It’s officially been a little over a week since we started using the Oh Crap potty training method with Piper — and I can’t say thank you enough for all the support and positive comments you’ve sent my way on Instagram. If you couldn’t tell it started out pretty rough. Brutal actually! The first few days were down right exhausting but it made me even more glad that we decided to Potty train before our second baby arrives in December! Today I thought I’d share an update of how things are progressing and pass along some tips that we’ve come across thus far!
We used the method outlined in Oh Crap! Potty Training — many people refer to this as the 3 day method (myself included) but it’s actually broken down into 3 blocks, not days. The first block your child is completely naked all day until he or she can go to the potty on their own or with you bringing them to it — i.e. moves past peeing on the floor. The second block your child wears clothes and the third block you add underwear and small outings. We cancelled our childcare for last week so we could really focus on helping Piper get to the bathroom – it made work really tough and I had to stay up late most nights to stay caught up but it was worth it. I know not everyone has this option, so I think it’s essential to get your childcare provider on the same page!
It took Piper several days to get through each block and one week to actually be pretty well potty trained. Give yourself TIME. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see progress after the first day – it will happen!
As of today Piper has been only having 1 (if any) accidents a day – though I know we are far from being completely potty trained. She doesn’t go into the bathroom on her own yet, she still tells us when she has to go and we are still working on her pulling down/up her pants and underwear on her own. She’s gone on a few outings but still hasn’t used a public restroom yet and we haven’t started night training. We’ll start that once we feel really confident that she is fully capable of using the toilet during the day, we are putting her in diapers for nap time & bed. She’s recently been more interested in using the regular toilet, and this Baby Bjorn toilet seat has been working great!
Here are some things you might find helpful:
For the first few days we covered our living room in vinyl tablecloths – this allowed us to still use our main living area (close to the bathroom, kitchen & TV). We didn’t allow Piper on the furniture and really refrained from picking her up or letting her sit in our laps — this was really hard!
We treated this as a special occasion and really did whatever it took to make it through the first three days – we let Piper watch several movies, Sesame Street and have all of her favorite snacks.
Leave your phone in your bedroom – otherwise it’s too tempting to get on and you may miss getting her to the potty in time!
Piper LOVED the process of dumping the pee/poo into the toilet, flushing and then washing her hands. We let her help us.
Though the book doesn’t suggest this, we created a sticker chart for Piper on day 2 and it really helped motivate her, her interest has since dwindled but it was key in helping to get her excited about using the potty. We kept it in the bathroom and let her pick out a sticker each time she went.
For the first few days we kept the potty in whatever room we were in which was really helpful. We’ve now moved her potty into the main bathroom and have one in the bathroom near her playroom in the lower level.
I set up a basket with books she hadn’t looked at in a while and sticker books (big hit) next to her potty, she loved this.’
She also LOVED putting the stickers on her Kandoo wipes. She thought it was so cool that she got her own wipes and that she could put stickers on them. We’ve recently only been using these for poop and regular toilet paper for pee and I have one dispenser next to each potty.
If she resits going to the potty when we ask or if she sits on the potty and doesn’t go we just say OK and move on. We realized it was essential to not try and force her, she never once had an accident after saying she had to go and then changing her mind so always go with her lead.
Don’t forget to update your diaper bag — add several changes of clothes, plastic bags to hold wet clothes, extra undies, flushable wipes and post-its to stick over the auto-flush sensor in public restrooms.
To clean the potty: I dump down the toilet and then rinse pee out in the bathtub between use – for poop I wipe the inside out with a wipe. At the end of the day I clean the inside out with vinegar. Be very careful about using bleach wipes or anything of the sort anywhere your child’s skin will contact the potty.
Our Potty Training Gear
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We’ve been using the Beaba Potty has her main one and purchased these cheap Summer Infant brand potties for grandparent’s house and downstairs. I actually really like the size and design of them though they are pretty lightweight.
The Kandoo wipes are amazing — get a dispenser and then refills, they run out quickly!
We have the Baby Bjorn Toilet Trainer and this hook to hang it on the side of the toilet and step stool
And we’ve been using the Sumer Infant potties as secondary ones (playroom, car, grandparents house etc.) because they are only $10.
You can see more of my potty training research HERE!
How old was Piper when you began this program, and was she able to use enough words to express herself and communicate feelings – especially if she had felt anxious or not ready?
Thank you !