For those who regularly read my blog, you’ll know Lamb is nearly 2 1/2 years old. We introduced the potty quite a while ago, getting him used to it being around and teaching him what it’s for. Every now an then we would say “would you like to go on the potty” and never expect him to say yes. This was just a way to get him used to hearing us ask him, and for him to understand why we were asking him.
He managed to use the potty a few months ago, which was very exciting. (Trust me, the first time your toddler wees on the potty, you’ll be jumping up and down and giving them high fives). For some reason Lamb stopped there. He lost interest and refused to use the potty again for a few months.
That was fine with us, we always said we wanted him trained by the age of 3, and would never force him. As you probably know (because I rant about it a lot), Lamb is an extremely fussy eater, in fact I call him a selective eater which is something I learned form an interview with Dr. Raj on This Morning (I’ll go into this further in a separate blog post). For that reason I never force anything with Lamb. I tried a forceful technique with getting him to eat and we got nowhere. Children can’t be forced. They need to do things in their own time and when they feel comfortable. Remember, every child is different so never compare them with other kids.
A couple of weeks ago I had a lovely surprise when I picked Lamb up from nursery. He had used the toilet! That’s right, not a potty, a toilet!! He had 2 stickers on his t-shirt as a reward. Lamb was so excited to tell me about it (especially about the stickers, he’s obsessed), which got me thinking. Introduce a reward chart.
Luckily I already had one at home that I picked up from the special buys at Aldi a while ago. I saw it and knew it would come in use in the future. I explained how it works to Lamb and he seemed really keen to get involved. He has a colour sticker for potty training, a colour for doing as he’s told and being good (this may sound a little vague but at the moment I’m struggling with him listening to me when we are on our own – again, that will be talked about in a separate blog post) and another sticker for eating.
The potty training at nursery continued to progress, the following day he used the toilet again, but sat on it 6 times in total! I was so happy. I knew this would give him that push he needs to use the potty at home.
The potty we are using is from Tesco. It’s a standard shape and size and can be bought from most places. I thought about looking into the ‘best’ potty’s on the market and innovative designs etc, but then thought, a potty is a potty and I don’t want to spend time on money on one that he might hate.
Luckily he likes his potty (he didn’t to begin with but I think that was because he was a little young to understand). Lamb is now using the potty a few times a week. This may not sound like a lot, but my technique is to go slowly and build up on using the potty every day. He has yet to wee on the toilet, but he often sits on it and pretends to go. He completely understands he can use “mummy’s toilet” if he wants to and has a training seat from OXO Tot (which is really good by the way).
Like I said earlier Lamb is 28 months, so approaching 2 1/2. I know there are parents out there that would have their children potty trained by this age, and some parents wait until they are 3. There is no right or wrong age, you need to work around your childs needs and how they feel about potty training. Personally, I’d like Lamb to be trained by the age of 3, and definitely by the time we have a second baby (I do not want to be buying 2 lots of nappies each week!)
After spending the last 6 months slowly introducing Lamb to the potty I have my own top tips if you are thinking of potty training your toddler.
- Introduce a potty earlier than you expect them to be trained by. 18 months is a good age. By this age they should be walking comfortably, communicating and able to understand how to sit on the potty.
- Take things slowly and expect delays with progress. You may have to take a few steps forward then one step back, but that’s all part of the big change they are going through.
- On hot days let your little one run around the garden without a nappy and have the potty close by to give to them if they need a wee.
- Encourage them to tell you when they need a wee wee or poo poo. Lamb is really good at telling us once he’s gone, but not necessarily before.
- Regularly ask them if they want to use the potty, even if you know they will say no. They might eventually say yes.
- Introduce a reward chart to encourage them to sit on the potty. Praise them for sitting on the potty, but only reward them if they actually use it. You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot by giving them a sticker when they haven’t actually fulfilled the task.
- If you feel confident and your child has shown signs of using the potty, have plenty of nappy free time in the house. We find Lamb will eventually shout “oh no, wee wee!” and has no choice but to sit on the potty because he is so desperate. This has been a successful technique for us.
- Buy a toilet training seat like the one we have from OXO Tot (OXO Tot Sit Right Toilet Trainer Seat
). Show them that sitting on the toilet is safe and comfortable. One day it will be time to train them on there too!
- Introduce pull up nappies to get them used to wearing pants. I have been trying out the Aldi Easy Pants as part of the Mamia Parent Panel and they are fab and excellent value.
- Finally, encourage family to potty train too. Make sure you have a spare potty at Grandma’s house or keep a spare in the car so you always have one with you. You need to teach them going on the potty doesn’t just happen at home. They need to learn to do it everywhere.
I hope this post have given you some good tips on potty training. It can be a slow process but if you positively encourage your toddler they will soon be doing it by themselves!
I’d love to know what tips you have with potty training and how you’re getting on with it.
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I am reading this post, trying to see how I might house train my lamb (as in the baby form of a sheep)! It took me a solid few paragraphs to realize this is your child lol. Anyway, I thought it was funny. Glad it worked out for your kid now on to more specific google searching.
I actually laughed out loud at this. Good luck with your search!
