Potty Training: How to Start Tips & Techniques

Let’s talk about the potty-training stage. I am currently going through this stage at the moment with my 3-year-old. For a second there I was getting worried about how I was going to potty train him, if he was going to catch on, or be in pull ups another year.

Nevertheless, he is toilet trained and has been using the bathroom on his own for almost a month now and he did it on his own, with a little encouragement and guidance from us. The real reason I want to talk about potty training is because it can be stressful, tiring, and feel like pressure.

I’m here to help ease all minds. And tell you that each child will learn at his/her own timing. There’s no need to fret about if or when he or she will begin to use the bathroom. Should we potty train, is there a right time, techniques, tips and so much more. Let’s talk.

Why Potty Train and When Is the Right Time?

There are so many reasons that potty training is important for a parent. For one, you don’t have to change anymore diapers! Yay! I’m just messing around but for real potty training is a huge step in your little ones journey.

This is a step towards a little independence. Helping the child become more confident in themselves. While saving money from not buying diapers, pull ups, or wipes. It’s going to help make traveling easier, and you’ll be spending less time on diaper changes.

Potty training helps kids recognize their body signals by paying attention to when they have to go. All parents want to see their children potty trained, but should you be worried about the age they start?

Not at all. There is not a set age that your child should be using the bathroom. For the majority, children start to learn anywhere between 18 months to 3 years old, but some tend to get it earlier or later, which is totally fine.

Focus more on if your child is showing signs of being ready to use the bathroom. If he/she is staying dry longer or expressing that he has a dirty diaper.

Preparing for Potty Training Signs, Supplies, Schedule

There are so many signs that your child is ready to potty train. One is when they can tell you they need a diaper change. This is one that all my kids have done. They’ll come up to me, sometimes with a diaper in hand, and tell me that they need a diaper change. It amazed me every time. I used to say if you can tell me, you should be going. Hahaha.

Another sign is that they are showing interest in the toilet. If you notice they are becoming more interested in using the toilet, you can take them with you (like they don’t follow you anyway) and start showing them what to do. I have four little boys, so they’re dad would show them how to pull the seat up, use it, wash hands, and all that good stuff.

If your child starts wanting to wear big boy underwear instead of pull ups, this is another sign they could be ready to potty train. At least for me and my boys they all showed interest in big boy undies.

One weekend I put my now third son in underwear and just let him try it out. He had some accidents, but we didn’t make these a big deal. We would just tell him to try and feel when he had to go and then run to the toilet. Haha. This didn’t work for a few times, but then he finally started recognizing when he had to go, and he would take off by himself. This was really great because it happened faster than I thought.

Each child is unique, so signs for each child could be different. Just remember not to put pressure on them to use the bathroom and encourage and praise when they do use the bathroom.

Supplies that are most commonly used are potty chair or seat, step stool, training pants or underwear, wipes, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, protective bedding and extra clothing.

Techniques to Potty Training

Honestly, I had no idea there were techniques you could try with your toddlers to help get them to potty train. I literally just went with the flow and hoped they would catch on. Which they did. It’s a natural for us humans to want to be independent and clean, so I knew eventually they would make the step.

Doing my research though there are 7 techniques you could use. Let’s talk about them. Here is a list of the techniques.

1. Child- Oriented approach
2. The 3-day Method
3. The Timer Method
4. The Rewards System
5. The Naked Method
6. Schedule Toilet Training
7. Role Modeling and Imitation

Each potty-training technique is described below.

The child-oriented approach is similar to what we talked about previously, which is waiting on signs from the child and encourage them without pressure. The 3-day method was made known by expert Julie Fellom. The goal of the 3-day method is to aim for the child to be potty trained in 3 days. This could be a lot on the child and parent because the parent will have to have 3 days free in a row to train and the child could start to feel overwhelmed with the pressures of trying to use the bathroom. If you are interested in this method, I would suggest doing a little more research on it.

The timer method is when you use a timer to remind you and your toddler to use the bathroom at regular times throughout the day. You can set the timer to go off every 20-30 minutes, depending on the child, and take them each time it goes off. This will help them gradually become more successful at using the toilet. A pro of this method is that it can help establish routine. Routine has been proven to help children in all sorts of ways in their life.

The reward system is what it sounds like. You offer rewards to motivate the toddler to use the potty. This is good because it helps create positive reinforcement, but it could also be a problem that leads to dependency on rewards. The next method is the naked method. Now I’m going to be real, I saw this before but with 4 boys they would be laughing their butts off and just making it a big deal. So, this wasn’t really an option for us.

