1. PRAYED: When I say pray. That's what I mean! Pray! Pray! Pray! Pray over your child that they would understand and catch on quickly. Pray for patience and wisdom as you decipher each situation that will arise. Pray over every detail that you can think of, and pray for the unknown as well. Cover it all in prayer! God hears our prayers and He cares and wants to help us even with these potty things :).
2. We prepared by purchasing the following…1. a. Basket of prizes (see below for ideas)
b. Big boy/girl underwear (see below for details)
c. Big boy/girl potty (we prefer the potty seat that sits on top of the toilet. We tried both and quickly decided on the one that you place onto of the seat) Less mess and easier transition to using other peoples potty's, visiting family or friends, and using public restrooms.
***Public Restroom Side Note****: Using public restrooms... Show them how the toilet works and that it is so loud (isn't that silly how loud that toilet is); so it does not scare them. Then you have a whole other issue to deal with! So walk them through how it works and show them everything in the public restroom that they will encounter so they are aware of it. It will give them peace... you too! :)
d. Timer (you will need this)
e. Go over terms: Try to use the terms “ Dry and Clean” (see Toddler wise)
and decide on any other "names" you will give the b-room experience.
ie.“potty” Poo Poo and Pee Pee
3. 3. Stay Home: Set aside two plus days where we didn’t go anywhere. This give them opportunity to get adjusted and doesn't make things crazy or stressful for you.
4. Modeling: Model for your child exactly what a big "girl" big "boy" does when they go potty, wipe, and wash hands. Take them through the whole "bathroom experience." Make sure you walk through the same steps each time (SO IMPORTANT). We also made up a song (see below if interested) for going potty and washing our hands. This makes it fun and helps the kids catch on and remember to potty, wipe, wash hands, dry hands, etc. You can also use a Potty Video. We used the video for Aaliyah (I bought it at Target for $9.99), but we did not have the video for Tre and he did just fine by us modeling for him. The reason I did like the video is because it demonstrated the whole bathroom process from start to finish including watching hands. Just another reinforcer.
*** Side Note for boys:**** We recommend teaching them to sit first... standing can come later once they get it down**
5. Undies: Buy (let them go with and pic them out) and demonstrated what undies are. Make it a fun and exciting time with lots of praise that they get to be a "big girl/boy."
***Note: Once you go undies, don't go back to diapers! It's important for them to feel the uncomfortable feeling of wetting themselves. It will speed up the process allowing for less mess. We used pull ups at night for first week, but after that no more! We did stop all drinks after dinner about (5:30) and had them go to the restroom before bed. For the first couple months we would wake them before we went to bed to go potty one last time. It works! They sleep through the night without wetting the bed! We did pray over this as well! We also bought a mattress protector. It was work the first week, lots of accidents and middle of the night changes, and launder, but if your committed to it they will catch on and by week two you will be so thankful you didn't quit! So will they! So hang in there!
6.6. Getting her to go… These are some tips that worked for us
Gave them lots of liquid and snacks and more liquid especially the first day. Second day we backed off a bit (other then the prizes for going in the potty)
a. Setting the timer for every 15 minutes, then 30 min and the second or third day for every 45 minutes and placing child on the potty for at least 8-10 minutes until they go. Read them books, sing songs, etc while they wait. They may be whiny at first, but they will catch on. Try to get them to stay until they go! It teaches them the sensation and where they should be when that takes place. It also provides opportunity for you to praise/reward them! Make a big deal and praise them when they do it correctly! You won't regret it and they will feel so proud and look forward to the next time. Allowing the process to get easier!
b. Keeping them on the potty for at least 15-20 minutes (should have been shorter, and second day we cut it down to max 10 min) (during this time we would read books to her, or sometimes even leave the bathroom and tell her to stay on the potty with books).
c. We started recording the times they pee-pee or poo-poo. Literally I had a list going on the refrigerator! This helps know their patterns for using the bathroom. This gave us a good gage as to when to have them sit on the potty. (Discovered one pee-peed about every 45 minutes and the other was every 30 minutes. Each child is different). Note: The first couple times they poo-pooed they tried to hold it too long. The first day is always rough! Hang in there! I remember with Aaliyah had a poo accident while her brother was using the potty (we have one bathroom), the second day she went once in her undies and once in the toilet. However, we just kept making her sit on the potty and she finally got it. As the days continue and there were accidents we sternly told them NO, but praised and rewarded them much when they went in the potty and by day 3 there was only one poo poo accident and by the end of the week were were home free! PRAISE JESUS!
d. Limit his/her drinks about 1-2 hours before bedtime or nap time.
e. Lots of PRAISE when they went and always a treat and song!
f. One of ours did say she had to potty at night even when she didn’t just to not go to bed. So we had to discipline her and pray for wisdom and discernment for these times (we waited until the 3rd or 4th day to do so) and she quickly learned to tell the truth.
g. Keep asking if they have to go while at home and in public…Always make them go potty before we leave the house (still do this)!
*NOTE: Now that I have two who are big enough to use public potties. I always make them go potty before we leave the house. At least try! It usually saves me from trying to juggle three kids who are 4 and under in a public restroom! :/ Also, if by chance we are at in public and one child says they need to use the restroom, I try whenever possible to have them both go... because sure enough if you don't have them both go the other will have to go not long after you get out!
h. By day 3 they were telling us when they had to go potty and were going in the potty pretty consistently! PRAISE JESUS!
i. at the end of the week we went to Church and our boy stayed dry and clean and used a public restroom. Thank you LORD!
NOTE: There are plastic portable child potty seats that fit on the public potties. We used it with both kids and loved it. Need a big z-lock to keep it in, but it's nice to get them use to the public potty. Click HERE for link.
l. When your in public make sure you ask them if they need to go potty often. And as much as an inconvenience it can be take them to the potty to try if they have not gone within 20 minutes of being there.
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