The potty training process is fraught with emotion; highs lows and all sorts of sideways. Parents at this time can vacillate between happy and sad, angry and hopeful.

Don’t worry. It’s all part of the process. Understanding this can clip miles from the otherwise endless feeling potty training road. In other words, it can help you teach your child to use the potty fast!

Consider things from your child’s perspective – you just asked them to walk right into a learning nightmare. Unless of course you have properly prepared them ahead of time.

Your child might be thinking that life isn’t fair or that you have changed the rules of the game on them. They may act out because they have no other way to express their feelings. Don’t get frustrated, as that can (and often will) only serve to elongate the  toilet training process.

Patience at this stage is paramount.

Instead of getting upset, try to answer your toddler’s questions.

Explain where their waste goes, the purpose of going potty, why the potty makes noises, etc.

Sing songs, encourage them, and play games.

Make potty training fun and you will eliminate much of the difficulty.

There is no specified age for to start toilet teaching. However, any time after two years of age, your child should have the confidence, muscle control and comprehension skills to initiate the process. At that point, the hard part falls to you. You as the parent must navigate the process, making it fun for your child and easy for them to accept.

Just remember to take the potty training one step at a time and accept that it is a process rather than an event.

Potty training isn’t something you can escape. You and your child will have to face it regardless of when you decide to begin.

You can do it. We know you can.

Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!

Potty Training Power is now over a year old!

Happy Birthday to us. :)

In the last year we’ve published a ton of helpful content, but we also realize that the amount of posts can be overwhelming.

You might be wondering where the best place to get started?

We’ve rounded up 10 of our most popular posts for you here. We thought that would be an excellent place to start. You can click on the link if you’d like the Potty Training Power free report. Otherwise, click on any of the links below.

Enjoy!

Toilet training can feel so emotionally draining. Read this post if you’d like to know how to put the fun in potty training!

Does it seem as though all your friends know some sort of secret that allows them to train their toddlers to use the toilet in half the time? This will help you know how to potty train your child fast.

It’s easy to make mistakes while teaching toddlers how to use the toilet. We’ve all made them. Read this post to find out which are the 7 most common potty training problems.

Is your toddler afraid of learning to use the potty? How about you? Read this post and no one will ever need to be afraid of potty training ever again!

How do you know when it’s the right time to start teaching your child to use the potty? There is no universal answer to this oh so common question. You can, however, look to these early signs of potty training to get an idea.

The power of praise is a powerful tool to use while in the midst of the toilet training process. Read this post about the most powerful potty training reward and how to properly use it.

Ugh. Let’s be honest, a lot of potty learning is pretty gross. It’s a good thing that proper toilet instruction also comes with a primer on potty training hygiene.

Do you see all the awesome art for Potty Training Power? The artist’s name is David Wright. Here’s his Potty Training Power success story.

No one wants to screw up the toilet training process. Read this post to get clues to tactics for the most effective potty training.

As always, thanks for reading.

You can do it. We know you can!

Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!

Your child has been successfully  potty trained for a few months. Life is liberating without the diapers, reminders and accidents.

Then it happens.

Your child regresses back to the beginning and acts as though you never introduced the potty training process in the first place. You feel like you are back to square one, frustrated, no,  infuriated that the sofa has a big wet spot on it. You were not anticipating that among your many to do’s for the day!

What is going on with my child?

Resistance to the potty when already trained, or a decisive regression can not only be befuddling, it can create turmoil in the household. Rather than yell, nag, shame or punish, simply take a deep breath and start with a plan.

• Evaluate your child’s day and behaviors.  Does he have consistent care with caregivers and are they being consistent with your expectations?
• Have there been any changes in schedule, house guests, moving, job changes, family changes etc. Be honest with yourself.
• How does your child react when he has a potty training accident?  Is he pleased with himself or does he seem remorseful?
• Has there been a change in the school. Is there a new teacher or a new classmate that may be getting more attention?
• Is it a case of strong wills or a power struggle?
• Does your child seem to enjoy the attention even though it is negative?

