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SALT LAKE CITY — I’m happy to report my 3-year-old daughter is finally potty trained. It took weeks … nay, months of hard work, persistence and plenty of frustration (for both of us), but we did it.
In previous articles I researched a few methods and asked readers what worked for them. From that, I compiled a list of items and tried them all.
So, what worked?
Rewards. We started with a reward program: If she tried to go potty, she got one M&M. If she went, she got a handful of M&Ms. (It took a very LONG time before she got a handful) Though it wasn't very effective at actually getting her to go potty, it worked wonders for getting her in there to try.
Potty-training DVDs. Potty-training DVDs didn’t work for us, but potty-training books did help. We checked out several from the library just to give her an idea of what it was all about. I know they had at least somewhat of an impact because on several occasions she told me where dogs go potty, where cats go potty, and where little girls go potty — an item taught in one of the books we read several times.
Diaper-free method. As for going diaper-free, that method did not work at all for us. In full disclosure, I did not let her run around the house without anything on — she did wear panties — and maybe that had something to do with its failure. Still, it provided nothing more than frustration for both of us — for her because she didn’t understand why she was constantly getting wet, and for me because I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t getting it … not to mention the fact that it left me with several messes to clean up.
Cute panties. One reader suggested I buy her pretty princess panties and tell her "princesses don't like to get wet, so we have to put our pee in the potty." Then a sister-in-law told me actually throwing the pretty panties away after an accident worked for her daughter. My daughter and I tried both and neither worked. She still had accidents, only asked to be changed because she was wet, and didn’t even care if we threw them away.
In the end, it all finally came together with one simple change to the system: I began to factor in timing. Many people also told me to make her try to go every 30 minutes. It was like an "ah-ha" moment when I realized that even though everyone told me that, she really didn’t need to go that often, and it was frustrating her.
Well, we changed tactics, and I only made her try every two hours. Suddenly she was in control of the situation, and when the magic moment happened she was so proud of herself she wanted to do it again and again.
Though we found success, the process isn’t at all perfect … and we still go with Pull-Ups at night. But she stays consistently dry, and I stay consistently happy.
If you’re a parent struggling to get your child potty trained, be assured it will happen. Hopefully some of the methods listed above will be helpful to you as well.
Send me an email at jormond@ksl.com if you have other suggestions for struggling parents and children.
