Pottytrain.TV

Toilet Training Made Easy!
Welcome to PottyTrain.TV the greatest .TV event ever on toilet training! Our goal is to make toilet training easy, by giving you the best and most relevant information on toilet training that will help you toilet train without the strain!

Our focus is to help parents with common, everyday toilet training issues and provide the support as part of the PottyTrain.TV family. We want you to make the right decisions and follow the best methods, to get the job done quickly. With relevant and practical expert advice you will achieve this.  So sit back relax and enjoy our episodes.

 

QUICK OVERVIEW OF POTTYTRAIN.TV EPISODES

EPISODE 1-5: The 10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes You Need To Avoid - Mistake Monster Series

EPISODE 6:  Early Potty Training:  Part 1 – Product Checklist

EPISODE 7:  Early Potty Training:  Part 2 – Starting a Baby

EPISODE 8:  Early Potty Training:  Part 3 – Starting a Toddler

 

EPISODE 1.                          EPISODE 2.                         EPISODE 3.                         EPISODE 4.                        

                                    
Mistake Monster 1 & 2      Mistake Monster 3 & 4     Mistake Monster 5 & 6      Mistake Monster 7 & 8    

 

EPISODE 5.                          EPISODE 6.                         EPISODE 7.                         EPISODE 8.

                    

Mistake Monster 9 & 10    Early Potty Training 1        Early Potty Training 2        Early Potty Training 3

 

 

EPISODE 1.  10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes: 1 & 2

Over the next few weeks we will cover the 10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes You Need to Avoid, and you get to meet our cute but very naughty Mistake Monster. If you want to toilet train quickly, then heed our warnings and avoid these mistakes, or it will cost you both time and money. Every month you delay is $100 worth of nappies thrown in the bin. In the first episode we look at the first two, the most significant of the ten.

Mistake # 1. Using a Nappy or Pull Up Nappy
This would have to be the number one reason toilet training is delayed. Parents keep using the nappy and try and toilet train at the same time, or use the pull-up nappy that pretends to be underpants but simply are not. It just does not work. It is crucial to go straight to underpants for successful toilet training. It is essential for your child to feel wet and uncomfortable in order to go.

Mistake # 2. Asking Your Child “Do you need to go?”

This is one of the first questions that come out of almost every parent’s lips when starting toilet training, without even thinking about what we are asking. So let’s think about it. We are asking our child about something they have never done before and expect an accurate answer. It does not make sense. Your child is not qualified to answer this question. Their entire experience up until this point has been going in a nappy which takes the sensation away.

 

EPISODE 2.  10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes: 3 & 4

Mistake # 3. Waiting for your child to tell you they need to go
So many parents drag toilet training out for months because they are waiting for their child to tell them they need to go. Again, how do they know what to do if they have never used a toilet or potty before? The nappy takes the sensation away, so they have to learn a completely new habit that takes practice. It is like giving them a bike without training wheels for the first time and expecting them to just ride. The first stage of toilet training is you getting your child to the toilet at the right times. You are the key here, not your child.

Mistake # 4. Waiting until your child is showing signs of readiness before they start
There are definite signs of readiness your child will display to highlight it is time to start toilet training. These include things like pulling at the nappy, dislike of wearing the nappy, telling you wees and poos, before and after they have gone, taking off the nappy, regular poo routine, dry nappy with sleeps…. Basically an awareness of what their body is doing. If your child is showing any of these this is your window of opportunity to get going, as it will be the easiest when your child is willing and aware. The catch with this is, you can’t rely entirely on this method to determine when to start toilet training your child. Some children – usually the more cautious ones and laid back ones – will simply not show you these signs of readiness due to fear of change and laziness respectively. The more cautious child does not like a change in routine and will refuse to go, because they want to stay with what they know. The laid back child is often so relaxed they simply don’t care if they are wet or dirty and will subsequently avoid any form of hard work. Why begin toilet training when it is easier to go in the nappy. If you have one of these two types of children, you can make a big mistake to wait for them to make the first move. Simply put, you could be waiting a long time. Subsequently, you need to step in and work with their individual personality to help them through their fears or laziness.

 

EPISODE 3.  10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes: 5 & 6

Mistake # 5. Believing you need to toilet train after 2 years of age

The message is everywhere you look, the internet, the media, your best friend and family members, the nappy industry, your child-health nurse…. Your child is too young to toilet train before two years of age, they simply won’t get it, nor have the capabilities to do so.

I am so glad my 4 month old didn’t understand it couldn’t be done. We haven’t had a poo nappy since 5 months old – done on the potty every time.  Likewise, my sister’s twins who started showing signs of readiness at 14mths and were day and night trained by 18mths.  And of course the children of the 1920’s who were started on the potty at 3 mths old and toilet trained by 12-18mths also missed that it was not possible before two.

