilet instead of all over the seat and floor, put a ping pong ball in the water and challenge him to soak it everytime! It won't flush away. (Rhiannon)
• If your child has wet the bed, don't panic! Cover the fresh stain with cat litter which will soak up the urine and absorb the odour. Remove the cat litter with a vacuum cleaner after a day and the crisis is over! (janedoe)
• When nightime training your child buy two waterproof sheets and two fitted ones for the bed. Put waterproof sheet then fitted sheet, then the same again onto the bed. If there is an accident in the night you will only have to whip off one layer of sheets to reveal the second layer underneath. Much easier than trying to find clean bedding while half asleep (Bagpuss30)
• Paint a ping pong ball and place it in the toilet. Your son can then try to wee into the toilet onto the ping pong ball - it helps stop the wee going on the floor. (riles)
• When potty training, as well as keeping a change of bottoms in your bag, throw in a couple of nappy sacks. They are excellent for storing wet undies etc (JudeB)
• When potty training buy plenty of cheap pants. If you're out and about and your child has an accident, you can just dispose of them rather than have to carry them around with you. (GemmaB)
• if you child has wet the bed, don't panic! Cover the fresh stain with cat litter which will soak up the urine and absorb the odour. Remove the cat litter with a vacuum cleaner after a day and there will be no trace. (janedoe)
• I try to ensure that whenever my toddler has a drink, I do too. Then I'm regularly prompted by by own need to go to the loo, that she may also be ready -it seems to work! (winniefree)
• When potty training get your child to choose his/her own underwear and make a big deal about them wearing it. They will feel so proud and grown-up and it adds an incentive not to wet their pants! (Rhubarb)
• We are potty-training my daughter at the moment and sometimes she refuses to wear her nappies (even pull-ups she says are nappies). But I got some knickers that are too big and she will wear her knickers with liners (as that is alright because mummy does sometimes). (patch)
• I was getting desperate about my son (nearly five) who was never dry at night. All the books said don't try him without a nappy until he has one dry night - his nappy was sodden every morning. I started to cut down on drinks, tried lifting him at 11 pm, talked to him about it but nothing worked. In the end I gave up. Suddenly he started to be dry. I believe it is purely a physical development thing that happens when the child is ready! (Lauram)