Hallelujah! (insert happy dance)
I dread potty training. Something about the mess, and the smell, and the extra laundry just makes it not fun for me. Not to mention the constant stress of a possible accident while out in public, or on the couch, or on the carpet, or in the carseat… *sigh*
The potty training topic is just like every other topic in parenting. Everyone has an opinion, and oftentimes it is in direct opposition to the last person’s opinion.
I’m a researcher, so the first thing I did when beginning this “potty” journey was read a book or two on the subject. Then I surfed the internet for articles about it. I also talked to my mom, my mother-in-law, and friends to see what they remembered about it all.
By the end of my researching campaign I was WAY overwhelmed. I’d read stuff about kid potty seats, sticker charts, cereal, reward systems, dolls, toys, books, and cleaning supplies.
Honestly, today I don’t remember half the stuff I read.
I’m all about simplifying things. So I developed my own method, and have named it ‘Lazy Potty Training.’
The first step of LPT is to WAIT!
When my oldest child was 1 1/2 years old he first showed interest in the toilet. I was not ready for the stress of potty training, so I waited. I waited until he was 3. My second was 2 1/2 and my third was almost 3. Kids just figure it out faster when they are older.
Yes, that meant more years and money invested in diapers. But I would so much rather have that than have to clean out little kid toilets and shampoo my couch every week for months. It’s just my personal preference.
I know plenty of people who have potty trained their kids at an early age successfully. I saw a lot of work and cleaning go into that process. I prefer the ‘lazy’ way. 🙂
The second step is to schedule a block of about 3 days where I really don’t have to go anywhere.
This step is not necessary, but it makes things easier. (It’s called the lazy way for a reason. 🙂 )
Kids have to learn to better recognize the feeling that their body has to go to the bathroom. And they have to get the timing down.
This means that at the beginning there will be accidents. It’s just part of the learning process. Being at home makes accidents SO much less stressful.
Step three: talk up the potty training. A lot!!
Months before I put my kids in underwear I start to talk about how cool it is to go potty in the toilet. We brainstorm all the great things about not wearing diapers anymore. we discuss how it works. Pretty much anything that comes to mind, we talk about it. We even do a couple practices on how it will go.
I make my kids wait until they are really, really excited to go potty in the toilet.
Step four: shopping for supplies.
This isn’t as scary as it sounds. The two of us go shopping together. I let the kid being potty trained choose at least one packet of underwear, and one semi-large bag of candy (m&m’s, or Skittles, or Reese’s Pieces). It should be a small candy with LOTS of pieces.
The candy will be their reward. It is only for them when they successfully go in the toilet. (But Mom can sometimes have one or two after a particularly messy clean up.)
Now we are ready.
The final step is to ditch the diaper!
At the beginning of our 3 day block of being mostly at home they wear ‘big-kid’ underwear. Diapers are still worn for bed times, but that is it. As soon as they are awake I put them in underwear.
We have two rules: 1. If you go number 1 in the toilet, you get one candy. If you go number 2 in the toilet, you get two candies. Rule 2. When you make a mess in your pants, you clean in up.
And that’s it! When the candy bag runs out, it’s gone. 🙂 Hopefully it will last a month.
Each of my kids has taken about 2 days to figure out how soon they need to tell me they have to go potty. And by the end of the third, they have it figured out. At the end of a week they can go number 1 all by themselves.
So that’s my ‘Lazy Potty Training’ method: Wait, set 3 days, talk it up, buy supplies, and GO FOR IT!
Potty training can be hard. Every child is different, and every parent is different. No need to make it more complicated than it already is.
The key is to figure out what works; for the child, and the parent.
This is what works for us. Happy training! 🙂
Come back and check out some general ‘Potty Training Tips’ in a couple days!
