Potty Training 101: We're In The Midst of It

For the past 3-4 months we have attempted to potty train our oldest, Alden. He will be 3 in January so I figured it would be a good time to start. The first few months he was not for it. Then one day he just took to it and hasn't looked back. If you are in the middle of potty training or plan on training soon, here are just a few bits of advice from a mom who has recently gone through it.

1. Know your child. Not all kids potty train the same. I was told multiple ways to potty train. I tried most of them until one worked.

2. From personal experience, encourage, encourage, encourage! I made it a rule for me that I would not punish my children for accidents, I would only encourage and reward for success. It seems to work. The first time Alden fully went both number one and number two on the toilet I scared him because I was screaming, jumping up and down, kissing his cheeks, doing a "happy" dance for a good 45 seconds. He had the biggest smile on his face. I literally did this happy dance every time he went potty for at least 3-4 days. That's a lot of dancing. But, he was so excited when he went because he knew mommy would be so proud.

3. I tried the treats. It wasn't a big help. At first, I tried to give him M&M's every time he went potty. He didn't understand. He would sit on the potty, not go, then ask for the candy. I threw that idea out the window after day 1.

4. Know your child's potty schedule. This may be awkward, but it totally helped me. I knew that at around 10:45-11:15 every morning Alden would "stinky his pants". After I figured out this schedule, I would put him on the toilet with the Kindle, a Magnadoodle, a book, etc. to distract him and he would go without even knowing. He was scared to go in the toilet and this helped that fear. After the first time, he understood the concept.

5. Know that it won't happen in a day, a week, or even a month. Books are always talking about "Potty Train in 3 days!" Kids are kids. They have accidents. It's always a work in progress. Don't get upset or show you are upset when they have an accident. I always ask Alden if he had an accident and with a smile, I always say, "Well, we will have to try again!" and off we go to get cleaned up. I never want him to fear having an accident.

6. Take your child to pick out the potty seat and underwear. Alden was THRILLED to pick out his underwear. In the store I bent down and explained that he can't get these Disney Characters wet. He picked out his own potty seat. The one that sits on the adult toilet. He chose a Mickey Mouse Theme. Right when we got home I showed him how it worked and let him put it on himself, giving him the power of his potty chair.

7. We bought a toddler toilet that sits on the floor. We have never used it as a toilet. We only use it as a stool. It was just an expensive step-stool. I wouldn't waste your money on one.

8. This might be weird, but I took that potty seat everywhere with us. It went to church with us. I set it in the nursery bathroom. It goes on trips with us. He knows wherever we go, he has his seat. Once he understood the concept of holding himself up on the seat, I haven't taken it EVERYWHERE, but it is still close.

So, these are just some helpful hints for potty training. Every child is different. This is just stuff that I have noticed with our experience. Hope some of this helped. :)