How To: Potty train your little girl
Ready for potty training with your little girl? Awesome! Use these simple tips to get off to a great start:
📚 Read some potty training stories and choose a 'big day' that you will begin potty training on, marking the date in a calendar.
🌸 Get a potty and let her decorate it with stickers. Some parents find it's easier to have one potty in the bathroom and another in the living room.
🧸 Demonstrate, with a toy, how to use the potty. Get everyone involved and have older siblings demonstrate too!
🪀 If she doesn't want to stay on the potty for long enough, distraction works best. Try reading a book or play with her favourite toys.
🧼 Buy a step so she can reach the sink to wash her hands. This is a great opportunity to teach good hand washing technique and talk about hygiene.
🚽 If she chooses to use the toilet, it's a good idea to get a toilet training seat so she doesn't fall in.
🧻 Teach her to wipe from front to back to avoid infections.
🩲 Take her shopping for 'big girl underwear' and let her choose. Remember to get lots of spares in case of accidents.
⏳ On the 'big day' remove the night time nappy in the morning and put her big girl pants on. Get her excited! Take her to the potty every 20 minutes.
🛌 If she's going to her grandparent's house or nursery, encourage them to continue with potty training. Otherwise she'll get confused. Night time nappies are ok as it takes longer to be dry at night. You might want to put a nappy on before a trip to the shop. Remember, to explain to her that it's only for the shop and remove the nappy when you return home.
🤗 Don't make a big deal of accidents. Quickly tidy them up and remind her that wee and poo belong in the potty.
🌞 If summer is around the corner, you might want to wait until then as it's usually easier to potty train in warm weather.
🥳 Praise, praise, praise! Even if only one wee made it to the potty, make a big deal out of it! You could use a sticker chart to commemorate her progress.
💧 Protect your sofas, beds and carpets in case of accidents. PeapodMats washable bed pads stay in place with no straps and quickly absorb any accidents, so you don't have to spend hours cleaning!