How to Teach Your Toddler to Use the Potty in Just 2 days
Teaching your toddler to use the potty can be challenging if you’re a busy parent and don’t have a lot of time to spend in the bathroom waiting for them to go. We bought a small potty when our child was 10 months old and initially tried taking them to the bathroom every few hours, waiting for them to use it. However, this approach didn’t work for us. Sometimes, we would spend up to an hour in the bathroom, and it felt like our toddler wasn’t quite ready for potty training at that time. Eventually, we gave up on it.
Despite giving up, I continued to take our toddler to the bathroom with me whenever I needed to go. I would ask them to sit on the potty, and if they didn’t go by the time I was done, I would put their diaper back on, and we would leave the bathroom.
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Surprisingly, without us realizing it, this routine was actually effective. A few weeks after buying the potty, our toddler approached me, indicating they needed to use the potty, and they actually peed right away. Two days later, they stopped having accidents. How did this happen? and how did our child suddenly show interest in potty training after we had given up? Read on to find out.
Two Simple Steps to Potty Train Your Toddler in 2 Days
It’s entirely possible to potty train your toddler in just two days. Here, I’ll share exactly what I did to prepare our child for potty training and what we did afterward to achieve such quick results. It’s crucial to follow these two steps carefully; otherwise, you might end up dealing with more accidents or taking longer than two days to complete the training.
Step 1: Get a Potty Toilet a Month Before You Begin Training
Purchase a potty toilet about a month before you plan to start potty training. Leave it in the bathroom, and every time you use the bathroom, take your toddler with you and ask them to sit on it.
They may not understand at first, but they will catch on soon enough. You don’t need to establish a strict schedule, and you don’t have to spend hours in the bathroom waiting for them to pee. At this stage, you’re not potty training yet; your primary goal is to familiarize your child with the words “potty” or “toilet.” Once they grasp the concept, you can move on to step 2.
Step 2: Establish a Potty Training Schedule
When your toddler asks to use the potty instead of you having to prompt them, it’s a clear sign that they’re ready for potty training. So, create a potty training schedule. Stick to this schedule for two days, and after that, your child will likely ask to use the bathroom when needed, eliminating the need for a strict schedule. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were able to complete potty training this way. I spoke to friends and family with children, and they had warned me that it would be tough, but it turned out to be relatively smooth.
On the first day of our schedule, we stopped using diapers and switched to toddler underwear, which I believe also expedited the process. Your child may have a few accidents in their underwear initially, so remain patient and calm. Kids are quick learners, and after just two days of following the schedule, they’ll realize there’s no diaper and that they must use the toilet.
You can also consider using Pull-Ups, but be cautious as they can sometimes confuse toddlers. Pull-Ups are still like diapers, and if your child thinks there’s a diaper on, they might just use it instead of asking to use the toilet. With underwear, you’ll know right away if an accident happens, allowing you to address it immediately.
toddler Potty Training Tips
Getting a potty toilet a month before starting the training is key to achieving quick results. If your child doesn’t pee right away when you begin the schedule, wait a few minutes. Initially, it might be challenging to keep them seated on the potty for even a minute, so you can try giving them a book or engaging them with fun activities.
I also want to mention that we continue to use diapers at night and during nap time because I know my child isn’t ready to hold their urine while sleeping. I’ve tried it, and they ended up wetting the bed. I haven’t decided when and how we’ll start potty training at night, but I’ll share our experience once we figure it out.
In any case, good luck with potty training, and stay safe, moms and dads!
I wish I had this advice when my kids were small. They took forever to potty train.
This is awesome! I honestly haven’t had to potty train in over 14 years but what a fun invention this is. I would have totally used something like this, it took forever to potty train at least 1 of my 3.
Some great tips! I’m forwarding this to my friend who is going through this right now.
Great advice! I’ll have to share this with my niece since she was just asking for potty training advice.
OMG, seriously!!! Where was this post when I was potty training my first child. This would have come in very handy.
I wish I had better luck training my kids in such a short time when they were younger. It is great to have a strategy that works!
2 days sounds too good to be true. My boys too forever to train.
Such awesome pot training tips! My son took forever to learn.
2 Days? Okay, that was like I dont know I mean, the tips are good but it is applicable for all toddlers?
These are some awesome training tips! And cool that you found that out by accident. Will definitely bear these in mind in the future
I remember potty training my kids. They each were on their own timeline and I didn’t rush them. But we my youngest was finally ready it took about two or three days to get him to go to the potty on his own. I remember he would take off his diaper too.
I must say two days to potty train a child is a little unrealistic! As a retired nurse I will say I have never seen this happen before. Good luck to any parent that can achieve this goal in two days.
I have 4 kids. Three of them were so easy to potty train. The last one took so many different ways to try and teach him. He was so scared of the flush.
These potty training tips sound amazing and helpful. As a mom, I’ll take note of these. Thank you!
My sister who is a first time mom was just asking me about this. I will send these tips to her. Thank you!
This seems like a good method to help toddlers learn how to use their toilets! My children all kind of varied on their readiness and what methods had worked best but consistency was a major winning factor.
I am glad to hear about it. I appreciate the tips you’ve shared and found them helpful!
These are good and easy-to-follow tips. Thank you for sharing!
My niece and her husband’s daughter turned 10 months old yesterday. I will surely pass the great information onto her.
I wish i had this method when my boys were little. I was glad to have the help of their grandparents to get them potty train. and it was a blessing.
I don’t remember anymore how we did it with 3 kids…but these are great tips!