Potty Training. Ready or Not?
This post is sponsored by Pull-Ups© Training Pants. All opinions are my own.
“My daughter was fully potty trained at 16 months!”
“Really!? Mine wasn’t potty trained until he was four and a half!”
I hear comparisons like this all the time. They always make me chuckle. Kids all start walking and talking at their own pace, why would potty training be any different? Every child learns and develops at their own speed, but there are common potty training readiness signs to watch for as your child grows and develops. Here are a few to look for:
Do they show signs that they need to go potty or are going potty?
I always watch for when they begin to hide to go poop. My family loves to tell the story of my younger sister who would go in the corner and then yell, “Don’t look at me!” while she did her business.
Pulling at their soiled diaper?
Once they have filled their diaper, are they pulling at it or trying to remove it? Do they tell you they have gone, are going to go, or are going potty in their diaper?
Can they follow simple instructions?
If your child can follow a simple set of instructions you can know that they will be capable of knowing how and when to use the potty.
Are they paying attention to and showing interest in what goes on in the bathroom?
Does your little one copy others’ actions when they are using the restroom? Before we potty trained my daughter, she was constantly following us into the bathroom and asking questions. She always wanted to flush for us.
Do they stay dry for a few hours at a time?
You may notice that your child is staying dry for a few hours at a time. The easiest way for me to keep track is to watch for dry diapers when they wake up from nap time.
If your child is showing some or all of these signs, it may be time to start potty training. But where to start? I suggest The Pull-Ups® Potty Partnership – A Whole New Way to Potty Train.
This is a system that brings your child into the process as a partner, letting their personality guide the way, to tackle the potty training milestone as a team. Based on research and observation of personality types in young children, Pull-Ups, along with child development expert Dr. Heather Wittenberg, has identified five potty training personalities: Puppy, Owl, Bear Cub, Turtle, and Squirrel.
By taking the Potty personality at Pull-Ups.com you can determine which of these personalities your child resembles and customize the potty training journey right from the start. The Pull-Ups® Potty Partnership offers tips, tools and advice to guide and support you as you and your child learn together, including potty charts, stickers and games.
The most important thing to know about potty training is that every child potty trains differently based on their personality. It doesn’t matter how old they are, potty training is not a race! Work with your child’s personality rather than not against it, and you will both be a happier and more successful team.
Pull-Ups® Training Pants are a great tool to help your child recognize potty training as a significant milestone in their development and give your child the independence to slide their pants on and off all by themselves. With three different types of training pants, each with different features, Pull-Ups can be with you every step of the way. Pull-Ups® Learning Designs® Training Pants have designs that fade when wet – so kids see the difference between wet and dry. Pull-Ups® Cool & Learn® Training Pants provides a brief cooling sensation when wet to help you teach your child the signs of when they need to go. Pull-Ups® Night*Time Training Pants have Extra Absorbency so parent and child can stay consistent during potty training – even at night.
I loved listening to child development expert Dr. Heather Wittenberg explain why you should allow your little one to switch from diapers to Pull-Ups.
Instead of being afraid, anxious, or frustrated about potty training, look at it as a way to bond with your child. By becoming a team on one of their first major independence milestones, you will teach them from an early age that you are in this together.
To find out your child’s potty personality, take the personality quiz at Pull-Ups.com, and get tools and advice to help you and your child partner together throughout the potty training journey.
We had to just let our middle daughter take her own time with potty training and it came around age 3. We are at that stage with our daughter who will be 2 in August, but we will see if she is ready.
what an awesome post. this reminds me of when my little brother was being potty trained.
I remember when my kids were being potty trained. Boy am I glad that’s over! But it shouldn’t be a rush, different kids grow at different rates.
I agree that every child potty trains at a their own pace. I found that until my boys realized they were actually wet/soiled AND it bothered them they weren’t ready for potty training.
I still remember when I was potty training my girls for the first time. It actually went really well for the both of them. I was surprised how quick they learned too. I always loved using the pull ups as well!
I’m expecting and I kind of fear potty training, believe it or not! Haha. I just don’t want to go wrong in the process… love this post for that!
What an adorable post with cute photos! Good luck with the potty training, looks like these really will help!
I like that you asked if a child was ready to be potty trained rather than forcing it on a child. So many people want to be able to brag about how young their children were potty trained. I liked this post.
We loved Pull Ups for our son, whether he was potty training or not. The night time ones were especially great when he was potty training and had accidents at night.
I was a lucky mama and grandma. My babies and grandbabies all but trained themselves. All at about 2-years of age after waking in the morning dry. I count my lucky blessings!
Every child potty trains differently. I know someone whose daughter was training in 2 days and her son seemed to take forever. He just wasn’t ready.
Potty training was a BREEZE with my son! He was awesome, my daughter just turned 2 and it’s been off and on. Haha maybe the pullups would help?
What a great article. I always say take their lead, they know when they are.
There WERE no training pants when my daughter was potty training. I lucked out BIG TIME. I think she had two accidents, and then it was smooth sailing.
The son is past the stage when we were there he used pull-ups. We weren’t even trying to train him he trained himself which makes me very happy.