Potty Training

My neighbor and friend Angela A. had a great idea for potty training. Angela said about her daughter, "She got down the pee-pee part pretty quickly but was struggling with going poo. She'd wait until nap time or night time to have a diaper on to go...She loves to get her nails painted. I told her that each time she went poo, I'd let her pick out a color and I'd paint her nails. It started out slowly, every 3 or 4 days she's go on the potty and she would always remind me to paint her nails or toenails.

Eventually she started doing it everyday...and that was too much nail painting. So I made her a nail painting potty chart. I traced both her hands and drew fingernails on them. Each time she went on the potty, she'd get to color a nail and when all nails were colored, we'd paint hers...I like not giving her candy or having to buy toys and since I already had nail polish, this reward cost nothing."

What a fun idea!

I've found that it is so dependent on the little one. Ask yourself:

What does my child LIKE?

What MOTIVATES him?

What does she really WANT?

With my oldest I tried EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING! (I even made "potty pals" (faces fastened with contact paper on the inside of the lids) and told her she had to feed them and give them a drink. I know...I was desperate!) She was 3 1/2-years old and I had people left and right telling me how EASY girls were to potty train. I was feeling like a pretty horrible mommy.

Finally I asked myself what does she like to do? She absolutely LOVES books and stories so I decided to make up a story about a town called Diaperville where everyone sits in their poop and how yucky that place was. Not too far from Diaperville, there was a beautiful place called Panty Land. Beautiful princesses lived in Panty Land and everyone went on the potty there and enjoyed clean, dry panties. So everyday we would travel from Diaperville to Panty Land until before we knew it she decided to be a Panty Land Princess!

Another tip that helped once my children start potty training was to go to different locations in the house or even outside and pretend the child had to go. I would chase them to the potty and have them go through the motions. Remember to be silly and have fun in your drills! This helps them to feel confident that they can make it to the potty even if they are watching a show, playing a fun game, playing outside, etc.

Whatever you end up doing, REMEMBER that your child will probably be potty-trained by college so just RELAX...it'll probably help! : )

Feel free to add any suggestion in a comment. Thanks!