It’s been about a week and a half since we started potty training, and I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised how things turned out. I honestly had no clue where to even begin! I had the “Oh crap” potty training book, but I didn’t have the time to sit and read it (mom life!) One of the girls I’m friends with on Instagram recommended this video, which gave me a game plan and was short, sweet and to the point!

We followed it pretty closely except I still use pull ups for naps and night time. Mo is still in a crib (yes, we’ll be converting him into a bed soon!) so I figured this would be easiest for now. There’s really no immediate need for him to be potty trained (other than just age), so I didn’t feel pressed to have to force anything. I’m going to share the method we used and things that worked or that I would have done differently.

These are the things I grabbed to get ready for potty training.

• Toilet– I ordered this one on Amazon and it’s been great! Easy to clean and it has a cute little flushing feature that makes it fun for them.
• Underwear– I made sure to buy a TON of them! Also if you can find them with some of their favorite characters on them, that’s even better. I ordered 3 packs of underwear, giving us about 21 pairs, which you will definitely need a bunch. I got them in packs of 7 on Amazon.
• Goodies- I filled a small bag of goodies for little incentives every time we went on the potty. I filled ours with his favorite candy and little Lightening McQueen cars.
• Potty Training Chart with Stickers- This is the chart we made for his potty training. Every time he made it to the toilet to pee, he put a sticker on a space on the chart and got a piece of candy. When he made it to the colored spaces he was allowed to pick one of the cars. If he pooped on the potty he put a sticker on the chart and automatically got a car.
• Drinks and Snacks- Stock up on their favorite drinks and snacks so they have plenty of opportunities to go to the bathroom.

Now that we have gone through it, this is what I would suggest to prepare for potty training.

• Plan on doing laundry once a day. I made sure to have the washer open and every time we had an accident, I threw the dirty laundry in and at the end of the day I did the load from that day. Stock up on that detergent!
• Start when you know you’re going to be spending a few days at home. Being home and having quick accessibility to the toilet makes it much easier. I knew we would be home hanging out most of the week and that definitely was a huge help.
• Prep your meals ahead of time. This isn’t a must, but it is definitely helpful. After the first day of potty training, I realized that if meals were prepared ahead of time or just quick and simple, it made it easier. You’re pretty much at their beckon call those few days.
• Have them wear underwear with no pants. At first he gave me a hard time about this, he just wasn’t having it. I noticed that he had more accidents when he was wearing his pants though. I’ve heard of people doing the no underwear method too and I would imagine that would work as well.

A few things I would have done differently.

• Like I said, we weren’t in a rush or in dire need for him to be potty trained right away, but if you are I would not allow diapers or pull ups for naps or nighttime. Because he was still getting a diaper at points of the day, there were times he didn’t want to put the underwear back on and wanted his diaper. There have been naps where that he has woken up and been dry still, but I hear this can take a while, so I’m ok with pull ups for sleeping.
• Another thing he refuses to do is go poop on the potty, he asks for his diaper. I have heard this can happen. I’m not pushing the envelope because I don’t want to completely turn him off or make him feel uncomfortable. I try to encourage him to try, sometimes he will go over and just sit on the toilet, but if he just isn’t feeling it I don’t push him. If you have any tips on this one, please let me know!

Overall, I’m really happy with how fast he caught on to everything! The first morning we had a bunch of accidents, but by the end of the day he was catching onto when he needed to go. Now he will tell me when he needs to go and we run over to the potty, or I will ask him if its been a little while if he needs to use the potty. Constant reminders are good for them, I noticed when he got distracted he would forget or say he had to go a little too late.

If I can be of any help, please feel free to reach out and ask me anything! You’ve got this mama!

Xoxo,

Danielle