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.

I'm waiting until she tells me she's ready to wear her big girl knickers, I brought her some special rabbit pattern ones as there her favourite and I get family and friends to tell her they wear big girl knickers and so does her older sister, but I don't want to do it too early

I think it's important to let them do it when they're ready and not pressure them because you know other children who are already there or you've read that this is the right age to start. Your child will let you know. My niece is a year older than my daughter and she initially made her interested in using the potty. We also bought a potty that sang so that made it fun and she got to do a celebratory dance afterwards :)

We skipped the potty and bought a toddler toilet seat.

Saved a lot of hassle as didnt have to cart excrement around and there was no carrying potty around on shopping trips etc.

And stickers. Never underestimate the power of stickers- the things kids will do for them are impressive

My saviour was the potette which is a foldable potty with bag insert, so convenient in those early days when " it's coming" and you are nowhere near a toilet! Also we say goodbye to number 2's as they get flushed away!! Plenty of knickers, as others have said training pants don't really give them that uncomfortable feeling of being wet. Patience, patience and more patience.

Buy a packet of smarties and give your child one smartie each time they successfully use the potty; it really works a treat!

Don't push it.

Lots of naked bottom time.

If you have a garden, let them wee in the bushes.

Sweets or other little gifts for weeing and pooing in potty.

If LO only wants to poo in nappies (I.e. deliberately asks for nappy to poo in), loosen it up gradually (a bit more open every day or so), then put it in the bottom of potty for them to poo in, then get rid.

As I'm an avid loo reader I sat both mine on the potty with a book in front of me when I went to the toilet - funnily enough they both read on the loo now!

While you don't need to be totally housebound for potty training it does help if you can plan on being nearer to home at least for the first couple of days.
Speak to nursery/ childminder in advance to get them on board and to prepare them.
Don't attempt potty training at the same time as any major upheaval in your/ your child's life eg starting nursery or moving house.
Remember that very child is different and will do it in their own time.

If it's a girl wear a cotton dress and crocs for easy access.

The allure of choc buttons seemed to get the no 1s in the potty and the allure of bubbles got the no2's within the potty within a week.

1. Always do it in warmer weather when they can run about outside so less clean up mess (yes, timing this to coincide with the one week of Summer we get in the UK each year won't be easy lol)
2. Never rush it- we waited until our kids were ready. What Billy Next Door is able to do at 1.5 years old should be no indicator of your child's progress however much Billy's Mum tries to impress on you it's all because of her son's increased intellect...
3. Clean up any accidents without making them feel bad about it. Gone are the days when children should feel ashamed about accidents.... it would only make them more worried about having them in the future, surely? :(

Don't rush into trying to do it too early - it'll be stressful for you both. As my lovely Dad said whenever I was worrying about my DC not doing stuff as quickly as other people's DC - "they won't still be doing it when they're 15" (using nappies/not walking/climbing into my bed at night, etc) and this has served as a good reminder to me to trust my own instincts. Potty training is never a breeze but it's so much easier if they're ready.

Skip pull ups and go straight to pants. The cheaper and thinner the better so that they feel really wet if peed in and can just be binned if there's a poo situation. I think they just forget they're not wearing a 'nappy' in pull ups because it feels the same.

We also skipped the actual potty and went straight to the toilet. I've never really understood the need for an interim stage?

Buy a waterproof mattress protector and if doing much car travel, put a pair of pull ups on over normal pants. That way they still feel wet if they pee but you don't have the worry of having to strip the car seat every 5 minutes.

Potty books are a superb idea. DS essentially understood what was expected of him based on his book. Ultimately though only chickenpox helped. By the time the spots came out DS was feeling better. He was so bored that even potty training seemed fun.

Waiting until they are ready is key. We also skipped the training pants stage and went straight to big girls/boys pants. I took them out for a special shopping trip to choose their own pants and we talked about how they were special pants and not to wee or poo in them. We have never bothered with a potty though we have used the toliet from the start with an insert to make the seat smaller (£1.50 in home bargains). If we are using a public toilet i just hold onto them so they dont fall in. Lots of praise when they do go on the toilet and if not then just clean them up and say never mind, don't make a big deal of it.

Summer is best with lots of activities planned in the garden. Invite friends round to yours so you don't have to go out as much.
Also story time while they were on the potty really helped as it was more relaxed & less rushed.
All this helped for stress free potty training.

Lots of patience, make sure you start the process when you have no big plans eg. holiday.
Our girl used to sit on the potty with a little table in front of her colouring so she was distracted at first.
Praise the times they use the potty properly and be play down the times they have an accident .

The most important thing I think is to know that there is no rush. It's not a competition. So take your time. They get it (with some encouragement) in their own time. I have lots of tips, but one that seemed popular with both my children is the "potty dance". Every time they were successful I would do a completely ridiculous happy potty dance....singing "you went on the potty! You went on the potty!" In the early stages, I would sit them on the potty and just read to them so they could get a feel for it.

I think the main thing is it doesn't really matter in such as they is no need to get stressed or angry over anything but just keep repeating it then it becomes normal and your child knows what to do and what to ask for etc (hope that makes sense) :)

Waiting for your toddler to be ready. There is no point rushing as it will take longer. Always remain positive even after accidents.

1. Don't use training pants, just go straight to regular pants.
2. Don't start before the toddler is ready as this just causes confusion and upset if they go back to nappies (or use nappies when out and about)
3. Let them get used to the potty before you start (leaving potty around the house / potty seat on the toilet)
4. Get them involved in choosing their pants and knickers - these will invariably be character themed!!
5. Reward with chocolate for successful use of potty or toilet. We worried at one point, DD would be asking for buttons when she was 18 but she has been weaned off them!
6. Be patient. They won't get there more quickly if they're stressed or you're stressed.
7. Buy A LOT of shake'n'vac for those wonderful unpredictable first days and weeks!

Bought spiderman pants for him to wear as soon as he used the potty (he loves spiderman!)...within a few weeks he was in them!

Join with other parents and get them watching other children around the same age using the potty and showing off their big pants. Works a treat.

Only do it when they appear ready, and when you have time to be consistent in approach.

With my first 2, it was a case of 2 weeks in the summer, running around with no nappy on. Wearing knickers/pants inside nappies helped so they felt wet but without the washing. Stickers helped too.

My third just proved the fact that you can't 'train' a child to use the potty. We tried 3 seperate times and she just wasn't having it. The week before she started nursery she took her own nappy off and that was it. She decided she was ready and we have had very few accidents since.

Try and wait until your child is ready. Read books on potty training. Let them choose their own pants/knickers and maybe potty. Let them choose where to put the potty. Maybe in the bathroom, or even in front of the tv to help them relax. A reward chart is good. Don't limit drinks.