I remember when my son turned 2 and I started thinking about potty training him and I remember how I was really scared about everything. By then I’ve heard so many stories about how potty training is a complete nightmare and that it will drive me insane.
Well, long story short, I managed to potty train my son. It wasn’t that hard and it didn’t take me more than a couple of days to do it.
How did I do it?
Well I just followed the steps.
I’m sure that if your child has hit the potty training age you’ve probably already done some research and I’m positive that you’ve heard about Carol Cline’s 3 day potty training method. It’s actually a pretty simple toilet training method that helps you potty train your child and just 3 days.
Now… when I say potty trained in 3 days, what I mean is that your child will make the switch from diapers to potty, but that does not mean that there will be no more accidents.
Kids have accidents even at 4, 5 years of age and it’s normal. These 3 days is just about getting your toddler off diapers.
I know 3 days sounds awesome and it can be done, like I said as long as you follow the steps that Carol teaches you.
First of all, and this is probably the most important thing you should be thinking about is having everything prepared. If you don’t have everything ready, the 3 day potty training won’t work.
You have to schedule the 3 days in advance, clear everything so that you can spend the entire day with your child. This is important because you need to pay attention to his cues. He or she will give you signals for when he needs to pee or poop and you have to act fast and put him on the potty.
If you don’t know what are the signals your toddler gives for when he is ready to be potty trained, Carol also covers them in her book.
Also you need to have potty training supplies ready, I’m talking about potty training pants, rewards, books, songs whatever you think it will make your job easier.
Before the 3 days of toilet training, spend some time with your child in the bathroom so that he’s comfortable with everything in there. Also talk to him, teach him potty training words, and you can also put him on the potty. Don’t pressure him, this is just for making him comfortable with all that’s happening.
Kids don’t really like change so if you make your child feel comfortable about switching from diapers to potty, the easier it will be on you and on him.
I remember I had a hard time with deciding if I should use a potty chair or a potty seat, but eventually I let my son make that decision and we ended up with a toilet training seat for toddlers which I have to say worked better than I expected.
Out of the 3 days, the first one will be harder, but if everything goes well, the other 2 will be easy as cake. Just make sure you keep a positive attitude at all times. Don’t punish your child, this doesn’t work. Reward him for even the smallest progress. This will motivate him to try even harder. After all he just wants to please you.
Hope this helps. I’m gonna do a part 2 on this post so make sure you subscribe to my newsletter to get notified when it will go live on the blog.