What No One Tells You About Potty Training Toddlers

Oh the joys of potty training! That sweet, seamless time of life when diapers are whisked out of your home and your little one trots off to the bathroom and takes care of business, solo!  

​Everyone agrees just when and how to potty train and...  Wait? What?  No?

Reality check: your first couple times on the potty training merry-go-round are filled with self-doubt, well-meaning people sharing contrary advice, and (quite possibly) urine on your furniture.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

---

I could join the well meaning masses and give you my bullet-proof methods (ha ha), but I'm not going to.  Instead I thought I'd share what NOT to do when potty training a toddler...

(If you're wondering, ​I'm on my fourth go-round with potty training)

I don't know if I've ever felt more confused and in-over-my-head as I did the first time I ran the Potty Training Marathon. 

But if I could go back, this is what I'd tell myself...

1. Do not start training your kid because their friends are perfect and peeing on command.
2. Don’t let your Super-Curious-About-the-Toilet Toddler fool you into thinking diapers are dead: at some point the fun wears off and they realize it is more work to go to the toilet than to use a diaper.   There will be fit-pitching.
3. The church nursery is not the place to test run big kid underwear.  Especially if the nursery has carpet.
4. Perfect potty record at home means nothing once you leave your nest.  Some kids have an irrational fear of public toilets (maybe it's the noise, or the odor, or the giant toilet?).  Be prepared.  
5. Auto-flushing toilets are terrifying!  They were designed by childless men who do not take small children on road trips. You must not let the self-flushing toilet scare the willies out of a pooping toddler!  You could end up with kids that can’t go to the bathroom on a road trip for years…
6. There are NO flush-it-yourself toilets in Disney World parks.  Ask all the janitors you want, but you are either going to have to get creative, or take your Auto-Flushed-Traumatized-I-Need-to-Go-Number-Two Toddler back to the hotel.  (Don't ask what I mean by creative.  I ain't telling.)
7. If your kid flushes the public potty they are GOING to put their hands in their mouth before you get to the sink!
8. That said, you may encounter some of the grossest possible things potty training.  Brace yourself. (And if you've potty trained before and have no idea what I'm talking about, get down on your knees and thank the Good Lord above!)
9. Some kids have huge bladders!  They get really, really annoyed/frustrated if you make them “try” every hour or so.  
10. Don’t ditch the night-time diaper until your kid wakes up dry on a regular basis.  There is simply nothing you can do about a night-wetter.  (Been There Tip: if your child has speech or motor skills delays, there is a good chance those sleeping bladder muscles might be delayed too.  Relax; they will get it before college.)
11. Don’t let the commercialism trap you.  You do not NEED to spend money on special tiny toilets, big toilet attachments, or toddler approved toilet paper.  A bag of jelly beans or chocolate chips to reward them with is plenty.
12. If you have sons and you spend time outside, they WILL eventually pee on a tree. You might want to look up how to dig a cat hole, cause there's a good chance one of your boys will not see a difference between peeing and pooping outside.  This will probably happen at a public park.  Just saying.
13. Relax Mama! You don’t need to draw faces on the toilet or make a three ring circus out of it.  Toddlers actually WANT to do grown up things.  Use that to your advantage!
    

Have you been through the Potty Training Marathon?
What's the biggest goof you've made?
Share to encourage others (and make me feel a little better, too)!

---

Copyright 2016 by Anna Travis.  All rights reserved.
This post may contain affiliate links.  If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the the profits, at no added cost to you.  Thank you for supporting Sweet Messy Faith.