We are currently deep into potty training (day 5!) with Collins and I thought it was worth putting a blog post together on the topic since I’ve gotten lots of questions on Instagram about the whole process. I’m NOT an expert, but I can definitely provide you with resources from those that are experts.
Book We Read and Loved // Oh Crap! Potty Training
This book is both super easy to implement and understand AND fun to read. I didn’t think that you could really enjoy a book on potty training, but her approach to the whole thing and her no-nonsense approach is refreshing. I LOVE that there are no sticker charts or reward systems involved and it’s an intense method, but it’s been pretty darn effective for both girls.
How We Knew Collins Was Ready //
We didn’t! Honestly, I wish I could say that we had some big signs that she was ready but that’s just not the case. The book said the idea time to potty train is between 20 and 30 months. Collins is 23 months and with what we have going on this summer, baby brother’s arrival this fall and knowing that things are going to be busy this summer we thought it was better to do it sooner rather than later. I was really not keen to be potty training Collins with a newborn around this fall and a husband with a busy schedule with work + football coaching.
How is Collins Doing? //
So far so good! She has done surprisingly well for how young she is! She has only had a small handful of accidents and really seems to get the concept of going pee and poop on the potty. I often hear her playing and then she sings the Daniel Tiger potty song and runs to the potty when she needs to go. She does occasionally need to be prompted to go, and putting pants back on her has caused some increased accidents, but I’m feeling like we are really on the right track and glad that we decided to do it sooner rather than later. We are just being careful not to bite off more than we should chew – meaning no long outings and staying home as much as possible for the time being until we get the hang of things!
Our Plans for Travel to Iceland with Collins //
This was a BIG question mark for us. Would it be better to travel to Iceland with a newly potty trained toddler or wait + travel with diapers. I still don’t know if we made the right choice, but we did invest in this travel potty that a friend highly recommended. It is collapsible and comes with disposable liners so we are planning on taking it with us everywhere!
Have you night trained her? //
No! We are going to do night/sleep training separately. She still wakes up with really wet diapers in the morning so we aren’t rushing that part of the process, and the book does have instructions for doing a two step training approach for daytime potty training and night time potty training. We have been making her go potty before nap and she has woken up dry for the last three days so I am hopeful we can be fully diaper free for daytime soon.