My top tips for potty training success.

Potty training is a new skill for your child to learn, like riding a bike or dressing themselves — they need time to practice.

Children are ready at very different ages, it’s not a race, being potty trained early doesn’t indicate better parenting or greater intelligence.

Your grandparents may tell you that your parents were potty trained before 2, that’s because old style terry nappies without modern liners felt wet and needed more laundering, potty training was incentivised for both child and mum. (and yes it was usually mum who did the laundry)

Nowadays the average age for starting potty training is 2 to 2 ½ but many are not ready until they’re 3 ½.

Ready, Steady …….

Ok, so you’ve decided now is an appropriate time to start getting your child used to the concept of potty training. Here are some top tips to get you going. (excuse the pun!)

• Have the potty or toilet trainer seat in the bathroom for several weeks before you remove the nappies, help your child to learn to sit down and relax by doing it every bath time. Try reading a book or having a chat, there are some great toddler books on the subject.

Reading a book on the toilet helps your child learn to sit down and relax

• It’s important that your child develops a good ‘sitting habit’, you can’t poo unless you can relax when on the potty or toilet.
• We’ve all been there; we hear running water and suddenly have to excuse ourselves — why not try running the tap to fill the bath when your child is sitting on the potty? It works for you, it may for your child.
• Talk to them when you change them, they need to know what the words ‘wee’ and ‘poo’ mean.
• Choose pants your child is excited about, think characters, colours, whatever works so they’ll want to wear them.

… Go!

You’re all prepared, your child seems ready and enthusiastic, so let’s do this, but try to be patient, every child wants to be clean and dry and unless there are other problems they won’t start school in nappies.

• Go for proper pants when you’re ready, pull ups don’t feel wet because of they are made like nappies so can confuse a child.
• Most parents start in the summer, your child can wear fewer clothes, just a shirt and pants are ideal.
• Choose easy pull down and up clothing, jogging pants, elastic area waists, short skirts or dresses, no buttons or tricky zips, add key rings to zips to make them easier to grasp.
• If your child attends a nursery, provide lots of spare clothing. Now is not the time for designer outfits, cheap and easy to wash and dry wins the day.
• Let them copy older siblings or friends, show them it’s natural, something everyone does and not something to be embarrassed about.
• Choose a time when you can be at home a lot, not when you have a weekend away. You won’t relax, and neither will your child.
• Use a timer set at increasing intervals, start at 30 minutes, at first it’s not a choice it’s ‘try to wee’ time, use the ‘do you want to’ after a few days.
• Provide a potty and a toilet trainer seat with step and give your child a choice. If the bathroom is upstairs provide a potty downstairs as well, otherwise you will literally be giving them another mountain to climb.
• Take a potty with you in the car, under the pushchair, stop every hour if you are on long journeys.
• Work with your child’s routine, take them to the potty around the time they usually do a poo.
• Always stay with them when they are on the potty, that phone call will wait!
• Don’t get stressed and if you do act like you’re an Oscar nominee, a few accidents here or there are inevitable, you will deal with an average of 7 a day in the first few days.
• If your child has a problem pooing try getting them to blow bubbles using a bubble wand and tub, or pretending to blow out a candle, e.g. your finger.
• Encourage you children, both daughters and sons to lean forward when sitting on the toilet, it’ll minimise mis-aiming accidents.
• If your child finds sitting on the toilet scary (think yawning chasm beneath you) try sitting them backwards so they can hold on.

Routine, routine, routine. Stick to your routine in the early weeks, your child needs your help and this is one of the most important things you can do.

And if you aren’t down to a handful or less accidents a day after a week, leave it and try again in a couple of months — it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means the time isn’t quite right.

Night time

Night times can be tricky, and it’s important to master the day time before tackling nights.

When your child stops wearing a nappy at night, try carrying them for a wee when you go to bed, after a few weeks you should be able to stop this.

Praise and keep it positive

The only way we learn anything is by being able to try it and to make mistakes.

An accident isn’t a failure it’s a step towards success.

Rewards and bribes only work in the short term, two weeks maximum. If you find it helps, choose small immediate rewards like a chocolate button or sticker, not working towards a big present.

Bumps in the road

If your child gets constipated go heavy on the fruit, fruit juice won’t be a problem in the short term. Go light on eggs and bananas. If you’re concerned, speak to your health visitor or GP. Some children need medication if they badly constipated as the stools get very hard and then it hurts to pass them. It can put your child off wanting to go to the toilet.

It’s a boy thing…

Boys should master pooing on a toilet or potty first before they begin the male bonding experience of weeing standing up. If your son finds aiming tricky when standing to wee try using a ping pong ball or a few Cheerios as a target.

… And a girl thing

Teach your daughter to wipe from front to back, this will help avoid urinary tract infections.

Afterwards

Teach your child to wash their hands from day one. In order for them to reach the sink, buy one of the steps, and get some fun soap or hand was so they can wash their hands by themselves. Teach them to wash palms, backs of hands and eventually between their fingers by interlacing them. You can buy prints which show the children this method in pictures.

Teach your child to wash palms, backs of hands and eventually between their fingers by interlacing them.

Children often appear to take a backwards step after a few months, don’t worry, this is just when they start to feel confident in their own abilities. They then think they can hang on just a bit longer so they can finish what they are doing. This is normal. Relax, view it as just the next step towards them being totally and reliably toilet trained.

I hope this has been useful. Let me know if you’ve tried any of the tips, and which ones have worked for you. Why not visit the Beach Babies Facebook page too?