The good news is that research is now revealing that the “window of opportunity” for toilet training is in fact 18-24mths and that key toilet training problems arise after this time period due to starting late. Running away to hide to poo, wanting the nappy back on to poo, urge incontinence, longer bed-wetting, longer day wetting, chronic constipation, mental and psychological anguish.  Our children don’t need to go through this.

Is it just common sense that the longer we leave them in the disposable nappy the longer the bad habit is established?  Is it more logical to teach our children as early as possible to sit to poo from the beginning, and assume the correct position, rather than teach our toddlers to stand to poo and have to break a bad habit later on at an age when they can say “no” really well?  Should the fact that they now make nappies for 5 year olds be a reason to be alarmed that something just isn’t working with this approach?  Your child can only learn what you teach them and expose them to….. don’t wait.

Mistake #6: Delay starting due to a rationalised reason (telling yourself rational lies)

•   I will start when the weather is warmer

This is a very common excuse, and there are elements of truth with making toilet training easier with less clothes to pull on and off, but as a parent once pointed out to me, they will feel more uncomfortable being cold and wet in winter so therefore they are more aware and will toilet train quicker to avoid it.  It is not worth losing six months because of this reason if it means your child ends up older than two.  Or you ignore their signs of readiness because of weather.  If you use the right techniques, rain or shine, the principles will work.  The foundation of successful toilet training is not dependant on the seasons.

•   I will start after the baby is born in case they regress

Are you going to have more time before the baby or after the baby?  This is again a more common sense approach.  And, as I always point out to my children, if you are going to make something up, (eg. They might regress) you might as well make it positive.  They might go absolutely fine as well, because you have got a solid foundation to build on, that stops any objections as soon as they arise so they don’t become a bad habit.

•   I will start once they can talk and / or walk

This assumes that toilet training is dependant on one or both of these occurrences.  It is not.  Your baby can communicate with you quite effectively letting you know when they are hungry, cold, tired, happy, etc.  Verbal communication is not the only method and until they can talk, an exchange is communicated by your child without speaking.  Walking is also not necessary as regardless of age, the same principles apply, you need to get your child to the toilet at the right times.  Whether you take their hand and see who gets their first or pick them up and place them on, you still need to be there initially to teach. For toileting independence of course walking is the final stage, but my baby cried out to let me know he needed to go even from 9 months old, and I got him there based on his communication to me.  If you want to stop changing poo nappies earlier than later, then walking and talking are not a reason to delay.

 

EPISODE 4.  10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes: 7 & 8

Mistake # 7. Giving up because of objections

Most parents immediately take their child’s objections as a reason to stop toilet training, believing that their child is obviously not ready. Would you give up feeding your child vegetables when they first object to eating them? Instead we get clever, refocus, make it fun and play aeroplanes to down the broccoli. We need to address toilet training with the same relaxed perspective that we use to get our children to eat vegetables. Lack of confidence, knowledge and fear that we are doing the wrong thing and will wreck our child is why we immediately assume our child’s objections mean we need to stop. What it really means is that we need to get better at making it fun, so the objections stop. By relenting, we are reinforcing the objection to our child and creating a bad habit that is harder to break the longer it happens.  Don’t make it harder on yourself or your child.  Just get the right knowledge and tools for the job that will help you understand how to work with your child. 

Mistake # 8. Believing your child knows best

The child-centred approach to toilet training is prevalent in today’s society. In the 1920’s the parents decided to start toilet training early because it was too inconvenient to have children in cloth nappies after 12 months. This worked. Children were toilet trained by 12-18mths

Now believing our children knows best with all of their two years experience in the world is resulting in the delay of toilet training. Now they are making nappies for 5 year olds to accommodate for this approach. It is simply not working. How can we rely on the wisdom of our 2 year old with something they have never done before and expect results? When you put it into perspective and spell it out as it is… really?! If we are honest with ourselves, can we really believe this will work?

Although my hot-head, strong-willed child believes he knows best in all areas of life and daily pushes this onto myself, Dad and his siblings, as the adults and leaders of our household, my husband and I conclusively decide that at three, versus our combined experience, he has no idea. Hence we decide for him. Waiting for your child to let you know they need to be toilet trained can be as successful as handing them the keys to the car at five because they believe they can drive. Again, yes, some children will show you at an early age they are ready to go and they do absolutely get it. Age has nothing to do with readiness. The trap that needs to be avoided is the child that is over two years of age, maybe even three or four and you are still waiting for them to get started because they know best.

 

EPISODE 5.  10 Most Common Toilet Training Mistakes: 9 & 10

Mistake # 9. Inconsistency

Consistency is the key to successful toilet training. A game plan is essential to achieve this. It is goal-setting 101, and your game plan will be based on your life circumstances, the age of your child, holidays, timing, etc. The parents that have a new baby arriving and don’t want two in nappies have a game plan. Toilet train before the new baby arrives. Your game plan might be you are going on holidays and your cautious child will not take the change in routine well, so you decide to start toilet training after you get back. Or your game plan might be, you are going on holidays, and you and your partner will be there to get the job done, so it will be easier to start on holidays. Whatever it is, it is, but it is important to follow-through and keep on track where possible. Swapping from the nappy to underpants and back again provides mixed signals to your child and this inconsistency will guarantee a delay in toilet training. A wishy-washy approach, that consists of something new attempted each day will in return give you poor results. Routine is essential for success, and your child will respond accordingly.