The best solution is to start from the beginning, yes again. Have a heart to heart talk with your little one and ask questions. By talking about the issue you are involving your child in the potty training process and making him responsible for when he does or does not use the toilet. If you need to go back to the incentive chart because your train derailed, then do it.

Sometimes children need to feel in control and so they use resistance to toileting to assert themselves.

It seems odd they would enjoy the negative attention getting behavior, but in their minds any attention is better than zero attention. And we all know an accident gets our immediate attention. Therefore, make sure that you involve your child in the changing process in a clinical manner, praise him when he does the right thing, and be firm in communicating that this is not okay, and we that you’ll get back on track by using the chart.

The chart is tangible and a visual that makes your child accountable while keeping everything in perspective through use of a graph showing the actual number of accidents.

When your child has language, discussing the issue and your expectations is perfectly reasonable. Your child needs to be reassured that sometimes we all slip. Think about all the people who diet and vow to never put those extra pounds on again. We are human and part of that process regardless of the reason for regression needs to be addressed with a concrete plan to squelch the unwanted behavior with the successful behavior.

You can do it. We know you can!

Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!

Congratulations! You’re ready to start potty training.

You’re smart, so you know that diving into toilet training without first preparing is like diving into a pool without any water.

OUCH!

Preparing for potty training before you begin can help to minimize your struggle and maximize your results.

By readying your family for the potty training process, you will help to ensure that it is smooth sailing all the way. Follow these simple steps for the next seven days, and one week from tomorrow you will be starting on your potty training adventure with confidence.

Day One: Establishing the Right Mindset

The most important thing to do on the first day of preparation is to play up the toilet training positives! Let your child know how much fun learning to use the toilet   is going to be.

This is your chance to make positive toilet training a self fulfilled prophecy. Build it as a great experience before you get started.

Approached from the proper perspective, potty teaching is an ideal time to bond with your child. Done right, potty training will strengthen the character of your relationship.

You can use this first day to set the stage.

Accentuate the positives. Say things such as,Wearing underwear is going to be so much fun!You’re going to be such a big boy! andYay! You can flush, just like Mommy and Daddy!

Make sure you don’t do anything during the first day to disparage their diapers or in any way make your child feel like a baby. Rather than making them feel small, let them know that they’re on their way to being BIG.

Day Two: Acknowledge Their Grown-up Behavior

Keep doing everything you did on day one, but now recognize their grown-up behavior at every opportunity. Don’t come out of nowhere demanding sophisticated behavior, but do give them positive feedback whenever possible.

Sharing toys, cleaning up, drinking from a cup without spilling, using appropriate manners, etc. Try to catch them in the midst of any behavior which reveals their emerging maturity.

Celebrate and repeat!

You want your child to

A)Draw the line between getting bigger and using the potty

And

B) Crave that particular positive praise.

By first discussing how much fun it will be to feel more grown up once potty trained, then telling your child that they can do it, you are planting the seeds that will start to flower the following next week.

Day Three: Introducing Potty Training Jargon

It doesn’t matter which words you use, so long as you’re consistent.

Some parents prefer silly words such as stinky, pee-pee or poo-poo. In our house we use the word fluff for flatulence. Some parents prefer proper vocabulary such as urinate or defecate. We use number one and two.

There is no right or wrong way, but you must be predictable in your usage.

Continue to do everything you did the first and second day, now adding new language into the mix. Your objective is to make your child feel comfortable.

This means they should feel natural with bathroom discussion and informing you of their needs.

Next week, when you’re in the midst of potty training, you will want your child to tell you when they have to go to the bathroom, rather than telling you they have a dirty diaper.

Preparing them with language is part of preparing them for potty training.

Day Four: Go Shopping

The key purpose of day four is to help your child feel as though they are directly involved in the potty training process.

Parents generally face the most resistance when their child feels that potty training is something that has been thrust upon them. This is an easy pitfall to sidestep if planned for ahead of time. By including your child in the selection of potty training materials, you will be helping them to anticipate what is happening rather than simply requesting that they comply.

