~7 Tips to Potty Train the Easy Way: this post may contain affiliate links. You can read more about them on my Privacy+Disclosure page.) 

I am a mom to three, two of which are potty trained (the other is 5 months old so we’ll give her some time.).  When my oldest turned 2 I set out to potty train him in the weekend everyone talked about. It was awful. That weekend turned into MONTHS and almost a year later he was potty trained. So when my daughter turned 2, I didn’t want to touch the topic with a 10-foot pole.  But obviously we had to at some point. Potty training her turned out to be as easy as potty training is concerned. Here is her story and all the tips I learned potty training the second time.

When Hadley turned 2, as much as I wanted her potty trained, I was so traumatized from the months of bathroom accidents with my firstborn, Emmett, that I just let her be. I decided that when she was ready, she would let us know and I was right. Here are the 7 main tips we used to get her potty trained. (She potty trained herself at 2.5).

The 7 Things I Learned to Potty Train

1.  Wait. Really this entire post could be devoted to this one essential tip. Wait for your child’s signals. Hadley’s signals ranged from her telling us she was using her diaper to pee or poo, to hiding and squatting in the order to poop. I waited until she was aware of what was happening with her body, felt the need to do something about it and cared. Once we got to this point, everything else fell into place and she was potty trained in the matter of days.
2.  Leave a little potty out (or potty seat cover).  I left a little potty out for her to get used to. Every once in a while from the time she turned 2 she would use it. It would come out of the blue and then she wouldn’t use it for another couple weeks. But I left it out anyways just so she would be familiar with it, how it works and that it was there for her. We also keep a potty seat cover out too. (I can’t find the one we have online but this one linked looks very similar to it. I like it because it is cushioned and makes the bathroom experience more comfortable.)
3.  Talk about it. Let’s face it. If you’re a parent (mom or dad!) you probably have tiny visitors in the bathroom with you. Use that time to talk about what you’re doing. You don’t have to INVITE your child into the bathroom every time (I do believe in private bathroom runs, too!) but use it as a learning and teaching time. Encourage them to try as well. If they say “no,” don’t worry about it and move on with your day.
4.  Don’t force.  As stated in point #3 don’t force your kids to use the potty. They WILL be ready eventually. Continue to encourage and praise them whenever it is while you potty train.
5. Let them run naked at home for a couple days. Once your child is finally showing signs and you believe they are ready, let them run naked! We put Hadley in an long shirt or short dress. We would encourage her to sit on the potty (we bought at Ikea but it was a couple years ago.This one is similar to it.) The trick is getting them on there the first time so they know what to expect. Now, I know this might not be the case for every kid, but since we wanted for her to be ready, there honestly were not a lot of accidents. She was prepared and knew what to expect. The next point definitively helped though 😉
6. Sticker chart, candy jar,etc. We may have gone overboard a little here, but we went crazy with the PRAISE! Every time she peed on the potty she could pick one candy (skittle, jelly bean, m+m) and a sticker for her chart. Number 2 equaled two candies/stickers. We would do a lot of verbal praise during this time as well. (We made our sticker chart out of construction paper but if you want to get very legit you can actually buy your own here.)
7. Leave the house in underwear. This one might seem odd to mention but let me tell you now: this was the game changer. (And the final step to potty train her!) It was the game changer for both my kids actually. Kids gets used to the routine at home of peeing and the easy access of a potty. If you keep giving them a safety net of a pull-up when you go out, kids use it. I found that my kids needed to experience that uncomfortable feeling of peeing in their pants before realizing they did not like it and therefore asked for the potty when we were out. Yes, there will be some accidents, but you might be surprised at how few before they catch on and start asking for the bathroom while out. (As a reward we let Hadley pick out some Peppa Pig underwear. Amazon has a bunch of fun pairs or just head to your local Target!)

Some things to Note on Potty Training

-Occasionally Hadley will have accident (we’re about a month out from potty training her). They aren’t frequent and usually happen if she is having too much fun playing and focused on things other than using the bathroom. She is after all still a 2 year-old kid 🙂

-We have yet to night train her and still put a diaper on then. She wakes up dry often. I’m not in a rush with this and believe it will be learned over time (this was our experience with Emmett).

-A lot of people say girls are easier than boys. This WAS my experience but I don’t think you can make that as an absolute statement.

Conclusion

Are all kids different? Yes! Of course, that is what makes them wonderful and THEM. What I am sharing is what worked for us but I firmly believe it can help a lot of other parents out there who are in the trenches of potty training. If this works, I hope you will let me know!