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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

254 replies

KathrynMumsnet · 29/06/2015 09:59

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.

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
OP posts:
anyoldnameforathread · 30/06/2015 19:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Seagullslanding · 30/06/2015 20:06

We started with fancy pull-ups, the ones with disney characters on.

We then moved on to the cheap value ones, they have no pictures but are amazingly cheaper and work well. We let our daughter wear knickers on top, she gets to choose the knickers/picture she likes the best.

We are now down to just knickers

We did have problem with poos, but a home-made reward chart and stickers from e-bay have worked well

arat · 30/06/2015 20:16

My main tip would be don't let your toddler get stressed by the potty/toilet. I still don't know what caused DS to get stressed by the potty, but it built up several years of poo problems which we eventually traced back to a traumatic early potty incident.

toodles60 · 30/06/2015 20:25

All kids have their own little cues to watch out for that let you know they are on the verge :) When you get one of these cues ( my son always starts to wiggle a bit) bring the potty out and usually after a short time they will begin to associate the potty with the feeling they get when they need the toilet. If they don't go straight away don't just leave them sat there. Read them a story or something. Biggest thing is patience, patience, patience.

milliemoon · 30/06/2015 20:36

Seeing other children use the potty encourages them. Stickers are always a winner in this house too!

Maclairey · 30/06/2015 20:50

I have just started to think about potty training my 2.3 year old. He isn't quite ready yet but I have just started leaving the potty around so he gets used to it. I also sit him on the loo while I run his bath in the evenings.

I think the key is to make it as easy as possible. Don't start until they are ready, don't make a big deal of accidents, lots of praises for success and maybe a small reward system i.e first wee on the potty, first dry morning/afternoon, first dry day etc.

funchum8am · 30/06/2015 20:52

My DD was perfect after a week. We had a month of no accidents. I was smug.

Since the novelty of using the potty and toilet wore off she has "accidents" times when she cba to give up whatever she is doing to go to the loo every day.

I wish someone had told me that this might happen; I wouldn't have done the smug bit!!!

pgwynne · 30/06/2015 20:54

My little girl was 2.5 yrs when I started potty training. It was at the same time my son started school. I also had a little seat that sat underneath the main toilet seat as long as a potty.

However my daughter wanted to bypass the potty and sit on the toilet like her big brother. She also decided that she didn't want to wear pull-ups to bed anymore either. I can say that she never ever wet the bed just went to the toilet. As far as toilet tips go your child is the best little person to tell you when their ready.

catz747 · 30/06/2015 20:57

Definitely waiting until you know they are ready and not worrying about other people in their class or of their age. They all develop differently at different speeds and times. It will cause a lot of stress beginning too early.

dandanrawlings · 30/06/2015 21:32

Have patients and bring lots of disinfectant

KittyKat88 · 30/06/2015 21:35

I've literally just completed potty training with DD2 who is 2 months shy of her 3rd birthday. I'd got her into pull-up pants 3 weeks prior to starting potty training as a way to move away from nappies and be a 'big girl'. When we started, I used sweet treats for every time she used the potty successfully and this really appealed to and motivated her! Wink Wees were sorted within 3 days but it took about a week for her to understand when her poos were coming. Only had a couple of accidents though! Week 2 was really spent just consolidating her new 'skill' and I could also withdraw the sweet treats. She's now in normal pants at night too. Job done! Grin

MakeTeaNotWar · 30/06/2015 21:45

This is a great thread! DS will be 3 in October and his peers are all trained or are almost ready but he is showing no interest yet. My top tip is to wait until the child is ready, let them watch you and let them chose some pants to wear that they won't want to wet or soil

dragon60 · 30/06/2015 21:49

when they are ready, bribery worked a treat. Really into dinosaurs so bought a big tub of dinosaurs from a cheap shop, so got loads for less than £5. then started by rewarding just sitting down and trying with the little ones, then once we had success he chose from the tub.
All sorted in two days. Amazing what the right incentive does. Kept on rewarding successes with dinosaurs for about a week, maybe a bit longer

JoJoBaldwin · 30/06/2015 22:03

I found a picture book on the subject of a little girl learning to use the potty and DD immediately went over to her potty and "produced". Brilliant!

sleach · 30/06/2015 22:13

the best thing we found with our son finn was to let him lead we left it late before we started, until he was fully ready and he was fully potty trained in three days.

gillygumba · 30/06/2015 22:26

Even before your LO is ready for potty training buy a couple of potty's & leave them in view so they become a normal thing for the child to see. Start to role play with their favourite bear/doll, showing the child what 'should' happen!!

