Share your top tips with Penwizard on encouraging your children with their potty training for your chance to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher! NOW CLOSED

[KathrynMumsnet]

The team at Penwizard have asked us to find out your top tips to encourage your children with their potty training.

Here’s what Penwizard say: "We all know potty training can be a tough time for both toddlers and parents. That’s why in our new personalised potty training book we guide children step-by-step through the process to help them understand what’s involved and help parents motivate their child. But we want to hear from Mumsnet posters what tips and tricks have worked for them whilst handling this delicate process and any advice they would pass on to first time mothers”.

So what are your top tips? What do you wish you’d known about potty training before starting the process? Do you have a reward system in place? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Everyone who posts their comment on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one lucky Mumsnetter will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Please note: your comments may be used anonymously elsewhere on Mumsnet and by Penwizard on their website, marketing materials and possible elsewhere, so please only comment if you are happy with this.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

p.s. if you would like to find out more about Penwizard’s new book click here.

[InAndOfMyself]

My tips are:

• wait until your toddler has let you know that he is ready, there is no point in fighting a losing battle!
  
• forgo the training pants stage and just go straight to regular pants, there will be accidents but I have found that they learn a lot quicker
  
• if you're lucky enough to be potty training in summer then get out in the garden, potty in hand, and it (clean up especially) will be a lot easier!
  

I haven't had to use any rewards this time, my son is so eager to copy his older brother.

[asuwere]

agree with PP, wait till toddler is ready! It's a breeze when they're ready, nightmare when they're not. If you start and it's not working, leave it a couple of weeks.

Also, boy pants are much nicer and fit better than girl pants, and they're easier for little ones to pull up and down. (I get really annoyed with frilly, flimsy girl pants with tiny, uncovered elastic and wish shops would make them the same way as boy pants!)

I have used rewards - chocolate star or a sticker for each successful use of the potty (reward depends on what would work with each child) - but only for a few days.

I would also say, try to progress from potty to toilet as quickly as possible as it's much easier to deal with :)

[TrollTheRespawnJeremy]

We waited till summer so that my daughter could run around in her pants in the garden!

The biggest issue for her was getting her to the potty on time and getting her trousers/shorts off so we took the clothes out of the calculation and it was far easier.

[starlight36]

Watching other children around the same age proudly using the potty and showing off their big pants can be a big motivator.

I'd definitely agree with waiting until they are ready. We tried too early with DD (under pressure from her daycare provider) and it was quite stressful for all of us. When she was ready reading stories about potty training (Little Princess - 'I Want My Potty' and 'Lulu's Knickers' really helped) as well as lots of stickers and lots of praise.

[Cherrybellyboo]

My daughter had the control and the ability for 6 months but had no desire to go on the toilet. We tried everything, rewards etc. what worked for us was

• not battling it - we stopped pushing her to try as she wasn't ready.
  
• she saw her friend go to the toilet and 2days later she decided to start going.
  

:)

[Ausflug]

My top tips are

Wait until they are ready, - and there is no shame in having a try, and then giving up for a few weeks if it wasn't the right time to start after all. I made 3 abortive attempts between my 2 children, but when they got the idea, it only took them 3 days to be clean and dry.

Use joggers or leggings that are easy to pull up and down, and maybe buy pants that are a size up, so they slip down quickly and easily

Put the potty on a towel or mat, to protect the floor from near misses.

[ShatnersBassoon]

Let them choose some pants that they are proud of and want to keep in a decent condition. Incentives worked well for us.

[RatOnnaStick]

Get a family toilet seat fitted with an integral childrens seat. Mine infinitely prefer it to a wobbly insert.

They might prefer to go straight to toilet and bypass the potty if they are older than about 2.5 and not particularly little. Mine did.

[CheeseEMouse]

We're starting soon but we've been doing a lot to familiarise our daughter with the potty, so sitting on it before her bath or a change so she gets used to the idea.

[sharond101]

Wait until they are ready. Do it when you are home alotr. Go straight to pants. Lots of praise and emphasis being on being a "big" boy/girl.

