How to Know If Your Child Is Ready to Potty Train

Hey mamas! It’s been a little while since I’ve gotten on here. Between mommin’ and wife-life and teaching, it’s just been a whirlwind of non-stop running and chaos these past few weeks. In the midst of it all, Emma has now decided she is interested in the potty. Which slides me right into this blog post…

Let me start off with how potty training went for our first child. Everleigh didn’t show much interest in the potty whatsoever, and I had initially been worried she wouldn’t be trained by the time she had entered preschool in the fall that year. I was almost nine months pregnant with Emma at the time, and Everleigh still seemed a little unsure of using the toilet. We had a little Minnie Mouse potty that we kept out in the living room, and while I was on maternity leave, I’d let Everleigh run around butt naked. (Tip: Allowing your child to run around naked from the waist-down or in underwear actually does help in the potty training process. It lets them feel the wetness should they pee on themselves, and helps them to understand that it’s not a comfortable feeling.) After the first couple accidents on the floor, Everleigh started making her way to the little potty. Once she mastered the little potty in a few days, we upgraded to our standard-sized toilet. And BAM! After a couple weeks of training, and just a few weeks shy of Emma’s arrival, Everleigh was potty trained!

At first, I was afraid to push her. I didn’t want her to become frightened about using the potty, so I really wanted her to go at her own pace. When she had her first few accidents on the rug and seemed totally unfazed, I was initially discouraged because I was worried she wasn’t ready yet. And with preschool right around the corner, I didn’t want her to be partially-trained and having accidents left & right at school. However, after we made a huge deal about her peeing on the potty the first few times (Daddy treated her to ice cream and popsicles), she started telling us she had to go! And the rest was history. Aside from pull-ups at bed time, our girl was good to go.

Here comes our current potty excursion with Little Miss Emma. While Everleigh was fairly easy and only took about a few weeks to train, I was already under the impression our stubborn second-born would be much more work. She’s extremely independent, and I figured it’d be a severe struggle to get her potty trained by Preschool 3. I was already waiting for the battle.

I had zero intention of starting to potty train Emma at 2 years old. I was going to wait until she was maybe 2.5, closer to 3. However, when she came to us about a month and a half ago asking to use the potty, I jumped up and took her into the bathroom. She didn’t pee, but she sat for a while. And that trend continued for a couple weeks. Sitting, but not peeing. I didn’t care honestly; Em seemed interested so I wasn’t about to discourage her.

About two weeks ago at summer camp, she went into our classroom’s bathroom and peed on her own. Without help. I was stunned, but I made THE biggest deal about it. I was hoping if she saw how excited Mommy was, she’d continue to do it! And that has been going on for two weeks straight. She even made it through a whole day in underwear! But honestly, it was a little unrealistic of me to assume that she was just going to be trained in a day. So even though we still have diapers handy, we’ve been working on being in underwear for large chunks of the day and going to the bathroom about every 30-45 minutes. Even if she doesn’t go, I tell her how proud we are so she sees that she’s still doing a good job just by trying to sit on the toilet.

While she seems very interested, I see this taking a bit more time until Emma is fully trained. I don’t want to rush her, so we’re just taking this slowly and on Emma’s time.

Here comes the big question: How do you know if your child is ready for potty training?

Coming from a mom of two and a former preschool teacher, here are a few tips to evaluate when and if your child is ready to try out the potty.

1) If he or she is trying to take their diaper off (this usually means they don’t like the feeling of a soiled diaper). 

2) If he or she wants to try and sit on the potty on their own terms (having an older sibling or a trained classmate sometimes triggers them into wanting to do it, too). 

3) If you’re changing fewer wet diapers.

4) If his or her bowel movements are becoming a little more predictable.

5) If he or she is telling you his or her diaper is wet, or he or she went in the diaper. 

6) If he or she understands what the purpose of the potty is.

These are just a few signs your child may be ready to start potty training. And if your child expresses one or more of these signs, here are a few things you can do to make this transition go as smoothly as possible:

• Be consistent.

• Get a special little potty or potty seat to help them adjust to a normal-sized toilet.

• Use a potty chart if it helps your child to use the bathroom. Sometimes using stickers or a small reward helps get them into the habit of going on their own.

• Bribery. I am not above bribing my children to use the bathroom. Just the other day, I told Emma we could go to Chick Fil A for breakfast if she pooped on the potty. And it worked. You do what you gotta do.

• Give away diapers/pull-ups. Show your child that you’re giving his or her diapers away to a younger child who needs them. Tell them that they can now use big girl or big boy underwear because they’re growing up!

• Try to get them to use the bathroom every 30-45 minutes. This is sometimes not practical, so you plan out how to work it out for your child. As long as there’s a consistent time frame, it’ll help your child to realize that he or she needs to go frequently. (There’s also something called a potty watch. You set a timer on it, and every time it goes off is when your child needs to go into the bathroom.)

• Lastly, be patient. It’s a whole new thing for them just as much as it is for you. Forcing them and rushing into potty training won’t make things any easier on either of you. Know and observe your child, and tell them it’s okay when they have accidents or don’t pee on the potty. They’ll see that there’s no negative consequence for not being potty trained immediately.

Potty training is sometimes no easy feat. Every child does things differently and at a different pace. I have children in my class who come in potty trained at 2 years old, and some who aren’t trained until they’re 3.5 years old. It’s life. Your child will be ready when they’re ready.

For more tips and tricks on potty training, I’d like to refer you to my friend, Veronica Paige’s, YouTube vlog she just posted on potty training!

First Day of Dance School & Potty Training Tips

XO Kelsey