Potty Training Tips from a Non-Expert

I am by no means a Potty Training expert. We started on Mother's Day and have daycare during the week to pass the torch to.

That being said (and knocking on wood) am I really impressed with my little guy!

Here are a few tips I have learned along the way..

Your first step is to go shopping. We bought potty seats, potty books, toys as incentives, candy as more incentives and lots of underwear. Here are the items that are working for us so far.

Potty Seats

Mayfair 83EC 000 NextStep Child/Adult Built-in Potty Seat with Lift-Off Hinges, Round, White

I know lots of people have had success with the smaller on the ground potties but I had one friend tell me to just skip those and go straight to the actual toilet. She had this in her powder room downstairs and it was seamless for adults and kids alike. Ours downstairs has little cartoon fish on the child seat (not ideal) but it has been working for us! 

Potty Seat with Steps

Mommy's Helper Contoured Cushie Step Up

The kid bath upstairs has only kid clients so I felt it was okay to put this up there. I love that he can climb up himself with out teetering off the stepstool. We bought one for downstairs too but my fat pregnant ass almost got stuck in it. (I'm THAT lazy...thought I could go with it on the potty)

Underwear

Gerber Training Pants (2T (fits 28-32 lbs.), White)

Daycare was thankful we bought these because, well, potty-training is messy and no matter what the socks and shoes are going to get soaked with accidents. These are working great for us just make sure you look at the weight on the label. The 2T size is plenty big for our 3 year old. I think we have 21 pairs at this point. *Stick a clean pair with a pair of elastic shorts in each car as well as your purse.

Character Undies

Handcraft Boys 2-7 Toddler Disney Pixar- Cars, Toy Story, Wall-E 7 Pack Brief, Multi, 2T/3T

I have had several friends tell me me the these are actually better because they feel wet immediately and it is very uncomfortable. I think we will transition to the character underpants in June if all is still going well. Except no the minion ones. A one-eyed yellow oblong character on the "man-parts" is just too giggle inducing.

Incentives

CARS Potty Training Chart

I found this bad boy through Pinterest on this blog and it is genius. At first we were doing a car for every poo/pee but that got expensive FAST! Now he gets a sticker for each time and we have just earned our first car!

Cars Characters
Disney Pixar Cars Toon KOMODO 2014 Exclusive

Yep, they keep churning these suckers out. Komodo is from Mater Tales. A "new car" is our reward for a sheet full of stickers.

Portable Potty

Kalencom 2-in-1 Potette Plus, Blue

My friend grabbed one of these still in packaging at the YMCA sale (Thanks MS!) and said it is a must have for the car. You just flip the bottom part out and put the bag in and voila...you have a potty on the go!

Car Seat Saver

Britax Seat Saver Waterproof Liner

Books

Boys' Potty Time

We love this one. I think the potty seat is the winner here. It doesn't exactly give step by step instructions but gets them ready for using the big boy potty. Bonus-He LOVES the reward stickers! (Way cheaper than buying a car each time)

The Potty (Everything I Know About...)

Another great story about the Potty!

When to go 

In the beginning School suggested to keep him on a timer for every 25 minutes. He gets asked if he needs to go or they just have him go if it hasn't been awhile. We used this at home the first day we started and we were in there every 10 minutes. It gets better I promise! Now we ask but for the most part he tells us when he needs to go. I'm surprised he learned so quickly but we did wait FOREVER to do potty training so maybe the older age helped! *Update-we just went on our first out of town trip and not 1 accident!! I am still preparing myself for some setbacks but this kid is very good at letting us know!

Drawbacks

My son is still in a crib. (Stop laughing) He has never tried to climb out so I figured if it ain't broke....
Now he wakes up at midnight or 3am to let us know he needs to go. This is AWESOME progress but I wasn't ready for him to be that alert! It is probably good practice anyways for the newborn that is arriving in November. Guess it's time for the big boy bed??
We also try not to yell at him. He still hops off a tad too fast which causes several trips back for #2. (trying to get him to read books to extend the sitting experience) Yelling can cause them to hate the whole potty training experience all together, can cause them to hold it...tons of things can go wrong. 

Fun Fact: I don't think I have ever cheered for poop as loud or as exuberant as I have the past two weeks. You go little guy!

xo,

K