Are you looking for a way to make potty training less stressful? I’ve put together the absolute best tips and strategies that you can start implementing today to make potty training less stressful and a whole lot more fun.
Potty training can be a pretty life-changing milestone for both you and your little one. You both experience a significant transition in life and it’s not a one-day affair. Many parents don’t realize it but stress is actually the biggest hurdle they need to overcome when it comes to potty training.
There are accidents, poopy floors and splurts of pee involved so it’s no wonder that the whole process is so stressful. So how do you go about eliminating the stress?
Check out these 12 incredible tips by experienced parents (myself included!) and trained professionals on how to make potty training easy and fun for you and your child.
12 Mind-Easing Tips To Make Potty Training Less Stressful
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Here are 12 sanity saving tips to follow for a smoother potty training experience.
1. Use Positive Affirmation Incantations
Potty training is as much about you as it is about your child. Your mindset is everything when training your child.
In fact, how you approach this new milestone determines whether or not it will be successful and how easy it will be.
So if you want to make potty training easy the first thing to do is to get into the training with a positive mindset. Encourage yourself and chant positive affirmations to help you stay calm and optimistic.
Some ideas for affirmations to chant in your head include:
“My child is learning a new skill. I will be patient and encouraging while he/she learns”
“There will be pee on the floor. I will not flip out”
“There will be accidents and I will be perfectly calm”
I remember chanting these incantations in my head while potty training my 2 year old and they helped me SO much in staying calm, particularly when dealing with accidents.
Check out these beautifully designed affirmations you can print and hang up to help you keep your cool while training your little one.
2. Be Armed with Cleaning Supplies
During potty training, accidents will definitely happen. This doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. It’s a natural part of potty training because your child will not develop bladder control overnight.
So instead of fretting over accidents, equip yourself with the right cleaning supplies.
Invest in a disinfectant spray, microfibre cleaning cloths with good absorbancy and disinfecting wipes for quick and effortless clean ups.
You should also get hygienic toiletries for your child, such as flushable baby wipes, kid-friendly hand soap and a cute kids soap dispenser that encourages hand washing.
3. Have a Plan
One of the best pieces of advice I can give you to make potty training less stressful is that don’t just jump into potty training without first having a plan.
Figure out what approach you will be using and what method would best work for yourself and your child. Will you be following the child-oriented training, parent-led training or the 3 day training method?
Once you know your method, chalk out a plan, collect the necessary supplies you need to get started and figure out what reward system you’ll use. Being prepared and having a plan gives you a sense of calm and a feeling of confidence while starting off on such a rocky journey.
I personally used the 3 day training method with both my kids and they were both fully trained by the end of the 3 days (of course there were accidents from time to time but by and large they were done with training).
One tool that helped me immensely in having such success was using potty training tracker sheets.
This tracker helped me keep track of my child’s frequency in needing to use the toilet and the intervel at which she had to go. Hence I was able to adjust my timer accordingly and considerably minimize the accidents we had (in fact, on day #2 of training we had 12 successes and 0 accidents thanks to this tracker!)
4. Tame Your Expectations – don’t expect your child to be perfect at it
Expectations are the enemy of a successful and pleasant potty training experience. It is very easy for parents today to fall prey to such issues.
Whether it’s pressure from an older generation, like parents or grandparents, or a friend whose child was potty trained by the age of 2, it’s easy to get stuck with unrealistic expectaions.
Nonetheless, you HAVE to tame your expectations of your child and not expect them to be perfect. You want the process to happen naturally and allow your child to pace themselves.
According to WebMD, sometimes, you may think your child has nailed potty training only for them to have accidents. This is a natural process. While it’s human nature to get frustrated, you should not dwell on the issue or punish your child.
Its also important to note that while your child may catch on to day time training, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will also have control of their bearings at night.
Even after nailing potty training during the day, your child may not stay dry during the night for a couple more months and even years to come. You have to give them the room to learn at their own pace.
5. Get Your Timing Right
Mayo Clinic reports that the ideal age to start potty training your child is around 18 to 24 months. However, many children go up to 3 years old before they start showing signs of being ready for potty training.
I started trying to train my child when she was 2 years old but quickly found out that she was not ready for it developmentally. So i stopped training for a few months and tried again when she was 2 and a half.
She caught on to the process quickly and was fully trained in 3 days.
If you are interested in learning about the magic of 3 day potty training and how simple it really is, I have a very detailed post about potty training my 2 year old in 3 days.
The bottom line is that there shouldn’t be any rush to get your child started – only do so when they are ready. This will help you immensely in making potty training easy for both your toddler and yourself.
This takes us to the next point – in addition to the age, you want to ensure your child is developmentally ready to use the bathroom alone.
Like drinking from a cup or using a spoon, using the potty is a skill that must be learned. It is best accomplished when your child has developed emotionally and physically to the point where they are ready to take on using the bathroom independently
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The easiest way to determine this is through your child being able to communicate their needs, being able to do physical tasks, such as dressing themselves (such as pulling pants up and down), and showing an interest in using the bathroom independently.
You also want to get the timing right in terms of your state in life to make potty training less stressful and more successful. You don’t want to start training during a major event like moving, traveling, having a baby or going through a loss in the family.
