Welcome to Nanny Knowledge with Miss Jen!
In this segment we're going to be talking about potty training!
Welcome to Miss Jen's Potty Training Boot Camp y'all. Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions. It can be reciprocal - we'll be friends!
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Here we go!
As you may know I've been a Nanny and a child caregiver for over 39 years. I've been doing this a long time y'all. I have potty trained a lot of babies! This five part series on potty training is filled with tips and tricks that have worked for me throughout my career. Hopefully by now you've read part ONE of Miss Jen's Potty Training Boot Camp, so if you're just joining us we were just talking about how to set your little one up for a potty training success.
When you do finally get that potty success out of them - celebrate! High fives! "Way to go buddy!" "I knew you could do it! We'll do it again tonight after dinner time." Remind them that there's going to be more opportunity for them to do that again and earn more treats and rewards. Be careful with the sugary treats and rewards right close to bedtime.
Tell them what a good job they did! Have them hop off the potty, clean up, wipe appropriately and then turn around and take a look and see what they put in the potty! I know this is silly but they like to see their results! They need to know what's yellow and what's brown, what comes from where. What comes from the front what comes from the back. Let them turn around and look in there and see what they did - wave to it! Say hi to it! "Good job look at the pee-pee you made! Look at that big poop!"
You need to encourage your child so they'll do it again and again. To the point of sounding ridiculous. I know... who wants to stand there and have a little poo-poo party over this porcelain bowl right? Your child does! Your toddler does! Your child needs that every time they go potty! At least in the beginning anyway. It'll wear off eventually... soon... like... you know... when they turn 17 or... You might not need to do it in their teenage years... they'll grow out of it.
Applaud them! Praise them! Sing a song about pee-pee and poo-poo! Whatever it takes. Make them feel like they are just the best darn thing and that they've done the most wonderful amazing accomplishment! Do it to the point of sounding like a huge dork! Stop whatever you're doing and go celebrate them for just a minute! Let them know how proud you are! If you keep doing that for them, they're gonna keep having the successes for you. That's the whole point right? The sooner we can get this little one out of diapers or pull-ups the better. Don't worry: this ridiculous acting of crazy praise won't last too long.
After that potty success, let your kiddo be in charge of flushing. Most of the time it's pretty fun for them. Unless it's one of those really loud scary flushing toilets or especially maybe not a public restroom toilet. I don't think I would let my little one touch the handles to flush in a public restroom. But at home you know it's clean, you know it's been sanitized, let your little one flush and say bye bye to the pee-pee and bye bye to the poo-poo like: "We did it yay! Let's flush. Let's make the flushing sound." Let's make this part of the ritual - part of the whole process! They might enjoy the flushing. If your little one isn't too fond of flushing or it's too loud for them, skip on the flushing part. Wait till they've left the bathroom, at least in the beginning stages. Don't make that a part of their responsibility. You can flush it after they leave. But some kiddos really like to do their own flushing, it kind of gives them a little bit of control and it puts them in charge.
Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
Repetition is important... no... imperative! If you don't say the same things, do the same schedule, use the same potty, get into that ritual, they're gonna forget. They're gonna forget the steps. They need those reminders. They need that routine, they need that schedule. Repetitive consistency! It's going to get old for you, but for them: they're learning, they're learning something really important that they're going to be doing for the rest of their lives right?
So when they're on the potty and you say: "Give me three drips, give me five drips." Listen for the drips to make sure that you can reward them for those drips. Even if it's just a couple of drips and they didn't really have a full bladder. Empty tank, whatever. At least give them that little reward or toy or snack or whatever for at least getting a couple of drips out of there. I like to encourage the kiddos to sit very quietly and listen. "Listen for the pee-pee. Do you hear the pee-pee?" (Do you hear the pee-pee hitting the water in the bowl) "Do you hear the pee-pee? Can you feel it coming?" This is bladder awareness, this is going to help them to keep an ear out and make sure... they don't... they might not know that pee is coming out. They've been peeing in their diaper for how many months or years now, so this is the first time for them to actually feel it coming out of their body and landing on water in the toilet. Act excited, act like you're anticipating, wide-eyed anticipation! That'll help them to pay attention to their body and their bladder and get excited for it to come out too. And if something comes out it is a celebration every time! High fives, dancing, singing, woo-hoo, yippee, pat's on the back, congratulations, the rewards, the toys! This has to be pretty exciting for them to want to even do it in the first place.
Often times when you're potty training and you have to stay on that schedule and do it every hour on the hour, you're probably going to be interrupting their play time or an activity that they're doing that they don't want to be interrupted. So it has to be something worth it to them. They have to get something out of it, not just sitting on a toilet and peeing. They need that reward, they need that positive reinforcement and they need the praise.
They need praise from you and sometimes that's all it takes. Eventually when you're doing this for a while, the toys can kind'a fade, the little chocolate chips and snacks and treats can fade, but those moments of praise, those comments of praise coming from mommy or daddy or nanny or granny... those are going to be the ones that stick with them the most.
