If you haven’t reached the potty training stage with your kids, you are in for a wild ride. Some kids learn fast. They respond quickly to rewards, follow a system, learn about body cues, and simply prefer being clean and dry over wet and dirty.
If that describes your children, you are lucky. If you find yourself laughing with incredulity at that description, don’t worry – many of us moms have been in the potty training trenches.
One of the popular methods for potty training right now is all about fast learning and has a non-going-back approach. It’s the “weekend potty training” method, or the “three-day potty training” method. And it’s popular for a reason – it works great for many kids!
The idea is that you take a weekend and stay home. You let your child run around naked and take them to the bathroom every few minutes. After a day or two, you let them run around with underwear and space out the trips to the potty a bit. Along the way, you offer rewards and encouragement, and after about three days, your child is basically potty trained! It’s exhausting and time-consuming, but it has worked for many families.
Like every bit of parenting advice, hacks, tips, tricks, or suggestions, this process doesn’t work for everyone. If you balk at the “weekend potty training” method, or if you have tried it without success, consider taking a longer, more patient approach. It won’t yield quick results, but it may be successful in your house.
Long-View Potty Training
If you want to take longer, slower approach to potty training, try something like this.
- Start with a weekend of potty training like the one previously mentioned. Have your child be naked at home, and use little treats like M&Ms as quick rewards for every single positive bathroom experience. Don’t worry about accidents – just redirect your kiddo to do the correct behaviors.
- Let your child pick out cool underwear that he or she will be excited to wear (and purchase plenty of backups – there were be messes). Use stretchy clothing that is easy to pull up and down – no fiddly buttons and zippers. Continue using the M&Ms as you venture out into the world a bit more. And, continue praising positive behavior. If your child is getting the hang of things, you may be done with the tedious parts of potty training.
- If your kid starts reverting to bad habits and you’re dealing with lots of accidents, try upping the ante when it comes to expectations and rewards. For example, instead of an M&M for every pee or poop in the toilet, you may offer a scoop of ice cream if he or she has no accidents all day.
- Once you are sure the child has an understanding of how to use the bathroom and reasonable expectations have been communicated, try pushing the limits even further. Set up a sticker chart that allows them to get a sticker for each good day, leading up to certain prizes. You might let your children pick out a dessert if they can make it three days without accidents, have a picnic for four days, pick out a toy at the dollar store for five days, and so on and so forth.
Final Tips
Potty training is hard. Have some grace for your child and yourself, and remember these important tips.
- Accidents will happen no matter what potty training method you use, so don’t lose patience.
- Don’t revert back to underwear.
- Keep up the praise, and avoid punishment.
- Ask a doctor if you notice any concerning behaviors.