Potty Training Explained: How to Potty Train Your Toddler

For anyone who has ever tried to potty train a toddler you know how frustrating it can be. What I find amazing is even the sweetest of kids (I have two of the sweetest myself) can be the most stubborn people in the world. Here are a few tips that worked for me. I hope that they work for you too.

General Knowledge

First things first, you can't train a toddler who isn't ready. The top sign that they are ready is that their diaper is dry when they wake up in the morning. This means their bladder is big enough to hold urine through the night. Secondly, don't compare your toddler to other kids. Just because the neighbor' child is trained doesn't mean that your child is ready. And thirdly, if they show interest in the toilet they are probably ready to learn.

First Steps

Introduce your child to his potty chair. Show him/her how it is like the big potty. I recommend buying the potty chair that plays a song when your child successfully uses it. In fact I took out the music box and let my son play with it. He really liked the music and even danced along with it. He now associates the potty chair with dancing.

Also take your toddler to the bathroom with you. The easiest way for a toddler to learn is by example. When you use the bathroom set your child on his potty chair. This will help him make the connection.

When toddler is ready

When you know your toddler is ready to be potty trained purchase him or her a baby doll that is designed to use the bathroom after you have fed it a bottle. Give your toddler the doll and let them play with it for a day or two. Let him play feed the doll but don't fill the bottle with water just yet. After a day or two of regular play fill up the baby bottle and let your child feed the baby doll. On a side note I couldn't get the baby doll full of enough water for it to "go" so I took its head off and filled it with water that way. If you do this make sure not to do it in front of your child.

When the doll starts to urinate have your child take the doll to the toilet or potty chair. Let your child take its clothes off and put it on the potty. Have your child watch the baby doll use the bathroom. When the doll is done make sure to clap really hard and even give the baby doll a treat. We used gum for my daughter's baby doll which my daughter pretended to feed the doll and then was allowed to chew herself. Do this a few times and your child will soon get the idea. This is the method I used with my daughter and it worked in just one day.