Effective Tips For Easy And Effective Potty Training

If you happen to be spending an extended period at home with a toddler, it may feel like an ideal opportunity to begin potty training. However, if the process is proving to be more challenging than anticipated, I’d like to share our family’s experience in hopes it provides solidarity and encouragement if things aren’t progressing as you’d hoped.

Throughout the potty training journey with both of my children, we experimented with numerous methods, but ultimately, only two approaches proved effective for both. Now that we’ve moved beyond potty training, here are two invaluable tips for fostering a smoother potty training experience.

Ditching the Diapers

The first step in our transition was eliminating diapers. I realized that regardless of how much we discussed the potty or how keen they seemed to use it, the presence of diapers hindered their leap towards potty independence since they still required my assistance to take them on and off. To make the farewell to diapers an exciting milestone, we introduced training pants, referring to them as their “big-kid pants.” This made it easier for them to practice pulling up and down while minimizing accidents.

I suggest opting for Easy Ups due to their comfort, which closely resembles cotton underwear, boosting kids’ confidence. They also have an extremely stretchy design, allowing small hands to manage them easily. Additionally, Easy Ups are entirely leakproof, keeping your floors and their bedding clean. Most children won’t be ready for nighttime potty training until around age 4 (or even older), so having training pants on hand will be essential. If you’re gearing up for potty training soon, consider ordering a pack of Easy Ups online for delivery straight to your home.

Letting Them Lead

I gifted my daughter a potty at 18 months, inspired by a friend’s success with her daughter at that age. I thought having one in the bathroom would help her become familiar with the idea. She sat on the new potty numerous times—throughout the following year—but she never actually used it.

That changed one day, just after she turned three. Suddenly, she consistently used the potty. Full disclosure: It took a few more months before she was comfortable enough to use it for a bowel movement (which was a reminder of how uncomfortable she had to feel before it happened).

When our second child reached diaper stage, we momentarily forgot the lessons from our first experience. We tried employing some widely recommended strategies—no pants for a few days, multiple attempts, support from daycare, etc.

Eventually, frustration grew until we resolved to delay potty training until after an upcoming Disney World trip. We believed it would be easier to manage diapers at Disney instead of hunting for bathrooms in potentially tricky situations. However, just a week prior to our trip, she started using the potty—and then continued to do so day after day. We packed Easy Ups for the flight and the parks, but she ended up not needing them at all.

My experience suggests I’m fortunate, not necessarily a potty-training authority. The most significant takeaway from both instances is: have the right resources and allow your children to take the lead.

Although my friend’s daughter was potty trained at 18 months, some children grasp it at age 2, others at 3, and some may still have nighttime accidents in middle school. Each child is unique, and sometimes you can’t push the process, even if the timing seems ideal.