Many people ask me how I potty trained my kids so young (15months and 22 months). It wasn't really difficult, it was mostly making a plan and sticking to it. The most important part of potty training is watching for your child to show interest. Believe it or not, many people don't recognize the signs. Since I spent a lot of years teaching preschool and potty training a ton of 18m to 5 year olds (Yes! That is not a typo...I had 5 year olds that were in my pre-k class not potty trained!) I've noticed several examples of showing interest that you might not have thought of...
- Bathroom Stalking: Yep, they follow you everywhere! They want to see your #1 and especially your #2. They play with toilet paper and even take their favorite car for a swim. They might like the routine of it, especially the washing hands and flushing part.
- Pretending: They start telling poop jokes (not necessarily a joke like we would like, but pretty much just say poop or pee and start cracking up), they're dolls/bears/cars make dirty diapers, they hang out in the bathroom a lot or like to sit on things and read (probably from bathroom stalking daddy).
- Farting is funny! If they can come up and fart on you, they should be potty trained! Stop laughing I'm serious. Once a child finds farting funny and tries to fart on purpose, it shows that they understand they can control their body.
- Nappies are dry at Nap: If you're child wakes up from nap or bedtime and their diaper is dry or freshly peed in (ie it's super hot) then chances are they are ready for big kid pants.
- Playing with themselves: Especially in the tub or swimming. They feel the urge and want to play in it...gross, but now that I have had kids of my own I can honestly say grabbing pee is the least of your worries! My little guys like to "kink" their hose and Addy tried to hold the pee pee in.
- Hiding: If they are hiding to poop THEY KNOW THEY ARE POOPING OR ARE GOING TO POOP!
Okay so now you are sure that they know what's going on and you want to give the whole diaperless thing a go. GREAT! Just a word on the exciting journey you are about to embark on...plan, Plan, PLAN! Don't just jump in and go. Take a few days to ensure success.
Reconnaissance:
Day 1: Watch and note your child's behavior and potty times, most kids are on a schedule whether we realize it or not. Start talking about using the potty instead of diapers. Buy supplies (list below), make a game plan and look in your schedule for three yes 3 full days to spend at home.
Day 2: More watching and noting...time for some Rah Rah Big Boy potties are are the best cheer leading. NOTE: Great time to find out what incentive (bribery) is going to work.
Day 3: Watch/Note...any similarities between the days?? Let your child play in the supplies and check stuff out. My older ones liked help make a chart for the younger ones...they will also demonstrate for a small fee of jellybeans :)
Supplies:
- Underwear: Let your child pick (even if you hate sponge bob they don't and that's motivating for them)
- Carpet spot remover: enough said
- Incentives: small cars, candy, stickers, sugary cereal, dress up clothes etc...whatever floats their boat. Try to think outside the box. My guys loved being naked, so if they peed on the floor they had to put their clothes back on. My other one loves his toe nails painted. Every time he went in the potty he got a nail painted :)
- Waterproof matress cover/case
- 2 waterproof mattress pads
- extra sheets and blankets
Mission:
- Follow the game plan! (sample below)
- Get up 30 min. before your child normally wakes up. Start coffee, grab a bite to eat.
- Wake your child up 10 min or so before they usually wake up, check diaper. If dry, give extra loves and ask if they would like a morning bottle/drink (I let mine have it on the potty).
- I believe in the naked approach, but either naked or panties follow this routine (you can adjust depending on your notes). Sit child on the potty every 30 min.
- Praise attempts, Reward and Praise Success. Never punish accidents (kids believe any attention is better than no attention). Instead, have them help clean things up and have them set the timer for the next try.
- For nap time: If they have done great all day (made at least 50% of all tries) then put them to nap without a diaper. Make sure you stop giving liquids at least 45 min prior to nap. If they had a rough day (successful less than 50% of the tries) put them to bed in a diaper. Either way wake them up 10-15 min before their usual wake up time and start the process again.
- Continue 30 min potty breaks for the rest of the day, rewarding as needed.
- For Bed follow the same rules as nap time.
- Repeat for three days. By the third day you should be able to run short errands with you new big boy/girl :)
Helpful Hints:
- Books about potty's are awesome :)
- Reward yourself: It's hard work to potty train kiddos. Plan a treat for yourself when the job gets done.
- Monkey see-monkey do: Continue allowing your child to accompany you to the bathroom. Demonstrate correct use of the toilet and proper hygiene. Don't forget you get to collect the treats you set for your child...mmmm M&M's.
- Pack a mini potty chair in your car because most kids are terrified of the large flush on public toilets
- Layer beds with waterproof cover, sheet, then waterproof pad, then sheet, and waterproof pad and sheet again. This way if they have an accident you can cleanup and change bed just by ripping off dirty sheet set. My guys liked to try to pee the bed to get up...that never happened again after this :)
- If teaching to potty standing up (Boys!) then feel free to throw a cheerio or scrap of colored tissue paper in the water to give them something to aim at.
