How I Potty Trained my Toddler in 4 days.

BOOTY CALL (Noun): A shout from the bathroom letting you know it’s time to wipe someone’s butt.

 

Like most parents I dreaded the day I would have to potty train my child! I liked having a sense of security that if she needed to pee or poop she could do it without us having to track down the nearest toilet! I told myself that as long as I had her potty trained by the time our next baby came I didn’t really want to stress about it. Once she turned 2 the comments from other parents rolled in hard:

she isn’t potty trained yet, she’s 2 years old. My kid was potty trained at 10 months!

OY! Some people and their unsolicited advise and comments, right? Well I fell for the peer pressure of those comments and that very night I went to buy a portable toilet. As expected, she didn’t care and thought it was a seat for her while I used the bathroom, ha! I figured I would let her lead the way and she would let me know when she was ready. If you haven’t figured it out, toddlers don’t cooperate too much when we force something on them! Every kid is different and just because one kid was potty trained at 10 months does not mean that your child has to be! Lesson learned!  Listen to your gut mamas and let your children lead the way!

About 5 months after I purchased the toilet she decided she didn’t want to wear her diapers anymore and she wanted to use the toilet. Dun Dunn Dunnnnn! The next  day I went to Target and I purchased a pack of underwear for her. I prepped my husband and we got on the same page #teamworkmakesthedreamwork. This is it. She was telling me she was ready. Was I ready? Would it be difficult? What happens if it doesn’t work ? What do I do if she has an accident? I envisioned myself like the photo below, fighting my child to go pee in public!

I had heard about a technique where parents would have a “bye bye diapers party”. This is where they would  explain to their child that they were now going to pee in the bathroom in lieu of their diapers and that they had to throw their diapers away now that they were a big kid. The kids would help throw the diapers in the trashcan and say their goodbyes. At first when I heard of this I laughed, but I know my daughter and she is very literal, so I thought about it more and figured this was a genius idea!

The night before game time we had our “bye bye” diaper party. We explained to Danica that she had to wear these really cool Minnie Mouse underwear and that her diapers were going “bye bye”. We told her to say her goodbyes and we walked them to the trashcan (we didn’t throw them away-we just hid them!). The only thing she questioned was how to put her new cool underwear on. I was shocked there was no resistance, but I snapped out of that quick because I didn’t want her to sense that I was nervous!  My husband and I did emphasis to her that if she needed to pee to tell one of us and that if she had an accident it was okay. Accidents happen and we would try again!

Game Day

The next day she had 3 accidents and then fewer and fewer accidents the following days. By day 3 she was pooping and peeing in the toilet. We held strong on not introducing diapers anymore, not even for bedtime! I think this was the most crucial part for us. I didn’t want her to think that if this didn’t work then she could easily go back to diapers and we would try again later. There was no turning back for us and we had to stick firm to this. We started to cut off any liquids 2 hours prior to bedtime and made sure she drank plenty of water before the 2 hour mark.

Encouragement

For every poop or pee we made a big celebration about it! We made sure she knew that she was such a big girl for going all by herself! One other thing we decided to do is to TRY our best not to get upset if she had accidents. Even if she pooped on the carpet in her room (true story) I know it’s tough, but honestly they’re little babies and are learning as they go! They learn by trusting us and having our support! I also didn’t do the reward system. The only thing she likes now is gummy bears and my husband uses that tool to get her out of bed in the morning, so I didn’t want to add more sugar in that little body!

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. In just a few days I had potty trained her with no tantrums or battles. I was SO shocked that it was as easy as it was. I really believe in waiting until they show signs that they are ready. I wouldn’t push it just because people are peer pressuring you or giving you the stink eye that your child is still not potty trained. They won’t be in diapers forever and they will let you know when they’re ready mamas!

Good luck and please let me know if my tips helped you!

xo, Dris 

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