We attempted potty training a couple of months ago but Alfie was not ready. You can read that post here. He had accidents, he couldn’t hold it and he was incredible distracted. It was not the right time.
Potty Training: Are they ready?
The thing with potty training is that they need to be ready. If not it will be stressful! You could also do some damage with them then not wanting to do it later on. When we first tried with Alfie it was clear he was not ready and neither was I. It was definitely right to leave it for a while.
Signs that they are ready for potty training:
- Showing an interest when you go the bathroom
- Is independent
- Shows signs of discomfort when they have wet or dirty nappies
- Can understand and follow simple instructions
- Lets you know that they have done a wee or a poo
There are other signs that they are ready but those are the main ones that Alfie showed.
Praise and accidents
Alfie recently saw the potty and wanted to do a wee on it. To stop an almighty meltdow, we decided to take his lead. We let him use it to see what happened. He did his first wee on the potty and we haven’t looked back.
We spent that day at home with Alfie having no pants on and us encouraging him as much as possible. I’ve got to admit that I was sceptical that he was ready and he proved me wrong. He told us every time he needed a wee and he even sat on the potty a few times without being prompted.
I was one proud mama!
The first few days after were very hit and miss. He was great at home but when he was out, and distracted, he had accidents. As time went on that has got so much better.
I’m not going to lie he does still have accidents, but he’s still young! He is nowhere near ready to have no nappy at nap times or bedtimes but the nappies are normally dry or not as full as they used to be. So he must be learning to hold it even more so.
All in all, he is doing amazingly and we are very proud. We even have had a 3 hour car journey with no accidents and that is definitely our biggest potty training achievement!
My top tips
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Praise them!
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Spend lots of time at home
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Buy a shed load of pants
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Don’t be disheartened if they have accidents
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Be calm and persevere
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Be consistent
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Don’t be afraid to bribe them
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The potty will have to be taken EVERYWHERE!
How did you find potty training? Did your little one take to it straight away or did they take a while? I don’t want to think about cracking bedtimes, but I know that I’ll need some advice in the not so distant future…
Mummy Fox xx