How to potty train your toddler in no time

Raising a child involves going through lot of steps and stages. Some of them are easier to deal and cope with, while others are not as pleasant. Potty training falls in the second category. You just want to get it over with as soon as possible and move on to other business.

Here are some useful tips to help you potty train your toddler as quickly as possible:

• timing is everything. We know you’re anxious and excited to lose the diapers, but you have to wait for the proper time to potty train your little one. If you rush into it, you’ll only torture yourself and your child, and it will seem like it’ll take even longer to go through the whole toilet transition. You can look for signs to know if your toddler is prepared: for instance, if they start to notice themselves that their diaper is dirty or they let you know when it’s time to go number 1 or number 2. Of course they also have to be able to pull their pants up and down, be more and more disturbed to wear a wet or dirty diaper and they have to be altogether cooperative regarding the whole idea
• observe their elimination patterns and take a note on how often and when they usually go. Is it a specific time during the day, does he give you any clues right before it happens, etc.?
• when you know he’s going to go, take him to the toilet, or a suitable potty for his size and when he goes, make a sound or say something that you’re going to repeat every time he has to do the deed. That way he’ll recognize and associate that sound/word/phrase with the action of going potty
• Reward him every time he uses the potty. It can be a sweet treat, a colorful sticker, a toy or anything really, as long as it isn’t harmful and you’ll know it will do its job in motivating your toddler. You can simply praise them for every success and maybe that’ll be enough
• Stop using training diapers and go straight for the underwear. Training diapers are not that different from regular diapers and your kid will use them just as carefree. On the other hand, if you go directly for underwear, your child won’t be so quick to relieve himself, because he will be significantly more irritated and disturbed by the wet/dirty sensation if he wears underwear, than if he has a diaper on
• Make using the toilet FUN. More often than not, toddlers are simply bored to sit on the toilet for more than a minute. Try to keep them busy while they’re on the ‘throne’. Let them color the toilet lid with washable markers, get some good reading material and read to them, etc. As long as they’ll be involved in something fun, they won’t be so eager to leave the toilet and they’ll associate potty time with doing something that they like.