Potty training requires a lot of patience! We don't punish or scold a kiddo for potty accidents during the potty training process. We have to keep it light, we have to keep it positive and we have to keep it fun! Constantly remembering to keep a smile on our face right? It's supposed to be happy! This is a rite of passage for your toddler. Make it fun! Negative reinforcement can often result in potty training regression, so try not to let your little one see a look of disappointment on your face. Try not to yell, try not to punish or scold. Accidents are gonna happen! Patience! Don't let your little one see that look of disappointment on your face. Don't let them hear you grumble or curse or say bad words or get upset when you're down on your hands and knees cleaning up a puddle with some rubber gloves and chemicals. That's gonna cause negative associations for your little one and they're gonna just try to not go potty at all. This is what leads to holding their potty in, refusing to go, trying to not let it come out, anal retention. These are serious psychological behaviors that we need to avoid. Therefore potty training needs to be fun!
I've personally had really good luck with rewards and potty charts and stickers and little stars. Every time they have a potty success they get a star by their name or by that day of the week. Maybe like a little daily accomplishment chart so they can see the graph, they can see their progress and they can see all the little stars and stickers that they've earned along the way. Maybe something that you can hang on a wall in the bathroom or in their bedroom or somewhere nearby their potty, wherever you have their little potty set up. This can be really good for tracking their successes. And I always let the toddler put their own sticker or star by that date or their name because they get that accomplishment. They get the feeling of that success and that reward. They get to feel in control over their own potty training process. I've potty trained a lot of kiddos through the years. I love the pull-up stage because it helps with clean up and accidents and making it a little less messy. But there is a time where you need to transition from diaper to pull-up to pants: underpants - underwear. And they make this really fun for you: there are so many cute underpants out there with your favorite characters and cartoons and tv shows. Let them be in charge of picking out their favorite underpants. Let your kiddo pick their favorite! Let them pick their colors or their characters, their Doc McStuffins or their Blues Clues or Mickey Mouse or superhero. Let them pick out their favorite pants! Wearing these big boy pants or big girl panties is going to give them a chance to finally for the first time wear clothing against their skin that isn't absorbent like a diaper or a pull-up. They've been in diapers and pull-ups since the day they were born (unless you've been putting them in cloth diapers that's a whole 'nother video in itself) So they're going to be wearing these non-absorbent cotton underpants they're going to feel when they're wet and we want that. They're easy to wash. Toss and wash, you're going to need like a 12-pack or 20-pack or something because they're going to be going through multiple pairs every day, all day, over and over again. You're going to be changing a lot of these wet underpants most likely. Be ready to do a lot of loads of laundry y'all.
But this helps them to feel what it's like to go potty in their cotton pants and they're not gonna like the feeling of that. It's not dry and absorbent like their diaper that they're used to. That's the whole point is to be uncomfortable and wet and cold and of course get changed out of those wet pants quickly. But there's a smell associated with it, there's a discomfort associated with it and I think that might be part of the process to help them learn more quickly so that they're not feeling that yucky soggy uncomfortableness.
If any of these tips have ever worked for you I'd love to hear your feedback and how it went. Leave some comments down below I want to hear what YOUR success story is. We're going to have your kiddos diaper free and potty trained in no time! We're going to do this together, I'm here to help. You're going to get through this Mama: with a little bit of patience, some compassion and a lot of love.
💗 Be sure to read Part 1, 3, 4, 5 of the potty training series!
Or to see my video of this segment on youtube ...
The links to Toddler Potty Training parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are down below... __________________________________________________ Toddler Potty Training Part 1: https://youtu.be/goaxRLXdM4w Toddler Potty Training Part 2: https://youtu.be/Fmh6iymN1Ao Toddler Potty Training Part 3: https://youtu.be/Ga7TKnFOoQA Toddler Potty Training Part 4: https://youtu.be/5I-PSudPWYg Toddler Potty Training Part 5: https://youtu.be/wZ2MUhp3M9k
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Miss Jen's Favorite Potty Training products & recommendations:
Toddler Potty Training Toilets:
I’ve had experience working with Toddler Potty Training Toilets that cost $400+ (yes, that’s a thing!) and ones that are only $5 (the cheaper ones usually fall apart quickly). These are MY favorites and most reasonable in price. The kiddos love them - they are close to the ground, comfortable, sturdy and easy to get onto:
https://amzn.to/3wrYVUN
https://amzn.to/3kcp0Vk
https://amzn.to/3jXzwzR
Toddler Potty Training Potty Seat: https://amzn.to/3yDDbXO
Toddler Potty Seat: https://amzn.to/2TNoLoY
Potty Training Insert Seat: https://amzn.to/3dVDrJA
Toilet Seat with Built-in Potty Training Seat for Toddlers:
https://amzn.to/3AMwLax
Potty Training Timer Watch:
Blue: https://amzn.to/3hupSmt
Huggies Pull-ups:
Girls: https://amzn.to/2TXkb7N
Boys: https://amzn.to/3yHmvi0
Night Time Pull Ups - Goodnites:
For Girls: https://amzn.to/2TXlZO7
For Boys: https://amzn.to/3xDII0s
Toddler Underwear:
Girls: https://amzn.to/3xFyI6H
Boys: https://amzn.to/3kdipu6
Potty Step Stool For Kids:
Pink: https://amzn.to/3ks3rk6
Blue: https://amzn.to/36E1zwb
Urine stain remover & odor spray:
https://amzn.to/3BmEr3I