6. Have the Right Equipment
A successful, stress-free potty training experience requires having proper and adequate equipment BEFORE you start training.
Some parents prefer to start their children with a child sized potty and transition them into the toilet with a seat adjuster. Others prefer to start straight with a potty seat insert and a step stool. The choice really depends on what works best for you and your household.
In addition to the main potty equipment, you want to invest in additional super essential tools. This includes cotton underwear, cleaning equipment, a travel potty (super duper important!) ways to teach your child about potty training (through a potty training doll or potty books) along with small rewards to motivate your child.
Here is a list of the absolute best potty training equipment on Amazon that parents SWEAR by.
Summer Infant My Size Potty – make potty training less scary with an infant sized potty chair
Potty Training Seat with Step Stool Ladder – potty seat with a step stool attached
Potty Seat Insert Non-Slip with Splash Guard – potty insert built to prevent splashes
Folding Travel Potty Seat for Boys and Girls – make getting out of the house less stressful
Melissa & Doug Drink & Wet Doll – teach your child how toilet training works
P is for Potty! (Sesame Street) Lift-the-Flap Board Book – get your child excited to train
Munchkin Faucet Extender – make hand-washing easier
Potty Timer – help your toddler get to the potty on time
7. Get Your Child Excited
The secret to success during potty training is to make it into a super fun experience for both yourself and your child. While that sounds impossible, it totally isn’t!
These are some awesome tried and tested hacks that parents use (myself included!) to make potty training fun for your toddler:
1. Reading potty training books together
2. Getting a potty training doll to explain how potty training works
3. Doing potty training activities to help get your child excited to ditch the diapers. Toddlers trace, color, match, sort, giggle and laugh as they learn about potty training the FUN way.
No nagging and no pressure.
This has tremendous benefits in increasing your child’s motivation to train and actually get excited about it. Check out the potty training activity book to see what all the hype is about!
4. Using a potty training reward chart (get our two cute dino and fairy charts FOR FREE using the form at the end of this post!)
5. Getting big girl/boy underwear that has your child’s favorite characters on it
6. Letting your child pick out their own potty seat
7. Offering rewards like a tiny piece of candy or stickers for each successful trip to the bathroom
If you want more ideas, you can read my detailed post on potty training reward ideas that seriously work.
8. Slow Down Other Activities
While different children will achieve this milestone at different intervals, potty training still requires commitment and full attention. So you want to try and slow down on other activities and devote valuable time to this process. Your child needs you right now.
Are you looking for a potty training method that is 100% respectful, gentle, and easily
adaptable for ANY child, family situation, or schedule?You need to check out Gentle Potty Coaching by Kim West.
A unique, much-loved by parents potty course using a method that avoids bribing and shaming your children, and skips the endless power struggles, accidents, and frustration.
9. Choose the Right Reward System
Having a good reward system in place during potty training is essential to your potty training success. The key is to figure out what motivates your child. Every child is different and as a parent you know your little one the best. So spend some time thinking about what would encourage and motivate your child.
Most kids love candy, chocolate, reward charts with stickers and lots of praise. It’s important to remember to keep the rewards simple and small. Your main goal is to make potty training fun for your child and not buy an entire toy shop! Further, you want the reward to be immediately after the event.
According to Baby Center, parents shouldn’t offer rewards simply because the child sits on the potty. You should only give the reward when the child actually pees or poops. If you reward them without any significant action, they will learn to just sit on the potty every 5 minutes and expect a reward without doing anything in the potty.
If you want more ideas, you can read my detailed post on potty training reward ideas that seriously work.
Reward charts are a suuuuuperb way to motivate a child to train. I designed two adorable potty training charts just for you – dino and fairy themed. Get them sent to your inbox for free! 🙂
10. Include Other Caregivers in the Process
Potty training can get stressful and too much for one adult to handle. Plus you might not always be around your child when they are going through the potty training process.
So it’s important to make sure that you involve other caregivers in the potty training process. This way all the burden is not just falling on you.
Caregivers you should definitely involve include your spouse, nanny, caretakers at the daycare, and even your parents, siblings or extended family if they help you babysit.
11. Stop Comparing
Many parents compare their kids with other kids their age during potty training. This can be anyone from your child’s school friends to your own friend’s children.
You might compare the fact that other kids started early or they seem to be getting the hang of toilet training faster than your child. This type of comparison should be a complete no-no for you when training your child!
Every child has their own pace and their own cognitive process. No two kids will ever be the same, even siblings or twins.
So just remember that comparison will only make the process tougher and put more strain on your child and yourself.
12. Patience is Everything
Ultimately, potty training will not be an easy milestone to go through. Even with the best tips from people with the most expertise, you will still experience some hurdles. So the best approach to this experience is to exercise patience.
With accidents, disappointments, and even impatience and reluctance that your child may show, your patience is what will get you through this journey.
Conclusion
With these ingenious parent-recommended hacks above, you can definitely make potty training less stressful for you and your little one.
While these tips help to ease the overall process, you have to remember that they don’t eliminate all the hurdles. The best way to get into potty training is with a positive mindset and much-needed patience.
Ready to take the stress out of potty training? Interested in getting your toddler excited to train? Check out this potty training value pack that will transform your potty training journey from stressful to fun!
Don’t forget to grab your free chart!
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