- If it's too stressful (after you try for at least 2 days) take a break and try again when they're ready.
- Have a potty party :)
- Almost forgot keep it simple! Use baby gates to make the area smaller and limit hiding places by moving furniture. Take away plush toys, toys that you sit on, and any large toys they can stoop behind. Don't worry, they can all come back in 3 days!
Example Game Plan:
I will stay home for minimum three days to potty train Gage. I will start on April 16th and not leave the house even for a cup of coffee with friends till April 18th or later date. I will be encouraging and not punish for accidents. I will push liquids so that we make the most of our three "work" days together. I will even sit on the potty to demonstrate it's friendliness. After observing Gage I have noticed that he poops everyday between 3:30pm and 4:30pm, with sometimes the occasional after bath poop. I will not give in a allow him a diaper to poop even if he asks for one. I will set the pee pee timer to every 25 mins and adjust accordingly. If he sits on his potty he earns praise, if he pee pees in his potty he may run around the house naked and get's a pee pee dance, and if he poops on the potty he earns chocolate milk.
~If he has a pee pee accident I will look to see if the timer needs to be adjusted to a shorter length of wait time. I will ask him to help clean up the mess. While we are cleaning up, I will explain that pee pees belong in the potty and not on the floor. Upon first accident I will give a warn that making pee pees in the potty get's Gage "nakey time," otherwise we will have to wear clothes.
I will try again and again regardless of my urge to quit for a least two days!
~If he has a poop accident I will make a note of his new potty time. I will have him help me pick up the poopy, put it into the potty chair/toilet and then flush it good bye. Chances are that he still has to poop if I have caught him in the act. I will encourage sitting on the toilet especially if I see any straining. I will show him his M&M's and explain that he will get to stay naked and have a treat if he makes his poop in the potty. I will also teach him that everybody poops (that's also the name of a great book) and that he has nothing to fear bc poop is funny
. I will try again and again regardless of my urge to quit for a least two days!
~If he has an accident a bed time or nap time. I will remind him to use the potty. (I left it in his room close to the bed beside the night light) I will remove the top layer of sheets and put new blankets on. Use wetwipes to clean him up and then immediately leave the room with the soiled laundry. I will not discuss anything and will not give extra attention. I will change the bed and wipe down Gage in 5 min. or less bc it is already set up and I do not want him to have an excuse to leave the room.
I will repeat this step until we make it down to the mattress bag and I am out of laundry or until the rest time is over. I will launder the linens immediately and dress the bed as soon as possible, even if only one layer at a time is ready. I will leave his bed made in this layered fashion until he has slept one month without an accident. Each morning I will remind him of his "Big Treat (Pez dispenser)" if he sleeps through the night dry. If he wakes up dry I will immediately put him on the potty. I will give him his "Big treat" before breakfast to show him how proud I am of him....Kids require immediate praise!
****I DO NOT BELIEVE IN PULL-UPS AND WILL NOT USE THEM NO MATTER HOW EXHUSTED FRUSTRATED AND TIRED I AM. IT IS NOT WORTH UNTEACHING THEM EVERY THING I HAVE WORKED SO HARD TOWARDS. ******
Hopefully this helps! Feel free to email me if you have any questions xoxoxoox
Yep you heard me, I am 100% pro WAR...chore wars that is :) If you haven't checked it out, I highly suggest stopping in for a look. Chore Wars! is a great interactive website to help motivate kids to do their chores. I recently read about it in some parenting magazine and thought that it was too advanced for my guys. Today I became desperate for them to help out around the house and decided to give it a whirl. What's the worst that could happen? Right! They could not get it and I would still be cleaning house by myself OR they could love it. I'm not saying it's kid perfect. My guys are a little young for most of the elements of the game, but they do enjoy earning gold coins, battling the "giant stuffed teddy bear, enormous dust bunnies, and killer earth worms" of my chore world. I know you're thinking, "that sounds great, but what's it going to cost?" IT'S FREE!!!! Yep really and they don't even require an email address. It is slightly time consuming to set up unless you request a standard "adventure." In a nutshell, if your kids are younger it would be best if you take the time to set up easy "adventures (ie chores" for them to complete, make the treasure kid friendly (squirt gun, sling shot, bubbly potion, sunglasses, etc) and please PLEASE make sure that you edit the monsters to be anything but what they see in their nightmares!!! I'm sure I mentioned it before, but Gage is terrified of ghosts. I changed all the monsters to giant stuffed teddy bears, enormous dust bunnies, stinky bed bugs, killer earth worms etc. So far my guys love it! They ran from room to room cleaning to earn points and even went as far as to plot their chores for tomorrow. I don't know if this enthusiasm will last forever, but as of right now I am one happy mommy!!!!
