How to Potty Train a Child

I have successfully potty-trained eight of my children, as well as three of my siblings, while they were between the ages of 22 and 28 months, in the course of a week. In the next few minutes, I will share my secret method, and hopefully, you too can say good-bye to diaper doody, err, duty, once and for all!

Step 1: Readiness

Around the age of 22-24 months, a toddler will exhibit signs of readiness. Conscious pause in play to poop, whining to be changed when wet or poopy are some of these signs. Also, having the verbal ability to communicate the act (a simple "pee-pee and poo-poo will suffice) is important. Make an effort to determine how long the toddler stays dry on any given day. This means checking every hour for wetness. When the toddler can "hold it" for at least an hour, preferably two, he or she is ready for the next phase.

Comments

[mrsmubaiwa]

I am going to begin potty training my daughter soon and will try it exactly this way, wish me luck :)

[leenaochani]

Hi everyone, I have just started toilet training with my 3 year old son yesterday and I must say he is not interested. He did sit twice yesterday and I thought that was good. I have bought him cars and trains to reward him when he goes and the first time he sat for more than 2 minutes I gave him a car but now he feels like I dont want the car if it means going to the toilet!! What am I doing wrong? This is the advice I got from parents all around me and so I used a reward system. He didn't poop all day yesterday because he didn't have a nappy. Today I asked him if we wanted the nappy to poo and he did so I let him have a pull up for half hour so he could poo!!! I am very confused, my husband wants to take him out all day but how can we when we are trying to achieve something the next week, on the other hand being at home is very boring for him!!

[ldangles]

It's the one drop rule that works. When you know your baby needs to go (after eating or drinking or before you leave the house) tell him/her that all it has to go is one drop. I still can't stop at one drop and I'm over 60. Actually I'm lucky if I can stop that first drop now.

[hchasey]

Day 5 seems like we've backtracked! My 25 month old is just not telling me at all when she has to go. The only times she doesn't have an accident is when I say it's time to try to go. If I catch her at the right time, she cries and cries until pee comes out. If she doesn't have to go, it's no big deal for her to sit there. She's just not communicating with me when she has to go and that seems to be key with this method being a success in the end. I'm afraid we'll be trying something else unless someone has some advice given that we're so far into this method already. I would hate to feel like the past 5 days have been a waste of time...and energy!

[hchasey]

We are Day 4 of "the hard part". The first three days are just as you outlined. Some successes, but many accidents. We've noticed a few "trends" now and I wondered if you would be willing to provide some feedback:

1. She's holding her poop to do it at night in her diapers.

2. She refers to pee as "poop" and says she has to go all the time, but then doesn't do anything on the potty and is ready to get up after sitting for 5 seconds.

3. When she does have to go and we make it to the potty in time, she cries and cries while she does it. ?? It's possible that she's only behaving this emotional with me, her Mama. When Daddy did it with her a few times last night it wasn't a big deal at all.

4. She was up at 7:30 this morning and didn't go at all until 12. I think she's starting to hold her pee too.

Any thoughts or suggestions on any of these points?

[ACDNMOM]

I have tried to potty train my 34 month old daughter and feel completely lost. She changes her mind constantly about whether or not she wants to use the toilet and even whether or not she has to go so I am SUPER frustrated. She tells me she likes diapers and doesn't tell me when she has to go unless it's a poop. I feel like I'm nagging and badgering her. I would like to try your strategy but was wondering how long I should wait to start trying again.

[teresa1121]

looking forward to using these ideas with my son, who is almost 22 months and is almost ready to start potty training. i just need a free week. wish us luck

[tetheredcat]

Good luck, and plenty of patience!

[mwebster7]

Thank you so much for this brilliant, step by step guide to potty training! This is my first time as the potty trainer, and I was so nervous! We started today with my 28 mo little girl and we had a great, great day! She had a total of 6 accidents and 4 successful #1's! Probably TMI, but we're just so thrilled we had to share the great news. :) We have to venture out for several hours on Thursday, and I'm already a little anxious about that, but all in all it went better today than I ever thought it could. Thank you again!

