Complete Potty Training in 20 Days- Day and Night without Accidents
Yes, we did it! Idhaya is completely Potty Trained now. I want to dance while patting my back. She is 2 and I kept dreading the start of Potty Training but it went unbelievably smooth. My little girl definitely needs a pat on her back too for being a quick learner. Let’s see how we did it in just about 20 days; be warned that there is going to be a lot of pee and poo in the following sentences.
My Potty Training Method
I knew that whenever I start Toilet Training Idhaya, I would want to get it over with as quickly as possible. The 3-day Potty Training method appealed to me. In this method, you have to keep the child naked below the waist all day for 3 days. If you take them out, the child can wear only loose pants. The method was especially suitable as Idhaya used to give cues when naked so I assumed that it might work.
The 3 Day Potty Training Method suggests keeping the child diaper free during the nights too but I didn’t follow that because I didn’t want to wake up in the middle of the night to change bedsheets.
The Supplies I Used for Potty Training
For Toilet Training and later, you will need to carry even more stuff when going out with your kid. For home use, I didn’t get a separate potty seat for Idhaya and just got her a toilet seat adapter. I didn’t want to deal with teaching her to move from a small seat to a regular one. We also have a step-stool to make her use the pot independently but she is a little scared of using that so still learning that.
For outings, I have bought a folding potty seat to fit on regular toilet seats and a toilet seat sanitizer spray. Apart from these we also carry extra training pants (washable) and wet wipes.
Day by Day Potty Training Progress
Day 1-
We started 12 days after my daughter’s second birthday (30th March 2019 to be precise) and told her that from today, she has to do her business in the potty only. She started telling us when she needed to pee but we had accidents too- two probably. Every time, she used the potty, we clapped and let her flush the toilet which she really looked forward to. She didn’t poop at all the first day.
Day 2-
The next day again, we had probably 2 accidents and she didn’t poop.
Day 3 and Beyond-
As she hadn’t pooped in the last two days, I was starting to get worried that she will get sick so I didn’t remove her diaper immediately after waking up. On finding her comfort zone of diaper, the little girl pooped within 10 minutes of waking up. Now, I knew that she was holding it so I promised myself to not give in to her innocent manipulation techniques. From that day, we stopped having pee accidents (well, almost) and Idhaya started using potty for both pee and poo.
We went to the park on the fourth day of Potty Training but initially I was unsure of loose pajamas so made her wear training pants. She would pee in training pants and regular panties as they fit close to skin and give the feeling of being in a diaper. I didn’t want that so soon park visits meant loose pajamas. I made her wear training pants during outings and she would pee in them.
One fine day, at a party, she came to me and asked to take her to potty even though her training pants were on. It was the 15th day (13th April) of Potty Training and I couldn’t believe it. Post that, accidents stopped occurring even in the training pants.
Night Time Potty Training-
There was no need to train her specifically for nights. The morning of 21st April brought me good news in the form of empty diaper. Yes, Idhaya didn’t pee at all during the night and has been consistent since. She wakes up and goes to the pot even when her diaper is on. She doesn’t know that it can absorb the pee so a little ignorance on her part has made Toilet Training Easier.
With this, we now have a completely Toilet Trained toddler. I still make her wear training pants when going out for more than 2 hours as good toilets aren’t easy to find and sometimes, she refuses to use any other toilet. So, it’s better to stay on the safe side in case accidents happen. The good thing is that none has happened till now.
Potty Training Books I Recommend-
Books help a lot in readying a baby for potty training. ‘Potty’ by Leslie Patricelli was our first book on the subject and I got it for Idhaya when she was about 1.5 years old. Idhaya really loves this book and got an idea about going to potty. We got the book ‘Girls’ Potty Time’ a few days before starting the Potty Training. This book has pictures of real girls so it makes things clearer. The book also has super cute stickers which Idhaya likes but doesn’t care whether she gets them or not so I stopped rewarding her.
It was quite easy to train her at two years as now she speaks and understands things a lot better. There can still be accidents or regressions so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Have any questions regarding Potty Training? Shoot in the comments section and please do share your tips if your child is already Toilet-Trained.