Keila Tirado-Leist

pin it & save for later!

If you follow me on Instagram and watch my instastories then you know that we recently potty trained Cristian! We are all doing the happy dance over here! I had so many messages from you guys asking how we did it and I figured writing out a post would be much easier to refer to vs. a video. It felt like it took a little longer than Gabriel because he was trained at a few weeks shy of turning two. Cristian is two years four months old. But we had to keep reminding ourselves that every child is different and he would start using the bathroom on his own when he was ready. I feel like I should start this post with a disclaimer ha! The reason is because we're big believers in allowing our little's to let us know when they're ready. I think that's the biggest challenge! I also don't want this post to come off as some sort of rule set that you need to follow and if you follow everything to the letter then: boom! You're child will be potty-trained. When we all know that's probably not going to be the case. However, I hope that within these tips you can glean some information that might help you in the process. 

I also want to add that just because Cristian is two and some months old doesn't mean that every child should be trained by this age or that you're somehow not trying hard enough if it doesn't end up working out for you. Kids are these mysterious creatures and there really is not a manual for how to do any of these things! It would be really helpful lol I know how hard potty training can be and basically raising a child in general. Take this as a word of encouragement: You're doing an amazing job and you're a kick a** parent! Now for the fun part: 5 tips on how to potty train in a weekend!

TIP 1: Notice all of the cues of when your child is going potty in their diaper. This step is something that will happen leading up to the weekend you potty train. A few months ago we tried to train Cristian and we would ask him if he had to go potty and he would say no, shake his head and yell. But we knew he was going potty. He would usually go hide or stay really still. He also has this stare he does lol It was at this time that we began to offer him to use his potty more frequently. Sometimes he would agree and as I mentioned sometimes he would say no. We didn't push it because we knew the time was coming! We ended up leaving the potty out but only offered when he told us that he had to go potty in his diaper. Last week he got hit with a bad stomach bug and it was getting so hard to prevent his skin from breaking down. That's when Ben suggested that we try again but this time more intentionally and we started our weekend.

What changed this time was that he would tell us right away when he had to poop. This feeling he would get created an urgency for him to get cleaned right away. Even though he was scared and would say no sometimes we would ask him to take his undies off and would say it would feel better if he sat. Postiive affirmations really help! As bad as this bug was it also sort of helped our situation! However, your child does not need a stomach bug to tell you when they are going. It's part you being aware when they're going and also their own awareness of when it's happening. My biggest suggestion is to keep offering because it will eventually become second nature and they'll begin to ask to go on their own. Or at least become curious.

TIP 2: Familiarity for your child with the potty is key and you staying calm and happy in the process. We do not have a reward system. We're not against them but we didn't see the need to have one with potty training. I would take them to the store and ask them to pick out their undies but that's it. This is something that fits more with our parenting style and it really works for us. Also- after he would go potty we would hi-five and say good job! We didn't over do it either because we want them to feel accomplished but that it's also something that we all have to do. I guess you can call me the Scrooge haha!

TIP 3: Know when they're ready. So maybe this one should be first?! But this step can be tricky to fully understand so I'll share how we knew Cristian was ready. More recently he began to wake up with a fully dry diaper. We never had to night train Gabriel because this happened with him as well. Another way we knew is that once he would go potty in his diaper he would tell us (see #1). He would say 'caca' or 'orinar' and that's when he wanted to be changed. We figured that when he realized this then he could also learn when he had to sit down on his potty. Because we have two other little's it was hard for me to stay on top of when he was going potty in the morning. I had to make the extra effort to put him on his potty right away in the morning and now he does it on his own. this was hard ebcause sometimes Lucia and Gabriel are either whining or crying. However, in this instance as long as they were safe my priority was to get Cristian to the bathroom. Consistency really is key with little ones. Although sometimes even if you're consistent they may have an accident and that's okay! They're still learning.

TIP 4: Set aside your weekend to potty train. In this day and age we're all busy. And if you're anything like us the weekends are usually full of errands and cleaning. We also like to plan a family date. So I know it's hard to dedicate an entire weekend to potty training. However, this step is crucial! You need an uninterrupted weekend (or three days in a row) to train your child to use the restroom. The reason is that this tends to be the right amount of time to get them used to their new duty. Think of this time as a one-on-one dedicated weekend for your child. This time will create a well-structured period where they will learn what they need  to know to use the bathroom. Also, at this time they will go in full underwear mode. At this time we only use the pull-ups for bed time- just in case! Until we're fully confident he won't wet the bed.

During this weekend we asked Cristian to go bathroom often. About every 15-30 mn. We know that he goes poop at a certain time of day and we were sure to ask a lot around these times. Especially if he passed gas! It's a sign that he would probably poop in the next few minutes or so. If that was the case we would ask him to sit on his potty and we might also sit on the toilet too. He wouldn't always urinate but about 3/5 times he would.

TIP 5: When the weekend comes take a deep breath and just do it! I know it's stressful to teach a child to use the restroom. It's hard when they can't share exactly how they're feeling. Children truly pick up on our vibes and attitudes. If you're pushing your child too hard, yelling or becoming frustrated, they will too. They might also get the sense that they're doing something wrong and you don't want to associate something completely normal and good with bad.

That pretty much sums up what we do! I hope these tips are helpful and provide some ideas for you. If I missed any detail feel free to ask me in the comments!

Good luck and God speed!