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

Standard T&Cs apply

Wait till they are ready and have endless patience

Always take one in the car

using a proper toilet , our son fired onto the ping pong ball floating on the surface in the toilet............gaining a prize for a clean shot, ( number 2s....different loo, no ping pong..!!)

Plenty of encouragement and praise when things go right, and very little attention to mistakes, build their confidence and all will be well !

A week of intense training that focuses solely on the task of potty training.
---Nappy off (when toddler begin to remove it him/herself) and pants on.

• Potty on standby
• Regular "tries"
• O.K. for accidents
• "poo" and "wee" dances when we succeed.
• And you tube "brain washing" with various songs featuring toddlers undergoing training, singing potty songs and also videos "poo goes to pooland".

Not glamorous at all but 2 year old fully trained after 2 days!

I bought some super pants with their favourite cartoon characters on with tops to match. Just mentioned lightly. "When you are fed up with nappies you can wear these". It worked like magic!

Enormous patience and encouragement are essential so that your DC doesn't get tense. We bought a cheerful coloured potty so as to make it look fun and used props like a stuffed animal to demonstrate how to go.

We had the potty out from 18 months ish. We would let him sit on it whenever he wanted and encourage him to sit on it first thing in the morning and before bath time. If he did a wee he would get lots of praise and claps.

At about 20/21 months he asked to use the potty and as it was summer DH decided to potty train. Chocolate buttons and a few days at home.

We didn't use pull ups and we had used cloth nappies full time (except when on holiday) I really think cloth made the difference as he could feel being wet. Disposable mat things are useful for long car journeys to put between child and car seat. (Though I do remember a thread which mentioned a plastic bag with a hand towel on top was just as effective).

Oh forgot to say we got ds to choose his own pants.

I honestly believe in time - lots of time! Leave the potty lying around when they're still in pull ups and let them explore and get used to it. Just follow their lead and don't try to force the issue - they will do it when they're ready and not a minute sooner! :)

It's tempting to rush and try to potty train early but waiting until your child is ready will mean they will be receptive and make it so much easier. If possible book a week off work so you have time to work with your child and get a routine going.

We didn't potty train our DS. We discussed it with him, read a brilliant book about pirates and potties, left the potties out and waited till he was ready. About two weeks before his 3rd birthday he woke up and said he wanted to wear his pants and that was it, no stress, no accidents.
Hoping it goes as well with DD

I am potty training my youngest now. I have waited until she is able to tell me she needs to go and have in ported lots of praise and high fives. It's early days and she's coping well. Don't rush it, wait until they are ready and it will be stress free.

Stock up on cleaning products and have then positioned all around the house

take the pressure off and just be casual. we stressed about our daughter but when we sat back and left her to it she soon mastered it

Lots of positive encouragement and try not to get frustrated, they will dictate when they are ready :)

Mine went straight from nappies to the toilet no need for the potty as long as they had a step to get up onto.

Pink Pong down the toilet or Potty for boys works a treat :) They find it fun trying to aim at the ball x

Go by your child as they will let you know when their ready and make it fun for them otherwise they may get stressed and refuse to sit on the potty at all. Get them rouse their cuddly toys as can be very entertaining.

Let them play with the potty so its always around and encourage them to sit on it. Give them time and encouragement .

I did a lot of bribing with my children from taking them to the shops to buy big girls/boy pants with there favourite characters on to stickers for every time they used the potty I encouraged them without being too pushy tbh some kids love it and it's easy because they love the thought of being a big girl or boy and others like my youngest well he fought it all the way and when I stopped trying he then decided he wanted to use the potty so I learnt a valuable lesson to remember all kids are different and can't be bought as easy others

I don' t think I actually potty trained any of them formally, just gently encouraged them out of nappies.

Don't force it and let it happen at child's pace (don't compare your child to others), I just left potty out and one day he just stood over it and wee'd after that he always sat down. Summer is probably best time.

If they aren't ready don't be afraid to stop and try again in a few months. Don't let anyone else put pressure on you to start, you know your child best.

Be patient