Potty Training - The Verdict

I would honestly say that it's a hoax.  These "Potty Train Your Child in 5 Days" should actually be called "Potty Train the PARENTS in 5 Days".  I do NOT believe that my child is potty trained, because he is not telling us he has to go.  He may start in his pants and finish on the potty, and he will now pee within 15 seconds of sitting on the potty, but he will not tell us "Mommy, I have to pee." and walk over and do it.  These plans consider my son to be trained because he does not have accidents.  I don't think that's right.  Keep this in mind!  If you want to potty train your child, these are some tips that I have.

1) Make sure they can hold it for a longer period of time.  I think this is the most important advice I could give anyone now after attempting to train both my kids.  When we trained our daughter I remember going through 10 pairs of panties at LEAST every day.  It was frustrating for everyone.  At least with our son, even if he has an accident, the max he will have is 3-4 a day, so no frustration at all.

2) Let them hang out in a t-shirt and underwear.  That's it.  If they have pants on, you can't see when they start to piddle.  If they have nothing on, they can't feel themselves getting wet, it's just going straight to your carpet (if your unlucky like us).

3) Have those rewards and USE them.  If one reward doesn't work (we originally had stamps), then try another one!  And find rewards that fit your child's personality.  I think why he didn't like the stamps was because they were stars and hearts.  He wanted Cars and Thomas - end of story.

4) The brand of potty doesn't matter.  We don't have a cool Cars potty and he still pees when we need him to.  Do have a variety though, because we do notice him having a preference for the potty seat on the big toilet.  He is not a fan of the little potty's on the ground.

5) I know this sounds harsh, but don't give in to the first scream that comes out of them while they are trying.  It was really hard to listen to my little man scream at me, but ALWAYS within 2 minutes he would pee.  He was screaming not because he was scared, but because he wanted to go play.  I guess make sure you know WHY they are screaming, that's the most important part.

6) Don't say no to the training pants.  Life DOES go on and you will have to leave the comfort of your own home.  Diapers are hard to take on and off (however, they are cheaper than the training pants).  Just don't rely on them.  Underwear is the way to go, training pants should ONLY be used when you leave the house.

7) As for sleeping, don't worry about that!  Just get through the day.  Night training will come.  Later.  A lot later.  Why worry about two things at one time?

And those are my thoughts on potty training!  Don't expect magic results in 3 or even 7 days.  It's not going to happen.  Just keep going, they will get there, I promise!