Potty Training Tips
Toilet training starts for some children around one year old and some are still going at it at five years old. No one knows their child better than Mommy and Daddy! Take advice, read books and then take a breath. Patience is very valuable when potty training.
Looking for an incentive to help your toddler with toilet training? Print this
potty training reward chart and have your little one add a sticker with each successful trip to the toilet.
Potty Training Tip #1: Hang the reward chart in the bathroom. Your little one will see the chart when they are pooping or pottying and can see their progress. Let them write their own name on their chart.
Potty Training Tip #2: Buy stickers just for use in toilet training. Momma Bear uses the metallic stickers since they look very special! Keep the sheet of stickers out of reach of your child so you control when the reward is given. Stampers in different colors and designs are also a great idea. Check out the teacher resource area of your dollar store for more reward ideas.
Potty Training Tip #3: Nighttime potty accidents are no fun for Mommy, Daddy or a toddler. Purchase at least 2 sets of twin or
toddler sheets. The nice thing is that crib sheets fit toddler beds so you already have extras! Hide a soaker pad under the top sheet and at 2 am, you only need to change the bottom fitted sheet and the soaker pad (hopefully the mattress pad stayed dry).
Potty Training Tip #4: Do you have a magic toilet training tip that worked with your toddler? Share it with other parents by
emailing it to Momma Bear and she will publish it.
Potty Training Tip #5 (M&Ms): Kids love candy and this trick does work for many! Try one M&M for going potty and two M&Ms for going poop. Reward for wiping, hand washing and flushing, too.
Potty Training Tip #6 (When Your Child Won’t Poop in the Toilet): Momma Bear has talked many parents who have this problem so remember, YOU are not alone. I think a lot has to do with a child thinking or knowing it is going to hurt. Yes, it will hurt to poop if she has been holding it for days. There are as many solutions as children with this problem so try, try again. You can start with simple tricks like bribery, lies, sticker charts, promise of a trip to the zoo, money, etc. If all else fails, you need to go drastic and put your child on the toilet and wait and refuse to put on training pants. I guess some would call this going cold turkey. It works but the crying does tug at the heartstrings but your child will be VERY PROUD of herself when she is successful.
Potty Training Tip #7 (Take Your Toddler Shopping): Make a big deal about going to a store or to a website to buy a potty chair. Let your child pick out any chair he wants. That way he feels he has ownership and pride that “This is MY special seat!”
Potty Training Tip #8 (Let Daddy do it!): Mommy’s are sometimes pushovers and will let their babies be babies forever. Over the course of a weekend, Pappa Bear potty trained our cub by staying home and never far from a bathroom. Every hour, he put cub on the toilet. It worked! Now there have been a few accidents but that weekend was the turning point.
Potty Training Tip #9 (Guilt): Momma Bear’s cub was held back from going to the next classroom at daycare. She lost her friends for a week. We explained to her why she couldn’t move rooms and she understood. This was a great incentive for the weekend training Pappa Bear accomplished.
Potty Training Tip #10 (Daycare Does Wonders): Daycare teachers are amazing and know your child very well. They are also not pushovers like Mommy and Daddy. Teachers want your child out of diapers probably more than you do and will put him on the toilet every 20 minutes. You just need to continue with their technique at home for consistency. Kids also see their classmates going on the potty and want to be a big kid like them.
Potty Training Tip #11 (Let Your Toddler Decide the Time): Let your child tell you when he wants to be potty trained by observing his actions or he will tell you. Does he stand next to the toilet and mimic Daddy going potty? Does she want to wad up toilet paper balls like Mommy? If your 2 ½ year old says he wants big boy underwear, drive him to the store immediately! He may never wet again day or night.
Did you know that Yellow Bear Shop also offers a
free printable chore chart for kids? Momma Bear's little cub likes to earn her stickers for her chore chart by picking up shoes and clearing dishes at mealtime.
