#8 - Potty Training

I must admit, I was blissfully naive about potty training in the beginning. Much like everything else!

As a first-time parent, I thought it was a simple case of "show and go" – show them the potty, they go on the potty, end of story:) Tadaaaa!

Nothing is ever that simple is it?

We bought a potty when my daughter was about two years old to get her acquainted with the concept. It sat in our bathroom untouched like a tiny plastic throne, waiting for its moment of glory.

When she was two years and eight months old, It was September, right after the summer holidays.

She had started ‘announcing’ her wees , so we thought, "She’s ready!" Little did we know, the real challenge was about to begin.

Family pressure was mounting. "Is she potty trained yet?" they’d constantly ask.

Meanwhile, her reaction to a number two was to run into a corner and hide.

If anyone dared approach, she’d shout, "Go back, go back!

Eye contact was strictly forbidden. Imagining her sitting on a potty seemed highly unlikely..

I bought her some books to start introducing the idea of it. She knew what the potty was for in theory but actually putting it into practise and going to sit on it when she needed to go wasn’t happening.

At this point she had been at nursery part time for 8 months so I thought perhaps seeing other children using it would encourage her to do the same…

Naturally I turned to Facebook forums for advice. The book "What the Crap" kept coming up

It suggested that if you hadn’t started potty training by 18 months, your child would be in nappies until they were five. It also advised dedicating entire days to the cause, what kind of mum were you if you couldn’t sacrifice a couple of days for the good of your child?

The tone of the book was so panic-inducing I couldn’t finish reading it.

Rejecting the book’s hysteria, I decided to take a more relaxed approach. I just took some of the suggested techniques and tried to implement them in a way that suited me and our schedules. Instead of a whole week I decided to go with the 3 day method.

We started on a Friday afternoon after nursery and planned to continue over the weekend. All week, I prepped her: “You’re a big girl now. We’ll throw away your nappies at the end of the week!” She was excited about the idea of being a big girl, so I figured that was a good sign.

We removed all the carpets in the living area and set up camp there where the downstairs toilet was. The potty was ready, and my daughter was undressed from the waist down, ready to go, au naturel.

I gave her lots of water and explained that when she felt a ‘tinkle,’ it was potty time. We practiced every 20-30 minutes, and to my surprise, it worked! She peed in the potty for the first time, and I was so proud.

We kept it up all day then of course I put a nappy on her at night and said it was a special ‘night nappy’.

The next day, we even braved the park with just trousers and a carry potty and a change of clothes of course which I still carry with me wherever we go..

By Sunday, she was telling me when she needed to go. She even did a number two – in private, of course. I had to close the door and wait for her announcement that she was done.

The following week, the nursery continued our efforts, taking her to the potty every 30 minutes. She wore pull-ups until they were confident she was fully trained.

Everything was going smoothly until, three months later, disaster struck: regression.

She was having accidents left, right, and centre, way more than during the training period, as if she had forgotten everything she had learned. Every day at nursery, the staff would report another accident. Nothing had changed in her routine so I figured maybe she was over the novelty of it.

Determined not to make a big deal out of it, which is hard when she’d look me dead in the eye and proceed to do her thing….we introduced a rewards system.

My husband’s idea of “treats” worked well but couldn’t last forever, so we switched to a sticker reward chart.

She got a sticker every time she went, and even her cuddly toys got in on the role-playing action.

Now she’s 3 and a bit, she alternates between her potty and the actual toilet depending on her mood. We’re back on track for the most part. Sometimes if she’s distracted with playing etc she’ll have an accident but largely she’s fine!

The key takeaway? Stay consistent, reinforce the potty habit, and don’t get mad at accidents.

Eventually, they’ll get it and you’ll be the one dishing out all the advice to your other first time parent friends!