Share your successful potty training tips here!!

[Galaxygirl93]

(Almost) 20 month old son has been showing signs of readiness for potty training. We bought a potty a while ago which has been in the living room for a good few months and he has sat on it lots so he is familiar with it. I have 4 days off now so wanting to make a good start with potty training. Please give me your tips :-)

Personally I would say he is a bit young yet; and I am an old gimmer and trained my lot at around 27 to 30 months which most people consider young nowadays

Is his speech good enough?

I think you can only give it a go and see what happens. If you aren't making progress after a couple of days, leave it and wait a bit.

If it's decent weather get in the garden. Accident on the grass is less stressful than the carpets.

The Oh Crap! book worked for us. Sounds like it might be a good idea for your little boy, as it tends towards advocating earlier training. The only thing that would put me
off in your situation is the weather, as it’s much easier in summer. That said, almost a year would be a long time to wait! Good luck.

• Once you start, put him in pants and don't go back to nappies (as long as it's all going well). Don't send the message that nappies are a flexible option. And take the inevitable accidents on the chin. Dr Power do a great spray for removing urine out of carpets and upholstery

• If it doesn't work out be happy to try again in a few months

• manage his drinks, as in space then out and 20 ministers or so after he's drank ask if he needs the toilet. Poos are a tad more unpredictable 🤣

• sit him on his potty to read stories and the wee or poo will possibly come naturally

• when he does use the nappy praise him and never ever reprimand him for accidents. Just say "oh dear we'll get that cleaned up and new clothes on"

Don’t do it too soon. I waited until all mine were very ready and it took 2-3 days and no accidents. I’ve never understood those people that spent weeks / months port training a too-young child who through no fault of their own couldn’t quite get it.

Chocolate buttons .. but seriously, I also read the oh crap book and loosely followed it. Doesn't advocate bribes though which I needed to get DD actually on the potty.. once on she knew what to do and she could hold for hours it was just a case of getting her sat down that was hard work! DD was 22 months when we trained and it took a while to go from nappy free at home to confidently nappy free out and about.. another thing that goes against the book, but she just wasn't reliable enough right at the start and we couldnt stay in all the time beyond the first few days. It maybe took 3 weeks to be reliable with no nappy at all times.. we only really did park across the road in pants before then. But it did all click into place over the weeks and I could feel that sense of progress so we carried on in a way that felt right for us. Be prepared for lots of accidents that first week. They need to learn the sensation so they will have lots! I think we went through 15 pairs of pants on day one but this gradually reduced down to 7 to 4 to 2 etc. She still has some small accidents now but they are rare and I am pleased we carried on when it felt a bit hard in the early days. It is mentally draining for you and them! My DD went back to 2 hourly naps for a while as it was like the effort of staying dry was wearing her out more!

Anyway I have rambled on but the process was worth it in the end and its so nice not doing nappies so if you think he is ready then no harm trying though loads will say he is too young but I really think its down to the child. Other random things we did were.. incontinence pads and towel in pushchair and car seat.. still do this in car seat on long journeys as cannot be dealing with car seat cleaning.. thankfully haven't had any issues since the first few trips out but I am a bit paranoid about removing it! Good luck!

Bribe! Praise! Don't be put off by a bad first day but if he starts getting upset wait and try again in a few months
My DD showed signs for a while but it wasn't until 24 months that we cracked it

Also one tip I swear by is get them out the house so many people keep her kids in for days whilst they are potty training

I would wait until she had had a wee then take her out if she had an accident I had spare clothes
Don't make a big deal of accident bit make a big deal if they do it in the potty

Probably too young and you will have weeks of accidents and stress about going out. It will be upsetting for her as well. I’d wait til at least 2.

Oh crap method here too but we did keep a potty in the house before then. Biggest tip is to get him to see other children using the potty.

Thanks all, very helpful!

Following this with interest. My 20month old has just started demanding to go on the toilet with absolutely no prompting from us. She might be ready for this but I’m not sure I am!

@dumptyhumpty101
It's not as stressful as it gets made out to be if they are ready go for it if not just wait and try again

Bribes. Mini eggs worked for us. 1 for wees, 2 for poos. If it takes more than a week for at least the wees to click, stop and try later. If they're ready, it shouldn't take weeks. Do NOT limit drinks. Firstly, because that's just horrid - don't deny a thirsty child a drink at any time of day. Secondly, it doesn't teach them anything about bladder control.

Don't worry about nights. That is mainly physiological. You can always lift them at night but that again teaches them nothing about the sensation of a full bladder and bladder control. They need to start producing the antidiuretic hormone to be truly dry at night, which can take up to 7 years. Use pull ups and relax.

I waited until they were two and a half. They hated the potty and wouldn’t use it. They much preferred a child seat on the loo - perhaps they thought the loo was more grown up!
I’d advocate starting later and being relaxed about it, OP. They’re more likely to be able to feel when they need the loo, and better able to communicate that to you. I continued night time nappies until they were three. We had occasional wet nights even then, but waterproof mattress protectors saved any major hassle.

Just to add I didn’t do the nighttime dryness until she had woken up with dry pull ups for several months.

Poo Goes to Pooland! My DS was worried about pooing on the potty/toilet and this cured him pretty much instantly.

Bit young I think but you never know.

My 3 year old has just become dry (not fully at night yet) and to be honest she’s the baby so I was happy not doing it too quickly. We didn’t stress, showed her us doing it and watched some videos/songs on YouTube and she took it really quickly. Don’t stress and take it at baby’s pace x

I also think maybe a bit young. Sitting on it and getting used to it at that age is great. We did a lot of that for quite a long time and then it all came quite easily and naturally when we tried properly.

I started at about 26 months with no pressure. There were lots of accidents so we tried again at 30 months and then nailed it at around 32-34 months when we bought the potette for out and about and gave a few smarties for his poos. I haven't done night time training though.
It can be frustrating at times and it's more of a training process so be patient. It's so worth it when they succeed though.

Another tip is if your child attends a nursery to do it when other kids are, this really spurred mine on. He saw the other kids going to the potty and wanted to too.

I was told if you start too young, before they are ready it can take months. When they’re ready it really can be cracked in days. 20 months is very young.
I think my first was 2 and a half. Second tried at the same age, not ready. He wasn’t actually ready until he was 3.

We did it at 20 months and she was accident free in 4 days. Has been trained for 3 months now. I don't believe it is too young at all. We had it easier than lots of people I know who left it later because they are so eager to please at that age. Of course a lot will depend on the child too.

Tips:
We used Oh Crap! and found it spot on.
I bought specific books that were potty books and we read them only when she sat on the potty. This encouraged her to sit more regularly.
Raisins for bribing if she was resistant or we needed her to go before leaving the house.
Lots of praise and encouragement for making it.
Go at the same time as them. This helped us loads.
Don't expect self initiation or for them necessarily to have words for wee and poo. We didn't get to that stage for about 2 weeks but she was still reliable without accidents before then because she had learned not to wee on the potty.
Naked for one day maybe 2, but get them in pants and trousers soon enough as it makes accidents more noticeable to them.