Potty is a huge step for children and can be emotionally challenging. Regressions typically occur during stressful times, like transitioning to a new baby or moving, or after accidents.

To help your child learn, establish a routine by seating them on the potty chair upon waking up and after meals and before and after naps. Encourage them to watch you and other family members use the toilet. Visit https://nextdaypotty.com/ to learn more.

Once your child shows the signs of readiness, set aside a few days to start potty training. During this dedicated time, try to follow a similar routine each day. Begin by sitting your child on the potty chair first thing in the morning and after meals and naps. Encourage them to sit on the potty for a few minutes (more if they think they need to poop). You may want to use books or toys on hand to help make this time fun and educational.

After a successful potty trip, be sure to celebrate with your little one. You can even give them a small treat, like their favorite snack or a new pair of underpants. And don’t punish your child if they have accidents—they will probably continue to have them until about age 5 or 6, and many kids even have accidents at night, too.

When you are ready to begin training your toddler, set aside a time when you can be at home. It is important that all caregivers, including creche and childminders, be on board with the potty-training plan and use the same terms to describe body parts, urine, and bowel movements. This will ensure consistency and avoid sending mixed messages that might confuse your child.

You can also help your child understand the process by showing them how you use the toilet and letting them watch when other family members of the same sex do so, too. It can also help if you let them dress themselves, especially when they are wearing pants rather than shorts. And, when changing your child’s diaper, you can explain to them that the poo goes in the potty and then they put it on the toilet to flush away.

It’s good to have a clean potty for your child to use each day, so consider buying a potty-chair with an open seat and a removable container underneath for poo. You can also find a portable potty that fits on top of a standard toilet, which is convenient for when you’re out and about.

Equipment

A potty is a small chair or seat with an opening to allow young children to urinate and defecate. It is often placed near a toilet to help children make the transition from diapers to using the toilet. Potty training can be an important milestone for your child, but it also comes with its own set of challenges and obstacles. Some kids may take only a few days to go from diapers to the potty, while others may need weeks or months to get there. It’s important to remember that your child will need a lot of encouragement and positive reinforcement to succeed. The right potty equipment can also make the process easier for you and your child.

Some parents prefer a potty chair, which is more compact and easy for children to use. Many potty chairs have fun colors and characters to make the potty more engaging for children. Some even have a step to help children climb onto the chair. Some also have a splash guard to prevent sprays. Some models can fit on standard toilets, while others are specifically designed to work with elongated bowls.

Other toilet training equipment includes a child’s trainer seat that clips on to the toilet and helps children feel more secure in the potty. There are also several products that can reduce the risk of spills, including seat reducers and flushable wipes. These wipes are similar to the standard disposable varieties, but they break down more quickly and may be safer for septic systems.

Once your child has mastered the potty chair, you can introduce them to full-sized toilets by putting a seat insert on the bottom of the bowl. These are smaller seats that sit on top of regular toilets and reduce the height of the bowl, making it easier for your child to climb on and off. Some come with a splash guard and can be easily folded down when not in use. There are also travel potties that can be used on long car trips or when visiting public restrooms. These are essentially small potties that can be stored in a diaper bag and may be especially helpful for boys who are sometimes intimidated by the large size of some public toilets.

Communication

The process of potty training is a two-way street. Your child must communicate to you that she or he needs to poop and pee, and you must listen and respond accordingly. This is the basis of a potty system that some families call Elimination Communication (EC). The idea behind EC is that you give your baby opportunities to potty when they are ready, instead of forcing them to use a toilet at an artificially determined time. You watch for signals, such as a whistling sound, or a grunting sound, and then encourage the elimination with a “cue” such as a whistle or a kiss.

When practicing EC, you will want to make trips to the potty part of your child’s daily routine. Children need to feel comfortable on the potty chair. If they don’t, they will resist, perhaps by trying to pee or poop into their pants. You can help them overcome this resistance by making trips to the potty a regular activity, such as after meals. You may also wish to set aside a special book or toy for potty time, and you can encourage your child to sit on the potty by sitting down beside them.

Many children who practice EC become fully potty trained without diapers in under two years, sometimes before their first birthday. This eliminates the stress of changing messy diapers and saves parents and caregivers money and the environment from buying disposable diapers. It also gives babies a sense of control that they can help themselves, and some babies even enjoy being naked.

However, if your baby is resistant to sitting on the potty, or they start having bowel movements while in the diaper, don’t get frustrated. Babies are still learning to recognize their own bodily fluids, and they will need more time to get comfortable with them. You might also try switching from a cloth diaper to an underpants or a small, soft, disposable pad.

You should also discuss the words your family will use to describe the body, urine, and bowel movements. It’s best to avoid negative words such as dirty, naughty, or stinky.

Rewards

Many parents use rewards as a way to help their child potty train. These can be anything from stickers that they affix to their child’s shirt to small candy or toys. While rewards can be helpful in encouraging toilet training, they should never be used as a bribe. Using rewards to get your child to do something is called a bribe and can create negative feelings about it. For example, your child might think that they’re “bad” for not getting the reward and will start to resist the toilet training process.

If your child receives a sticker every time they go potty, they will begin to associate going in the potty with a positive feeling, which can encourage them to continue. Stickers are also a great way to track progress on a chart that you can hang in the bathroom. You can find charts online or make your own.

Sweets are popular rewards for potty training because children love to eat them. However, sugar can create negative associations with potty training as it can interfere with normal bodily functions. For this reason, we recommend avoiding sweets as rewards for potty training.

Instead of candy, consider offering other small toys or activities that your child likes to do. For example, you can make a treasure chest out of an empty box or jar and fill it with items like musical instruments (kazoos work great), small books, inexpensive coloring books and finger puppets. 

Another benefit of the treasure chest is that it will teach your child to potty train independently, without the need for a parent to prompt them with a sticker or a treat every time they go in the potty. This is important because you won’t be able to rely on treats when they are older and need to go potty at school or in public. It’s also a good idea to stop using rewards once your toddler is consistently eliminating in the potty.