Think about it there is a big difference between bringing a potty chair home, then putting it in the bathroom and saying,Time to potty train! andLet’s go to the store and pick out a potty training chair together!

Head to the store and pick out a potty training chair. Get one that is durable and won’t easily tip. Let your child put the chair into the bathroom and take ownership of it.

Allow them to decorate the potty chair with stickers or write their name on it; whatever it takes to make them feel as though it belongs to them.

Continue to build anticipation. Say things such as,Next week we’re going to learn how to use the potty instead of using your diaper!

Dave Five: Modeling Desired Behavior

From day five forward, consider taking your child with you every time you need to eliminate. Though this may feel like an invasion of privacy, it could greatly reduce the stress on the potty training process.

Children learn by what they see, not just by what they’re told. They will always look to their parents for examples.

Telling your child when you have to go to the bathroom will help to reinforce the link between feeling and doing. It may seem silly, but tell your child what is happening while it is happening.

Complete the process by reminding your child that next week they’ll be old enough to start trying as well.

Don’t stop with yourself!

Day five will carry the most impact if both parents are in it together. Mom and Dad should BOTH be modeling the desired behavior.

Children learn most from the same-sex parent. Your son will learn most from Dad and your daughter most from Mom. Ideally everyone in the family is working together toward the same result.

Day Six: Teaching

Get a doll, any doll, any doll will do.

You will firstteach this doll to go potty while your child is watching, then ask them to mirror the lesson on their own.

Like the modeling that took place in day five, this might feel a bit silly. Believe me, your child will be watching every thing you do.

Explain to the doll how to use the potty. Teach them how to flush and wash their hands afterwards. When finished, ask the doll if they understood everything. Then say,What? You want me to show you one more time? Okay!

Your child will probably giggle, but they’ll be eager to see it again.

Repeat the steps as many times as you’d like to. Then hand the doll to your child and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge on their own.

This step will give your child the confidence they need to start the potty training process by doing rather than learning. If they feel they already know what to do, then they will be a lot more inclined (and excited) to do it.

Day Seven: Final Preparation

The primary goal of the final day is to get your kid super duper excited about the potty training that will take place on the following day. Pull out all the stops. Make them feel like tomorrow is Christmas.

For you it will be.

Rinse and repeat the best steps from the previous seven days. Keep discussing the potty. Acknowledge their grown-up behavior. Continue to take them potty with you whenever you have to go. Allow them to model with the doll as often as they wish.

Warning: This will probably be a lot!

Prepare your charts and stickers. Show them the calendar and tell them that tomorrow’s the big day!  Say goodnight to the potty before they go to bed.

Successful potty training lies in large part with the preparation. Don’t skip these steps, take the time to properly prepare over the course of the week. Make potty training a quick, painless process, rather than the endless struggle it is for many parents.

You can do it. We know you can!

Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!

Are you like most parents, dreading potty training and living in fear that the experience will be filled with friction?

Are you worried that your toddler’s stubborn will is stronger than your own resolve?

Don’t fret. Prepare instead.

Potty training is a special time in your child’s development, when you can easily deepen your connection and strengthen your bond. But this can only happen if you approach it   from the right mindset.

Otherwise, you run the risk of stumbling into an endless battle of wills, with two tiny armies, each unwilling to surrender.

Potty training can’t be avoided. Sooner or later your child will learn to use the potty, just like all the other big boys and girls.

Eventually you will win, but at what cost?

Done well, potty training is an enjoyable time, loaded with glee and laughter, growth and learning. Done poorly, potty training can turn into a long struggle where the finish line seems like only a suggestion.

Don’t let this happen to you!

These are the 7 most common mistakes that parents make when teaching their children to use the toilet. Avoid them all, and your potty training experience will be both fun and fruitful.

1) Initiating Potty Training During a Stressful Time for Your Family

Are you in the midst of a move, introducing a new member to the family, or in the middle of a major life transition?

