Best potty training tip ever contest!
In honor of the Potty Dance book launch, we are offering 1 FREE flattenme book to each person with a winning potty training tip.
UPDATE: Thanks all for participating! Some wonderful suggestions. Congratulations to our winners - Becky, Cindy, Jeff, Sarah and Victoria.
If you’re looking for potty training tips check out the comments below for nuggets of wisdom.
Just in case you got here randomly and have no idea about flattenme (what, do you hide under a rock?) — we make crazy great, award winning personalized storybooks. Swing by our website www.flattenme.com and check it out. Great idea for holiday gifts!
Here’s the skinny on the contest - post a comment here with your best tip. 1 tip per person so make it your best. The top 5 tips will be used in the back of the Potty Dance book. Contest runs until Nov 30, 2007.
In order to post a comment you’ll need to enter your e-mail address. We’ll use that to e-mail you a gift certificate if your tip wins. We’ll post the winners on this blog and my kids will throw a potty party in your name. Lots o’ candy all around.
May the Potty forces be with you.
Not-so-legal mumbo jumbo: No grumbling allowed about who wins. No fighting about whose idea it really was. If the same idea gets submitted more than once, we will take the first one that is presented in a coherent way. If you submit more than 1 tip, we will pretend we didn’t see the rest of your note past tip #1. Once you fork over a tip, it’s ours to use without paying you a dime. If you babble, you will be disqualified.
November 6th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I went to the local toy store, Diddams, and purchased a bunch of their trinkets (typical goodie bag loot with an emphasis on trains and airplanes) Every time my son went on the potty, he got to choose a trinket. Some call it bribery. I call it a reward.
November 9th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
For little boys to learn there aim, put a cheerio in the toilet and have them hit it. Works like a charm! It makes it a FUN game!
November 9th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Create a sticker chart and stick it up in the bathroom. At first, they can get a sticker for siting on the potty. Then progress to getting stickers each time the “go” in the potty. And stickers for no accident days. Make a big deal about the stickers. Letting them help put them on the sticker chart and pick out each one to use. Once the chart is all filled up, you declare them to be potty trained. Take a picture of them with their chart and let them pick out a toy.
If the stickers don’t work, you can always resort to M&M’s! When I couldn’t get my twins interested at all in using the potty, the M&M’s were the only thing to work. Just getting one or two M&M’s each time they went in the potty, was incentive enough to get them to start using it. Between that and the stickers, you will have your child trained in no time!
November 9th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Similar to the cheerio trick we’ve put a couple of drops of blue food coloring in the middle of the toilet bowl and asked our son to pee on them. They change color to green and it’s very exciting.
Also teaches him how to aim which will be important if he ever goes to college in the northeast and wants to spell his name in the snow.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
When we were potty training my son we made a huge deal about it. Everytime he went in the potty we would call the grandparents, and do “the potty dance” Every time my son went he would say…MOM you have to do the dance!!! It was really funny to watch my husband do the dance.
November 10th, 2007 at 9:12 am
The greatest tip I can give you is to make it about your child and not you. It is easy to become frustrated when you know your child can do something but refuses but ultimately they have to be the ones who decide they are ready. And putting undo pressure and unrealistic expectations on your child only makes it about you and not them.
November 10th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
For my daughter doing the potty happy dance has worked. It is wierd I know, but every time she goes pee in the potty we do a happy dance after to celebrate and she loves it. Works better than candy in our house.
November 10th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
The best tip is for the mom to pretent to pee in the potty in front of the child so he/she can actually see what’s used for. Because most of the time kids mistake potties for toys and don’t like to pee on their toys. Kids learn faster from what they see than what they hear!
November 11th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Let your child decorate the potty with stickers to make it his or her own and let her/him pick out special big girl/boy undies with his/her favorite characters (Barbie, Spiderman, Princesses). They’ll be more excited about keeping his/her favorite characters clean and dry!
November 11th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
We sing the potty song (I made one up about my daughter going potty). I sing it while she is on the potty and I have second song that is sung if she goes in the potty and I sing it while she does a victory potty dance.
November 11th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
My son has been very reluctant to potty train so I have been making sure that he sees his friends use the potty and he will usually want to use it too.
November 11th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
We tried the dollar store toy ‘grab bag’ but that only lasted about a week. The ONLY thing that has worked for us was telling him he could have a treat and letting him choose something from the “treat basket” worked. We also told him if he poops in the potty he has to go back to wearing diapers instead of undies/pullups. He does NOT want to be considered a baby in diapers. Kids have big egos!
Good luck!
