"Buzz Lightyear is sad, He doesn't want you to poop on him!" Alot of people ask me how do I potty train so quickly. I always tell them I will write a blog, and I get busy and forget, well HERE is that blog.
I have potty trained about 10 children, Only one of them took longer than 2 weeks. And that was my Caleb. How is it done so quick? Before I get into the dirty and consuming process there are some rules I live by when potty training.
1) First and Most important: DON'T USE PULLUPS! You are wasting your money. Your Child does NOT know the difference between that and a diaper, so they are not only expensive but confusing. Therefor prolonging the training journey.
2) Buy that one package of characters or 'insert childs intrest here'. It is important that the child knows that they are 'destroying' something they love by having accidents in them. Be Prepared to THROW them away (the undies not the kid)
3) TIMING with AGE: I know you want to stop changing diapers, I know they say that girls train earlier than boys...BUT: I dont even think about training a child until they are between 30-33months. WHY? Because the earlier you train them the LONGER it takes! There are lots of reasons for this, but by the time the child is this age they COMPLETELY understand when you are disappointed in them.
4)It is not only OK, but crucial that a child understands the negatives in this process, now I am not saying punish them for their accident. I am saying to let them know that you AND Buzz lightyear are disappointed after the first week. Because by then you have given them direct instructions and they now know that its unacceptable to pee on the floor but in the toilet.
5) Buy the ($7 at walmart) portable little cushion toilet seat that fits on the big potty. [beware personal opinion] The little potties are cute, but GROSS. And Alot of time you have to potty train a child twice because the big toilet is a SCARY thing for little butts. And they will have to be taught to sit on this too!
6) TALK: Explain the process. You child is SMART. VERY SMART. They need comfort to understand what is going on. Children in that age don't have control of anything, everything is out of their hands, EXCEPT the ability to poop/pee wherever they want! If you think a 30month old don't understand the desire for control, you must have never experienced the "MINE syndrome" :)
7) REWARD: Reward systems need to be simple and different for each child. My latest child I used one m&m for pee and 2 for poop, because my Jude loves Chocolate:)
8) Some people restrict child of liquids during this time so that they dont have to run them to the potty too much, I offer them an abundance of fluids, restricting of fluids is not safe and lots of fluid ensures lots of accidents but more hits!
THE PROCESS:
Once you heard the rules the process is simple:)
Buy about 3 packages of undies keep out 15 diapers. hide the rest. UNLESS you have more children in diapers if you do, then the 8 diapers need to be marked somehow, I put potty training child's initial on it. 7 diapers will be for bed time, 7 for nap and the last diaper will be for the child to discard. First things first! Sit down with that one diaper and tell the child. This is it, you are a big boy/girl now....no more diapers for you, this is the last diaper unless you are napping. Show them their WONDERFUL, really AMAZING, The extreme of COOL, Underwear!!! Woo HOO!! ITs all VERY exciting, put them on, Have child throw out diaper and make sure every step is the absolute AWESOMEST thing your baby has EVER done, then back to the potty room where they are shown every single thing from how to flush to the "busy box" (A box of things the child can only use in the potty will differ from each child, books, stickers, crayons, electronics, special toy or puzzles..etc) Explain the reward system and the new potty seat:). Would helpful if you could show them u doing all these BIG people things, Make it seem like his/her idea,their right of passage, an honor;). I like to sing the abc song while washing the hands, it ensures they wash there hands long enough. After that ask if they want to try, usually they will excitedly. If they say no, say ok, but let them know they will be back to sit in a half hour, because they dont understand time, I use a timer. Explain to the child when the bell goes off, its potty time again. GIVE THEM LOTS of FLUIDS! Let them run around in their undies. Try to plan training time on a week or two where you have NO PLANS to Go ANYWHERE! Because putting a diaper/pull up on child at all this first 2 weeks WILL confuse them. Atleast try and map out a week at minimal. Continue day one by bringing them to potty and setting them on it every half hour, if they have an accident, explain to them that BUZZ does NOT like to be peed on. Choose another pair of undies and set them on the potty till they are ready to get up:) If they go potty make a giant deal out of it:) If not the first couple of days just keep reminding them that they potty onthe toliet now and set the timer for 30minutes. Around day 3 or 4 you can usually put them to nap without a diaper maybe even bed, just make sure that they sit on the potty before and immediately when they get up. After a week you should have a fully potty trained baby, but because they are still little they are gonna need your assistance for about a year:) days vary, kids vary. Any question let me know:) Hope this helps:)!
P.S...if they dont seem to be getting it, just hang in there it will get better, once you start training you CAN'T stop or go back because they will get confused and it will be near impossible to get them back to the,' Mom is not going back on this' idea. Extra tip: Day 3 is usually really hard, but it works out, keep striving, even when they act like the floor is a potty, they will get it shorty, I promise. :)
<3 Momma Dee
