Monday’s Ramblings: Potty Training Begins

So, we started potty training Abs last week. She’s been ready for a while; she’s just been too lazy to do it. So we simply yanked the pull-ups last Monday and, voila, she’s now potty trained! Okay, maybe it’s not as simple as that and maybe she’s not fully potty trained (wishful thinking!). But were on our way (I hope)! Below is a list of best practices and mistakes we’ve made along the way. Hope it helps you out on your journey to an underwear wearin’, accident free, happy go lucky toddler :)

Best Practices

1. Hide the diapers! – or just use yours up and don’t buy more. As long as there are diapers around, most kids will refuse to wear underwear. We told Abs that the diaper fairy took them for all the babies. You can make up your own story or simply tell the truth depending on how you think your kid will react.

2. Come up with an incentive program that won’t leave you broke. – I know a lot of people speak out against rewards for potty training, but I think they’re a great way to help your kid do something they’re not quite comfortable with yet. The only thing is that a lot of incentives can become quite pricey. Get something that has multiple parts, so that your kid isn’t getting a 20 dollar toy everytime. Abby’s parents used a train set. Lots of pieces, lots of trains, that you can spread out over a long period of time.

3. Have them help clean up their accidents – It’s hard when your little one has an accident. You want them to know that that’s not what you’re supposed to do, but you can’t really punish them…they’re just learning. I’ve found that its really helpful to just have them help clean up the mess. That way its more of a “we clean up the messes we make” than a punishment, but its also a disincentive since they can’t run off and play right away.

Mistakes

1. Don’t assume after a week that your kid doesn’t need constant reminders – after nearly a week of having no accidents, Abs had two in a 1 hour period. I blame myself. I had stopped asking her every 15 minutes if she had to go and I think she just got so caught up in things she forgot to tell me. After cleaning up her mess in the middle of Target, NayNay definiely learned her lesson!

2. Be careful about what you tell your child regarding going throughout the night/naptime – I know I regretted telling Abs she could call out anytime during naptime the first day, as she called out every few minutes and I had one napless, crabby Abby for the rest of the day. I knew her parents made the same mistake that night as I saw her dad groggy eyed with coffee in hand the next morning. This one is hard. You want them to know that they can get up and go in the middle of the night, but you don’t want to go through sleep training all over again at the age of 2! I think were still navigating this one, and I think it really depends on the kid.

3. Watch where you’re stepping at all times! – you’re never safe from stepping in something…unpleasant…when you are potty training (yes, this is from personal experience, and no, it wasn’t just number one).