Little Man is now out of nappies – hooray! He is so happy, telling people that he is now a big boy and showing them his big boy pants. So I thought I’d share how we got on, and a few tips…
We actually made a stab at potty training in August, but we reverted back to nappies. Little Man wasn’t keen, and to be honest, neither was I. The one thing that I do know about potty training is that you need to be 100% committed to doing it. My son was reluctant and he sensed my weakness, and so we stopped it.
Why was I reluctant?
This is not my first potty training adventure. I have an older child so I have been here before. With her, I was focused on the potty training and people telling me she should be trained by now. I didn’t think much beyond that. She was 2 years and 9 months old and trained within a week, with a fair few accidents, as you’d imagine. It’s the aftermath that made me delay Little Man’s training. Knowing that trips out would be interrupted by the sudden ‘I need the toilet’ announcements when you’re a long way from a toilet!
But I knew it was time to train Little Man last week, there was no more putting it off. He was 3 at the start of September, and I had been waiting for the half term break so that I needn’t contend with rushing around in the mornings for the school run whilst training.
We had introduced him to the concept using books like Pirate Pete’s Potty, and of course talking to him about it. He’d often sat on the toilet prior to his evening bath, so understood what he needed to do. He’d chosen himself some pants and we readied a reward chart and positioned that with him. We were set to go!
On Saturday morning, we began. By Monday morning, we were done.
Over the weekend he had a few accidents, as well as several successes on both potty and toilet. We celebrated the successes and simply tidied up the accidents without any fuss. Little Man enjoyed putting stickers on his chart, and he also needed a treat each time – he’s more about instant gratification! He enjoyed choosing his pants daily and we kept on using the chart all week, though cut out the treats by mid-week. I remember with Boo, constantly asking her whether she needed the toilet and popping her on the potty regularly, I didn’t do that with Little Man. I was more relaxed this time round, knowing that their bladder’s are actually quite good, and knowing that wee cleans up easily anyway!
After two days, so by the Monday morning, the potty was rejected. He favours the toilet, which is absolutely fine, of course.
That was a week ago now, and there have been no accidents. He is dry at night, too, though we do put him in HUGGIES Pull-Ups Night-Time training pants, just in case. Similarly, we made a couple of longish car journeys last week with trips out, so we popped him into HUGGIES Pull-Ups pants for those, just in case we weren’t near a toilet when he needed to go. It was handy to be able to do this, as we could then relax and still go about our week as normal. They didn’t confuse him, as he still asked to go to the toilet, and as they pull up and down like pants, he just viewed them as such.
So we are done here. I’m sure there will be still be the odd accident here and there, and perhaps a regression at some point, but I know he understands what he needs to do now. It was easy because he was ready. I’ve known people try to train early and it’s taken weeks, if not months. It’s so much easier to wait until they’re clearly ready and go for it then, getting them involved with the chart, the pants and so on. I shared some expert potty training tips here.
How’s your potty training experience been?
Disclosure: We are HUGGIES Pull-Ups ambassadors
Well done Little Man. You’re so right that waiting until they are ready is the way to go. Having done it three times now, every child is different, and the best approach for each is different 🙂
Yes, my two were very different, too. Waiting until they’re ready is key!
That’s great to hear! Ethan is two and a half and has been asking to go wee wee so we bought a potty at the weekend (Thomas the Tank Engine, of course!) and he went wee first time on it. Leaving it to him to decide when he wants to use it as not sure if he’s still too young but your advice has come at just the right time!
Ah yes, my son was keen early on to sit on his potty and the toilet, but only when he fancied it not all the time! I think they’re all ready at different ages, so Ethan might be ready now? I waited until I knew Little Man knew when he needed to go, was dry most nights and was capable of pulling his pants up and down. Personally, I’d say later rather than sooner, too!
I am super impressed with only 2 days – well done. Potty training seems like such a long time ago now my youngest is 6 but I know none of them were that quick.
I was so surprised. I was prepared for a fair few more days of accidents!
Well done! Im dreading the toilet training stage but will deffinetly be looking into buying the charts, books etc if it helps.
Yes, everything helps. Not pushing too early is key, I think. Pull-Ups made things easier in terms of us being able to actually go out, too, and they’re now helping us with school runs so I needn’t panic about being caught out on the playground!
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