Your child is sensitive, and even small changes can feel BIG to them. Learning to use the potty is a significant step in their learning process. Beginning at a time when they’re already feeling tender is potentially setting yourself up for a long and difficult road.

Rather than starting from nowhere, plot toilet teaching on the calendar and include your child in the planning. Make sure it fits into your life. Choose a time where you will face minimal outside factors which can negatively impact your progress.

Potty training is best when it’s smooth sailing. Stopping and starting will always make things more difficult. By minimizing the variables, you will hit the finish line faster, with fewer bumps along the way.

2) Starting Too Late

The optimum time to start potty training is different for every child, yet there does seem to be an ideal window. Start too early and communication can be difficult. Start too late, however, and you can be in for a power struggle like you’ve never seen, and will probably never forget.

The older your child, the more likely they are to display the strength of their iron will. At two years old, a child is just learning to understand their place in the world. They are getting to know their likes, dislikes, and best means for expressing their needs.

By the age of three, most toddlers understand how to get their way and are far more skilled in the art of manipulation. Tactics learned in the terrible twos are now sharpened, and can leave you feeling helpless, hopeless and downright defeated.

What is difficult at three can feel impossible at four. This is why it is always better to start too early then too late.

3) Setting Unrealistic Expectations

There are multiple pieces to the toilet training process. Many parents add stress to the situation by expecting everything to happen all at once. This can make a child nervous and lead to under-performance.

There is not a potty training switch you can flip to finish their training. If you want a positive, expedient experience, it is essential to understand that toilet training is a process and not an event!

Not only must your child learn to control their body functions enough to use the restroom in private, they will need to learn to do it in public as well. This is in addition to mastering their bowel movements and going for long periods of time without any accidents.

These are all things your child must learn before their training can be considered complete.

Yet you cannot expect it to happen all at once.

Potty training is something that is best done step-by-step. Parents who expect success happen at the speed of light, are only setting themselves up for disappointment. Though it is possible, it is rare that toilet training is entirely finished in a few days or a weekend.

Parents who understand this, and exhibit the appropriate patience, will go far in establishing a safe, comfortable environment for their child to find their own potty learning prosperity.

4) Not Doing Enough to Properly Prepare Your Child

Potty training isn’t YOU vs. THEM. It is a joint effort between parent and child, where your goal is to teach them a basic but necessary life skill.

As with any other skill you would want your child to learn, you must properly prepare them ahead of time.

Think of toilet training as teaching your child to swim. If you took your child to the pool without discussing it ahead of time, then told he or she that they need only to jump into the pool and that everything would be okay, you might succeed in getting them to comply.

But more than likely, you would face strong resistance in the form of crying, wailing, and whatever else lies in your own child’s personal grab bag of disagreement.

If you were to emotionally prepare them, however, by discussing how much fun it is to play in the water, citing their friends and peers who already know how to swim, while reminding them of the many family adventures you can have once the task has been mastered, then you will be far more likely to get them to see them splashing a whole lot sooner.

5) Expecting the Same Results for Every Sibling

People are all different.

Though we all share similarities as humans, there are countless things which make us each unique. Most important when it comes to potty training – we all absorb information in slightly different ways. What works for some will rarely, if ever, work for all.

It is essential that you treat each child as an individual. Yes, there are strategies that carry over from one child to the next, the best of which are fairly universal.

Proper modeling, appropriate patience, suitable rewards and realistic expectations will all go a long way toward successful potty training, but feeling frustrated because what worked for your daughter is not working for your son is like beating a brick wall and expecting it to budge.

If you understand ahead of time that each child is unique, and that there is a strategy that will work best for your child, then you have already won half the potty training battle.

6) Confusing Bed Wetting and Potty Training

This is a common problem facing many parents. Many people don’t realize that their children may continue to wet the bed at night, even after they are finished with potty training.

The two issues are sometimes, though not always, related.

For many families, wetting the bed is something that can continue well into toddlerhood. This is okay. Just because your child is wetting the bed at night, doesn’t mean that they are not potty trained or are incapable of remaining dry throughout the day.

