Toilet Training: Getting Ready

Toilet Training: Getting Ready

toilet-training-getting-ready


This is the first in a series of posts about Toilet Training!

Myself and the wonderful Shannon from Bath & Potty Time are working together (along with my 2.5 year old son Ronan) to bring you informative posts about a whole range of tips, tricks and issues that come up when it comes to toilet training.

Firstly, let me say that I am a firm believer in waiting until your child is showing signs that they are ready to start toilet training. Both of my children have shown signs (and I will talk about that in another post), it’s just sometimes their wee personalities make it difficult.

This first post is all about knowing when and how to start the process of toilet training. A little background info first though: I have two children, a 4.5 year old girl and a 2.5 year old boy.

My girl was toilet trained when she was 2.5, and it was very much a “I started, she followed” kind of thing. She is the eldest and is a compliant wee thing; eager to please us parents. My son, however, has different ideas – so this series is perfect because I had it easy (ish) with my daughter, and my son is proving to be a little harder.

I really do love hearing how parents toilet trained their kids in 3 days – brilliant I say! However, that’s definitely not me or my kids. My daughter took a long time, and my son is going to take even longer.

Before I jump into the “how to know if they’re ready for toilet training” part, I’m going to start with the “Getting Ready” part.

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Whether your child is ready for toilet training or not, starting the process before you sit them on a potty or toilet, is what is working for myself. There are many ways to do this, but this is what I have found works:

1. TALK TO THEM
Talk to your child openly about what is happening. Let them know that they’re going to be “big boy / girl” soon and go to the toilet / potty. Be very excited about this – loads of happy emotions! Because it really is an awesome time in both your child’s life AND yours.

2. INVOLVE THEM
Children learn the best by watching what other’s do – so let them watch you sit on the toilet. Often, as is the case with most parents, your child will be well aware of how you go to the toilet – because as we know, nothing is sacred when it comes to parenting. Not even doing a pee or poo haha

Part of this also means showing them what happens after you’ve been to the toilet – how we wipe ourselves, flush the toilet and then wash our hands. Involve them in the whole process.

3. MAKE IT FUN
One part of the “getting ready” experience for my son, was showing him how much fun it can be to read all about toilet training, and how the potty became “his” – something that his sister didn’t have. So we got a whole heap of special toilet training books that we read at bedtime (or anytime really), well before we started the toilet training process. We also let Ronan decorate his potty with Potti-Dots stickers – which I think helped solidify the fact that it was HIS potty.

4. LET THEM EXPLORE
Part of keeping it fun, is letting them explore the potty (if you have one). Let them sit on it with their pants on and watch the TV. It’s all about getting your child to relax while on the potty – that’s the ultimate goal. So starting them getting used to it is the best thing. Even just sitting on it and reading a book is brilliant. Start small – only a few minutes. I’d even take 30 seconds! HAHA

I chose the BabyBjorn Potty Chair for Ronan because of it’s comfort / back support; I knew he’d be sitting on it for a while haha … plus I asked him what colour he wanted and he chose the blue.

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Shannon, from Bath & Potty Time, graciously armed me with a few amazing books which BOTH of my kids have fallen in love with. These books particularly have helped my boy understand what is coming up, and what we are expecting of him. They are brilliantly illustrated and set out very plainly the ins and outs of toilet training.

For more information and all of your toilet training needs, visit Bath & Potty Time.

SPECIAL DEAL: If you’d like to purchase any of the products listed here in this blog (the potty chair, books or stickers) then you can get free shipping on these by using the code HAPPYMUM when checking out.

Next up in the series: How To Know When To Start Toilet Training

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