🌟11 Potty Training Tips from our Family to Yours!🌟
As most of you know we've been deep in the trenches of potty training lately. Kloe is doing awesome with the process now! When we started though I REALLY wanted to quit! Since I know first hand how stressful potty training can be, I wanted to share the tips that worked for us and helped us the most. 😊
1. Be flexible:
Each child is different. I have 2 kids, 10 yrs apart so by the time Kloe started potty training it was like starting from scratch again 🙆! Also what worked for Kaleb didn't work for Kloe. So my advice is be flexible and willing to shift gears if needed. Otherwise you'll stress yourself out, which stresses your child out too.
2. Be patient:
Potty training isn't done over night. Yes, it's a simple concept for us, but some kids need time to adjust. Although Kloe was ready to potty train, she was not happy about losing the comfort of her diaper 😭. So it was very important for us to keep telling her what we were doing and why we were doing it. For example, we talked about how she was growing out of her diapers and that she'd be great at going on the big potty with some practice. We repeated it a lot, which helped her build some confidence 😄. We also told her nightly that we'd keep working on it followinf day. That way she knew what to expect.
3. Stick with it!
I'll be straight with you. I TOTALLY WANTED TO QUIT AFTER THE 3rd DAY 😨! Pottery training is a major time investment. I was setting a timer every 10-30 min based on how often Kloe would go. In the beginning she was scared of the potty so we were in the bathroom non-stop. We'd sit there 5 min at a time waiting for something to happen. We'd sing songs 🎵, read a book 📚, talk...whatever kept her on the toilet and often NOTHING happened until we were off the potty.
Kloe held her pee and poo a lot for the first couple days. Which was stressful for me cause after 2 days I was starting to lose my happy place 😯. Thank God for Daddy 🙌! Brett would come home take over and provide a fresh atmosphere and attitude, which helped a lot! So don't over look having Daddy help out too. Sometimes they have great ideas we don't think of cause we're in the trenches all day.
4. Stay positive:
I stress over results, which is great if you're running a race but totally not cool when potty training. So I had to keep a clear perspective that this was not about me and my goal, it was about when Kloe felt comfortable and ready to do her thing.
First let me say she was not ready on my time frame. On the positive side when she was ready she was a total 🌟POTTY ROCKSTAR🌟! So stay positive and remember that your child will go when they're ready.
Also its improtant to be positive even if your child does nothing after sitting on the potty. If they sit down and stay there it's a big accomplishment 👏👏👏 for someone so small and prone to SQUIRREL MOMENTS.
5. Stay calm:
Getting upset over accidents helps no one. Stay calm and be prepared, cause accidents are going to happen A LOT for the first few days. Stress and yelling only causes more set backs. So do your best to keep your composure, be consistent and stay positive no matter what happens.
With Kloe I felt chained to the bathroom, which was stressing me out. So on the 3rd day (when I was ready to quit) I decided to bring her potty in the living room where she could see the TV 📺. I was hoping that would help us both chill. And to my amazment that helped me relax and helped her too! Within 15 minutes I looked over and she was sitting on the potty peeing! 🌟Go Kloe🌟!
6. Dance, Sing, Raise the Roof!:
Using the potty is an exciting time so who cares who's watching or listening! Feel free to dance, sing, and even raise the roof in public.
In our 2nd week of potty training we were on a cruise ship and after hearing Kloe yell out, "Woohoo, I did it!" the other Mom's in the bathroom where helping sing praises for her too. So everyone gets in on the fun!
Also use stickers, high 5's ✋👍👏 whatever works to keep your child moving and grooving. Kloe liked marking on our chalk board 🎨 the most, so each time she went potty we'd put a mark on the board, give her a high 5, squeel, "Yay, you did it!" or "WooHoo!" and dance. She loved it!
7. Baby toilet, Seat insert or just go for the BIG potty?:
We started off with a Fisher Price potty that had all the bells 🔔 and whistles. It sang when she peed, made flushing noises, the works! This potty was also close to the ground so she felt secure. Just not so nice for being on the GO and it leaked a little bit 😕. So for the first few days it was fine, but we quickly upgrade to a seat insert for the BIG potty. Keep in mind each child is different and you have to do what works best for them.
8. To POO💩 or not to POO💩:
Peeing in the potty is the easiest. Poo on the other hand takes most kids a while to grasp, so you have to watch them like a hawk. Usually their facial expressions 😮😐😞 or body language gives them away. So its important you watch and have the potty close by.
Like I mentioned before Kloe held it for the first couple days, so I knew she really needed to go! When we brought the potty into the living room she just had "THE LOOK", so I asked if she needed to go. She nodded and I sat her on the potty quickly. She didn't go right away, so I said just sit a moment and we'll see what happens. Thankfully she listened and 2 min later she made her first poo in the potty! 🌟Go Kloe🌟!!
9. What age is the best age to start potty training?:
It really depends on your child. Some are ready right away and some aren't, so my advice is pay attention to your child cause they will let you know if they aren't ready yet.
We tried to start Kloe right after turning 2 yrs. I wanted her to be ready so we I bought her the coolest Fisher Price potty. I was certain she would master the potty right away cause that potty was the bomb! However the potty was more of a novelty and all she wanted to do was play with it!! We did try potty training for a few days however she really resisted 😢😠😭 and so we put the training on hold until later on right before her 3rd birthday 🎂🎁.
10. Travel:
During the second week of potty training we were scheduled to go on a cruise ⛵. While we were at home Kloe had refused to go poo on the BIG potty. So we were pretty worried how our road trip 🚗 from Tennessee to Florida would go. Kloe proceeded to hold her poo for the entire road trip! Thankfully the cruise ship had small low centered potties and once we got onboard she decided it was time 😊😂, and pooped in a BIG potty for the very first time! 🌟Go Kloe🌟!!
We did take the potty insert with us. We actually take it everywhere we go now. I found a nice canvas bag that it fits securely into, which keeps us clean and everything else too. We don't enjoy carrying it arround but you gotta do what you gotta do for your kids.
11. Pull Ups or Underwear?
In my opinion pull ups are a bit confusing 😞 for children when first starting to potty train. They are a lot like diapers, the only difference is they don't hold as much. In the first 3 days of potty training your child will need to focus on the URGE to go and how to HOLD it until getting to the potty. So wearing underwear helps them pay more attention to their bodies urges then wearing pull ups. Pull ups are great for travel outside of the house or for night times though.
During our first week of potty training we bought Kloe several pairs of underwear in case of accidents. Those were a big life saver! She had plenty of acciedents the first 3 days so having a bunch of clean options available was less stressful.
We also let Kloe run around in underwear for the first few days because it was less stressful then having multiple wardrobe changes with each accident. So once she started listening to her body, the addition of pants 👖 helped a lot because she needed to learn what it felt like wearing all her clothes 👗 with her new underwear. So adding pants back in slowly will help your child get used to the new feeling and prepare for outings.
The only time we put pulls ups on her wad for longer car 🚘 rides or for sleeping 😴. Most of the time she didn't even need the pull ups, especially if we made sure she went potty before leaving the house 🏠. Accidents do happen though and exits aren't always close together, so it was nice to have the security of the pull ups in case we couldn't stop right away. Also we make a potty stop once getting to our destination, which helps cut down on accidents too.
Although she really doesn't seem to need them, Kloe does wear a pull up while sleeping. She's only had a few accidents so far and those seem to be related to drinking too much before bed. Thankfully most nights she feels the urge to go and wake us up if she needs to go potty.
#11tips #pottytraining #Momtips #my babyisgrowingup
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