[pfeiferh]

This is the method that we used with our first daughter and have just used with our second daughter. The only problem is that both of them did great for a few months but then went through a phase of not wanting to poop on the potty so they hold it in as long as they can and then it hurts like heck coming out, which makes them cry. And also my 2yr old is waking up with stomach pains because of this. Recommendations?

[Methelas]

My brothers are toilet trained, however they still pee all over there room. On purpose most of the time because they are too lazy to walk to the bathroom, they pee on walls, blankets, plates, toys, tote boxes... You name what ever is in there room it probably had urine on it at some point.

[agarner3]

my son did the same thing when he was younger, it was very frustrating because i would always find urine in the most random places in his room....i would just always make it a point to remind him to go to the bathroom even if he didn't think he needed to go and make him try-almost always when i did this he would actually go potty-and eventually after some time he stopped doing it.
every kid is different but thats all that i did for my son and he stopped doing it.
i have also heard of other young boys from friends that have done it as well, i only have 1 boy so i do not have anything to compare to but to me it does not seem to be something that is too much out of the ordinary.
good luck!

[tetheredcat]

I strongly recommend therapy.

[tchrapliwy]

This sounds great! We are starting tomorrow :)

[tetheredcat]

Lots of luck and patience to you! :)

[tchrapliwy]

So use the training pants all day but use the diaper at night?

[tetheredcat]

Yes. I use the training pants all day, and just before bed, as part of getting jammies on, etc. we will put a diaper on. I keep doing that, and encouraging them to remember to "hold it" when they're sleeping, and if they have to go potty, to wake up and go, and go as soon as they wake up. I play it by ear when the overnight diaper is done away with, since each kid is different.

[momof2girls]

I am on day 4 potty training my 21 mth old girl, this is working great!! She also will only tell me when she has to poop and I am noticing fewer accidents every day as long as I stick to the schedule. Every time she goes in the potty we do the "pee pee" dance, she loves it.

I am on maternity leave right now and am keeping my older one home to potty train but I am nervous about sending her back before she can tell me she has to pee??

I will totally be recommending this method to others!

[kgillman]

today is the dreaded day for me wit 10 days off from work it has to be done now. Ive noticed my little girl would tell me she needs go toilet but when i sit her on it she imitates and makes the peeing ( ssssss ) noise herself then hopes off, flushes the toilet washes her hands but doesnt actually go in the toilet she goes in her big girls pants and says its okay wat harm , so she does know when to go she jus waits till she's off the toilet . I am very patient wit her and i do explain but I also find this frustrating . HELP !!!!!!!

[mirandaindrigo]

This is SO helpful. My only problem is that my daughter is in daycare and we won't have a full week off together until Christmas. I can find a three-day stretch coming up, but is this long enough...?

[iheartblank]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I've gotten tips from other mom's i know, but I needed was a step by step.
I can't wait to try this out with little man!

[craftyv]

I enjoyed this Ible very much, and have read with interest all the comments attatched. Funnily I can't recall any problems with kids in my era, perhaps we were less focused on training and saw it as just something that occurs naturally. Certainly I think the age that things should or should not be achieved was less important than it appears today. I know I sound like an oldie saying "in my day" but it's just my reflection on the past. NOTE: We also used cloth nappies.

[BGLYNCH]

I just want to thank you so much.  I followed all of your tips with my 21 mo. old.  He is doing fabulous.  In fact, most days he has no accidents.  But the thing is, he only tells us he has to go when it is poop.  Otherwise, he goes because I take him for a "potty break."  I tell him, "You have to say "potty" when you have to go," but if I wait to see if he actually does tell me... he always has an accident.  Do you think he will just catch on after awhile and start telling me or going to the chair on his own.  Does that part just take time?  I'm hoping yes!

[tetheredcat]

Congrats! That is awesome! It sounds like he's doing great and is on the right track. I would just give him some time to build this skill, and I would bet that in another month or so, he will be letting you know. 21 months is great! Boys are known for taking a little longer-and I think most of that is because they are just so darn busy. So reminding him and having him take a break is a good way to keep him on track and keep his confidence high!

