Each new step in your child’s development is exciting, because it means she is growing and blossoming into the person she will ultimately become. Potty training might not be glamorous, but it’s still an exciting milestone to reach with your toddler.
I’m not going to pretend this post will teach you everything you need to know about how to potty train your toddler. But, since my recent journey into potty training my daughter, I have learned a few things every mama needs to do to prepare for potty training.
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If you have that niggling feeling inside that it might be “the time” to start potty training, make sure you read this post before pulling out the little potty.
How to Prepare for Potty Training Your Toddler
1. Prepare Your Child
You can be helping your child understand the upcoming transition from diapers to toilet before even making any changes to his routine.
By using some simple tools, you can begin preparing him to learn how to go potty in non-threatening ways.
Talking About the Potty
Start by talking about going potty while changing your child’s diaper. I started doing this with my daughter months before I began potty training her.
Whenever I changed her diaper, I would talk about how she would soon be pooping and peeing in the potty like a big girl instead of in her diaper.
Reading About Going Potty
I did not end up buying any potty books for my daughter. Although I intended to purchased some, she has been doing so well with potty training, I haven’t felt an urgent need to buy any.
However, this is a great way to help introduce the idea to your child, particularly if your child likes to read books. If your toddler has a “hero” from a favorite TV show or movie, reading about that character going potty just might inspire your toddler to do the same.
Trying Out the Potty
If your toddler indicates a desire to sit on the toilet, pull his pants down and sit him up there before his attention shifts elsewhere! This is the perfect opportunity to get your child up close and personal with the toilet without any pressure.
As soon as she showed an interest in sitting on the potty, I sat my daughter on the toilet. At that point, it was just a fun novelty for her. But it was something she initiated, and I wanted to take advantage of her curiosity.
Having Stuffed Animals and Dolls Go Potty
Just like how your child may sometimes pretend to change her stuffed animals’ or dolls’ diapers, she will want to have them go potty like her once she knows how to go potty like a big girl.
But if you introduce the idea of Teddy Bear sitting on the potty first, it will serve as an example to her of what her fury friends are learning how to do.
Watching How to Go Potty
We all know children imitate the things they witness other people doing. This is also true with going potty.
If you have been allowing your toddler to be in the bathroom with you when you need to go, he probably already knows what to do in logic.
Example: I did not have to teach my daughter how to wipe her bottom. She started doing it on her own when I would give her a piece of toilet paper to play with before she ever even sat on the potty.
2. Prepare Yourself
In my pre-potty training reading, I came across an interesting theme (which my mom echoed when I told her I wanted to start potty training my toddler): It is actually the mom who needs to be potty trained.
Before you buy anything or make any sudden decisions, determine whether you are ready for potty training.
Because the reality is that it will be your job to take your child to the bathroom every hour or so. You may have extra messes to clean up. You may have to sit on the bathroom floor for 10 minutes numerous times each day, waiting for your little one to “go.”
This is just a reality you will face whenever you start potty training your toddler. But you need to prepare yourself mentally for the extra work it will be for you, Mama.
Potty training for us has required quite a bit of extra work and dedication on my part, but because I was mentally prepared for this, it hasn’t been terribly frustrating to me.
You need to have a relaxed mindset and expect it to be a messy and demanding ongoing task. If you go into it mentally prepared, you will be less prone to losing patience over each new inconvenience you encounter that you didn’t have to deal with when relying on diapers.
Recognize that this is a new skill your child is learning which will take time to master. Recognize that this is new territory for you too and experiment to see what works.
Know your toddler’s limits and potential to be stretched. Know your own limits and allow yourself to be stretched.
Give encouragement generously and guidance gently. Give yourself permission to celebrate little victories and grace to move on and start fresh after poorly handled situations.
Start potty training excited about this important step for your toddler toward independence. But be prepared for your child to need extra from you before she needs less.
3. Prepare Your Schedule
Potty training is time consuming. It doesn’t have to start out that way, but at some point, you will encounter the necessity of giving a lot of your time to helping your toddler go to the bathroom every hour or more.
Before deciding to put your toddler on a hard core potty training regimen, think ahead in your life and take note of any upcoming plans or major changes that will hinder – or help – potty training.
There will never be a perfect time to start when nothing else will be going on in your life, but if you have especially time- consuming plans coming up next week, you may want to either move your plans back or wait to start potty training.
I understand both the frustration of having to wait and the dread of starting something new with your child.
When I realised a few weeks ago that my daughter was obviously ready to start potty training, I was excited to start her on the path of independence with something.
In several other areas of my daughter’s life (like sleep training), I am still waiting for her to be ready for independence. So discovering something we can do to help her progress to the next stage was a great feeling for me.
However, once I decided my daughter was ready for potty training, I had to take a look at my schedule. I was in the midst of planning to have a couple of family members come stay with us at separate times, each for extended stays.
I knew the extra effort I would have to put into potty training was not the greatest mix with trying to get the house ready for guests. But the disappointment of having to wait for progress in yet another area of my daughter’s life was too much to bear.
So I started potty training very casually, at first just taking her to the potty whenever it was convenient for me and keeping her in diapers.
But once my first guests arrived (my parents), it became easier to put more focus into potty training because I had extra help around the house. My daughter has made significant progress in the past week since I have been giving potty training more attention.
So while preparing for company may not be the best time to throw out all your diapers, having extra help may be just the thing to kick start your potty training adventure.
Think about your own upcoming schedule and identify which plans will help and which plans will hinder your focus on potty training.
When to Advance From Preparing to Potty Training
You can begin preparing your child and yourself for potty training before either of you is actually ready to start potty training.
If you are wondering if it’s the right time, just start preparing and take note of how your toddler responds.
I first began considering potty training a few months ago when my daughter became interested in sitting on the toilet and was acting curious about the fact that mommy wears underwear instead of a diaper.
She was not truly ready to potty train at that point. But I was wondering how I would know when to start.
Turns out, there was no reason to worry. When my daughter was ready for potty training, it was obvious.
She became very aware of wet and dirty diapers that needed changing (something she has never cared about before) and was fully capable of communicating to me when she was pooping or had a wet diaper.
There may never be a prefect time to potty train your child, but you will know when she is developmentally ready for it. As always, you know your child and her needs better than anyone.
If you need more input on how to recognize when your child is (and is not) ready for potty training, check out this post at Simplistically Living and this post at The Mummy Bubble.
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