Potty Training The Toddler

Ever since Sanju was months old I would get pressure from my superior woman-being (my mummy) to potty train him. She would worry that he will be forever passing motion in his (cute and pretty) cloth diapers and I will be running after him to clean him up.

On and off we had trained Sanju to poop in the potty like on certain schedules. But due to me being a full time working mother, it was difficult to keep it up as my babysitter was not that cooperative for potty training. Once I was pregnant with my second baby and started to work from home, I found it a good opportunity to train Sanju on the potty once again, at least for his morning poop.

This went on good, with some hiccups in between when we went back to my parents house for the delivery and you know the long story. A few months back, I started to get him onto the potty again. It is usually right after his breakfast that he gets it going. By sitting on the potty, he can complete his daily quota at one go. Otherwise if he poops in his (cute and pretty yet again) cloth diapers, he does it in little bits, 2-3 times in a day.

Then about 1 month before his 2nd birthday, I decided to let him go diaperless in the day. And the gameplan was to make him sit on the potty to pee every 30-45mins, till he gets the gist, and starts telling me when he needed to use the potty.

The first day, I was like a broken record making him sit there over and over again. By second day he was able to tell me with his baby words and signing that he wants to pee/poop. And by the 3rd day he was completely accident free, and alert whenever he needed to go. In the first week itself we were visiting in laws, and even there he was able to control and let us know when he needed to pee.

For the last 2 months he has been diaperless at day time, except for naps. He even can withstand his pee on short outings like to the market. However at certain times of excitement and busy days of playing, some accidents do happen. The key is to remain calm and remind him to use the potty instead. And for the past one week I have started letting be diaperless even for naps. This is very risky, but with proper precautions (extra layering on the mattress and remind kid to pee before and after nap) I have been able to contain my patience. The next step would be being diaperless for long outings and also bedtime.

It is important to access if your child is ready to be potty trained, and accept that not all kids are the same. Some learn it earlier, and some only later. As long as you are willing to take it slow and endure some accidents here and there, it is all a part of the game. Parenthood, that is.

Here is Sanju sitting on the heirloom potty, passed down from his youngest aunty.


There is another picture of Sanju on his green throne here.
And the best part, cloth diaper laundry has reduced significantly!