34 Stress-Free & Easy Potty Training Hacks & Tips
Stress-free potty training hacks and tips to say good bye to diapers and hello to big boy & girl underwear!
These are the best potty training hacks and tips for parents to help their toddlers start using the toilet with no tears and all excitement!
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Potty training can be a stressful experience & challenging to squeeze in with your busy and hectic schedule.
That’s why we have put together 34 excellent potty training hacks & tips that will help make the process more efficient and manageable for busy moms.
As a mom of four, with a set of boy / girl twins, these potty training hacks & tips really helped me be successful in potty training my four toddlers, and I know they will help you too.
I was fortunate to have a positive experience with all four of my toddlers and successfully DAY potty trained all four of them in 3 days, plus naps. 3 out of my 4 were night time potty trained in the same time frame.
So it is possible and these potty training hacks & tips will point you in the right direction.
The experience CAN be enjoyable, with no tears (from you or your toddler) and it doesn’t have to take months.
Signs of Potty Training Readiness
It can be hard to tell when your child is ready to start potty training, especially since NO two children are the same.
It often feels like there is “no good time” to start, when trying to factor in work, school, and extracurricular activities, but timing matters, so make sure you pick the right time.
Here are 5 signs to help you determine if YLO is ready to start potty training:
Age –
Most pediatricians agree that potty training can start between 18 to 24 months of age. However, age alone is not enough to determine readiness.
Communication –
A significant sign of potty training readiness is your toddlers ability to communicate with you. This can include verbal or body language cues that signal the need to go potty.
Disposable Diaper Changes –
Does your child seems bothered or unhappy with a wet or dirty diaper? Does your child try to remove the diaper themselves or communicate discomfort when wet?
If so, it could indicate the beginning of potty training readiness.
Dry Periods –
Another sign of potty training readiness is when your child stays dry for a more extended period during the day or overnight.
Independence –
If they are showing curiosity about their body or more self-awareness in their behavior, they may be ready to tackle potty training.
Child-Led Potty Training
Before we jump in to 34 amazing potty training hacks & tips, the very first thing to consider is to make sure your child is ready. The above 5 signs to a child’s readiness will help guide you if it is the right time to start.
Potty Training will be easier if the child shows signs of being ready and WANTS to wear big boy / girl underwear and go potty in the toilet.
Child-Led potty training usually ends up being more successful then when a parent tries to push the child along.
Pushing a toddler to potty train only leads to frustration for everyone, both child and parent. And usually to LOTS of accidents and set backs.
So, if your LYO is ready, these potty training hacks & tips will definitely make potty training an easy, NO tears experience.
34 Stress-Free Potty Training Hacks & Tips For Your Toddler
1. Before You Start, Get Prepared & Use the Right Equipment
I recommend planning ahead instead of trying to wing it. Start by reading a potty training book to your toddler before you start and answer any questions that YLO may have prior to starting.
Here are some resources that can help:
Books For Parents:
Books For Toddlers:
Plan Ahead:
Make a bunch of freezer meals, and meal prep lots of food prior to starting. It really does feel like an “all hands on deck”, and as a mom, eliminating some of your mom responsibilities during that time will help with being less stressed and will create that positive experience you are wanting.
Buy A Potty:
There are a couple of options, I’ve used them all.
If your toddler can’t get on the toilet themselves, buy a step stool so your toddler can be independent for the entire potty training experience.
Have a “special” trip to the store:
Include your toddler in the special trip to the store to buy the potty, new underwear, treats, snacks and rewards that will be used during the potty training experience.
Have them pick out everything and be super involved, talk it up with excitement in your voice and really bring home how fun potty training will be.
2. Pick The Right Time
Most potty training books and resources recommend picking a time where you are home and can stay put for a few days.
Pick a week where you don’t have a lot going on and can just hunker down at home and have potty training be your only thing you have on your plate so you can focus solely on potty training for optimal success.
When I potty trained my four kiddos I always picked a long weekend. A Thursday – Sunday where I knew I could stay home that entire time and have a game plan of lots and lots of practice.
