I have three children, each two years apart. My oldest was born in April. He potty trained the summer after his second birthday. The other was more ferocious and waited for the summer after his third birthday. But they both learned in the same way.
During the summer, when it was warm outside and the forecast called for bright skies, we set aside one extra week for play in our fenced backyard. A boy who was potty-training, let’s run around and play in the pants without free or any training. When he started to pee, he would naturally look back and watch. Sometimes he would run down the leg, and he didn’t like us to show him the little potty. We talk to him about it and try to understand him and try to tell him how he needs to use the potty. Seeing oneself is of great value in teaching. The first day we were worried about whether or not he made it to the potty. Teaching the body what to do.
After the first day we introduce the potty. We want to be outside with him, and let him know that this is where he could be if he felt like he should. If he started to go, we would rush to the potty and cheer him on every time he did. The praise was great. Usually at the end of the previous day, he had succeeded in going to the potty several times.
We did this every day. Our first son wanted to sit on the potty. Our second wanted to stand. Every time they leave, we cheer and praise them for being a great boy.
At the end of the week, when they had learned to go to the potty, when they came back, we gave them a “big” gift. child “dressing” with their favorite cartoon character or superhero on them. Then we took the next two days out. We explained to them that now that they know how to use the potty, they had to remember to take off their underwear first when they felt like going. At this point, we rely on how they feel about not having a visual reminder there. Neither boy had many accidents, a few the first day and maybe one the second day. then they knew what to do!
With both of our boys this system worked great in one week. Not a stressful process for us or them. No accidents to clean up. Our youngest is now fifteen months old. When he turns two, we will spend another week outside in the backyard teaching him to go potty.
