How to Successfully Potty Train Your Child

Before you read this, it is a good idea to be familiar with my previous articles: "What You Should Know Before You Start Potty Training a Child" and "Prepare Yourself and Your Child for the Potty Training Challenge". Potty-training a child is a challenge and you should be totally prepared before you begin.

I will refer to the child as "he" to make this article easier to read but you can use this method to toilet train a boy or a girl.

The night before you actually start potty training your child, keep telling him (especially at bedtime) phrases like: "Tomorrow you are going to wear your new big boy pants", "Mammy's so proud of you, tomorrow you are going to learn to go to the toilet".

The big day has arrived. I know this is easy to say and at the end of the day you will feel washed out (I know I did!), but try to be as relaxed as possible. Have a stock of baby wipes ready, they might be made for cleaning babies' bottoms, but they are also very effective in cleaning carpets and upholstery, as I have discovered. Let's be honest, you are not going to shampoo your carpet any time your toddler pees on it, leave this for when the toilet training is finished.

Be consistent. If you are ready to give up after a few hours, the little devil will sense this and play on it. Remember that you are the parent so don't let your child boss you around.

As soon as your child wakes up, bring him to the toilet or potty. Try to keep him sitting there for at least 2 minutes and praise him for being such a good boy sitting on the toilet. If he does something, praise him even more. If nothing comes, say maybe next time and make a fuss about the brand new big boy underwear that he can wear all day. Do not be tempted to use Pull ups; they feel too much like nappies. Try and keep your toddler's routine as normal as possible.

Set an alarm (on your mobile phone, clock...) to ring every 20 minutes at the beginning. Make sure your child can hear the alarm and when it rings say: "time to go to the toilet!" If he refuses to go, just carry him to the bathroom. Once there, try again to keep him sitting down for two minutes. Give him lots of encouragement and praise him when he uses the toilet.