November 11th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Once my son learned he could stand … well, he didn’t want to sit anymore, and started having accidents again. We began having him sit after meals and let him bring in activity books - seek & find picture books, mostly. Now it’s routine, and fun for him to have his bathroom time after meals. It’s just become part of his routine.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Letting your child watch you go potty…repeatedly. I almost never make a bathroom trip alone; my daughter is usually with me, and shows a natural interest in what I’m doing. So I emphasize what’s going on: “I’m going pee in the potty. Hear it tinkle? Now I wipe myself with toilet paper,” etc. Be as detailed as possible…Obviously, the child needs a same sex parent to do this with. My daughter was pretending each aspect of going potty before she ever went in her own chair.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
I have not yet to venture into potty training with Connor but my cousin is in the middle of potty training her son. With him at least he hates the thought of diapers so any threats to take away his pull ups seems to really work.
Ill add you to my contest blog tonight
November 11th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Evening, I am the mother of two teenage sons! They are three years apart in age. Thus, when our youngest came into our family, our older son was 3!
Having only gone through potty-training once without too much trouble, I assumed little guy would be the same! I mean, he had a dad and an older brother to learn from. It couldn’t have been further from the truth! LOL!
I thought I would be changing diapers until he went to kindergarten. I suppose my best tip, is I believe each child has their own time line. Unless, of course there are physical or emotional problems with the potty-training experience. One day he decided to use the toilet and that was the end of that saga. He used it from then on ( he was a tad over 3 years old ) and never had one accident from that day on……Thanks, Cindi
November 12th, 2007 at 12:26 am
My best tip is to teach them when THEY start showing an interest. If you force them to use the potty before they’re ready, it can back-fire and delay the process even longer. Another tip I’ve heard is to NOT use Pull-Ups, etc because they prolong the potty training process (which makes sense, because how else are the companies going to make money off of them). I’ve heard from several parents that it’s best to buy some cloth training pants (like Gerber)and if they poop or pee in them and are able to feel how yucky it is, they will be completely trained in a matter of days! I’m going to try that with my son once he starts showing interest in the potty.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:17 am
My four year old is brilliant, she potty trained herself when she was two. Now her younger sister is two years old, and lets just say she free spirited and isnt quite were my oldest was at this age… I could really use
the potty book. Particuraly since the expectation of all my friends and family is that I already know what I am doing, which is not necessarily true!!!
November 12th, 2007 at 4:34 am
We had Dora “call” my twins after they each went to the bathroom in the potty. She congratulated them on going to the potty and told them they did a terrific job.
they were in heaven and that did the trick. From then on they went to the bathroom “like Dora does”.
FYI Dora can call your child for a small price from nickjr. com.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:52 am
The best tip was the naked method- going without pants and or diapers - we used baby legs for warmth, my daughter did not like the sensation of pee going down her leg and she was trained that day. She was not allowded on the coach while we did this.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:23 am
If you notice your child “holding it in,” potty training is stressing them out and you should lay off the potty talk for a while. If you don’t mention it at all, you can return to the topic a few weeks later and give it a try again.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:33 am
When we were ready to start using the potty, I let my son go to the store and pick out his own underwear. He was so proud when he got to put on the Shrek and Thomas underwear he “bought”, that he readily used the toilet so that he wouldn’t have to take off his big boy undies.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:44 am
Just starting out on potty training my daughter but this advice has already helped. You fill a bowl with lukewarm or tepid water, place the “potty” toys (special toys only for going potty, plastic ones work best for easy cleaning) in the bowl and set the bowl of water in front of the child. When the child places his/her hands in the lukewarm water to play with the toys, if the child needs to physically go, they nearly instantly go potty
November 12th, 2007 at 6:01 am
We set a timer for every 20 minutes at first. When the timer went off, we went to try to potty. Every week we would extend it until she was just going on her own. She was fully trained within 4 weeks like this. We didn’t wear diapers either, just panties and she hated the feel of accidents running down her leg at this point so looked forward to the timer going off to go potty.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Don’t force a kid into potty training because you think it’s time… they will do it when they are ready, physically and emotionally! If you rush them, it might backfire on you. (Literally!)
November 12th, 2007 at 7:16 am
We rewarded for staying DRY, not for using the potty. We would ask every 30 minutes if he was still dry, and if he was, he got a treat (M&M or something similar). When he stayed dry all day, he got a bigger treat (a small toy we’d bought)….and when he finally pooped in the potty, he got a trip to the toy store to pick out one thing of his choosing!!
This approach takes away the performance pressure to “go.” Takes away a lot of the power struggle, too. :0)
November 12th, 2007 at 7:52 am
When I was potty-training my second child, I had a clock with Westminster chimes which sounded every half hour. This would remind me (and him) that it was potty time. Every time the clock would sound, we’d try to go potty. It worked! It wasn’t long before he learned to run to the bathroom on his own when he heard the chimes.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I start putting my children on the potty from when they can hold their heads up. You can tell when they are going to pee or poop, and if you catch them often they will always associate the potty with what it is for. When they are on the potty you can make a “shhhhh” noise like water and then they will associate that with going pee and will learn to do it when you put them on the pot and make the noise.
