Potty Training ... Part 1!

My daughter is now 2 and a half so it seems about time that she start to master the potty and I can stop forking out huge amounts of money on nappies. ( Yes, I would have used cloth but our company didn't exist when she was born! )

So where to start with potty training? My business partner 'trained' her daughter at 18 months, as with another one on the way she needed to do it as soon as possible. While this is quite early there are def advantages to at least trying to potty train when younger. Cost is one of course, but also toddlers are less aware of their bodily functions and less embarresed about going to the toilet at a younger age and are also more likely to do as they are told! Potty training a head strong 2 and a half year old suddenly seems a rather difficult feat, especially as this particular toddler seems to have suddenly formed a new love affair with her nappy and is reluctant to let me take it off.

But the time has come and the weather is perfect for letting little one's run around semi naked and so this week I have begun to take her nappy off in the afternoons ( at morning she's at nursery ) and encourage her to use her potty.

The first afternoon was a bit of a non event. She sat for hours on the potty with her new potty book which she loved, but no wee wee ... not a dribble! This made me think that maybe she can control her bladder and is waiting for the nappy to go on before doing anything ...oppps seriously the wrong psychology and another reason why earlier may be better!

The next day though we had a result ... two wee wee's in the potty and a bit on the patio. She was rewarded with wee wee sweeties ...
Later that evening though she did a wee wee all over mummy's lap ... okay not so good ... I realised that in the excitment of achieving a wee wee on the potty I had forgotton to keep asking her if she needed to use the potty and so had got what I deserved!

The next day I introduced the concept of knickers, hoping that this exciting new garment of 'big girl' clothing would encourage her to use the potty. For ages nothing happened even though I had taken on the persona of a parrot squarking 'would you like to do wee wee poo poo on the potty ...tell mummy if you want to sit on the potty' ... every 5 minutes ... then of course when I was in another room she said 'potty' and promptly did a wee wee all over the floor! Oh and there was another one on my lap again that evening ... ( I'm doing a lot of washing these days! )

Okay ...I am now appreciating that this is not going to be so easy. I am going to to try a different method which involves sitting her on the potty every half an hour or so instead of asking her, and we'll see if we get better luck! In the meantime any tips much appreciated!

Indybel sell the Babybjorn Potty above in a variety of colours and potty book

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