From One Parent to Another: Toilet Training Advice That Helped Us

Toilet training.. Honestly, just thinking about it used to stress me out. It was the first parenting task that I really wanted to avoid even though I could see my daughter was so ready for it! We tried a couple of times and both times I gave up after the first day, not because she wasn’t ready but because I found it such a daunting thing to teach her.

But third times a charm, right? Plus this time I asked our followers on Instagram what their advice was, which I truly believe made the difference. Hearing from mums that had been through it made the difference, they all gave great advice, shared funny stories and had suggestions of resources to look into. So I want to share some of the advice we received that worked for us, in case you find yourself stressed about toilet training like I was. Here’s what made a difference for us:

1.  Listen to Potty Training in 3 Days by Brandi Brucks Audiobook

I know that this method may not work for everyone but it definitely worked for us! After I shared it on Instagram I had 4 other mums get in touch saying they listened to it and it worked for them too. I can’t recommend this method enough. We listened to it on Spotify but I'm sure it's on most audiobook platforms. 

It focuses on a three-day method where you ditch the nappies entirely and go all in. Basically you spend three days at home focused on your little one learning this new skill. The first day is intense watching your little one super closely reading their cues to catch when they need to go and you spend A LOT of time on the toilet or potty. Day two is slightly better, and by day three they start to get it.

We had a few accidents on day one, only one accident on day two and from day three onwards she had it sorted. A bonus for us was from day three onwards she has been dry overnight as well!  

2.  Remove screentime

I know, I know, this is a very cliché thing that always seems to get such a varied response. But this isn’t about ditching screentime forever – just for the week that you’re toilet training. Little ones can sometimes zone out to what they’re watching and forget that they are learning to listen to their bodies, which can lead to many more accidents. We found it helpful to not have any screentime for the week of toilet training, it also meant I was engaged with her 100% and could catch her cues in those first few days while we were playing easier than I would have been able to if she had been watching something.

3  Reward, reward, reward!

This is mentioned in the audiobook, but was also sent through as separate advice. You find the thing that entices your little one the most and use that if you can. My daughter absolutely loves brownie, so this is what we used. I cut up brownie into very small bite size pieces and put them in a glass jar on the bench so that she could see them and knew that she could only have one when she successfully went on the toilet. After about 6 days we ‘ran out of brownie’ so we stopped using the reward and she continued on using the toilet as normal.

4. Choose the right timing for you

This was by far the advice we received most – make sure that you’re choosing the right time to do this. Yes this means that your child is showing the signs that they’re ready but it also means choosing a time that the parents are ready to commit to the training as well. Having the right mindset going into it when we were ready to give it a third go was a gamechanger, we worry about rushing our children into it, but it turns out it was us that needed not to rush into it.

5. Grab some kids books about toilet training

In the lead up to us starting we gave our daughter two books about using the toilet, these don’t need to be anything fancy, just something that your little one can engage with to understand what is going on. We found one at an op shop and got another one from Kmart for less than $10. We didn’t want to invest more in them as we knew they would only be needed for such a short time, we’ve since passed them on to another family that’s almost at toilet training stage.

A special thanks to our followers that shared their advice with me, I feel like toilet training was something that I had built up in my head to be much worse than it actually was.. I hope it turns out to be the same for you and that this advice helps a little! You’ve got this! 

Caro x