Tags
Baba and Boo potty training pants, Kiddycharts reward charts, Parenting, potty training, toddlers
Review
My toddler will be three years old in 5 months time. My little baby. Tiny little Frog. She is now a fully walking, talking, feisty singing little girl, with bags of personality and a hatred of nappies. Or rather, a hatred of nappies that need to be changed. So it appears that, without even planning to, we have arrived at that dreaded stage – potty training.
The process so far has involved talking about using the toilet, sitting on the toilet, discarding nappies in favour of pants for a full day, going back to nappies and, now, occasionally sitting on the toilet with constant gentle encouragement. (I’m still talking about my toddler here.) Nothing has actually been “produced” on the toilet yet, so to speak.
As with all things parenting related, I have ignored every book going. I’m following my instinct and my daughter, hoping that she’ll help guide me in my ignorant quest to get her out of nappies before she hits her teenage years.
I’ve waited until I’m sure she’s ready and I’ve listened to her when she says she’s not. We’re seeing the week of half-term, when she’s at home all week from nursery, as the week of the toilet. Without the pressure of a new nursery or lots of time out of the house, we hope Frog will feel more confident and ready to finally let go of those blasted nappies.
We have a few items ready to help us, which we’ve already trialled to a certain extent.
These potty training pants from Baba and Boo are like normal pants, but not. With a little bit of padding – but nowhere near the likes of what you’d get in a nappy – they contain the odd minor leak but not a full-blown waterfall.
Frog wore the ladybird pair for an entire day and when she did have an accident she immediately knew about it, coming to tell me and show me the wet patch on the carpet. (Lucky me.)
Incidentally, it’s not just cloth nappies or potty training pants you can get from Baba and Boo – they do cute tops too…
We also have a personalised reward chart from Kiddy Charts stuck to the wall in the bathroom, along with a pack of glittery stickers. Frog’s idea of heaven at the moment is sticking stickers onto walls, so once she we’re going to try a spot of celebratory sticker sticking with each successful toilet trip.
Of course, I’d planned to make my own chart from scratch, complete with bunting and scrap and glitter. But I’m a realist and I work more than full time hours, along part-time childcare, so don’t exactly have time on my hands at the moment.
Frog’s already excited about the stickers and the chart. The pants are right up there on her list of favourites too. Now here’s hoping it all goes smoothly in a couple of weeks.
Are your kids out of nappies yet? Any tried and tested titbits of advice you’d like to share?
Those training pants are soooo cute!! Good luck. It sounds like you’re going about everything gently. x
We found potty training in the summer easiest as o could run around naked, have accidents then be encouraged on the potty. He preferred the small toilet seat to the potty. I was like you & followed his lead as an earlier attempt was just that: too early but it was relatively easy second attempt! Good luck & how adorable is she x
Be prepared to go and “admire” what has just appeared in the Toilet…….perhaps it’s only my 3, but they’ve always been very, erm, PROUD of their Poo (&, to be honest, they do have an amazing ability to do Poos that would make a Grown up teary eyed……) but our willingness to go & look then high five/cheer as required has meant a very smooth & accident free transition to the Big Toilet!!!
The Boy was a breeze to train – 2y2m, and done within three days. Second time round, I am SCARED of it! The Baby is 23 months and is perfectly capable of telling us when she needs a wee or poo, but the potty is just a game to her, and she’d rather stuff her Hophop bunny in it than produce anything. She’s still very young, but given that she can stay dry for six hours and then spectacularly out-wee a nappy, I feel the time isn’t far off – but I don’t think she agrees! Am also tentatively earmarking half-term to give it a proper shot; at least then we’ll know whether or not she *can* do it.
My little girl is three in April. The whole wee wee potty training thing seems to be a dim distant memory. It went well. Poos, however, are a different story. We have scored one in the loo at Granny’s and that was a spontaneous ‘poo just came out with a wee’ thing. No one was more surprised than Bibsey. She talks about pooing in the loo but when the time comes she asks for a nappy and some privacy.
We have decided to back off a bit on the poo in the loo thing as the pressure was just causing her to hold back entirely and then of course she couldn’t go at all. I think that you are right just to follow her lead.
Good luck x
Oh god potty trainig was hard. I did it in the summer when my daughter was 2 y 2 m. It was
Really hard with a new
Baby aswell. I kept her bare
Bottom for a week stayed in the house or
Outside all day of weather was nice. Wees came quickly poo took a
Good two weeks!! And I did a ‘ potty dance ‘ for her every time she did something on the potty. She loved it and was more than
Happy to sit ther all day for
Me
To do the potty dance. Good luck x
I was petrified of potty training but it was actually relatively unstressful – I think because I totally followed their lead (they were ready waaay before I was). I do know I was lucky.
Top tip is to let her be naked down under for at least the first couple of days. Less about mess and more about making her aware of the fact that she doesn’t have a nappy on. When the twins first put pants on we had a few accidents, then they got it. Then we moved onto trousers (get in plenty of jogging bottoms – easy to pull up and down and quicker to dry after you’ve washed them) and it was the same – couple of accidents then they got used to the sensation.
Also get a potette plus for when you’re out and about. One of the best things I ever bought.
Good luck and try to enjoy it!
We are about to start as well, I’ve done it twice before and I still don’t know where to start, each child is so different. xx
Is it bad that I’m glad to hear a more experienced mum is also a bit confused too?!
Sounds like you´re going about it in entirely the best way, taking your cues from Frog. I did the same with my boy and was determined not to get stressed over it all or pressure him in any way. And it worked. (Although despite my best intentions I did get stressed on the one or two poo in pants scenarios that we had, obvs!) He actually trained really quickly, in a matter of a couple of days, because he was ready. Best of luck with it! x