Top tips ... potty training

Copyright Todd Morris 2010 Creative Commons

So we made it ... whoop, whoop, whoop ... finally ... through the wilderness ... that is potty training!

It was really not that bad but the first few days when you're house bound it does take you back to those dark, lonely moments of being a new mum ...

And then there are those times when you just cannot handle yet one more thing - a bed, the carpet, the only clean clothes left - being sopping wet and needing to go in the washing machine and somehow get dry when it's bunging it down and you don't have a tumble dryer ... aaaaaaaarghhhh!

This list of potty training top tips is the list I really, really wish I had when I started  - all the heaps and heaps of advice I got from family and friends and potty training gurus galore digested into 3 simple pages that can be downloaded, edited, printed and scribbled on!

And in case you're really rushed for the time and can't manage the full list, these are my absolute top ten learnt from getting it wrong ...

Potty Training Tips

1. Celebrate every success madly and wildly - clapping, cheering etc, the full bells & whistles
2. Once they have got basic hang of it - let them decide when to go, they have to learn for themselves to recognise the warning signs of when they need to go
3. Let them wet themselves in the first week - it is the only way that they learn
4. Gently remind them but DO NOT nag - I did - because they will just rebel and claim they do not need to go even when they do and then you will have another puddle to clear up anyway
5. DO NOT nag even if they are jigging around the room obviously bursting but still won't go
6. Wees can be like buses - nothing for ages, then 3 straight after each other ... grrrr
7. Keep celebrating success, even when they've been doing it for weeks
8. Get an experienced mum to show you how to handle gender specific alfresco weeing so you don't end up with wee all over you - I didn't and ended up with all down my jeans yuk!
9. Buy lots of bicarb of soda - nothing is as good at removing the smell
10. Oh and celebrate all success wildly!!

For more parenting advice do follow my Pinterest board and check out the posts below from other bloggers ...

More Great Potty Training Advice