8 Things You Need for Potty Training Success – The Inquisitive Mom’s Guide

We’re currently potty training our third child, now that Daddy has a winter break from school. Potty training is still a challenge for us, but we’ve both noticed it going more smoothly the third time around. We’re no experts, but we have found a few things to be consistently helpful when potty training a child. If you’re considering potty training, here is our list of things you need to get started.

The Inquisitive Mom’s Guide: 8 Things You Need for Potty Training Success

1. A Child Who is Interested and Ready. Our oldest taught us this lesson early on. We might
have been ready to ditch diapers, but she didn’t care about being wet. We tried all of the tips that will follow on this page, but they were not effective until she was ready to try the potty. Here are some signs your child might be ready:
– Wakes up from naps and/or in the morning dry.
– Tells you that she/he is wet and tries to remove diapers.
– Accompanies you to the bathroom and shows interest in the toilet.
– Finds private places to go #2.

2. Dedicated Time for Potty Training. In our experience, it’s not very effective to part-time potty train. Weekends are often the best choice, especially if it means two adults can commit to the endeavor. Start on a Friday and plan a 3 day weekend in with lots of movies and supplies. Plan on some serious time fully dedicated to asking Are you dry? Do you need to use the potty? Make this a joint effort with your spouse or another adult, if possible.


3. Patience and Consistency – You will need these in spades. Patience is what makes my husband much better at potty training than I am. He is willing to go all in and consistently ask a child if they need to go, without distractions. He understands that a child who went 15 minutes ago still needs to be asked and encouraged regularly to go again until they really begin to head to the potty on their own. You also need to be able to take accidents in stride, remain positive, and follow through. Parents should really earn a medal after potty training a child.

4. Padded Training Pants and Character Underwear – There are numerous potty training options out there, many of them pricey. We found that a few packs of padded Gerber Training

Pants did the trick of somewhat protecting our furniture. These provide a bit more protection for accidents, are reusable, and help a child understand when they are wet (they were also our gateway to cloth diapering our second. If you can wash these, you can handle cloth diapers).

If your child has a favorite character, such as Lightening McQueen or Ariel, you can slide a pair of undewear featuring that character over the top and talk to them about “keeping Lightening McQueen dry.” As an extra precaution, we put old towels over the tops of our coaches.

5. Lots of Liquids – Stock up on your child’s favorite beverage and give it to them in their favorite cup all day long. Just keep handing them liquids. A hydrated toddler will need to go more often and this will help them anticipate when they need to urinate. Liquid and consistency go hand and hand. Give them liquids and ask and ask and ask if they are dry and if they need to go pee pee. Potty training is about the habit of using the potty at first and then gradually leads into a child learning to anticipate when they need to use the potty.

6. Rewards/Bribes – Identify something that motivates your child. Most toddlers won’t understand only a big end goal, like big kid underwear or a new toy. If you choose a big end goal, think about a rewards chart or stickers along the way. We have found candy to be super effective with our kids
and an awesome motivator. One small candy as an incentive for using the toilet is a big motivator in our home!

7. A Positive Attitude – Potty training is all about celebrating small successes. Make every trip to the potty a big event, with lots of cheering, clapping, even singing. Even if a child starts in their underwear, but finishes in the potty, we celebrate. A child should never feel ashamed or embarrassed by accidents. Potty training takes time and is a learning process, so don’t let yourself or your child get discouraged. Remain positive and you’ll get there!

8. Flexibility – You might need to try a few different potty training tools and motivators before you find the right routine for your child. Our first child wanted to potty train on a potty seat watching videos in the middle of the living room floor. Our second liked using the padded seat that attaches to the toilet seat. Our third prefers to climb on the regular toilet and sit all by himself. Our oldest potty trained all at once, day and night. Our boys were ready earlier, so bedtime training took a bit more time. Each experience has been challenging, but two are potty trained and we are currently working on it with our third.

What are your favorite potty training tips?