Later potty training is easy because they already do it some times and know what it is for.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Buy blue koolaid or another drink they are not usually allowed. Pick one day and allow them unlimited access to the special drink. The more you give them the more they need to pee that day. Every time they pee on the potty reward them with a big celebration (dance, call dad at work, smarties, and of course more SPECIAL drink.
After a day of so many successes your child will be TRAINED!!
November 12th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Let them just sit on the potty. Doesn’t have to be to go to the bathroom, just let him/her get used to it. They can read their fave book (just like Dad! lol)
November 12th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Before your child is ready to actually start serious potty training (and old enough to fight you every step of the way!) take steps to make them comfortable and familiar with the whole process. Let them see you use the potty every once in a while. After a meal or before bathtime, let them sit on the potty for awhile - just to have fun, maybe catch a little something, and to start to learn what the potty is for and that it is not a scary thing! When they are ready to fully understand and start using the potty full time they are already familiar with the tools and process and hopefully have already had some positive experiences with it, making the training easier and quicker!
November 12th, 2007 at 9:42 am
[…] is offering a free book to the person with the best potty-training tip (ends […]
November 12th, 2007 at 11:07 am
There soooo many tips - but, after going through this with 4 I’d say consistency is the best one!
November 12th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
For my daughters I bought really fancy panties, ruffles, lace, the works. When they said they wanted to wear them I let them but told them that if they peed in them they could not wear them any more. After the first accident they got changed into diapers and were upset they could not wear the panties. I told them we would try again the next day. One daughter only peed twice and the other two three times and they were trained. They had a few more accidents but they were few and far between.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
My son had been peeing in the potty for months and months but would refuse to poop in the potty. He would not even poop in the bathroom. He found a corner and played with a certain toy when doing his business. Finally, I made him be in the bathroom when pooping, then sitting on the potty when pooping and the final step was cutting a hole in his diaper so the poop would just fall out. This took away whatever fear that he had for some strange reason.
November 12th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Letting the monkey watch both mom & dad is key. Giving them a choice between the kid-sized pot & the big pot gives them control of the situation and allows them to decide their own comfort level.
November 12th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Let them want it more than you do. Man, you can push and push and that just gives them the power and you turn it into a power struggle. It should not be a power struggle. Ever. They should want to use the potty and be upset and ashamed when they have an accident. Not because you make them feel ashamed, but because that means that they weren’t behaving like the big boy or girl that they so desperately want. Conversely, help them feel proud of their accomplishments in the bathroom. If that means a trinket or toy that they can show off (and tell complete strangers that they got it for “poopin’ in the potty!”), so be it. Good stuff, I tell ya!
MamaChristy
normanfam(at)gmail.com
November 12th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
We have a training potty in the back of the car, which we take everywhere we go. You never know when a little one is going to have to go. It’s great for long trips, trips across town, and trips to the park.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
We tried everything…gifts, chocolate, stickers, begging, pretty panties, etc. and what actually worked was the DVD “Potty Power!” It talks about being a big kid who doesn’t need diapers, etc. It really worked!
November 12th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I use rewards. Food, gifts whatever.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
When it was clear my son was about ready (this is key!) to start potty training, we began talking about the “Diaper Fairy.” The Diaper Fairy would come one day and take all the daytime diapers away and leave brand new underwear (Bob the Builder was her choice for my son). He was so excited about the Diaper Fairy and knew that once she came, all the daytime diapers would be gone and that he would need to use the potty all the time. He also knew that using the potty meant he could go to school in the fall. We mentioned the Diaper Fairy every few days, casually, for about 2 weeks. Then *poof* she appeared, took the daytime diapers and left our son brand new underwear. He was so excited and proud that the Diaper Fairy knew he was ready to be a big boy. It worked wonderfully for us, he had one accident the first day and that was it (I swear!). I tell this to all my friends and it has worked for them as well.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Don’t buy a separate “potty seat”. Just get a potty ring to use on the regular toilet seat. Then they are using the bathroom just like big kids/mom and dad do.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I would have to say after two kids, let your kids take their own time. Meaning each kid will be ready in their own time both mentally and physically and remember don’t stress out!!! Your little one will use the potty by the time they are in middle school!!!
November 12th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
With seven children, you’d think I’d have the potty training issue down pat. Nope! Each one has been different and I still have two to go.
I do know that with my second son, he was the worst to potty train for #2. I finally got to the point of washing his hiney off with really cold tap water and he quick pooping in his undies. He started going on the potty after about three treatments of this. lol
November 13th, 2007 at 10:47 am
reward them
November 13th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
I’m a big fan of reward and a lot of positive praise!
