In my opinion, potty training is the most difficult part of parenting a small child. I’m on my third, and this time I decided to just stay relaxed about the entire experience. It will happen. As I was told when potty training my son - “he will not graduate high school still in diapers.” While I thought that would be the case, he finally tackled the potty training scene by age 3 1/2. I am now on child number 3 in the potty training realm. We have not yet brought out the big guns of all the potty training books and videos, but we are attempting to potty train once again.
I have heard of potty training in a day. I have heard of bribes. I have heard of just leaving the chid with nothing on in terms of diapers. I don’t know which is the best solution. I do know that potty training in a day never worked for me. Bless you if it works for you. And, I also know that potty training requires patience on the part of the parent & a willingness to not be afraid to clean up messes. Because, there will be messes. Here are some helpful tips I have discovered in my potty training efforts.
First, be patient. The child will eventually learn to use the potty successfully. At which point, you can attempt to teach proper handwashing & flushing habits that may not always accompany the potty training success.
Second, be ready and willing to clean up messes. Once you venture out of the diaper/pull-ups phase, your child will be in some form of underwear. While the potty training cloth pants are thick, they do not hold everything. Be preapred with a good carpet cleaner and a safe upholstery cleaner & don’t be afraid to use it. You will need to clean up at least one wet or messy mess along the road of potty training. I have found the best cleaner for us is Shaklee’s Basic H2O. It is a natural, earth-friendly cleaner which works great in our household. When I dilute it with water, I also add a drop or two of Young Living lemon essential oil to give it a fresh clean scent & add to the cleaning power as lemon is a natural antiseptic. This cleaner has been known to clean spots in my carpet that other cleaners would not tackle.
Third, be prepared for potty breaks when out in public. A potty training child has to use the potty several times an hour - or, so they think. This becomes difficult when trying to avoid possibly germy, unclean public restrooms. I solved this problem with my children by purchasing a small plastic potty from Deals for $1.00. I have not found them in stock recently, but you still may be able to find an inexpensive portable potty to take along in your car. When my child needs to use the potty, I always have a clean place for that to happen. Of course, I also have to have flushable wipes and large zip-lock bags in which to dispose of possible outcomes inside the potty chair once you are near a flushable potty.
Fourth, I have heard - but, not yet tried - the simple solution of allowing the child to run around with no clothing whatsover. I’m told that it doesn’t take very long at all for them to realize how to use the potty when there is no diaper whatsoever to catch what comes out of their body that belongs in the potty. If you attempt this method, I would go back to my earlier point of being prepared to clean up a mess.
Fifth, we have a library of potty books and videos that actually seemed to get the point across to my first two potty training children. The downside is that you walk around singing songs about a potty as the tunes are rather catchy. Other than that, it is a fun way for your child to learn how to use the potty. Also, I tend to buy a lot of my children’s books at used book sales or check them out from the library. But, the potty training books are one set of books that I insist on buying new for the simple reason: I don’t even want to think where these books have been before my innocent child got ahold of it to read while using the potty.
Most of all, take a deep breath and enjoy the ride. This little toddler will master the potty chair before you know it, even though it will seem like an eternity. Once they make that step from diapers to pull-ups to cloth underwear, it is as if you received a raise in your paycheck because of the cost of disposables. If you were kind to the environment from the start & used cloth diapers only, not only will your child most likely tackle potty training sooner (because they can feel the wetness easier than with disposables that pull the wetness away), but you will find yourself doing less laundry. In the end, pat yourself on the back and know that you have tackled one of the most difficult stages of parenting. Then, take a real deep breath, say your prayers and get ready for the teenage years.