3. Make it a Game
Potty training can be challenging for a child as it seems like a daunting task. Making it a fun game can be a great way to introduce them to the idea. Try a sticker reward chart for each visit to the bathroom.
While potty training is stressful, often times our stress as moms can come from many different areas.
Are you struggling as a mom? Feeling overwhelmed? Feeling like you are failing?
When I really boil down my stress, I realize a lot my stress revolves around my home. My home feels chaotic, so my life as a busy mom feels chaotic. I lack routines and good systems for my home that work. I’m constantly wigging being a mom and lack a plan.
Do you feel this way too?
I started to tackle my home-life with making simple but effective, genius mom hacks.
I’ve been shocked at the results! I couldn’t just keep these hacks to myself, so I built a brand, a website and several workbooks dedicated to helping moms simplify motherhood and calm the chaos.
4. Use a Timer
Use a timer to set intervals between potty breaks. Set the timer for 20-30 minutes to help remind both you and your child to take potty breaks.
5. Skip the Fancy Underwear
Make a special trip to the store with your Toddler and have them pick out their “big boy / girl” underwear.
But instead of picking out the fancy underwear with no extra padding, pick out training underwear. They still come in fun colors, prints and characters, but are extra absorbent and make such a huge difference potty training.
Trainers allow for accidents without the frustration of ruined clothes. Learning how to use the bathroom can often be messy, so save the fancy underwear until after your child is entirely potty trained.
I used these for ALL four of my Toddlers and they worked great!
MooMoo Baby 8 Packs Potty Training Pants Cotton Absorbent Training Underwear for Toddler Boy and Girls 2T-7T
6. Use Easy-to-Clean Supplies
Accidents are bound to happen, especially in the early days of potty training. Set up an area with easy-to-clean supplies like wipes, cleaner, and extra clothes.
I put a towel down under the potty and had my kids sit on a towel or blanket when on the couch or a chair. Just extra precautions that helped when accidents happen.
7. Know How Much Fluid Your Toddler Is Drinking
I like to load them up on liquid in the morning so there is LOTS of opportunity to practice going to the potty during the day.
But then ween them off prior to nap (if you are still doing naps) and ween them off again before dinner, to help reduce accidents while sleeping.
8. Offer Incentives & Treats
Rewards are an excellent motivator and can encourage kids to continue to try and use the bathroom. Offering incentives like stickers, toys, or special treats can help motivate your child.
On your “special” trip to the store, let your toddler pick out a couple of their favorite “Potty Training” candy to use as an incentive to try the potty.
Offer a treat after every time they use the potty, whether they actually go or not.
Potty training is about your Toddler learning to recognize the pee sensation and when they have to go.
Even when they think they have to pee and go to the potty, but then don’t, that is still a successful trip to the potty and deserving of a reward.
Incentives worked great with all four of my kids. Expect a little sugar high, but that just adds to the “fun” experience and no tears!
9. Bring the Potty Everywhere
Get a portable potty to bring with you everywhere you go.
There will be times when your toddler will not be able to wait or make it to the bathroom on your drive home.
It is very convenient to be able to pull over to the side of the road and have your toddler pee right then and there.
This helps in avoiding accidents and continues to reinforce the positive experience.
10. Keep It Positive
Children crave positive reinforcement, so make sure to give plenty of praise throughout the potty training process.
Praising your child’s efforts will encourage them to continue with potty training and not back track or take steps backwards.
Set your toddler up for success by having a plan, a portable potty, treats / rewards and focused time on potty training.
11. Practice Makes Perfect
Potty training takes time, effort, and practice. Encourage your child to keep practicing and being patient while they continue to learn.
12. Don’t Overwhelm Them
Potty training can take weeks, so don’t rush them.
Rather than trying to force the process, allow your child to learn at their pace. Be patient, and remember every child is different.
13. Show Them How To Go
Prior to starting potty training, show them how to go and how easy it is. Allow them to flush the toilet so they get used to the noise and talk about how nice it is to not have a wet underwear.
The more exposure they have to the process prior to starting the easier the transition for the child will be.
