Toilet training my way

As mentioned before I am a huge fan of the Baby Whisperer techniques.  I used them from birth and am still using them now. So it was only natural to use her methods when we started to think about toilet training.

The main ideas are:

• Start young 
• Put them straight into knickers or pants not training ones
• Skip the potty and buy a supportive child's toilet seat
• Be consistent

I started to prepare myself when Poppy was about 16 months but didn't actually do it until she was 18 months.  I brought the Bumbo toilet seat in pink which I loved.  It was nice and supportive, very soft and didn't move.  I also brought a packet of knickers and vests.  I soon realised one pack of five knickers wasn't nearly enough so quickly got more!!

One morning when Poppy was 18 months old, I woke up and thought today is the day I am going to do it. I think you have to be ready yourself if you are going to be consistent.  I told no one except the Husband that we were doing it. 

I had been preparing her by letting her see me go and telling her that big girls went in the toilet etc.  Then I just picked her up that morning, explained what was happening and put her in her new big girl knickers just like Mummy's.  I took her to the toilet and obviously nothing happened but I told her what I expected from her. 

In my head, I was expecting a nightmare. I thought we would have wee and pooh everywhere but no.  I was amazed. I let her run around with just her knickers on the bottom half and a long sleeve top as it was January.  I am not one of these Mum's who let's them run around naked..to be honest, then you really would have wee and pooh everywhere and I couldn't cope with that!

By the end of day 1 Poppy was running to the toilet shouting "wee wee Mummy".  She didn't always get on the toilet in time but she was in the room.

By the end of day 3 all wee's were in the toilet itself.

It took a little longer with poohs, but by the end of week 2 they were all in the toilet too!!  Amazing.  Before that she would squeal she needed to go as it was coming out of her.  It was okay though as the knickers kept it in place and I just tipped it into the toilet telling her that's where it needed to go. Easy enough!

I did make sure I was home for two weeks to focus on her and her needs.  After this we ventured out and I always checked where the toilets were first and took the seat with us in a bag.  Poppy had a thing about going anywhere else but home at first but this soon settled down. One tip when going out: little one's don't tend to like hand dryers...they really scared Poppy!

I ensured the bathroom was extra sparkly clean and made it look pretty with a new plant (for me) and lots of books (for her).  I wanted it to be a fun place to be but not a playroom.  I didn't let her have toys in there but we had lots of books.  She actually learnt quite a lot during this time and started to really enjoy reading and listening to stories.  She also learnt all her colours!!

I think the main tip I could give anyone is make sure you are ready yourself. You need to be extra calm and patient during this period and really need to be consistent.  I knew once I started there was no going back.  This is my approach to everything concerning the girls!  The worst thing is to start and stop because then children get confused.

Oh and don't worry about being dry at night.  That happens naturally.  Five months later she just told me "I don't want a nappy tonight".  So I didn't put one on.  I lifted her before we went to bed and she did a wee in her sleep. She was then dry.  She has probably wet the bed twice when poorly and that's it!

My little one is only ten months now but I am planning to do exactly the same with her.

For those of you who are just thinking about starting this process, hope this helps and good luck!

Karen x