Get answers to all your potty training what-ifs, how-tos and now-whats.
-
The Big Finish to Potty Training
By Kelly Burgess
Potty training is pretty exciting in the beginning. Everyone’s on board with this big step toward becoming a big boy or big girl. Potty chairs pop up everywhere. Underwear is bought. Successful trips to the potty are praised and celebrated. But what to do when the thrill is gone; when it’s not so exciting…
Continue Reading
-
Re: Reward Ideas for Your Big Kid
Jen Singer
Have you ever rewarded yourself for a job well done? Maybe you bought your coffee instead of making it. Or maybe you enjoyed a half-hour in the bathtub with no interruptions (or rubber ducks floating around next to you). Or maybe you even snagged yourself a night on the town with friends. Whatever your…
Continue Reading
-
Top 5 Potty Training Tips
Heather Wittenberg
Potty training happens all sorts of ways, depending on your child’s personality. I’m in the process of potty training our fourth child, and I’m reminded how different each child has been at this stage. One was resistant until he was almost four, and one seemed to train herself overnight! So with all…
Continue Reading
-
5 Potty Training Mythbusters
Jen Singer
Whether you’re just starting potty training or you’re in the full swing of it, one thing is likely: Somebody has spread rumors to you. Call them potty training myths, these assertions of how potty training is supposed to go can make you wonder if your potty training plan has a few glitches. But before…
Continue Reading
-
Different Kids, Different Potty Training Needs
Jen Singer
You've pulled out all the tricks that helped your older
child potty train: the Elmo potty seat, the "Everyone Poops" book and
even the beloved fire truck stickers that were such motivating rewards for your
older child. But your youngest child wants none of it. In fact, it appears that
they just want…
Continue Reading
-
Memorable Potty Training Moments
Dave Hagler
Time has a way of bringing out the humor in a situation. I laugh now at the time my car ran out of gas, in the days before cell phones, and I sat for hours waiting for help to arrive before finally walking several miles in the middle of the night to find a gas station. Potty training is the same way. …
Continue Reading
-
3 Common Potty Training Challenges...And How to Overcome Them !
by Page Turner, Tennessee
Potty training is a big accomplishment in a toddler’s life and a great source of pride for both parent and child. But along the way, every toddler will run into minor setbacks on his or her path to success.
"Setbacks are a natural part of the potty training process," said Stacy DeBroff, former PULL-UPS®…
Continue Reading
-
A Little Friendly Potty Motivation : How to Use Peers for Potty Training Success
By Teri Brown
Potty training motivation can come from the most unlikely places: a grandma with a sweet treat, the desire to be like an older sibling or a tempting pair of underwear. But perhaps nothing is as unexpected as when a peer inspires a child to use the potty. My son was almost 3 when he noticed his friend’s…
Continue Reading
-
A Potty Here and a Potty There : Potty Training in Multiple Locations
By Sue Marquette Poremba
Very few children will work on potty training at only one location, particularly as they are in the later stages of potty training. Not only do children work on toilet habits at home, but many children spend many hours a day at daycare or at a relative’s house. Some children split time between parents’…
Continue Reading
-
Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem While Potty Training
Moms and Dads want to help their child feel good about themselves, whether it’s praise on a good grade or going for ice cream after a soccer game. However, your child’s self-esteem begins developing during the toddler years, before he or she starts school or joins a team. In fact, the potty training…
Continue Reading
-
Potty Training on the Road
by Mary Santana, Illinois
Whether you’re taking a short trip to grandma’s house or an extended vacation, traveling with a potty training toddler can sound overwhelming. Don’t stress – Mary Santana, former PULL-UPS® Potty Training Partner and mother of three, has great advice for potty training on the road.“My husband and I love…
Continue Reading
-
Potty Training on the Go : Top Tips for Potty Training Outside the Home
By Kelly D. Burgess
Sarah Kuehn of Enid, Okla., is going to approach potty training a little differently with her second child. Overall, things went pretty smoothly when she went through the potty training process with her first daughter, Katrina, until a bad experience with a high-tech toilet.
“It was one of those automatic…
Continue Reading
-
All about Potty Seats
By Kelly D. Burgess
It’s all about independence. That’s the word on potty seats from family practitioner and parenting expert Dr. Jody McVittie.
“Parents need to take a pretty casual attitude toward using the toilet so the children take it for granted as well,” says Dr. McVittie. “That means providing them with something…
Continue Reading
-
Load on the Praise and Rewards
“Potty trainers thrive on positive reinforcement. Praise and rewards can help kids feel more comfortable with new skills, keep interest high and build confidence.”