As long as your child can control their bodily functions during the day, and can consistently go for long periods without any accidents, then you can consider them trained.

Knowing your child is potty trained, even though they are still wetting the bed, can help you to focus on the bedwetting issue. This will allow you to celebrate on their toilet learning success without confusing the issue.

7) Lack of Patience

Though this one goes hand in hand with #3, it deserves an entry all its own!

A lack of patience on the parent’s part can often send the potty training process down a broken road of frustration. Even without language, children are highly sensitive to their parent’s emotions.

They will feel your anger, disappointment, frustration, irritation or feelings of defeat. Sometimes, even if you believe they are well hidden.

Align your expectations ahead of time and you will minimize the chance of this happening.

Your child will probably have numerous accidents, take longer than you would like, and frustrate you to no end. At some point you will wish you never started. But you must draw a deep breath and keep right on going.

Patience is the single most important ingredient to potty training, and can define how you remember the experience. If you wish to look back with fond memories rather than shudders of horror, simple patience could make all the difference in the world.

You can do it. We know you can!

Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!

Potty training is one of those things no one wants to do.

Believe me, I get it.

But the thing is, no matter how much you wish it wasn’t so,  potty training isn’t going to go away. You don’t see many 10-year-olds walking around in diapers. At some point, they’re going to have to face the music and get your kid to dance.

With potty training, just like anything else, it is often that first step that’s the hardest. Once you get started you’ll soon find yourself in the middle of the process. At that point it’s just a matter of time until you find yourself at the end.

It might be difficult.

It might be horrible.

You might see a site of your child’s view never expected to see.

You might want to run from the house screaming.

You might find yourself more frustrated than you ever expected to be in your entire life.

But you must get started.

The other option is simply letting it go. Many parents do this in the hopes that potty training will get easier once the child is more effectively able to communicate. The truth is, the more language a child has, the more they are able to assert those things they do not want to do.

Many parents who wait until their child is three years old to start potty training, quickly come to realize the error of their ways. Initiating the potty training process when your child is just two years of age, means you are starting before they have learned to assert their will or sharpen their skills of manipulation.

People who say you can potty train your child in a single day, or even a weekend, are only telling half-truths. Though this can be done, for many parents the reality is a bit longer. But it won’t be a shorter time or an easier process because you put it off. More often than not, the reverse is true.

Swallow hard and take a giant step forward. Start potty training your child today so you can find your freedom tomorrow.

You can do it. We know you can.

Potty Training Power… AWAY!!!

Don’t give up!  If you are already knee deep in the potty training process, don’t stop no matter what.

Even if your child is giving you nothing but grief (and they very well might be) and you feel like giving up – please don’t!

If you do give up now, the teaching your child to use the potty will only grow more difficult later.

By surrendering to their wishes, you are teaching your child that they can have things their way, so long as they’re willing to commit to a bit of crying. They’ve probably been pulling on the arm of a slot machine for a while now, by throwing in the towel you are finally giving them the jackpot they’ve been waiting for.

The next time you try to start potty training, they’ll know that as long as they keep pulling on the handle, eventually they’ll hear the DING! DING! DING! of their winnings.

Toilet training can feel as though it is endless, yet so do many other things that are difficult to do. Consider the last time you started a diet, or maintained a steady regimen at the gym. It was difficult at first, right? But eventually you were able to turn your actions into a routine until you saw the benefits of your effort.

The key with potty training, just as it is with diet or going to the gym, lies in consistency.

It is important to create and recognize your momentum. Teaching your child to use the toilet is a process and it won’t happen in just one day. By being mindful of the process and keeping your eye on the prize, you can see the small growth that both you and your child are making.

Keep the encouragement coming, never take your eyes off the finish line, and know that sooner or later this will all be behind you.

Ask any parent, potty training is far funnier when looking through the rear view.

Give up on the toilet training process today and you will probably regret it tomorrow. Grin and bear it, and in no time you’ll be really happy you did.

Ditch the diapers today and find your freedom tomorrow.

You can do it! We know you can.

Potty Training Power… AWAY!!!