My Potty Training Tools

I have been absent here because Elaine decided she was ready to start potty training last week.  I was not going to start working on it until after the holidays.  So needless to say, I have been very preoccupied! 

We have tried this a couple of times before with no success, but this time she is really getting it!  Though I have read some books and asked a lot of other moms for advice, I am learning things for myself as I go through this stage with Elaine. 

When we started last Thursday, I hurried to throw together my supplies.  I know that each kiddo is different, and there are different techniques and rewards that work for some tots, and not for others.  These are the tools that have proved invaluable for me.

{Rewards}
We have a jar of M&M’s and Elaine knows that she gets a couple each time she makes a “deposit” in the potty chair.  If she isn’t ready to go, we set the timer.  She knows that when the ladybug dings, she has to try again.

{Stickers}
Elaine really likes stickers, so in addition to her candy, she gets to add a sticker to her chart each times she “goes.”  I just made a fast spreadsheet on Excel and popped it through the laminator.  We have it on the fridge with a magnet, but it’s portable to wherever the potty happens to be.

{Books}
If I am making Elaine sit for longer than the 2 seconds that she wants to spend on the potty, I have found that I need something to distract her.  She doesn’t want to feel like she’s missing out on the fun because she has to sit on the potty.  She loves to read, so we often have a stack of books next to the potty.

{Potty Chair}
This is a “duh!” item on my list.  I chose the BabyBjorn because it had great reviews on Amazon, and it has a fabulous shield on the front for when Nolan’s turn comes around…

{Trainers}
We have some Gerber training pants, some undies, and some Eco-Posh Trainers in our potty learning stash.  I really like the Eco-Posh panties because they have a hidden layer of TPU.  They can absorb quite a lot, and the TPU adds waterproofing for those unavoidable accidents, yet they look like “panties” to Elaine.  It is so important to her that they are not diapers!  She is a skinny girl, so she still loses pee out the leg holes if she has an accident, but not nearly as much as with the Gerber trainers.

More on potty training to come after the holidays!