Share your tips on potty training with ASDA - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[PoppyMumsnet]

Teaching toddlers how to go to the toilet is one of the unavoidable tasks all parents must face - but it needn't be something you dread. There are many who've already been there, done that - and their learnings are invaluable.

So if you're smiling smugly from the other side, share your top tips for parents embarking on the potty training journey. What advice can you offer to make the experience less stressful - maybe even fun?

So, what words of wisdom can you share? How did you know when your child was ready to start training, and how did you integrate it into your everyday routine? Maybe you discovered clever strategies for introducing a potty or tricks for simplifying the transition from nappies to proper underwear?

How did you encourage and praise little ones for a job well done - or respond to the (inevitable) accidents without undoing all their good work? Do you have any potty training tricks for when you're out and about?

Whatever your top tips for successful potty training are, share them with Asda below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 ASDA voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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We used stickers as positive reinforcement. The rest was just patience and constant vigilance!

We tried potty training and it didn't work out so we gave it another 6 months and it was no problem.

Summer is the best time to do it as you can let wee bare bums out in the garden and I'd any accidents do happen out and about you can change them outdoors in a secluded place. Winter is a bit too nippy!

Always have a couple of changes of clothes- don't forget socks!

I dreaded potty training but actually it was so much easier than I thought it would be. Timing is essential though. If they aren't ready, stop and wait a few months.

Keep the potty visible for a week or two beforehand to get them used to seeing it, get them to sit on it often and lots of praise and clapping for every wee that makes it in. Keep the house warm so they don't need to wear too many clothes, if any, and then it's easier for them to feel the wee coming.

Our DS didn't like sitting on the toilet for poo's due to the long distance away from the water and the splash. That sense of falling is difficult when they've had the nappy right next to them. We kept the nappy on but sat him on the toilet to progress from one to the other. You can also cut a hole in the nappy to take it to the next stage.

We bought some nice underwear with the dcs favourite character to encourage them to potty train as they were really excited to be moving on to big kids' underwear, and used smartie bribery as a reward for each time they weed in the potty.

Act out teddies sitting on the potty as part of a game. We had the potty in the bathroom for months before DD actually used it, I think it helped to make it clear that nappies aren't forever.

A sticker chart with incentives all along leading to a "big" prize (a day at a wildlife park). I wasn't above bribery with 2 chocolate buttons per pee & 5 per poo in potty/toilet.
The most important thing is patience. Accidents happen, don't make a big deal of them, just quietly clean up & move on. Constant praise & reassurance is always great. Every child is different. Some will be fully potty trained in a few days, others can take considerably longer. There is no right other wrong, just go with what the child responds best with.

Only start if they are ready it doesn't matter what other people do children are all different.

Just about to do this for the third time with ds.
Dreading it!!
would say - warm weather easier as you can lose clothes as necessary, have all the products you need - potty, loo seat, handy wipes etc.
take the potty everywhere, and be prepared for any kind of random wee incident you can imagine.
most important - sense of humour.
and carpet cleaner.

Wait until they're ready. And that's not a magic number, it's when they're showing all the signs themselves. If you put them in pants and they're having constant accidents, they're not ready yet. It can just take days when it's 'time'. No need for it to be weeks of stress.

Definitely agree its much easier if you wait till they're ready - which varies massively. Clearing your schedule for a few days and being home with them, bare bottomed for the first couple of days, helps them crack it. Then introduce pants and trousers.

Potty - check its one they can sit on and wee in easily (esp if a little boy) - some are truly tiny spaces for their bums so better suited to little girls. Go with the flow. High fives and lots of praise works well - as do bribes (of choc buttons/tv/favoured activity).

Be prepared for accidents - even after they are trained, spare pants, socks, shorts and tshirt are my top tips!

Second a sticker chart. Take them for a wee every hour, get a sticker if they do a wee.

Let them choose their pants, or the type of pants they want.

Have lots of spare pairs of old/cheap trousers/shorts/skirts to use. Lots.