We also had a basket which had books, toys & stickers in which were especially for on the potty (& later the toilet) these were kept completely separate from our normal toys. This made going on the potty more enticing (good if your child is hesitant!!)

Charts & rewards help but make sure the rewards are immediate for young children

lhlee62 · 30/06/2015 22:46

Stickers!! We found a reward chart with loads of stickers really worked, but we did wait until she seemed ready. We gave her loads of praise and stickers and she loved it, we didn't stress too much about it and luckily it wasn't too much hassle

KateOxford · 30/06/2015 22:48

-Buy a book which you can read together so they see pictures of other children using he potty.
-go straight into pants or potty training pants, not pull ups as they confuse children

  • take lots of spare clothes out with you (& plastic bags for any wet ones)
  • buy a box of disposable gloves you can wear for cleaning pants. I held my sons under the shower with the shower head on full blast for 'those' accidents!
  • reward the child with stickers
-praise!
SaltySeaBird · 30/06/2015 23:25

DD has been accident free for two weeks!

  • We waited until she was ready; she just started telling us she wanted to use the potty.
  • Stickers on the potty everytime she used it; it's a colourful mosaic now.
  • Knickers that she really likes. In fact she keeps showing everyone her knickers!
sallyst123 · 30/06/2015 23:33

My top tip. Don't give up. It will just create confusion & be consistent if you have started at home make sure that the nursery/child care setting is also on board.
& be prepared for accidents outside the home ( my eldest had 1 In a v posh shop) just smile & carry on theses things happen just don't give up once you've started

Lindsaym1983 · 01/07/2015 07:11

We are just about to start potty training our second child and my top tip is to be patient , encourage them , praise them and don't get cross at them if they have a accident.

NotCitrus · 01/07/2015 07:44

Ds wasn't really interested until nearly 3 despite having chosen his Cool Pants, but then he really really wanted a scooter and it was suggested that would be a present after he got good at weeing and pooing in the potty. Once they aren't averse to the idea, some toys and stories and songs to keep them there long enough for something to come out - ds got obsessed with a counter and sat on the potty for hours.
Dd was the opposite, wanting to be a "big girl" like her friends before she was ready. We gave up after a few days but 3 months later she asked for her pants again and mastered it almost instantly - a chocolate button for every wee meant she managed to split a wee into six by the end of the day!

Role models of a similar age seem to help a lot, especially once they want to show off. Invite their friends round!

carolineandryanandseb · 01/07/2015 08:55

Try and let the little ones take the lead and be patient- just because others around you may have potty trained doesn't mean you have to pressure your lo into it. Everyone is different and if you pressure them it will create a stressful situation for them (and you) and probably make an issue out of something where there was none before, which could have the opposite effect of scaring them away from it. Put it this way, they WILL do it out of choice for themselves in their own time so try to all RELAX about it! :) :) x

Anderson8 · 01/07/2015 10:48

Long before they're ready to be potty trained, try sitting them on the potty before going in the bath. Gets them used to it.
If you're lucky enough to be potty training in warm weather, just allow them to roam around with nothing on their bottom halves.

mynellie · 01/07/2015 13:46

i used to keep an eye on my son as boys have a tendancy to grip their bits when they need a wee and always kept the potty where we were and asked them every so often if they needed a wee and when one was produced a big song and dance was made to show them how clever they are
We found the hardest part was getting them to have a pooh so we bought a soft toilet seat that fitted inside ours and always had lots of books to look at whilst sitting there and rewarded with big hugs when they managed a pooh but i found the easiest thing was to take them straight off the nappies and into pants as they don't like the wet feeling on their skin and soon learnt to use the potty with the odd accident