The naked method is basically a method where you allow your toddler to be naked from the waist down while at home to help them recognize when they need to use the bathroom. This helps toddlers connect the sensation of having to go with actually using the potty. A con is that it will be messy and requires a child friendly environment.

Scheduled toilet training is where you pick specific times of the day for the child to sit on the toilet. By the sound of this it seems like you would be putting the child on the potty at random times and not necessarily when they have to go. This method could be easier for children who like schedules. A con is that it can take longer for the child to recognize their own schedules.

The last method is role modeling and imitation. Allowing the child to watch a parent or sibling, explaining what’s happening, and then encouraging them to use it on their own. This may or may not work for all children but can be encouraging for the child.

With all of those methods, you can definitely try but in my opinion, everything takes times. Your toddler will eventually catch on and start using it on their own. I believe in no pressure, no timers, just asking and reminding them to use the potty. We let them experience it on their own without any pressure and lots of encouragement. You should always do what works for you and your family.

Tips For Success

The best tips I can give to you as a mom of four, is to not force it, create a positive environment, make it fun, be patient, flexible and calm. Everything in life is a journey so it’s okay to take things slow. With my first two I tried using a potty for them, but it was barely getting used and they were honestly kind of small. I didn’t buy anymore, and my third child did fine without one.

Staying calm whenever they have an accident on themselves is best. The goal is not to scare them into using the bathroom. We want them to be comfortable. So, if an accident happens during the midst of potty training, remind them to make sure to get to the toilet so that we can keep them and their clothes clean. Even if they want to go sit on the toilet after they peed let them do it. It will start becoming familiar to them and they wil understand to get to the toilet.

My best tip for you is to keep going! Stay positive it will happen! You’re doing great.

Special Circumstances

There a plenty of special circumstances that can come along when potty training, but don’t be alarmed. You can always talk to a professional if you feel to. Special circumstances include medical issues such as chronic constipation, emotional and psychological factors such as fear of the toilet, behavioral and learning differences such as Autism or ADHD. There are others if you are concerned, you can always reach out to a professional.

Transitioning Out of Diapers

The transition for us from diapers to pull ups to underwear was not difficult. We switched our now 3-year-old over to underwear from pull ups once he showed signs, he was ready. He would tell me he wants to wear underwear and that he would use it in the toilet. Eventually I just said okay and put him in the underwear.

The first time I let him put on underwear we tried it 3 times a day. Once he wet them after that many times (maybe one or two more) I would put him back in a pull up. He stopped using it on himself within less than a week. The more we kept doing that the more he started to understand he had to recognize when to go to the bathroom.

One day he just took off running. I had no idea where he was going and forgot I told him to run to the bathroom if he had to. Turns out he had to use the bathroom. He came down and told me he used it. I was so shocked and excited at the same time. I told him that was so great and how proud I was. Then I made sure to remind him to wash his hands.

Then before we knew it, he was going to the bathroom by himself. His dad and I helped him at first but then he got more confident. We would let him do everything. From wiping himself, to flushing the toilet, washing hands, all the good stuff us adults should do too. It made him feel like he was a big boy and that he was doing it on his own.

My first two we kept in pull ups until they knew how to use the toilet completely. So, their pull ups needed to be dry in order to move into underwear. I’m not sure why we chose to do it that way, but they started using the bathroom at an early age too.

I guess it’s up to each family to choose the best way for them and honestly each child will probably be different too. As you grow and learn new ways and strategies to get something done so do your ways of teaching. The only way I believe could be the wrong way is forcing them if they aren’t ready.

Resources/ Support

If you are looking for support or any resources for potty training, there are tons of different sources. There are books, online resources, apps, support groups, professional help, and educational videos.

With the web available to almost everyone, whether at home, school, or a public library all you have to do is search “resources for potty training” and a bunch of different websites with information should pop up. You can go onto YouTube and find educational videos or tips.

If you are a reader, you can always go to the local library, ask friends and family, or go to your nearest bookstore. There are all sorts of resources for you, don’t forget to check it out.

You’ve Got This

All in all, potty training is another step in this journey with your littles. Make it fun, stay patient, and don’t force it. Potty training can be difficult, and frustrating if you have too much going on at once.

Remember to take breaks, breathe, and don’t’ be too hard on yourself or the kiddo. You’re in this together and you’ll get through it. Like you have with all the other milestones they’ve reached already. Before you know it they’ll be doing it all by themselves.

Leave a comment below and let us know if you’ve potty trained any little ones, if you used one of these methods mentioned, or if you did your own thing like I did.

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