November 13th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Little girls are easy just put them on the potty, with a princess book and the deal is sealed. Little boys do not fall for that stuff very easily so you have to make a game out of it.
One of our boys was a cowboy, he was the one who always wore the cowboy hat and boots. He got to ride the big boy toilet. He got to strattle the toilet like a pony. He was put on facing the wall so he was not tempted to stand up and take aim at any moving objects in or around the bathroom.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
This may seem like a weird potty training tip, but it works well (I’m a mom of six). Don’t let them have much sugar while you are potty training them. It makes them sleepy, less likely to want to make it to the bathroom and makes them groggy when they nap or sleep at night causing more accidents to happen. It’s hard for them to wake up and get to the bathroom on time.
November 17th, 2007 at 7:36 am
My potty training tip…START YOUNG! Like at 6 months…we started at about 9 months (but I would’ve started earlier if I could’ve found a smaller potty!) and our son goes to the potty EVERY time you put him on now, and has been doing this since about 10 months old! It really works…plus then you have no ‘fights’ about going potty…it’s just a part of their day.
November 18th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
When we were potty training, we talked frequently with our daughter about the importance of “good body listening” (especially when she would do the potty dance!) She learned to listen to her body and know when she had to go.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Make it a FUN and EXCITING experience for your child!!!! That is the most important! Stay consistant and your child will too. If there is an older child in the home have them help out to. You know younger siblings take after their older sibbs so you might be surprised at what they can do to help. Thats how my middle child was potty trained, Big brother taught him
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Charts and stickers worked great for us - use the potty and get a sticker. We also read this one potty book over and over … but it was nothing like your Potty Dance. Love the idea.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Well I trained my son in 3 days. I thought he would be difficult. I set the microwave time for every 20 to 30 minutes. When the bell rang we sang and danced to the potty. Sometimes we sat there and read books. After he peed we cheered and danced. He got one m and m for peeing and 2 for pooping. Plus i drew a really cool sticker chart. 1 sticker for pee and 2 for poop. By day 3 about 8 at night. he comes and said I pooped. Off to walmart to get a toy. lol
November 28th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Your contest is on rookiemoms.com — I wish I had a tip for you, we’re in the early days over here and are anxiously awaiting the book!
November 29th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
We told my son he could have a “big boy” camp out with his buddies once he wasnt having accidents anymore…getting him to that point we used a lot of the same rewards that have already been mentioned.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
The best tip I have for potty training rewards/motivation is to use “currency” your child will find valuable. The currency can be coins, small toys, or being allowed to play with a “forbidden” object. If the child stays dry or uses the toilet, they are given the reward. When they have an accident, they have to “return” the reward….only to get it back the next time they are successful. It’s important to make sure the child fully understands WHY they are having to give back the reward. This way you use positive and negative reinforcement at the same time.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:10 am
For my daughter, we went to the store and picked out the panties she wanted to wear. She found some princess ones and some Dora ones she wanted. We made it clear that she had to stay dry to be able to wear her big girls panties. We had some accidents along the way, but she really wanted to wear those big girl panties, so they were a great incentive.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
I recommend holding a potty party. Invite a few friends over, give them presents that encourage potty training (dolls, books, etc.), and tell them that they’re ready to get rid of their diapers. Make it a special occasion.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
I recommend Potty Training Rewards. The treats and audio acknowledgements were powerful incentives to fully potty train our son. Here is the website www.pottytrainingrewards.com
December 5th, 2007 at 7:22 am
My son is three and of course were trying to master the potty. We give him one sticker for his sticker chart if he does number one and he gets two stickers if he does number two. When he gets the whole chart full (like 20-30 stickers) he gets to pick out a toy at the store. He also gets very excited when we refer to the potty as the “Potty Train.”
December 5th, 2007 at 9:54 am
My first son who is now 16 was very hard to potty train. Now, my 2 year old is showing signs that he is ready. He wants the poop off as soon as it is in his diaper. So, I plan to practice the same methods that I did with my first potty experience. My first son had the sensation or fear of falling off the potty, even with a potty ring. We found that turning him backwards and putting his favorite toys on the cover of the toilet really worked. He wanted to sit longer, and voila, pee and poo in the potty. We also used lots of positive reinforcement and never made a big deal out of accidents. This helped him not to get constipated from holding it in. Also, we used treats: stickers and small toys found at the Dollar Store. We would even call Grandmother to share our good news about successful trips to the potty. We also read a book called “Potty Time.” My suggestion is to be creative and make the potty fun, use a wide variety of positive reinforcements and rewards: what works for one child sometimes won’t work for another. Happy pottying!
December 5th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Let your kids watch you use the toilet from a very early age. Don’t make a big deal out of it.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:49 am
You are absolutely right Naomi…and this methods works perfect for girls… they like to imitate mom…