Toilet training

[From a few years ago]

I toilet trained my toddler recently. 

To give a little back ground, my toddler is 2years 10months. I had tried toilet training them on and off over the past 6 months or so with no major success. Starting off with a potty and no nappy and having them twiddle and poop on the floor twice. Put the nappy back on a waited a few weeks. I tried again and we had more accidents, though we did have a successful potty run. Elated I congratulated my toddler and did a happy dance thinking this would have them going back for more. It did not. We had more accidents and they refused to go on the potty again. So back on went the nappy and I waited a few more weeks or was it months? 

Since I work all day and my toddler plays in the play area while I work, I kept putting the toilet training in the too hard basket. How was I going to get any work done if I kept having to stop and ask if they needed to go to the potty? How was I going to get any work done if I kept having to stop what I was doing to clean up accidents? And what I thought was even more taxing… was if I kept having to stop to wipe their bottom if and when toilet training was successful. In a sense it was me who was not ready for toilet training.

Just recently I tried training undies but when my toddler felt the fabric on their toosh they thought they could do their business and the undies would hold it all in just like the nappy. I gave up trying again, while I re-strategised. 

A few weeks later I was determined. I gave myself two weeks to get the job done and wasn’t sure if I would succeed or not but I was hopeful and dedicated.

On the first day I dressed in my toddler in a t shirt only, I showed them where the potty is and repeatedly asked if they needed to go to the toilet. We had a number of successful potty runs and the odd accident. On the second day I put a loose pair of shorts on them and we had accidents – them thinking the shorts would hold the mess in. Cleaning up and changing them into a fresh pair of shorts resulted in another accident. We even had an accident while visiting a friend’s house :( 

I was realising that any clothes on their bottom made them think they could do the business and it would hold, and they were starting to understand only the nappy holds the business in. So the easiest way to deal with this was to have my toddler go pants free (where possible) while we trained. Instead of giving them an afternoon nap I kept them up, which was painful because
1. this is when I get the bulk of my work done and
2. they were over tired and grizzly by 4pm! 

At this stage I was disliking toilet training and feeling like I just wanted to give up. I persisted. 

We had also been travelling in the car from day one, taking older sibling to school, picking sibling up again, running errands and visiting the post office all with Mr 2.10 having no accidents in the car. 

By the third day they were going to the potty themselves and telling me once they'd gone. They even sat on the big toilet to poop all by themselves! 

  

On the fourth day, when they woke that morning they took the nappy off themselves to do wee. I knew we were on a winner then. My toddler finally graduated to wearing pants. Over the next few days they were going of their own accord then calling out to me, and I took the potty away to be thoroughly disinfected which resulted in my toddler going to the big toilet unassisted. I didn’t bring the potty back.

By around day 5 or 6 I decided to try giving them their afternoon nap without a nappy and to my surprise they were going to the toilet before the nap and staying dry and clean while they napped. They were is still wearing a nappy during the night and most times waking up either dry or fairly dry.

In under two weeks Mr 2.10 is now going to the big toilet unassisted and insisting on putting the pants back on themselves. They have now graduated to training undies and is still having an afternoon nap with no nappy on, for the most part. Since then they have had one accident during the nap and I’ve put a nappy on them a couple of times during the nap. All up though I’m really impressed with how quickly my toddler picked it up and how well it's going.

Toilet trained your little one?  What worked for you?