Potty Training Made a Little Easier

This post, Potty Training Made a Little Easier, is sponsored by Huggies. All opinions are our own.

Let me start off by saying that this is not my first time at the rodeo when it comes to potty training a boy. 

Nope, it is my fourth boy to enter this stage of life. 

Honestly, I have to admit I get a little jealous of friends with little girls who train in days as they don’t like the feel of pee running down their legs. 

Boys don’t have that same issue and it seems like they really drag out the potty training fun for years from the first sign of readiness. 

long for the opportunity to have potty training made a little easier.
 

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Past Experience Potty Training Boys

What I have learned over the years is that the boys have windows of opportunity.

Even if you make significant progress when that window is open, they will easily slide back into ‘baby mode’ and avoid the toilet like the plague. 

All of my boys showed a real interest in using the potty when they were around 16 months old.  We would drag out the potty chair and encourage them with lots of enthusiasm if they made a ‘deposit’ in the pot. 

With 2 of the boys, they even got to where they used the potty about 75% of the time.  Then, it was like a switch was flipped and they wanted nothing to do with taking time to use the potty. 

By the time they reached age 3, the interest and ability was back.

One thing that has evolved in our house is what the boys wear on their rears. 

We’ve been a cloth diapering family for years.  And, we also had cloth training pants for the boys to use.  I loved the idea that if they felt wet they’d be more inclined to not wet themselves. 

The reality is that it rarely made a bit of difference in how fast they potty trained. 

Using Pull-Ups in Our House

Whether the years have provided wisdom or just laziness, I made the decision to use disposable training pants more often. 

With our youngest, Huggies has been the go-to brand for all disposable diapers and now their Pull-Ups training pants.

One feature of the Pull-Ups that they did not have when our older boys went through the potty training stage is the ability to open along the sides and reattach if the pull up is still useable. 

This has that saved me frustration of ‘wasted’ Pull-Ups if an overly exuberant child accidentally separated them when going to the bathroom.

And, it has made it a LOT easier to clean up the occasionally messy pants when someone has decided to hide and squat rather than make the trek to the bathroom to go.  

That feature alone was the main reason why I opted to use Huggies Pull-Ups in our home as the primary undergarment for J as he learns to be a ‘big boy’ and use the potty.

With the holidays coming up and a rash of illness making its way through our family, I took some time the other day to visit our local Walmart and stock up on Huggies Pull-Ups (visit my Google+ Album for more photos). 

I also grabbed a few ‘incentives’ to help reinforce the good behavior in a more tangible manner than just saying “Atta boy’!”

On his good days, J can go the entire day with the same Huggies Pull-Up on and no accidents whatsoever. 

My optimism returns on those days and I start thinking that we’ll pull the new SpongeBob underpants out sometime soon. 

I don’t want to be washing copious numbers of underpants on a daily basis. Or, cleaning up puddles around the house as illness seems to reset his brain a bit. So, I was proactive in bulking up my supplies of pull-ups.

Potty Training Tips

As this chapter in our parenting lives might be coming to an end soon (I hope!), I thought I’d also share some other tips.

* Watch for signs of readiness in your child, but don’t force the issue or berate them for having an accident. 

Make the whole process more of a ‘right of passage’ and have them eager to work towards no more diapers. 

Using something that fits and feels less like a diaper can help boost their spirits. (J loves wearing his Cars hoodie that ‘matches’ his pull-ups, too.)

* Make sure you have the appropriate supplies in the house. 

We added a special toilet seat in our main bath that we thought would eliminate the need for a separate potty chair. 

However, J still has times (like when he’s sleepy) that he prefers the low-riding potty chair to the regular toilet.

I have found that having them sit to pee when inside is a key to keeping the bathroom cleaner. They learn to pee standing up by using the bushed outside.

*Be ready to drop everything and run with your child to the potty. 

I’ve had some friends who actually set their potty chair in the main living space so there are less steps needed to use it. 

I just couldn’t bring myself to do that for hygiene concerns and would rather scoop him up and run if needed.

*Use their natural affinity for water to reinforce the need for good hygiene practices, especially hand washing. 

Make it easy for them to do with a step stool, too.

* Find some incentives to have them more enthused about using the potty on a regular basis. 

I have a small ‘treasure chest’ that just got restocked with snack-sized candy.

J can tap into when he has a bowel movement on the potty as well as for a nighttime treat if he’s stayed dry and clean all day.

For each of my boys, their Nana has purchased a package of character underwear of their picking to be the big reward when they are done with training pants. 

I like that it is tied to the skill they are learning and not too big. 

I once had a friend who’s son outsmarted them and would demand his reward for a single trip to the bathroom, yet squat behind the couch to relieve himself other times.

Thanks to Huggies Pull-Ups, my current potty training experience is a bit more pleasant and J is no further behind the learning curve than his older brothers. 

And, if I get discouraged with his progress, I remember my mother’s wise words that no normally developing child she knew ever went to kindergarten in diapers.
 

What Potty Training Tips or Tricks have you found that work?

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Huggies. #HuggiesWalmart #CBias #SocialFabric

This post was originally published on December 24, 2012 and has since been updated.