14. Avoid Buttons & Snaps
Only have your child wear clothes that are super easy to get on and off. In those first few beginning days they will be running to the toilet in hopes they make it with no accidents.
Your toddler will still be trying to understand and recognize the “urge to pee” feeling, which will not give you warning, so you will not have time to try and unbutton shorts or pants.
15. Read Them Fun Potty Books
As mentioned above, prior to starting and during those first few days continue reading fun potty training books to encourage the potty training process.
I highly recommend the books with the toilet flushing noises, it really emphasis the experience and all of my kids loved those books the best.
16. Use A Reward Chart
Use a reward chart as an incentive and to help motivate your toddler.
Earn toys and treats for progress and successful trips to the potty.
Potty training can take several days, if not weeks, so momentum can start to wear thin and having a reward chart helps keep up the excitement.
17. Change The Water Color
Add food dye to the toilet water to make peeing in the potty extra fun.
18. Start A Daily Routine
Having a consistent daily routine during those first few weeks of potty training is essential.
It will feel constant at the beginning, and using a timer helps a lot, but so does having a routine.
Be consistent in eating at a similar time, doing errands or taking naps all at the same time, these will help in establishing a bathroom routine for your toddler.
If you have a schedule for the day and know when you will be leaving the house for an errand or event, you can plan the best time to eat or have your toddler drink.
Your toddler will need to use the potty shortly after meals, so make sure you are close to a bathroom or have a portable potty.
You don’t want to be in the car unable to stop when you get the “I need to pee” cry from the back of the car.
Having a daily routine helps.
19. Use Liners (especially at night)
Underwear liners for night time sleep are very helpful for those toddlers that don’t want to wear night time diapers anymore, but aren’t 100% night time sleep trained either.
Buying the potty training underwear verses regular underwear also helps a LOT too, as they are more absorbant.
It is very normal for toddlers to master day time potty training but still take months longer to master night time.
One of my sons wore nighttime diapers for several months after he was day time potty trained.
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20. Use Puppy Pads & Mattress Liners
I still have mattress liners on some of my kids beds. I started using these for their cribs and continued using them after they transitioned to their big beds.
They works great for potty training.
These liners will soak up all of the pee from any accidents that happen and keep your mattress from smelling or getting stained.
Layer the sheets with the mattress liners & a Puppy Pad.
Place a Mattress liner first, then a fitted sheet, then use a Puppy Pad, then another fitted sheet.
If they have an accident in the middle of the night, just remove the top fitted sheet and puppy pad and you are set to go.
If you are still nervous about nightly accidents, you can also use Peejamas, as an extra layer of protection.
Instead of a towel, you can use Puppy Pads to place under the portable toilet to catch any of the spray.
21. Let Boys Sit Backwards On The Toilet
With 3 boys, I highly recommend waiting to have them stand till after they have fully potty trained.
Focus on successfully peeing in the toilet first, and then work on standing and peeing over the toilet.
Sitting backwards on the toilet for boys works great as they learn control.
22. Use Cheerios For Bullseye
It will take boys a long time to master control of their pee.
Using Cheerios as bullseye practice helps keep them focused on making sure they make it in the toilet and not everywhere else.
23. You Don’t Have To Start With the Bathroom Potty
In the beginning Toddlers are going pee often as they learn to pee and hold their pee.
Don’t feel you have to lock yourself to the bathroom.
Buy and use a portable toilet and put it anywhere in the house that is convenient for you.
I would lay a towel (or puppy pad) under the toilet and would move the toilet around the house to where I was.
If I was in the kitchen making dinner or prepping food, the potty would be near me in the kitchen.
If I was in the laundry room folding laundry, I would move the portable potty to that area if it made sense. Since we used a timer, they are peeing and practicing a lot.
We would also use the bathroom toilet if that made sense and was convenient. I liked to change up the toilets and locations so they could get comfortable peeing in different areas.
24. Establish A Bedtime Potty Time Routine
Having your child go potty right before bed is very important.
This is a routine that I still do my with my 6 year old son. If he doesn’t go potty right before bed he most likely will have an accident.