[lerningideas]

i really hope it works well it did for you hoping the same for me my twins are 3yrs and do not want to go Thanks for you tip!!!!

[domino88]

This is the first Instructables I've actually "made".  It worked great!!  My daughter's kindergarden teacher was so impressed with the results that she asked for a copy of the method.   I've recomended it to my friends too!
 
Thank you for sharing your experience!

[tetheredcat]

Im so glad it helped you! Congrats!

[kelllbelll]

Thank you so much for the great info. I am anxious for our 7 days to begin, and will post our progress ASAP.

[Happy2be]

Thanks so much for this "instructable" and the timeline for potty training.....I believe one should not rush but that patience and example are paramount.

[HuntingWabbits]

Also a telltale sign your little one is ready: They hide when they make poop and sometimes deny the offending act.

[RichardBronosky]

A few things to add:
1. You have to let your kids follow you in the bathroom. I don't care how you feel about "I'm a private person". Get over yourself (not directed at any specific person here)
2. Leading up to potty training (I would think long before) you will have the opportunity to explain why you sit on the potty. (Yes men. If you have daughters, and probably even if you have boys, you need to be sitting for everything.)
3. Here is where I differ: I like the hinged middle seat thingy on a real toilet. I don't want to clean a bowl of poop. I don't want to have to retrain on a real toilet later. To do this you will likely need a step stool. (My girl quickly decided that she was big enough to climb up by herself, but we started with the stool.)
3. Tell them that sitting on the potty is for big people and they aren't big yet so they can't sit on the potty. But, they can use the stool and climb on with the lid closed. Make a big deal about how some day they'll get to climb on with the lid open.
4. When it's time to train, have a hinged training seat on every potty in the house. (Ha, I just said potty. Warning: you will find your self saying potty to adults in situations that make you feel silly. Again, get over yourself.) We put training seats on 2 of the toilets in our house, but not on the one in our master bathroom. Guess which toilet our "big girl" insists on using.

Everything else in this 'ible is spot on. I really like the idea of doing the potty dance in preparation of training. I will have to do that for our second girl in a few months.

[Typogoddess]

I agree on the seeing your parents use the restroom. My parents were very open about that, and it was very easy to train me. Plus, if you don't, it kind of treats private parts like "bad" things. It makes puberty easier to talk about in later years to just be open.

[tetheredcat]

As I said in step two, "Doo as I doo", it is important for kids to follow your example and see you in the bathroom. However, I don't agree with the big toilet thing. Kids that age often feel insecure at the size of the normal toilet and can be intimidated by the thought of sitting on it and sounds of flushing. I have never had to "retrain" anyone to use the big toilet, and in fact, they all used it quite well when we were out and about, and took the initiative to start using it on their own within a month or so, again, wanting to imitate. I'd rather have to clean the potty than have them touch a toilet seat to lower it when they need to go. (Tip: keep a bit of water in the bottom of the potty after rinsing it and when there's poop, it won't stick to the bottom and is easy to clean) The boys learn to potty sitting down, being taught from the get-go to "hold it down" to avoid peeing up. It is usually only after seeing someone else standing do they get the idea to imitate. Thanks for the comment.

[phoenixjen]

Staying home for a full 7 days seems like a long time. If you had to go to the store would you put pull ups on for the trip?

[tetheredcat]

You dont have to be confined to the house the entire seven days. If you need to go to the store, leave the underpants on and bring a change of clothes just in case. Keep it short, an hour or two at the very most, and try to not have to venture out until towards the end. 7 days may seem like a long time, but it is absolutely worth it when the end result is you have a 2 year old who is potty trained!

[shetibo]

we are starting early so we will see how it goes! i cant wait!

[thisxisxstephanie]

I have a 26 month old and he's so ready! Now that I'm on break from classes for six weeks, I can finally devote my attention to this. Wish me luck :)

[tetheredcat]

Lots of luck and patience!!!

[thisxisxstephanie]

Thanks! We just went and bought some big boy underpants (Thomas and Spiderman) tonight and he's really excited to wear them in the morning :)

[mage2]

great job. worked for us. :)