Potty Training Made Easy by the Quad Mom

When your child begins to get interested in YOUR bathroom habits it is time to start getting them "pre-trained". Demonstrate how the toilet works, allow your child to flush it, and let him or her watch you using it.

As soon as your child begins expressing an interest in the potty you will need to go out and get a potty chair of your choice. The style or type is not important as long as it is convenient for you and your child to use.

We had every type imaginable - hand me downs, yard sale buys and baby shower gifts since we needed so many at once. Honestly the fewer bells and whistles they had the more we liked them. The ones that "rewarded" the child with a tune when they were "successful" quickly had what we like to call batteryectomies. The three piece ones with lids that turned into stepstools were a pain to use and had too many parts for the kids to put back together on their own. We liked the simple two piece ones with a removeable insert the best. Plus I highly recommend that you also get the kind that fits over the top of your standard toilet once your child is trying to master the art of #2 - its too high to start your child out that way, but makes cleanup a breeze when you need it the most ;)

My biggest money saving tip is not to waste your money on so called training pants or the pull up type of diapers. A diaper by any other name is still a diaper and your kid knows its a diaper no matter how often you call them "big boy pants".

Training pants are intended to allow your child to feel wet without leakage based on the theory that the child won't want to feel wet and this will speed up the training process. The problem is that not all children are bothered by feeling wet and because they're not designed to hold much you'll go through many more of these than regular diapers, plus they cost more than regular diapers.

Once your child has been "pre-trained", they understand the principles of using the potty and they are beginning to be aware of having the urge to go, you should simply switch them to underwear during any part of they day that they are awake. This will speed up the potty training process tremendously because no child is comfortable walking around with wet clothes.

Because there WILL be accidents it is best to make the switch to underwear when you'll have several days in a row to spend with your child - perhaps over a three day weekend or other vacation from work. Explain in advance to your child what you will be doing. Its a great idea to take your child to the store with you when shopping for his or her new underwear, allow them to help with the selection and make it an event.

Begin by taking your child to the bathroom and placing him or her on the potty every 30-45 minutes. Reward your child each time he or she successfully uses the potty. Your choice of reward can be anything you choose, but must be something of value to your child. For instance, our oldest did very well with stickers as a reward until it came time for #2 training and then we had to move up to hardcore rewards, a truck for every time he went poopy in the potty (he was our toughest), but all the quads needed were gummy bears. We gave them one for tee tee and two for poopy and that was all the incentive they needed.

Keep taking your child to the bathroom as scheduled and before long they will start to tell you when they need to go and you'll be able to start stretching the time between bathroom visits. By the end of your long weekend your child should be getting the hang of it. Be sure to make it a habit to take your child to the potty immediately upon waking and before each nap or bedtime.

Your child will still be wearing diapers at night and during naptime but you'll know when you can start taking them out of those when they begin to habitually wake up with clean and dry diapers. Be sure to continue with the rewards and lots of praise!