My Toilet Training Tricks

Oh -- is this my first blog title with an alliteration? I must tell you, I'm totally tickled by the thought of it!

Here is the disclaimer: I write this post on "toilet training tricks" as a mom whose only son is still in diapers. So... I'm not an expert. But consider this: Oliver (age 1) knows when he needs to go to the bathroom, tells me, then uses it. Sometimes he's late or he is busy and then tells me after that he needs a new diaper, but... pretty good right? Some of his favourite words are "poop", "pee-pee", "potty" and "bum". He also adores waving good-bye to his pee and poo.

So my tips are these:

1. Figure out a spoken word, or a sign, for when your child pees and poops. They need to be able to notify you that it's time to go. They can't learn this early to go to the toilet and pull their own pants and diaper down.

2. Give them a non-candy reward. I absolutely refuse to go the way of Smarties for Oliver's toilet journey. We use 2 rewards: He gets to flush the toilet after (SO! FUN!) and he can call a family member, or tell someone who is at the house in person, that he pooped or peed. He loves this. We get my dad on speaker phone and he's like "BAPA! PEEPEE!" squealing and smiling like, well, a kid in a candy store.

And the final, and most important trick,

3. Make sure they can feel that they're wet/dirty. Modern disposable diapers pull all the wetness away from your child's skin so they aren't uncomfortable or at risk of a rash, however when you're beginning the toilet journey they are ready to feel that something yucky is in their diaper. We use Kushie's Organic flat diapers, which we fold ourselves and pin with a "Snappi". Snappis are amazing, it's like a pin without a pin -- you just clip it to one side, the other side, and then the bottom, and your flat cloth diaper will stay on. Ours is pretty thin so Ollie can feel it right away. We take care of the cloth diaper, sit him on the toilet, and get him to try again. If he goes, he flushes and is happy. If not, we simply leave and that's okay. Then we put on a fresh diaper. People typically use these thin flats with a cover, but if we're just playing in the backyard, he wears only that. I wouldn't recommend it for overnight.

Here's a video I made about how to use a cloth diaper with a Snappi: