Some thoughts on potty training

Well, it is that time again. Third time round. It’s time to potty train my youngest child. I am a little sad about this. For 9 years we have had a least one child in cloth nappies. When this child trains, that will be it, goodbye cloth in my house (although plenty in the office still!).

You’d think that having potty trained before, I’d know what I was doing, but all I can say is all children are different.

With my first, I tried to “force” potty training when pregnant with number 2. After a week of wet floors and not being able to go out, I phoned my HV in despair. Her reply? If you are changing 3 pairs of pants an hour, he isn’t ready, put him back in nappies and try again in a few months”. Sage advice, a few months later, after a couple of months of 2 in cloth, we tried again – and he was dry in days. He took a little longer to get the hang of pooing on the loo, much to my frustration, but it wasn’t long and was soon using the toilet. However, he never liked the potty and trained straight to the toilet.

Number 2 child trained herself. We went to stay for a week with a friend who had a little girl 6 months older than mine, and potty trained. Everytime A went to the toilet, K went to the potty next to her. By the time we got back from holiday she was potty trained. Except for one strange foible. If we kept her naked from the waist down, she would use the potty without fail, if we dressed her, she wet herself! This resulted in us using nappies when she left the house for about 6 months, but not at home!

So, how will things go with number 3? Well, he is reliably using the potty at home (naked from the waist down or clothed), so on Monday we take the plunge. No nappies for nursery. Gulp!

So tips:

Treat each child as an individual

Take it at their time

Decide for yourself if you want to use nappies out and about, or just take lots of spare clothes out.

Let your child choose their potty and stickers or reward.

Remember a couple of brands do washable pullups – Bum Genius Flips do a pull up version, and Gro Via do a trainer pant that can be stuffed to make it more absorbant.

Accept that accidents happen

Praise attempts, and ignore accidents (but do clean them up!)

Wish me luck!