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MNHQ

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

339 replies

PoppyMumsnet · 06/07/2016 10:05

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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Share your tips on potty training with ASDA - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
Didiusfalco · 10/07/2016 23:23

If it's not working and you're getting stressed and the child is getting stressed it might just be too early for them. Don't worry if everyone else's child seems to have cracked it, they all develop at different speeds.

Be prepared with lots of spare clothes, a mop and a relaxed attitude.

kerryv · 10/07/2016 23:55

Catch the moment. Do it when they are ready, not you.

Marsis · 11/07/2016 00:44

We are starting in this with DD. She has responded well to YouTube videos and lots of praise when she sits on toilet or potty and going crazy with praise if she does a wee.

grumpydwarf · 11/07/2016 00:49

My best advice was don't force the child to get potty trained before they are ready. Take it slow expect mistakes, alway praise going in the potty and just say never mind to mistakes. Also a ping pong ball in the toilet for boys who are learning to pee standing up!

Mummy2aRockstar · 11/07/2016 01:29

My tip would be take each day as it comes, some days they will do brilliantly and others you will go through nearly all the clothes they own. Don't let it get you down, you won't be in this stage forever.
With my son it helped to get his teddy bear involved and make a real big thing of it when he used the potty or toilet.
Don't make an issue of accidents though as it can make things worse, just say never mind let's try again.
Good luck 😊

lolamia91 · 11/07/2016 03:49

it will happen in time. i will always leave the potty out and practice her sitting on it

samosh22 · 11/07/2016 06:35

Waiting until they're ready and suggesting they go for a try

MiddleClassProblem · 11/07/2016 09:25

We have just started and so far DD is doing well. I would recommend that you make sure long tops are rolled up or tucked into neck line otherwise they might get a little damp!

Keletubbie · 11/07/2016 09:52

Don't be afraid to bribe an older child. My daughter gave up nappies at night in return for a trip to hotel - the holy grail for her was a stay in a Travelodge and getting to use the toast machine at breakfast. £40 well spent Grin

MerryMarigold · 11/07/2016 10:48

Sit them on the toilet every so often (once a week or so) with a padded toddler seat a good few months before proper training. They can sit there while you read them a book or they 'read' a book (got a v cute pic of dd doing this at around 18 months). Some kids can be afraid of the toilet but doing this, none of my kids had a problem with that side of things, even if they did with knowing when they needed to go! It's hard to control potty training but removing toilet fear is the easy bit.

cornishglos · 11/07/2016 11:05

Don't make a big deal of it. Just take the nappies away, expect accidents at first but insist on using the toilet from now on. No potty.

TheFlyingFauxPas · 11/07/2016 11:42

Buy more pants! More than you think you'll possibly need! Also don't swap about pants/nappy/pants. It's much too confusing.once it's pants go with it. But if you've given it a couple of weeks and you are getting no positive results it's ok to stop and try again in a few months. Potty training is relatively easy when they're ready.
Ps buy cheap pants. You may wish to bin someGrin

bridge16 · 11/07/2016 12:39

My son got overwhelmed with me asking him every 5 minutes and would end up saying no and then having an accident. In the end i realised he wanted to make the choice to go so i would tell him the toilet/potty is all set up and waiting for him when he is ready and i would just take the pressure off and then would find him in there trying to go!

jacqui5366 · 11/07/2016 12:59

My two boys were really quick at potty training, I waited until I felt they were ready (both were 2) 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 know they needed a wee. Really big praise when they manage it, not a big deal of it if they don't make it. Patience and never anger x

Atlas15 · 11/07/2016 13:55

Roll up all your rugs and stay indoors for a few days until it is established. I potty trained my 2year old and my 1 year old at the same time.
I put the potty in the sitting room and kept putting them on it when it looked like they were gunna wee.
Once they got used to that I put the potty in the bathroom.

izzy76 · 11/07/2016 14:33

Dont stress summer is best for potty training as lo can run about in just there undies have a potty upstairs as well as down let lo sit on it and play to get used to it and praise them if they do a wee/poo get a reward chart and then the lo can see how well they are doing,there will be accidents along the way but keep it fun,

Italktomycat · 11/07/2016 15:34

Simple- keep the potty in the bathroom. Then it's easy to get them used to going some place to wee/poo.

Have seen some people with potty in lounge/carrying it with the kid but in my opinion the child is still just going when they need to, and not learning to get themselves to an appropriate place to use the toilet.

Also helps with the hand washing routine X

simone12345 · 11/07/2016 15:58

just wait till the summer months as its so much easier to have a potty upstairs and down we even took it out in the garden kept asking if she wanted to go then in the end she was telling me she wanted potty lots rewards and get a potty step for toilet as when she feels ready to be a big girl its the toilet

shydaylily · 11/07/2016 16:30

have a regular routine and let them have a wee when you do to make them feel just like you.

pillowaddict · 11/07/2016 16:40

Dont' stress, panic or force it - DD was 3 when we started and the first few days of trying I pulled my hair out and felt huge amounts of pressure and ended up in tears after a couple of accidents that happened immediately after we'd been sitting on the toilet for what seemed like hours. I decided to stop trying and literally a day later she started doing it herself. My stress levels and overinvestment had clearly been impeding the whole thing! I'm in no rush with dd2, will start gently introducing her to the toilet, sitting her on it pre bath and bed, and when she seems interested will encourage more but never do the stress part again (hopefully!!)

mo3733 · 11/07/2016 18:06

you need patience but make it as less a stressful experience as you can. make it into a reward based game.

Lindsaym1983 · 11/07/2016 19:07

Follow your child's lead and remember that every child is different. My three children were all potty trained at different ages and it took them varying lengths of time to crack it. Just look for the signs and when your child is ready follow there lead and try not put any pressure on themselves or yourself.

stefalfie11 · 11/07/2016 19:44

The best tip is perseverance. It probably wont happen over night and instead will be a long time thing with lots of accidents and mishaps along the way but just keep going and remain positive and use lots of praise when things do go to plan. It will happen eventually, some children just take longer than others.

starryskies78 · 11/07/2016 19:58

We (I) potty trained our little boy last summer when he had just turned 3. We were quite lucky in that he took to it very easily and it wasn't the nightmare I had been dreading.

I think the fact I left it later helped as he was a little bit older and understood more. People have since agreed that leaving it later for boys tends to be the best idea - though this was just a coincidence for me, I hadn't known that at the time.

The first day was a disaster but we didn't get cross, just very patient and made sure we had a day in the house. After that it was fairly quick. We used a sticker chart with stickers as incentives for trying to get to the potty on time, as well as actually making it! Within a couple of days he was there and we've never looked back - thankfully.

We let him choose some underpants for himself so he was involved in the process, and we had had a potty in the bathroom for about 6 months before we started so it was really familiar. For out and about we had a potette and found it absolutely invaluable. I would highly recommend, it's a collapsable potty with disposable bags (with a kid of pad in) and these were great for both car journeys and generally being out and about. It saved me in shops where we wouldn't have had time to make it to the loos a good couple of times!

rogart · 11/07/2016 20:13

Don't make it seen too important, if you get tense so will they!