Notice that your child is dry at longer intervals, (for example - dry after a nap or for 2 hours) and is voiding larger amounts at a time. These are indicators of readiness to be potty trained.


Does your child recognize when he/she is going or has a need to go to the toilet?


Does you child feel uncomfortable with dirty diapers?
Praise your child when he/she tells you the diaper is dirty.


If your child shows signs of needing to go, ask them and take them to the bathroom to try to go.


After changing a dirty diaper, take the child into the bathroom and empty the contents into the toilet or potty chair.


When purchasing a potty chair, bring your child with to help choose it.


Do not begin toilet training during a stressful time or period of change in the family (like moving).


Do not push your child too fast and do not punish them for making mistakes. Praise them when they make it to the toilet or potty chair.


Discuss using the toilet and allow your child to view other family members using the toilet.


Pullups are great for bedtime and naps, but may not be best for all day. The child will quickly realize that it is much like a diaper. Try to use training pants during the day. They will realize when they go and will not like the uncomfortable feeling of being wet or having a bowel movement in their pants.


Your child may have a particular time of day that they usually go. Be aware of this and ask them if they need to use the potty.


Ask them at different intervals in the day, if they need to go. Let them sit on the potty chair or toilet seat for a few minutes. Even if nothing happens, praise them for trying and for sitting there.


When you see a sign that they need to go, get them to the toilet as quickly as possible.


You may want to give them something to look at or read while on the potty chair to help them relax.


Take your child to the potty 30-60 minutes after drinking.


You will have good and bad days during potty training. Be patient and do not get discouraged.


Allow your child to flush the toilet when they go in the toilet or potty chair. It is like a reward for a job well done.


Teach your child how to wipe properly. After urinating for girls, wiping is from the front to the back.


Teach your child to wash their hands after using the toilet.


Be consistent. Ask family members and caregivers to be aware and give them instructions concerning the potty training.

Consider incentives.

Remember they will master daytime training before nighttime. Nighttime usually takes longer. Do not get discouraged.

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Tried and True Potty Training Tips From Experienced Moms



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Have your child confess, "I am potty trained" long before you start potty training. That is what I encouraged Sue Hickey to do because I stunk at potty training and she kept asking me.  Sue had Erin confess that for months before she started the process and Erin was potty trained in very little time.

From Pam Geallis - mother of Hope, Josh and Joy


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With Gianni, who was a hard trainer, I finally decided to do a reward board that I drew on poster board.  I had 5 weeks drawn out in columns Sun-Sat.  For every peepee he did in the toilet, I drew a smiley face for him (two eyes and a smile).  For every poopy he did in the toilet, I drew a smiley face with a circle around it.  If he had lots of circle smiles at the end of the week, we would go to the store and buy a small toy for him (that was only a few dollars).  I also let him pick out a bigger item toy (a $20 Rescue Hero plane) that we would go see every week in the store when we were shopping that was promised to him at the end of the 5 weeks if he was completely trained.  He really enjoyed the big deal that I made over drawing the smiley faces on the board, which was reinforced by getting a toy every week and then a "big" reward at the end of the 5 weeks.  It worked great, and I would recommend this to others!

From Erica Basile - mother of Gianni, Marco and Joy


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When I knew that my children were ready, but just needed to be "cut off" :) from diapers, I would choose a week when I didn't have much going on and stay home that week.  I told them that they were ready to go on the toilet and so they wouldn't "forget" - they ran around the house and played that week with no pants (diaper, underwear or anything!- Yes, literally half-naked).  I reminded them that you can not pee on the carpet!! This made them really conscious of it and every time they had the urge, they would go running for the potty chair. Of course, I would jump up and down and celebrate! They were all trained within a week and all before they were 2.

From Cindy Leary - mother of Bryan, Lindsay, Sarah and Jonathan


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I set a timer for every 30 minutes for a couple days.  Every time the buzzer went off he had to sit on the toilet until he went or up to 2 minutes.  I would also run the faucet water when they were on the toilet.  (I do not know if that works, but  that was just a thing I did.)  If "accidents" were not happening, I would move it to an hour.  The main thing I learned was no matter what age, it was really me that caused the problem with not being consistent.  

From Liz Avila – mother of Peter, Alexander, Alyssa and Josh


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1.  To avoid having to go potty in a public place or cut short a trip to the park, ALWAYS have your toddler use the potty before you leave the house.
2.  Before you begin training, take notice of when they have a B.M. (ie:  is it right after breakfast each day?  Is it before dinner?).  Then put them on the toilet around that time.  Have their favorite book to read to keep them on the potty for a while.  
3.  Sometimes the kids wanted me out of the bathroom when they were going #2.  I encouraged them to say, "I need privacy, please."
4.  Purchase "big boy/girl pants" (underwear) to encourage them to train.  If they would go potty for me, even when not completely trained, I would put the underwear on them outside their diaper.  
5.  I had 2 boys who wet the bed until they were 7.  This was extremely challenging for them and me.  I made sure there was a mattress cover and clean sheets available so they wouldn't feel they inconvenienced me too much.  Occasionally, I would wake them up in the middle of the night to make them pee so they would feel successful in the morning. Sleepovers were hard for them because you could hear the swishing of the pull up under their pjs.  We prayed a lot and of course, made sure they stopped drinking after 7:00 pm.  
6.  Pour some cheerios in the toilet and tell your son to sink them as he pees.
7.  Be prepared to show daddy the peepee or poop along with a great big cheer or healthy treat.
8.  Have them join you in the toilet whenever you use the bathroom.  Have them sit on their potty chair and even wipe themselves regardless of whether they've gone or not.  