 

Mistake # 10. Using poor toilet training methods that just don’t work

Bribery

This simply does not work with children. They have the upper hand and are in total control and you do not want this. You do not want to be running after your child yelling “Wait for me, I’m your leader”. You need to take back control. So don’t use bribery. I cringe every time I hear a parent say to their child “If you do this I’ll give you this.” No, no, no. Please don’t. It is choice with consequence. It is established boundaries right from the beginning, so they already know the rules and guidelines you have set for them based on the outcome you wish to achieve.


For example, “You have a choice darling, go to the toilet before we leave the home and come to the park, or don’t go and stay home with Dad, in your room with no toys, your choice.” Or taking the choice away from them works a treat “Oh well, Mummy throw the Yum Yum into the toilet then, never mind, you miss out.” It is amazing how taking the decision away from them completely gives you back control to a potential toilet refusal, but done in a relaxed, easy-going way.

Force

You just cannot do this. The goal is to lead a horse to water, not drag it. It is far more effective and manageable. Make toilet training fun and give your child a reason to go. This works so much better than holding them down kicking and screaming to make them stay on the potty. It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it. Play a game, make toilet training exciting. You need to repeat the process 6-8 times a day so you need to give them a reason to keep going back as wees and poos by themselves can become boring. Know your child’s personality to know what fun really means to them.  Use an established system like the Whizz & Plop Go Potty Packs to make the job easy for yourself and your child.

 

EPISODE 6.  Early Potty Training - Product Checklist

Early Potty Training: Part 1 – Product Checklist

Toilet training can be easy, if you start early. In this exciting 3 part series, we will show you just how easy it is to start a baby. Third world countries have toilet trained babies… they don’t have nappies to delay the process.

Now parents are choosing to start late. And what is late toilet training? A recent research project by the University of NSW “Toilet Training Infants and Children in Australia” by Anna Christie, established that late toilet training is now 2 years of age. What is the result of late toilet training? Well, the problems are numerous and simply escalate with age, clashing with the “terrible twos”, and “battle of wills” becomes a huge challenge for parents. Why would we wait to start at an age when our child can say “NO” really well to start the process? Are we insane?!! We just don’t think about it and are told by the nappy industry and even health professionals, to wait.

What are the consequences of waiting and delaying until two or three years old? Well, the facts are right in front of us. We just have to walk down the nappy isle of our local supermarket to see the damage – they are making nappies for 15 year olds. Don’t let this happen to you.

Start early, your baby will love you for it! In the following episodes, we will show you how to successfully start a baby.

 

EPISODE 7.  Early Potty Training - Starting a Baby

Early Potty Training: Part 2 – Starting a Baby

In this episode we look at how simple it is to start a potty training a baby. We cover the practical day to day things like how to most effectively place a baby on the potty, what you need to do to make the process easy and what to expect. In the 1920’s we used to start potty training at 3 months old and children were toilet trained by 12-18 mths. It was too inconvenient to have a child in nappies after this age because the chore of using the cloth nappies. Disposable nappies have changed the world of toilet training, giving the parents the expectation that waiting until two years or older is better, when in fact, it is far easier to start earlier and finish well before two years old, in order to avoid the “battle of wills” associated with working with a toddler. Common sense principles that have now been forgotten unfortunately. Your baby WILL respond to whatever you teach them and expose them too. Teach your child Spanish, they will learn to speak Spanish, teach them to poo on the potty, they will learn that is where the poo goes.  It is far easier to take a more natural relaxed approach of popping your baby on the potty every day so they don’t know any different, rather than "NAPPY TRAINING" them - reinforcing a bad habit of teaching your toddler to wee and poo in a nappy and then try and change the rules at an age they can say “no” really well.  In the next episode we cover how to start and finish a Toddler early.

 

EPISODE 8.  Early Potty Training - Starting a Toddler

Early Potty Training: Part 3 – Starting a Toddler

In this episode we look at how toilet training a toddler EARLY is the key to successful toilet training.  Late toilet training, which research has shown is two years old, is the reason why parents are now struggling.   Late toilet training, is the reason children are going to school in nappies at 4 and 5 years old.  Late toilet training is the reason why so many parents are experiencing terrible poo problems - running away to hide to poo, holding onto their poo, wanting the nappy onto poo.  Late toilet training, is the reason they now have nappies for 8-15year olds in the supermarket.   I don't know if the message is clear enough.  Start toilet training early, and you simply avoid all of the problems associated with late toilet training.  The problems are extensive and extremely unpleasant for both the child and the parent.  The solution to avoid all these challenges is really very simple.  START EARLY!