Helpful Tips for Potty Training the Super Ready Child

We decided to start potty training my first son when he was about two years old. We started early because he was already showing signs of readiness (staying dry for long hours, using the potty before bath, knowing when he was about to go, etc.), but I also was due with baby #2 in a couple of months and the thought of changing two kid’s diapers was totally NOT appealing. I knew the direction I wanted to go, but still asked around for helpful tips. Like with anything that involves kids and babies, what works for one person may not work for another, but here are some tips that I found helpful on our journey. Maybe a few of them can help you too.

Be prepared…and by that, I mean get a training seat. Since my guy was still pretty small, he had trouble getting up onto the big potty himself and would sometimes forget to hold on. We didn’t want to scare him away from the toilet from falling in, so we first got him a stand alone training potty. We purchased this Summer Infant one from Amazon. It looked nice enough to have out in our bathroom, was easy to clean, and was fairly comfortable for if he needed to sit and wait for something to happen. We also got this Winnie the Pooh training seat that sits on the potty for when he was big enough to use his stool to climb up on his own. (We got this one free through Huggies Rewards, but there are similar ones on Amazon or at Walmart if you search for Disney Soft Potty Seat). There are so many options for training potties, even ones that are connected to the lid of the toilet which I find would be very convenient for when they are more independent in bathroom duties.

Come up with a reward system. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just something to show them that what they are doing is leading up to something special for them. We started with allowing him to put a sticker on a days of the week chart every time he would use the big potty. He mainly just liked the idea of using stickers, and we stopped this pretty quickly since he trained so easily. But have them working towards a goal of their choice (within reason), and they will feel excitement as they see the progress.

Use a timer. In the beginning, some feel that setting a timer and going to the potty every time it goes off is a sure way to avoid the accidents. This can work, but you have to be willing to stick with it and take them every ‘x’ amount of minutes. I believe we started with a 20 minute timer, and eventually he would run to the bathroom by himself when he heard the timer go off. Even if he didn’t have to go, it was fine because he was getting used to the potty routine.

Books. Adults read books/newspapers on the toilet all the time, give your child a book if you know he is “working” on something. It keeps them occupied and on the potty long enough to do their business without getting up prematurely. Nothing like cleaning up a mess on the way OUT of the bathroom.

Skip the pull-ups. In my opinion (we all have those, right?), a pull up is basically a diaper. It works the same way, it just has “cooler” big boy/girl designs. I decided that since I was going to be home, I was going to throw some on underwear and see what happened. For us, he wet himself once and that was that, he didn’t wet again because he didn’t like being wet. For some of my friends though, it took a little longer, but patience is key. Do NOT yell or get upset if they have an accident, explain to them the feeling of having to go, and let them know that accidents happen while learning something new.

Go before leaving the house. Even if you just had your kid sitting on the potty, take him again if you are leaving the house. Tiny bladders don’t hold much, and if your kid drinks as much water as mine—you may find yourself searching for a clean potty to use almost as soon as you are out the door. Even now I will tell my son (now 3.5) to try just in case, he usually ends up going a little.

Change of clothes. Never, and I repeat, NEVER leave the house without a change of clothes. Quick trip out? Doesn’t matter, bring extra clothes. Sometimes accidents happen because there isn’t a restroom nearby, and you don’t want your child walking around feeling embarrassed or sad because they have wet pants. Keep a spare set of underwear and pants in the car, that way you will at least have a backup in case you forget to put some in the diaper bag.

The biggest factor by far is encouragement. Keep encouraging them as kids thrive off of positive reinforcement. Always praise them when they use the potty, even when they are just about trained. You want them to know that what they are doing is great and that they are still being noticed for their efforts and achievements.

What are some things that helped you potty train? Do you plan on using any of these strategies when it is time?

5 Simple Solutions for Storing Toys in Living Spaces

 

“We’ll never allow toys to clutter up our living room,” says the newly married couple with no children. Fast forward a couple of years and you are more likely to hear from them, “where is the floor? There are too many toys!” I am only describing the situation of a friend though of course. Living in a two story house with all of the living space upstairs, including bonus room and spare bedroom, having toys downstairs is inevitable. My kids are young, I can’t trust them to safely play upstairs by themselves while I clean or prepare dinner downstairs, so there is no shortage of toys and “junk” in our living room.

This may not be a problem to some, but my husband and I like having a clean looking space when the kids aren’t playing or we are having guests over. Here are 5 simple tips that we use to help get our “kid clutter” out of sight.

1. Sturdy Storage Bench

When we only had to deal with one kids worth of toys, we purchased this storage shelf from IKEA. It can be stacked for more storage, can be on its side and double as a bench, or can stand up tall to fit into smaller spaces. We had it laying on its side as a bench before Christmas of last year, but we needed to make room for our tree so we decided to stand it up in the corner. We liked how the floor was clear so we kept it standing up. This cube shelf is much sturdier than the ones you find at other stores, and they are BIG. You can buy the inserts anywhere, but these particular ones are from IKEA as well.

2. Cabinet/Furniture

We have our TV components in a cabinet by our couch. It is big enough that it doubles as toy storage as well. This is where we keep the toys that don’t fit in the bins of the storage bench. Although my 3 year old can’t organize this cabinet quite like I can, he has no problem handing me toys when we clean up. The drawer on the right also holds some art supplies that I don’t like my kids getting out themselves.

3. Kitchen Cabinets

We used to have our games and cards in the cabinet in the living room, and those would end up EVERYWHERE. Once we got a china cabinet in our kitchen we transferred those to the cabinets there so we could keep games for game time. This is great solution for games, puzzles, and art supplies. We have bibs/placements in one drawer, and in the other drawer I keep my 3 year old's educational books/learning supplies.

4. Closet Space

We are lucky enough to have a HUGE closet space underneath our stairs. This is where I stash the bigger toys that don’t fit in cabinets, like those giant ride on toys that crush your toes while you are cooking dinner. Even if you don’t have a space like this where you can keep toys all of the time, it doesn’t hurt to hide them away just when guests are over so they aren’t cluttering the room.

5. Small Toy Tip

Small toy “kits” need to be kept together. Keeping organized and clutter free isn’t just about keeping things out of sight. If my son wants to play with his birthday cake set, I don’t want him dumping out the whole bin to find the missing candles. To avoid that, I use the most simple solution…..a gallon Ziploc bag. Yep, they aren’t just good for storage in the kitchen, they work great for keeping sets of toys together. We have a few of these in the bottom bin to keep things together. Of course, before doing this make sure your children are old enough to know better than to play WITH the bag, and keep an eye on them while playing with these toys.

I also am a hoarder of the small zipper bags that sheet sets come in and use those for small toys as well. Even the zipper bath toy bags make a perfect storage solution, we have two of these in our cabinet—one holds a big set of wooden letter blocks, the other holds some Disney character toys.

We are constantly finding new ways to store toys, especially with two young boys—one of which is overly obsessed with all things pirates. What are some of your toy storage solutions? Would any of these work for your family?