Potty Training Fun {?}

It's that time again to start potty training baby H!

Yay!

{Groan}

Do you feel that way?  I do! 

It feels like it is a ton of work and mess...

We are just in the very very early stages with H.,

so here we go!

I feel like I learned a few things from potty training Miss Sassy.

(Don't ask me why she has undies on her head in this pic...)

I started potty training her at 18 mo, and it continued until she was 30 mo. old...

And I feel like I tried everything!

So it was a little grueling, to say the least.

Here are some things I learned

1. Read the book Stress Free Potty Training

Just check it out of the library like I did.

It has a personality test that you take for your child,

and based on that test, you potty train your child using different strategies.

It turned out Miss Sassy was strong willed,

so she had to figure out for herself that she wanted to be potty trained.  Once that happened, potty training was a snap!

2. Make sure you have the building blocks in place.

Just like teaching kids how to read, you make sure they know the basics, their letters and sounds.

With potty training you want them to have some basic skills: like being able the pull down their pants, knowing potty words :), knowing their anatomy, etc.

3. Start early with Potty Propaganda

aka before you actually start potty training, plant the ideas of potty training with books, movies, and other resources!

I had one friend ask a family friend who played Santa Claus, to tell her daughter that it was time for her to be potty trained.  It worked!

4. Don't push your child, let them dictate the speed they go.

5. Have power potty training sessions

Pull of their diaper, let them run around naked,

outside, or in a non carpeted room.

Bring in a potty seat, and lots of juice to help them pee,

and salty snacks to make them thirsty and help them poop.

Encourage them to go in the potty, and cheer like crazy when they do!  If the miss have them clean it up, or try to.

We did this a lot with Miss Sassy, and it really helped!

Just don't get frustrated when the day after a power session, they are not 100% trained.

6. Take a break from potty training if you need one.  It's okay! It doesn't mean you've failed.  Sometimes a little break is just what you need to have a break through in potty training!

Here are some of my favorite Potty Training Books:

The farm animals steal Suzy Sue's potty,

and call it a poo pot, when she can't find it she almost goes in the bushes, until the animals stop her.

It is a darling book, and toddlers pick up on the meaning.

This book is a board book, with a baby who doesn't want to go in his diaper!  He tries to hold in, and then eventually goes in the potty.

Don't you love Karen Katz!  This book as pages that are a bi-fold and flip open to reveal the next part of the story.

It is about a child who learns how to use the potty.

This book has a boy and girl version. I love the real life pictures! My daughter read the girl version over and over again,

she especially loved when the little girl got to choose big girl underwear.

This is my favorite movie, it's a little old school, but it is so to the point.  It shows the little girl having an accident, and then eventually succeeding by going in the potty.

There are so many other great books and movies, I just wanted you to have a little list so you could put it on hold at the library!

Children feel like they are being told about potty training by a peer rather than their mom or dad.

What are your tips for potty training??