Potty Training: It's You And Me Against The Pee

As parents, each new milestone our children reach brings us equal parts excitement mixed with a tinge of fear.

“Hooray, the baby is rolling over! Wait, how did she get her leg stuck under the couch?”

“Yay, look he is sitting up, but all of the sudden that sitting baby will keel over and hit his head on a chair! How did that happen?”

All of these experiences are the making of us as parents. We learn to put pillows around the edge of the couch so that little rollers don’t go under it and we put extra safety measures in place for our sitters. I know that each new milestone each of my babies reached, felt like something worthy of a celebration or at least an air fist bump moment.

Personally, there was one milestone though that I felt completely unprepared for ……

Luckily, I was able to talk myself out of my fear, because I knew that people had successfully been potty training children for many years before me and with the help of my favorite brand of diapers, Pampers, now transitioned to Easy Ups, I knew I could do this! And I did, 3 separate times! Now I am getting ready to potty train my fourth and last child.

To kick off this whole potty training experience, Pampers invited me to host a party for some of my Mom besties and we shared tips and tricks for getting the potty training show on the road!

Here are some great potty training tips that the Moms at my party suggested:

Watch the cues your child gives you and start when THEY are ready.
Don’t make your child feel bad about the process, accidents happen. Use those accidents to teach your child.
Don’t forget that potty training is a great way to teach your child how their body works and to understand it.
Make the potty a comfortable place. Bring books into the bathroom or set your child up on the potty and let them watch their favorite cartoon. It’s all about making the process of going to the bathroom comfortable!
Make sure your child has on clothes that is easy for them to get on and off by themselves.
Be prepared, make sure to take extra clothing items and Easy Ups with you when you leave the house with a potty training child. This ensures that when an accident does happen, it can be quickly and easily taken care of.

Make it fun!

Add a few drops of blue food coloring to the potty water and show your child what happens when you add yellow. The water will turn green! Encourage your child to turn the water green every time they go to the bathroom.
For boys, you can do target practice with O shaped cereal added to the water.
Use a reward system where you and your child can monitor and track their success. Sticker charts and small prizes are a great incentive.

Remember if nothing you are trying is working, then your child is telling you they are not ready yet. In this case, the best thing to do is to back off and wait until they are physically and emotionally prepared to move forward again.

What smart moms! I was so excited that each of my party guests received their own Pampers Easy Ups goodie bags! Thank you Pampers!

Plus a copy of the book “It’s You and Me Against the Pee” by Laura Jana, MD!

Dr. Jana also has some great tips:

Promote potty learning. Instead of referring to your child’s transition from wearing diapers to using the potty as “potty training,” consider calling it “potty learning.”
Take a teamwork approach. From the outset, I find it helps to keep in mind that potty training is a team sport. If you simply remind yourself that you are (and always will be) on the same team as your child, it can really help you stay calm in the face of potty accidents and be a much more positive and effective potty training coach.
Stock your deck. Part of the secret to your child’s potty success will involve being well equipped and removing any obstacles that stand between your child and potty success.
Start making connections. There’s a lot that you can do to help your child be well-prepared to use the potty successfully long before he actually starts to. Reading fun and engaging children’s books about potty training, such as You and Me Against the Pee! (which I co-authored) can go a long way towards making the idea of potty training a family and eagerly anticipated one. You can take this familiarity a step further by letting your toddler accompany you in to the bathroom when you need to go so that he both becomes familiar with the routine and comfortable with the idea of using the toilet, rather than being afraid of or intimidated by it!

Potty training is an exciting and eagerly anticipated milestone for toddlers and their parents. If your child is showing signs of readiness, spring and summer is a great time to kick off potty training especially if your child is heading to preschool in the fall. Even when the timing is right for child and parents, potty training can still be stressful. Parents want potty training to be a positive journey for their toddlers, but leaks, accidents and switching from training pants to diapers overnight can feel like setbacks.

Training pants such as Pampers Easy Ups can help the diaper-to-underwear transition by allowing potty-training toddlers to set aside their diapers and wear something with more of an underwear-like design that still helps keep accidental messes off clothing, bedding and other surfaces no matter whether they happen at home, on-the-go or overnight.

Pampers Easy Ups have fewer leaks than the other leading training pant to help simplify and improve the overall potty training experience. Pampers Easy Ups have an absorbent core that holds 25% more than the other leading training pant to help ensure little ones remain dry. Plus, with up to 12 hours of protection, it works during the day AND night, enabling toddlers and moms to confidently and completely transition from diapers towards underwear. Winning!

Here’s Why I love Easy Ups from Pampers:

An absorbent core that holds 25% more than the other leading training pant (Huggies® Pull-Ups® Learning Designs®) and ensures little ones remain dry
Pampers Easy Ups® have fewer leaks than the other leading training pant (Huggies® Pull-Ups® Learning Designs®)
Fun Thomas & Friends® designs for boys and Dora the Explorer® designs for girls
A more underwear-like design for growing toddlers
Graphics that fade when wet to help little ones learn
Super-stretchy sides to make them easy to pull up and down when using the potty
Available for Boys and Girls sizes 2T/3T through 4T/5T

See, potty training isn’t so bad after all!