Which Potty Training Method is the Best?
You’re tired of feeling sheepish when your mom friends share success stories about how quickly their child potty trained. You’re not there yet! But who can blame you? It’s a tricky process and everywhere you look, there’s someone touting a different method: “potty training in a day,” the 3-day approach, child-oriented, the clockwork approach. To help you narrow things down, we asked professionals who are also parents to share boots-on-the-ground experience with different potty training methods. As you read, remember that the best method is the one that best suits your child.
Mary Ware
Mary Ware, Editor at The Mom Friend, a pregnancy and parenting site that provides helpful tips for new moms and inspiration for life and travel with kids.
3-day method
Some find it easier to tackle the issue all at once, hunker down at home, and get it over with. However, that can be very stressful or simply not possible for many others. For those parents, I encourage them to do gradual potty training, which is what I used with my children. With so much external stress happening in the world right now, taking this approach can provide a more peaceful experience if you are not in a rush to have your child potty trained.
Gradual potty training includes introducing the potty to a child through books and having [a potty] in close availability, watching for signs of readiness, providing opportunities to try, and using praise as the primary method of reinforcement. Once a child becomes comfortable with the idea of the potty or starts to show an increase in awareness of bodily functions, you can speed up progress by introducing pull-ups that have the cooling sensation when wet or using underwear to help a child recognize when they are wet and start to learn the cues their body is giving. Some children might benefit from additional reinforcement like tracking successes or small rewards, but it is not required.
Gradual potty training is great for parents who either did not find success with the 3-day method or want to take a more gentle or relaxed approach without pushing a child to do something when they might not be ready. I found it was extremely helpful for my daughter to do gradual potty training after struggling with trying to make it happen quickly while working and also pregnant with my second. It was much less stressful for everyone involved.
Heather Hoke
Heather Hoke, Founder and creator of Embracing Chaos with Love. Heather is dedicated to helping new moms throughout their motherhood journey.
2-day method
The best potty training method is the 2-day potty training method. You commit to 2 or 3 days blocked out to focus on potty training the whole time. The child starts out naked and you work your way back to fully clothed. By the end of the weekend or a few days, your child has a great grasp on potty training.
There may be a few accidents over the next week or so but for the most part that was all it took for my kids to be potty trained once they showed signs they were ready to potty train. I also like to couple this method with a sticker chart, giving lots of praise and excitement whenever they go.
Alice Anderson
Alice Anderson is the founder and creator of Mommy to Mom, a website that offers tips and advice on subjects ranging from pregnancy to parenthood.
Let your child lead the way
The potty training method that worked best for our family was the one where we let our child lead the way.
We have two kids and took very different approaches with them. Our daughter is the oldest. When we tried with her, she was just about to turn 2, and it was too early. We focused on when we were ready, and it backfired. We failed miserably for more than six months.
With our son, we learned from our mistakes and waited for the signs that he was ready. Things went much smoother the second time around. Potty training should be fun and exciting for your child, if they don't want to or fight it at all, give it some time.
April Duffy
April Duffy is the mom behind Cloth Diapers for Beginners and the author of the Cloth Diapers for Beginners Wash & Care Handbook.
Do child-oriented approach
After helping thousands of cloth diaper parents begin potty training and potty training my own reluctant child, I can pick a side and say that child-oriented potty training is what works for the majority of toddlers. Trying to force things with schedules or potty-training marathons will most often halt a toddler who is only mildly interested, and/or intimidated by things they don’t understand, yet.
Now, are there things that can help along with child-oriented potty training? Yes, and that’s where cloth diapers, which let baby actually feel when they're wet, versus disposables that have so many stay-dry synthetic chemicals that the baby could happily wear them for hours wet, come into play for many folks.
Listen for the right moment
I remember, when we changed from diapers to underwear, because of our situation. We went on holiday, I believe for a few months, we didn't have underwear to provide. We followed our son's lead at the time and went with it, and I believe the removal of diapers but not immediately replacing them with underwear helped him to identify the difference and inspired him to hold on and let us know he wanted to go potty.
We never had a whole lot of trouble. I believe we listened for the right moment and went with him. I respect that other parents find it tricky, as some children are just less inclined, but I do believe all kids are intrigued, and then if that moment goes by, it's difficult to regain it.
Expect regression as children lose interest, but this is [the case] with anything. Removing diapers and just going 'commando' for a couple of weeks was a great transition for us.
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