Agree definitely never force or rush your children to do anything. My son started school nursery right after his third birthday and they insisted all children were toilet trained. Most the children were older than him because of the way his birthday fell and were already toilet trained. He really struggled with getting toilet trained because it felt so rushed and had problems right up until recently even though he’s 5! My girls were toilet trained by 2.5 years because the wanted to and were ready. All kids are different. You have some lovely advise here x #busydoinglife
Great tips, I think the gentle approach works best! We will definatly be letting our smallest start in her own time! Thankyou so much for linking up to #busydoinglife, it’s great to have you there!
Well done on the success. Some great tips there and I like your approach. All children are so different but just need parents to be adaptable and calm about the process I think. Thanks for sharing #busydoinglife
Lots of lovely advice. I started a couple of weeks ago with my 2 1/2 year old girl. She’s doing really well. Just not quite got the hand of wearing pants!
Ahhhhh yay! Good luck with the potty training and pants! xx
We never used a potty with G, she went straight to the toilet. LJ is 20 months, I think i might introduce her to a potty now. Thanks for sharing in #KidsCorner x
Oh wow, no potty!! Crikey, there’s no way I could do that, Lamb refuses to wee on the toilet! Good luck with potty training LJ xx
Great tips, we started yesterday, going well so far she has 14 stickers on her chart. Fingers crossed it continues. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
Wow 14 stickers already! That’s amazing! xx
Great tips its a tough time but so much easier when its done a dusted not having to mess about with nappies any more! Thankyou for linking up to #KidsCorner x
I can’t wait to get rid of nappies (although when that happens I’ll probably end up with my second baby!) xx
Thank you for the tips. I keep putting off potty training every month, I’m so bad! My boy is 3 yrs and 3 months. I must get a grip and start properly! #thelist Sabrina x
It took me a while to really get going. I can’t imagine going out for a day with Lamb nappy free! But I’ve gone with my instinct and when I felt Lamb was ready xx
Great tips. Little Man is 27 months and showing zero interested in potty training – although he loves to sit fully clothes on the potty! His sister was potty trained at 26 months but I think that boys take a bit longer so I’m just taking his lead. Sounds like Lamb is doing great! x
Thanks Donna. Well thats how we started with Lamb, letting him sit on it fully clothed. He wouldn’t sit on it any other way! Then suddenly he did it, so maybe little man isn’t far off 😉 Girls are definitely quicker than boys! xx
Brilliant advice! We introduced a potty at 18 months too and our eldest will turn 2 next month. I feel there is sometimes a lot of pressure from mums on mums to potty train. I’m always being asked if he’s potty trained yet but I know he’s just not ready and like you I’m aiming for age 3! Good luck with your potty training journey I look forward to hearing how you get on. I will also be referencing to this once we officially take the plunge! #kidscorner
I would never expect a 2 year old to be fully trained, I think it’s too early for them to go through the night with no accidents. Luckily I’ve never been asked if he’s trained yet, but if someone does ask me I’ll say he’ll be trained when he’s ready! Glad you like the post 🙂 Good luck xxx
Great post – well done on your recent potty training success.
I agree with you in that children can’t be forced into anything they don’t want to do. We have just recently successfully toilet trained my little boy. We had tried previously and he had absolutely no interest what so ever so we left it. A few weeks ago we tried again and he picked it up literally in a day! He’s been trained for almost 3 weeks now and I think we’ve only ever had about 3/4 accidents the whole time. He’s even mastered being out and about and holding on until we can get to a toilet.
I am going to add you on blogloivn – you say Lamb is a selective eater! (Great word btw). I have the same here so i’m interested in reading any posts you have on the subject.
#KidsCorner
How old is your little boy? Well done for getting him potty trained! I’ll start putting together a selective eating post soon, i’ve been meaning to do it for a while, but I don’t have any tips because he’s still not eating! But my whole experience might help! I’ll follow you back 🙂 xxx
Sounds like you are having more success than us. My son is 3 years, 3 months and like the person above we are having real issues. He just will not release himself in the potty or toilet at all and gets very upset. We have been training on and off since he was two. He has been having nappy free time for months. He has great control and will bow sit on the potty but he will not go without a nappy. He is being asessed for ASD and he does have problems with speech and language but I don’t think it’s anything to do with that because he knows what the potty is for etc, he just won’t go in it. I wish potty training for us was as easy as it has been for you.
#kidscorner
We had plenty of times where Lamb would sit on the potty and couldn’t go, they say it is much harder for boys than girls to relax and go on the potty. Good luck with everything. I really believe in following their signals and that fact he’s happily sitting on it shows you’re almost there 🙂 xx
My little boy is 3 in Nov and potty training has been a real struggle! He just will not wee on the potty or toilet and gets himself really worked up if he needs to go and he isn’t wearing a nappy. Sigh, I don’t want to force him so we’re giving it a few weeks before trying again!! #kidscorner
Definitely not worth forcing him, that will only make it worse in my opinion. Does he go to nursery? We found they helped Lamb progress with potty training massively xx
Really useful tips, I’ve wanted to start potty training for a while but didn’t know where to begin. I like your gentle approach too. x
Thanks Donna. We are still a long way off being fully trained but I’m really happy with his progress. xx