It’s a Celebration Of course you’ll make a big deal out of major accomplishments, but don’t forget the little milestones that also deserve…
Continue Reading
-
Make Potty Time, Party Time
by Page Turner, Tennessee
We know the potty training process requires consistency and patience, but be sure to have some fun while youre at it. Page Turner, mother of three successfully potty-trained girls (including twins) has some hints for making potty time, party time.
"Celebrate successes," says Page. "After each successful…
Continue Reading
-
You Asked…We are Answering
by Maggie Dugan, Wisconsin
In an effort to provide a support system where parents can get the scoop from other parents, PULL-UPS.com provides a Sharing Space where you can "talk potty." While many of you are giving and receiving helpful advice, we've noticed not everyone is getting their questions answered on our message board.…
Continue Reading
-
Being a Good Coach
by Jan Faull M.Ed., Washington
Anyone who has ever played a sport—whether at school, a club or a game with friends— remembers that person who led them through the game with words of encouragement, advice on perfecting their technique, and a hand to help them up when they fell down.
These people are teachers of more than just sport…
Continue Reading
-
Double Duty
By Teri Brown
Sometimes potty training can seem like quite an undertaking. As a conscientious parent, you know you need to watch for signs of readiness, create a plan keeping your child’s personality in mind and stay consistent with that plan. But what happens when you’re potty training more than one child at the…
Continue Reading
-
Making the Big Switch : Transitioning from Diapers to Training Pants
Katherine Bontrager
One of the first steps parents take as they face potty training is determining if their little one is really ready to begin working toward real underwear. And for many, the next step is helping their child transition from diapers to training pants. But how should parents encourage their child to make…
Continue Reading
-
Potty Training Multiples : Great advice whether you have one or more to train!
Potty Training MultiplesGreat advice whether you have one or more to train!
Congratulations, you made it to the toddler years with your multiples! And just like you had to buy multiple cribs, strollers and high-chairs – when your children reach that stage of readiness – it will be time to buy multiple…
Continue Reading
-
Let’s Put on a Show! Making Potty Training Fun
Jen Singer
A friend of mine recently asked how I manage to maintain my sense of humor throughout some of the most trying tasks of parenting, specifically potty training. Her question brought me back to when I was potty training my sons, so I wanted to share a glimpse of how I managed to make potty training fun…
Continue Reading
-
Dishing Advice at the Pull-Ups® Potty Dance Party
Jen Singer
Max, 2½, and I were sitting on the floor in my booth at the Pull-Ups® Potty Dance Party, a special event in New York City where I was doling out one-on-one potty training advice as one of the long-time Pull-Ups® Potty Training Partners. In recent years, I've counseled parents and grandparents on all…
Continue Reading
-
Rewarding Potty Training Efforts without Promising Disney
Jen Singer
They looked like three-foot-tall
decorated generals. Well, decorated generals with Thomas the Tank Engine stickers
all over their jumpers. But you get the point. When I was potty training my two
boys, stickers were their rewards. First for sitting on the potty,…
Continue Reading
-
Dads and Potty Training
Dave Hagler
Dads can be particularly apprehensive about the potty training experience, and can end up taking a secondary role to mom. But, it doesn't need to be that way. On the contrary, there are many reasons why dads should be excited and eager to enter into the potty training process with their child, and take…
Continue Reading
-
When Your Kids Potty Train Differently
Jen Singer
My younger son had absolutely no interest in the bright blue, yellow and green plastic potty that his big brother (my first son) had potty trained on a year-and-a-half earlier. But the toilet? Yes, he liked the toilet, because his brother used it.
I’d potty trained my first son using that plastic potty.…
Continue Reading
-
How to Keep Potty Training Light-Hearted
Dave Hagler
Potty training is a big, important milestone in your child's life. If you wait too long to begin training, or start too early, or go about it the wrong way, your child could go through their entire childhood, adolescence, and maybe even adulthood in diapers. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. …
Continue Reading
-
5 Tips for Surviving Potty Training
Jen Singer
I've been a Pull-Ups® Potty Training Partner for five years now, and during that time, I've confirmed one important hunch: potty training is the most labor intensive of your child's milestones. Don't you think?
It takes work to make potty training successful, but if you stick it out, you will reach…
Continue Reading
-
Aligning with Your Partner on Potty Training Methods
Dave Hagler
You and your spouse may have different approaches to parenting from time to time. In general, presenting a united and consistent front to your child is a good idea. This is especially true when it comes to potty training. Before beginning the potty training process, you and your partner might want…
Continue Reading