If you have been using cloth (nappies) they will need smaller bottoms when in pants. Keep the old bottoms when you "size up" before potty training.

Don't rush it. In two years year you won't care or probably even remember if your child was two, two and a half or three when you potty trained them.

If you live an area without lots of public toilets, or your child is nervous of toilets and ready to go out and about but wants their potty - buy a potette plus travel potty. It can be used as a toilets seat or a folding travel potty with disposable liners and is much easier and cleaner than lugging a normal potty around.

In terms of readiness, three children has taught me that there's absolutely no harm or confusion in going back to nappies if they aren't quite ready yet. Put the pants away and try again in a few months, but in the meantime leave the potty out so they can have some bare bum time at bathtime etc and know the potty is an option.

You don't have to do all or nothing. I'm a firm believer in giving children lots of opportunities to use the toilet or potty before they are out of nappies/pull ups. I started offering ds a sit on the toilet at 18 months when I was there, and before a bath, plus nappy off time in the evening with a potty around. No pressure, just praise when wee/poo went in the right place

A reward chart worked well for us as well as ditching the nappies and using only big boy pants. I offered the potty every 20 minutes and this kept accidents to a minimum.

Encourage the potty from a young age but don't push it until they show definite signs of being ready then go for it!

Neither of my two children took to a potty. After the first day of training they both preferred to use the loo and being tallish boys they both found it easier to stand from the off so I guess my tip is go with whatever they are happiest doing and don't over-fuss about a potty if they don't like it.

Lots of reminding them, asking if they need to go, suggesting they go for a try etc especially when they are busy playing and less likely to realise.

Really big praise when they manage it, not a big deal of it if they don't make it

Our childminder suggested not using a potty at all, as then you would have to take the potty everywhere, so we put our daughter on the toilet each time. We tried to potty train, but she wasn't ready, and we and lots of accidents, so we then just waited, and one morning, she announced that she wanted to use the toilet. From then on she was dry 24/7.

We used a step to get to the seat at home, and once she nearly fell in, but otherwise she loved being like an adult. And it was so much easier than pushing her when she wasn't ready, or having to carry a potty everywhere.

Lay the groundwork, then wait until they're ready to go for it. For months we were talking about it with DD1, taking her into the bathroom with us, discussing how she could use a big girl toilet when she was ready.

Then she turned round one morning and said she was ready to use the big toilet and didn't want to wear nappies anymore. Duly put her in knickers, and she was trained within a week.

Of course it would have been easier if she hadn't chosen the week we were moving house...

Wait until they are truly ready, unless you are a fan of cleaning up accidents.

We waited until 2.9 with Dts and they were dry in a day. This was not due to my skill at potty training but testamount to them being ready.

Bribery. That, and lots of large pieces of fleece blanket (bought off the roll at my local fabric shop) for covering the carpet & soft furnishings. Also, a basket in the living room, with some old cloths to mop up accidents, clean dry clothes to change into, & some wet wipes. And lastly, trousers that are easy to push down quickly - we bought lots of pairs of cheap leggings.

Waiting until they're ready even if they're a bit later than other kids. Bribery, constant reminders and lots of praise

Only start when they're ready.

Also, many plastic potties are very low and not designed for children with longer legs! A 'chair' type potty is much more comfortable for some children and can help get them used to a 'big' toilet.

Be prepared! Lots of pants, wipes and kitchen roll required!

Like others would stress the waiting until your child is ready. DS was much later than his friends and I had to ignore a lot of well-meaning advice from others keen to 'help'. He genuinely wasn't interested before. Training him later meant we missed out on the potty stage as he went straight to a trainer seat at home and being held on toilets when out and about. The benefit of training later is he was dry at night too.
We used stickers for each wee and poo and once he was wearing big boy pants and confidently using toilets without us prompting he got a toy as a reward - one he'd wanted for ages just to emphasise how well he'd done.

Let them do it at their own pace. By all means encourage them but they won't do it if they feel they are being forced.

Wait until they are ready. My third son was nearly four before he was ready but we didn't get one accident so his confidence soared.