From Rose Clancy – mother of Michael, Beth, Chris, Rachel, and Nick


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I tried not to use pull-ups (except when we were out of the house) because they would use them too much like diapers (I guess they felt like diapers to them).  I always had them in "big girl underwear" while at home, so they could feel if they had an accident, and it had to be tended to right away rather than discovered later.

Also, I would put the girls in casual dresses (soft cotton) during the day while potty training because it was a lot quicker to lift up the dress and get them on the potty than pants were....no buttons, snaps, etc.....and a little less laundry and mess when there were accidents.

From Sherise Marinich – mother of Abigail, Joy, Elizabeth, and Faith


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Well, I have 2 ways.  The first one is what I did with Noelle and she loved Smarties, so every time she went potty she would get a Smartie, not the whole package just a few.  I had tried everything with her and that is what finally did it. 

The second one is what my mom did with me and, yes this is embarrassing.  She would put my portable potty seat in front of the TV to watch Sesame Street every morning at the same time. That was important she said, and I would go potty.  She told me this when I was potty training Noelle.  She said I went the same time in my diaper everyday and that was Sesame Street time!  This was before I was 1, not at 3. Cloth diapers were the incentive for doing it so soon.

From Gretchen LeFever – mother of Noelle


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First, COMMIT the training to the Lord. PLAN to have all you need, panties, wipes etc. And PLAN TO BE CONSISTENT! Cancel some outings for a week to make this your focus.

With my daughter, Shaylee, and Addy & Macayla Wiggins, I would read the book about Being a Big Kid to communicate to them what was expected. Then I made a saying which we would repeat at every “potty time”. (With an animated smile and lifted eyes and light voice), "Poo poo and pee pee in the potty", (with a sad face and low voice), "No poo poo and pee pee in the panty". Next  I would put them on the potty (you don't even need a potty next to the toilet, just a step stool and a toilet insert), and wait until I heard the tinkle. When it came, I told them gently how clever they are and what a big girl they are - affirmation that they can do it. Then after cleaning up and washing hands, we gave a hug and then they said, "Thank you for helping me".

If they had to wait for a poo, they could read a book. I taught Shaylee that instead of yelling for me to help her, I made up a song, "My Mom-my, please can you help me...(Repeat)". This created a more  pleasant atmosphere.

Then ... Do the same thing everyday!

From Colleen Aitkenhead – mother of David, Josh and Shaylee


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This one applies to the toddlers I watch and my children....when (not if) they have an accident don't freak out and get upset or think they are doing it on purpose, relax clean things up, even have them help you, then ask them did you wait too long? If they can tell you, then you can work together to have more successes. This approach can avoid creating a problem. 

Remind them how good they are doing when they have a success. Statistics show most children aren't completely potty trained until they are 4 years old!! So if you have them succeeding at 2….. YIPPY!!

From Elise Case – mother of Thomas, Matt, Emily, Luke, Olivia and Peter


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A few tips that come to mind:

1. Don't get frustrated, it takes time...patience.

2. Begin ahead of time believing God for peace, wisdom, and the end result.

3. Praise!

Beginning the process of sitting on the potty before potty training is attempted, so they are a bit familiar and the transition easy.

From Robin Mitchell – mother of Kevin, Matthew, Jordan and Kourtney


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I found with both my girls at the age of 15-18 months they were interested in using the potty. Boys are just different, much harder. If you miss that window of opportunity, it's much harder to train.

Consistency is key, even when you're out! It's very inconvenient, but well worth it in the long run.

Bathroom breaks every 30-40 minutes. Be available for emergency rushing to the potty!!

Pull-ups did not work for me, and going straight to the underwear was a disaster. I found that keeping their bottoms naked at home, they were less likely to wet themselves.

And last, but certainly not least, lots of praise, make it exciting, and fun! I used stickers and M&M's!!

From Danielle Richey – mother of Gabriella, Anthony and Olivia


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Potty training tips:

Extremely, regimented, consistency with "THE PLAN". My system of potty training was this: I explained "the plan" to the child. We put on big boy underwear. We drew a potty together and taped it on the wall where he could reach so he could put stickers on it when "he got it right". Then we carry out "the plan" which is to sit on the potty for about 5 minutes (read books, tell stories, play games, etc.) in intervals of about 10 minutes. Then when he / she actually goes you can then wait 45 minutes. After the 45 minute break sit on the potty every 10 minutes until they go. Then wait 45 minutes, etc.

I keep a very close eye on the child during all the breaks so that if they start to "go" I would say, "Wait, wait, wait...let's go on the potty." I didn't allow myself to be discouraged by all the accidents (and there were a lot of them). I did nothing else but focus on this one single task. I didn't cook, I didn't clean and I didn't go anywhere. I was home bound for about 5 days. I would suggest that if you have other small children, I would try to find a friend to keep them during the day so you can focus on the task at hand. (It was easy and smooth with my first child and much more difficult with my second. I think it was because I was distracted by having two kids and I wasn't as regimented with "the plan".)

From Toni McCarty – mother of Marcus, Jack and Julia


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My potty training tip is to put your child on the potty first thing in the morning, when you are first starting to potty train.  My experience is that because it is the first thing in the morning, my daughter goes potty every time and her pamper is now dry when she wakes up in the morning.

Something else I have done with my children, is to ask them if they have to go potty constantly and also I would have them say, “I pee and poop in the potty every day.”   

From Charmaine Moore – mother of Lyle, Lennox, Alexis, and Xavier


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