Potty Training Favorites
Do you (or did you) look forward to potty training? I don’t know anyone that truly enjoys it. I was not looking forward to it at all. As a preschool teacher, I taught many children how to use the toilet properly and that work continued when I was a nanny. I have always joked that I have potty trained so many children and should get a pass on having to do it with my own. But, here we are. There have been a lot of things that I have learned and products that made things easier despite it not being enjoyable. Here are some things that may help with your potty training journey!
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ATTACHED KID SEAT
I do not care for the individual toilets for kids, but that is only based on my experience with cleaning them. I have enough to do and do not want an additional toilet to clean! For that reason, I prefer a kid seat that attaches to the toilet. This is the one that we use for our downstairs bathroom. Since we are on the first floor the most, I like this option for our powder room. Elani can use it without assistance and there is no extra clutter when we have guests over. There are different colors and shapes to match your toilet. Oh, and it is slow-close! I love that. The kid seat is not, but the regular seat is slow-close.
If you do love a free-standing potty seat, this one has great reviews and can hold wipes!
STEP STOOL
We have one stool in the first floor bathroom and another in the upstairs bathroom. I prefer this stool because it has two little steps. Elani uses it for the toilet as well as the sink. It helps lift her legs into a good position while she is seated on the toilet. It also like enough for her to move it around on her own.
DETACHED KID SEAT
On our second floor, we have a bathroom that used to be all mine. Sometimes, I miss that! Haha! As the girls are getting older, I’m definitely sharing the space more, but it is not used by guests. We have plans to replace the toilet when we renovate the bathroom so we have a detached potty seat in this bathroom, for now. It works well, but I think that this one would have been a better purchase. I like that ours came with a hook to put on the wall so that you can hang it. Unfortunately, the hook didn’t hold to our wall. It fell off so many times that I don’t even bother using it anymore. The other option has a hook to purchase separately that attaches to your toilet tank and it has handles. I like and dislike the handles. I think it’s great for starting out, but I don’t want Elani to rely on holding the seat, especially if we are in a public restroom.
TRAVEL SEAT & BAGS
Speaking of traveling, I love our travel potty! I was looking for a good one and my friend told me that she purchased this one. I am so glad that I bought it. It works as a potty seat for your toddler to use on a regular toilet, but it also has bags that you can put in it and legs that allow it to stand. When you stand it on its legs and use a bag, it works as a little travel toilet. I bought these bags once we were close to running out of the ones the seat came with. This little potty seat has really saved us when we have been to a playground that didn’t have an open bathroom. I keep it in the car and it is super easy to wipe down with Clorox wipes or something similar for cleaning.
TIMERS
We have a few different things that we have enjoyed using for timing potty trips. In the beginning, I used our Google devices. We use our Google devices multiple times a day for so many different things. We have the Google Nest Mini (audio only – girls’ rooms and basement), Google Nest Hub Smart Display (our bedroom), and Google Nest Hub Max (kitchen). I like that we can set different timers on these and they will display an image and/or play a cute song when time is up. Visual timers are my favorite though and a simple sand time like this also works. Obviously, you can also use your phone, microwave, or whatever else you already have in your home.
POTTY TRAINING WATCH
We also purchased a potty training watch for Elani. There was definitely a learning curve for setting up and using the watch, but Elani really enjoyed it. It has an option for vibrate, music, or both. It was a fun way for Elani to be more in charge of going to the bathroom. What I did not like about this watch was that I had to set it every day. Otherwise, it would be going off during the night as well. I had to turn the timer off at night and then reset the timer in the morning. Since there was a learning curve with using it, it was annoying to keep doing that every day and we did not end up using it for very long.
Admittedly, we also used flushable wipes, but I know many people who say not to use them. We did not have any trouble with our plumbing (fingers crossed), but we have stopped using them because I got worried they would cause plumbing issues. One more product that I almost forgot to mention is an automatic soap dispenser. This helped with Elani’s independence in the bathroom. The one we have is not longer available, but this one has great reviews!
Elani was not ready to use the potty the first time that we started potty training despite showing signs of physical, cognitive, and behavioral readiness. Knowing that it would be easier once she was on board, we stopped and waited a few months for her to show interest again. She was almost three when we restarted, but it was very successful and she potty trained (overnight and through nap, as well) very quickly. I’m so glad that we waited. It was the right choice for her. We dealt with some regression after a painful consitpation issue, but she seems to be doing great again. My biggest advice is to wait until your child is is ready rather than setting an arbitrary age that you need them to be using the potty.
I hope that this helps to make your potty trainin journey a little less painful for you and your little one. Leave any tips or questions that you have in the comments!
