10 things you should never do when potty training a child

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I have a best-selling potty training book, I have written numerous posts on how to potty train your child before they are two years old, but today I wanted to give you some basic tips before you start training: 10 things you should never do when potty training a child.

POTTY TRAIN NOT TO DO

1- Start when they aren’t ready. Every child needs to be ready and you can find that by looking at their readiness signs.

2- Start before a new child is due or a big event, like a move to a new home.

3- Start without being prepared. I buy a lot of toilet paper, a potty chair and cleaning supplies. Really stock up! Try the new Scott 1000 bonus pack – Scott® 1000 with 100 more sheets per roll at a great value available at Sam’s Club®! It has 600 more sheets per roll than any other National Brand, plus another r100 sheets per roll since becoming to the club. The word on the street (or should I say on the playground) is that it “lasts a long time, does its job, and isn’t rough on our bottoms.” You can get $5 off with this Ibotta App, too!

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4- Start one day & stop the next. If you are going to do this, decide you want to do it and stick to it. You will have a few hard days, but it will be worth it.

5- Learn the exceptions. Our child had a stomach bug on day two and we had to stop. It was not going to be worth the ‘fight’ of his little body.

6- Overly correct them early on. You want them to be confident. Help them by praising them for trying.

7- Expect dry nights right away. This is so different with every child. You can night-train your child, or you can let it happen naturally, but either way, get the days finished first.

8- Expect them to tell you every time. You need to know the signs and be prepared to look for them.

9- Take them out too much during the training phrase. It is confusing for them and hard. They are trying to learn a new routine here and you don’t want to put too many barriers in the way.

10- Go into this without knowing how you want to train them. I have always use my Potty Train in a Weekend method, but even if you aren’t up for that, you need to have a game plan.

Bonus #11- Don’t get frustrated. I know (trust me, I know) that it can be frustrating, but you can do this. Our first son was training for one day before he got a stomach bug. I tried to push through it, but after two hours of that, I was done and so was he. We put the diaper back on, cuddled on the couch for two days and then a week later, we tried it again. Instant success. If I would have kept going, we would have both ended up frustrated. The same goes for a child who clearly isn’t ready. You can definitely do this, but it requires patience and love from your side, mom or dad (or grandma/grandpap/aunt…). You are going to be their support, their patter of the back, their keeper of the crayons, their giver of the high-fives. Be patient and have success! Make it fun for them!

Here is a FREE coloring booklet with 13 pages of potty training coloring activities!