[summersnowshowers]

Get them used to sitting on the potty by reading on there and having it around a lot used as a seat. Let them be pant free as much as possible and do lots of cheering if they happen to do something on there.

Novelty pants worked a treat too!

[Anononooo]

I don't get the stress on this. They will do it hen they are ready - it cannot be forced. Whoop it up when they do manage it, but don't fret about it. They generally get there in the end.

[mamato3luvleys]

My top tip is for when helping my ds to wee standing up at the toilet on his step, he was trying to "wee like daddy" but was always hitting the floor or around the toilet so I drew sum funny faces on sum ping pong balls and put a couple down the toilet. They never flushed away and my son had fun using them as a target to wee into the loo I need to get more as I'm currently toilet training my youngest!

[Spirael]

Wait until they're ready, no point rushing things and both getting stressed out.

Skip the potty and go straight to the toilet with a child seat.

Choose the child seat well. It needs to sit securely and be easy to clean. Also, having handles on the sides tends to be a good idea.

Use a booster step so the child can climb to the toilet by themselves and have somewhere to put their feet.

[GloGirl]

Following this thread with interest as we are only a couple of months away from potty training.

We have bought one so he can get used to it but he refused to even sit on it until one day his Daddy did a wee wee in it! My DS went straight and did a wee on the potty just like his Dad.

[ewanhoozami]

My older son loved Pirate Pete's Potty when he was learning and now reads it to my three year old who has (nearly!) cracked potty training.

My advice would be to:

• let the child choose their own potty and pants.
  
  
• not make any negative comments, especially about poo. They have a nose, they know it's stinky. Don't make a big deal out of accidents.
  
  
• Wait until they're ready and ignore anyone who tells you to get on with it!

[Lulabellx1]

A reward chart really helped my little one. She LOVED collecting stickers and she was really proud of herself when she did it.

Also, she picked knickers with characters on them and she would proclaim "I mustn't wee on Peppa Pig!"

:)

[OhHolyFuck]

I agree with waiting til they mention it and are age ready not just because it's some decided age you feel they should be trained by

Let them choose their own nice pants - they're not going to watch to poo on their favourite character

Skip pull ups, it just confuses them. They feel like nappies and aren't uncomfortable enough when they get wet/dirty so no incentive to try

Bribery! Sticker charts or chocolate buttons, whatever works!

Set an alarm on your phone every 20/30 minutes and make them go when the alarm goes, eventually increase the gap and then stop and rely on them telling you

Don't use a potty, only have to retrain them onto the toilet - get a good insert and go straight onto there

[Catsgowoof]

What til they're ready. I've seen so many people struggle trying to train their kids as early as they can when if they'd just left it a few months I'm sure it would've been easier.

[zippyants]

I think this may sound strange but give the child space and privacy! When they start to use the potty for the first time they may be quite timid at first and with everyone staring or encouraging, this could cause some prevention. Praise when the potty is used is a must but I don't believe rewarding every-time with a particular thing but rather emotional praise should be given. Obviously these are only my little thoughts! :)

[CMOTDibbler]

I think that you don't have to make a big thing of it - try a run up to potty training by starting to encourage them to try for a wee when you are whilst they are still in nappies so you build lots of success

[ItsMyFuckingWedding]

Absolutely make sure your toddler is ready. If you push I think you are doomed from the get go.

We role played going to the potty with a toy and clapped and praised it for 'going' - I may have peed in the potty myself

We also had a reward system for successful potty trips and any accidents were met with 'oh dear never mind, no treat this time though'

[WowOoo]

Wait until they are ready. It's not a race and it will be easier if your child is happy.

[mapmyface]

Always remain positive, even if they won't sit on the potty or have an accident. I found that brushing it off and giving praise for trying kept the momentum going and the dc loved pleasing me.

[Maiyakat]

DD got doing wees fairly quickly, but poos were rather more of a struggle... She got a Peppa Pig sticker on her potty for every poo that she did in there, and when she had 10 she could choose a toy (which was - unsurprisingly - Peppa Pig!)