Have them go twice before bed, first time 30 minutes before bedtime, and then again as the last thing they do before hoping into bed.
25. Remove The Toilet Paper
Toddlers love play and the toilet paper ends up being more used for play than anything else useful.
With four kids, I still do not have toilet paper in all of our bathrooms that my kids use.
26. Buy The Potty Watch
This is such a great potty training hack and a product I wish I knew about when I potty trained my four kids. I think this would have been a fun gadget to use.
I was all about making potty training fun and was all FOR buying fun books, toys, candy, new stuff animals, whatever it took to get the job done and to the finish line.
Kids Potty Training Timer Watch with Flashing Lights and Music Tones, Toddler Toilet Training
27. Keep A Potty In The Back Of Your Car
I have lost track how many times my portable potty has been used. What a life saver!
Whether you are just running out for a quick errand or on a road trip, if you have young kids, a portable potty is a must.
28. Celebrate With Their Friends
When at play dates, include their little buddies and friends in on the excitement.
Have them all go potty together at a park bathroom, and cheer each other on in being big kids.
Kids are impressionable, and when they see their friends also going potty they will want to keep going and be more consistent.
29. Ditch The Underwear Altogether
Ditch the underwear and have your toddler spend a few days staying at home going commando.
This is great for backyard potty training.
It is a lot easier to manage the accidents when outside then if you are in your home dealing with couch fabric and carpet. But this concept has been very successful for many parents.
While your toddler is learning to control their pee, hold off on wearing underwear to make practicing easier.
30. Download A Potty Training App
There are some great apps that can help you keep track of the potty training progress.
Or, use apps that have educational videos, songs and games to make going potty fun for your toddler.
31. Have A Spare Change Of Clothes
You may have graduated from baby-land, where a spare change of clothes was a must, but potty training is not much different.
Pack your bag & car with an extra change of clothes for those accidents when out and about.
32. When Out Spot The Bathroom First
Plan your outings around places that you KNOW have bathrooms, or definitely make sure you have your portable potty with you.
In our neighborhood, not all of the parks have bathrooms, so I avoided the parks that didn’t have bathrooms for a few weeks during potty training.
33. Keep The Sanitizer Close
You might be on the side of the road on a family vacation when your toddler needs to go potty. Having hand sanitizer and wipes always available is so helpful.
34. How To Get The Urine Smell Out From Accidents
I had my Toddlers sit on towels when at home potty training, but even with all of my precautions, accidents still happen.
So when your little Toddler pees on your family couch, use this mixture to get the smell out.
Fill a spray bottle with 3 parts water and 1 part plain vinegar. Spray this mix over the area, leave for 10 minutes and then soak up with a wet towel.
Sprinkle a little baking soda and clean as you normally would (a little soap and wash rag).
Common Problems That Can Occur
Has an accident
Expect and plan for lots of accidents.
Try to not over react, get upset or yell.
The accidents will feel very inconvenient, but responding negativity will only prolong the potty training experience.
Every child will potty train differently and as a parent it takes a lot of patience.
But your child WILL potty train.
Never punish your child for an accident because they are just learning how to control their body.
Thought was ready, but isn’t
This happens often. You think your toddler is ready, they’ve been showing signs of readiness, you start and its a disaster.
Now what?
You go back to diapers and try again in a few months when you feel
Misbehavior while potty training
It’s important to keep the potty training experience positive.
Stick to these potty training hacks that can help you navigate those moments when your toddler misbehaves.
Consider offering incentives like stickers or small treats when your child successfully uses the potty.
Praising your child for their efforts and progress can go a long way in helping them feel encouraged and motivated.
Establish a consistent routine and be patient and persistent with your child.
As in anything, toddlers love to push the boundaries, take a deep breath and and keep the end goal in mind.
Don’t stress, this is just another milestone in your parenting journey, and very soon will will be saying bye to diapers.
The Toddler phase in general can be a trying time, if struggling with your toddler check out these 50 Toddler Hacks, as they are worth their weight in gold.
Don’t stop there, 87 BEST Mom Hacks & Tips is amazing for all of the must need to know parenting tips!
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