Potty Training Worries & How To Overcome Them By Sarah Jolil

Now before I begin I can’t take all the credit for my potty training journey with Olivia as I picked the brains of 3 of my very good friends so I want to give them a special shout-out…Emma, Christina & Sian. Without these girls letting me text them consistently for about a week straight I don’t know how I would have got through it.

So I just want to jump into the first tip I want to give you…speak to your friends about what they did with their children whilst potty training, work out what can work for you and your family and use their advice to fit around you as they have got through it, and so will you! They are great to let off some steam too if you're feeling a little frustrated with it all.

For some strange reason potty training was something of a big worry for me, it was mainly because I was worried that I was starting too early, was I pushing her into it? Would it prolong the whole process? So we decided to start it on a really hot & sunny day so we could spend most of the time in the garden and within 3 days she had understood that she needs to let me know or take herself to the potty to do her wees and poos. So here are my tips on potty training.

• I started around 2 and a half and I have a daughter, this isn’t the right age for all children but felt right for my daughter. She was showing signs of asking about the potty and wanted to be a big girl so a good start

• If you can it’s great to start in the summer so you can spend your time in the garden and it's easier to mop up any accidents and keep a wash load going! Alternatively, let them run around inside the house in just a t-shirt with no underwear on it will save you washing loads of pants/knickers

• Be prepared to have three days in the house and to avoid doing chores during this time, I had to watch Olivia like a hawk and follow her everywhere to catch her just in case as I found that she would dribble a bit of wee then realize that she needed to go and that’s when we had quite a few breakthrough moments with the connection of needing a wee and going on the potty

• Be calm even when you get consistent accidents if you're stressed so is your child and that won't help the process at all just clean up with no fuss and always explain that wees and poo are to be done in the potty

• Be consistent with asking your child if they need to use the potty and if your working whilst potty training make sure your child care knows about how your potty training and how you want your little one to learn

• Don’t worry too much about teaching them pulling up knickers to start with, spend a few weeks getting your little one to master just getting to the potty and then bring in lessons like pulling up knickers and items of clothing, just deal with one thing at a time

• The first few days will be hell! You will want to quit! But don’t as your little one will get it and like other things they have learned it can take sometimes a week or more to understand a new part of their routine

Potty training can feel like a minefield but take each day as it comes and don’t stress, they won’t be running around in their twenties wearing nappies!

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