Potty Training both my children was completely different. My oldest is a boy and I had to really work at helping get him trained. I followed his lead, but had to encourage him MUCH more then my second, a girl who was ready at 2 on her own. For my son I employed all sorts of stratagies, including using a Potty Chart and Rewards. This was the most effective way I found to encourage him on his own (with out a power struggle) to want to try the potty.
I am going to have a series of posts on potty training and the things I found that are helpful. I’d love to hear from you about your questions, concerns or successes with your children.
Potty training is hard enough without having any tools to help your child succeed. Luckily, many different manufacturers of baby diapers and toddler activities have devised things like potty training charts to help you motivate your little one to start using the toilet for good.
Potty training charts personalize the experience for your toddler. They can see their progress, relish the praise you lavish on them, and look forward to more success. The best charts are those that help your child master various potty training activities such as telling an adult when they need to go potty, flushing the toilet when they’re done and washing their hands afterwards.
There are different ways you can motivate your child with a potty training chart. Most toddlers love stickers, so when they complete a task, let them put a gold star or character sticker on that space. Some kids prefer a stamp system, and you can pick up their favorite types of rubber stamps with ink at any craft and hobby store. Or, keep it simple and use crayons or markers to mark it off the chart.
Once your child masters certain tasks completely, such as always remembering to wipe after going to the bathroom, then you can reward your child with a treat. It can be anything from a piece of candy to a small toy. Just as long as you make a big deal out of it, your child will enjoy the process rather than dread the entire potty training experience.
Have you used a potty chart? What did you like about it? How did you potty train your child?
7 Comments
Potty training reward charts rock. My son uses one for teethbrushing now. He likes just adding the stickers. It is a great motivator!
Tina-Thanks for sharing!! It is a great motivator!! Kids love Stickers!
I made my own reward charts. I think they work best for 3+. Most recently my four year had own for sleeping in her own bed through the night. That one took a while to fill but once she did it she was so proud of herself and she earned a prize that she picked out herself.
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Kathy-That’s great that you made your own charts!! They really can be used for so many things!! I actually did a chart too for getting my son to sleep in his own bed through the night!
Great point about age approriateness. I found that kids start to get the concept of charts and the rewards around 3 too. It depends on the child of course. But generally I think around age 3 is a good time to introduce them.
I am trying to help my 3 year old nephew and 4 year old niece go potty. we have a chart he liked it the first week or two now he does not care for it. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER IDEAS…. that could help us.
jusdeanna- M&M’s!! Does he like sweets? or anything else in particular? Important to get their buy in! My son was not interested in the least! But he LOVES m&m’s. So when I wanted to check if he needed to go,I would say “when your ready to go let me know and I’ll get the m&m’s” sure enough he would run in and go. It stopped the power struggle over me suggesting he go. I also took him out of the pull ups when I knew he could really control it.
Hope that helps!!
I have a 2 1/2 a 1 1/2 and a 6 month old. I at home w/ them everyday by myself and am trying real hard to get the two oldest potty trained which is really hard to do all by myself.Any ideas?
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