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.

We had a musical potty that played a tune when it was used. I had to keep an eye on my dcs when they were training as they were always too busy playing to want to interrupt it for potty time, I could recognise when they really needed to go but didn't want to stop playing with their toys!

Take your time with potty training,let your child lead. Do not rush them!
All children are different, do not expect your kids to follow a time table,they will do it in their own time.

To start them off, drop lots of hints about things they can do without having a nappy on all the time. When the process starts lots of high fives and smiles, plus buttons or smarties. after they have an accident get them to help clean up and have a quick it's ok chat and let them know to tell you quick quick when it's wee wee time.

Definitely use a reward chart and lots and lots of stickers!

We used a sticker reward chart with our son that was really visual and effective when he was potty training so that's something we'll do again when our daughter begins potty training.

wait until they are ready otherwise it will become a battle

When they are ready put the potty in an area that's interesting. I painted half a wall on the landing outside the bathroom in blackboard paint, supplied chalks, and put the potty in front of it. Dd was trained very quickly.

If you have a child over a year who goes "tomato head" before they do a poop, then put them on the potty / on a toddle seat over the loo. It'll get them used to using the loo from very early on & means you're only dealing with wet nappies (either to fill your bin or nappy bucket).

Get a potty that looks like a chair / throne - the old fashioned ones are too low & tend to scoot away from the child as they go to sit down especially if they're in a hurry.

Use chocolate buttons as a reward - we used 1 for a wee & 3 for poop & once they realised this particular chocolate was available 24/7 in exchange for dry nappies, it really concentrated their minds.

Keep a hit / miss / almost chart at the beginning so you can see if they're making progress since you tend to remember the clearing up more clearly than the easy ones.

Buy a folding potty & take it (& a bag of tea towels) when you first go out - an accident is less embarrassing if you can help clean up. Get a couple of liners for the car seat too as they're a pain to take apart & clean.

Remember it takes time to learn a new skill & there will be some mistakes - could you learn to roller skate in 24 hours?

I was put off starting to potty train my son as I read loads of horror stories but it wasn't half as bad as I feared. We had one in the bathroom for a while first so it was no big deal and then got a pack of stickers to decorate it himself. I imitially tried the reward chart but he seemed to view that as negative feedback when I wouldnt constantly give him a sticker so we ditched that.
Watching mummy and daddy wee was a big incentive to use the toilet himself, even now if we go he will want to go.
Pants with pictures on really helped and I only used pull up pants to teach my son about pulling up and down before we started training.
Otherwise I just went cold turkey with it and have plenty of praise, now he is so proud of whatever he does it the potty it's great. Just battling with hand washing now though!!

Dont rush. Lots of encouragement. Get them to read (look at the pictures) whilst on the potty as a distraction.

You need to allocate the best part of a week, so pick a week when you don't have much on.

Wait until it is sunny and your DC don't need to wear a lot of clothes. I would go for long tshirt or dress with no pants for the first few days.

Explain what you are doing using a doll or teddy on the potty. Offer a reward such as stickers or marbles. I used stickers on a pathway to a Princess Castle which I drew myself and explained that at the top once they stickers reach up the path, they would get to pick a toy.

Go shopping for some fabulous pants and let them pick which ones.

Don't offer sweets or chocolates or anything TOO tempting, as otherwise you may get a child that does nothing but sit on the toilet or tries to go every 5 minutes.

Keep the potty in the same space as the child initially.

Watch them carefully for the first few days. It is often the case that a wee can be stopped and they can rush to the potty if spotted in time.

Reward with bags of praise for every correct use of the potty.

Remind every couple of hours to go.

Ignore any accidents largely. Just say 'oh dear did you forget to go..'.

Keep nappies on at night, until they are dry in the morning.

Don't bother with a portable potty. Just ask them to go before you leave and make sure you know where toilets when you are out and about. If need be a small child can wee on the pavement / behind a bush.

Wait until they are truly ready - rushing it will only make it more stressful & difficult all round as well as more time consuming.

Do it in the summer when they can run around with little or no clothes on.

Lots of praise, encouragement & rewards!

Get them involved from the start, ie. choosing a potty, buying 'big boy / girl pants', reading books designed to help (eg. Pirate Pete).

Try not to stress, they will crack it one day!

Don't feel pressure to start potty training just because every other child the same age as yours is out of nappies, wait until your child is ready.
DD1 wanted to wee in the potty, so we didn't need to provide much encouragement other than saying well done. She wasn't interested in doing a poo in the potty, so we used bribery in the form of stickers and a chocolate button.

Letting Dd choose her own big girl pants really helped - it made the process exciting. And picking a time when it was quiet, not many trips out or visitors due round so we could concentrate on encouraging her without swapping back to nappies/pull ups and confusing her.

Following with interest, ds1 nearly ready to start

Sticker charts worked really well with DD. She potty trained at 2 years 2 months. DS is 2 years 10 months now and nothing seems to get him to use the potty!

It is not always as easy as people tell you. Don't give up, it will happen.

Celebrate the triumphs and don't make a big deal out of the mistakes.

Definitely wait till toddler is ready, rather than give in to peer pressure. Disposable nappies are convenient and relatively cheap, so there's no rush.

Wait until the summer, it's far easier to train them outdoors.

My tip is just be patient! They will learn it sooner or later..if you hurry them up..it might actually take more time!

Loads of praise! Loads of encouragement! And incentives/rewards to boot! As they get use to it, they'll eventually go through the process on their own, without constant prompting. Key thing is, they have to be ready - no use pushing them too soon.

We just potty trained 3 months ago and my tips would be-

Wait until your toddler is ready. It really doesn't matter if your whole group of friends have done potty training already with their wee ones. They are ready when they are ready!

Potty training does not mean they have to start on a potty. My son preferred to go on a proper toilet as he felt like he was being a big boy going on the same toilet as everyone else!

Be very patient! Accidents do happen and sometimes they won't know why they didn't go to the toilet even though they were bursting. It has taken three months for my son to remember the label goes to the back on his pants, lots of inside out, back to front pants in my house

Take them to the toilet even if they say they don't need. My son tells me he doesn't need all the time and the minute you step out the door, he needs and he needs now!!

Let them choose their own pants. It's good to get some with the characters they like!

And finally lots and lots of praise!

Wait until they are ready and don't be pressured my others.

1. dettol multipurpose spray cleans up anything ( and removes smells )
2. Don't keep them in night time nappies / pull ups, longer than a week otherwise they don't learn to get up to the loo.
3. KEEP CALM - they will learn to use the toilet, it will happen!
4. I have boys - I tried training them just after their birthday - they didn't have a clue so I left them another couple of months and tried again, this time with success.
5. I did the 'practice sitting on the potty every 20 minutes' technique - it worked but after a couple of days it got to be a sore point so I had to stop (I tried to avoid any crossness / shoutiness with them during training). By then though, I had worked out roughly how long it takes for them to need a wee / poo after eating food. I think I was lucky as my boys always did one poo a day at the same sort of time (but they did hold it in for a while without their nappies!).
6. Invest in two or three waterproof mattress protectors - if they wet the bed at night, make it as quick and fuss free as possible to change the bedding = so keep a supply of sheets / blankets near by too (maybe not the duvet unless you can machine wash it).

forgot to add - the night time / pull up nappies are great in the initial stage as it takes the pressure off them - lets them get the hang of day time training first, and then they kind of work out that they should be doing that at night time too. Idea being when you take the night time nappies / pull ups away, they are more or less sorted with day time training (barring the odd accident) so its just one thing to concentrate on.

I should point out my experience is with two boys - no idea if this would work with girls!