Seriously. If you do nothing else, do this! We are right at a month into potty training our firstborn, and it’s honestly gone really well. I was nervous going into it, but Katherine caught on quickly and has done great. She still has “misses” periodically with it, but that’s totally to be expected. (I’m pretty sure that can happen for years to come, so that’s what I’m anticipating. Not going to stress about it.)
Certainly, there are a lot of things that go into potty training (I have a whole post listing a bunch of tips for those first 48 hours). But as I look back over the last few weeks, there’s one thing that really stands out in setting us up for success with this. Here it is:
We waited until she was 2 1/2 years old. (Technically, she was 2 3/4.)
Our pediatrician gave us this wonderful advice when we first started talking about this whole concept. He told us, “If you potty train at 2, your child will be potty trained at 2 1/2. If you potty train at 2 1/2, your child will be potty trained at 2 1/2.”
This has turned out to be 100% true for us. I had first attempted potty training with Katherine a little before she turned 2, and we only lasted about 2 days. I kept reading about going ahead and doing it when your child showed interest (which Katherine was) and how other kids were trained by age 2. So, we tried it. It was a disaster! Haha! Neither of us was ready.
Our pediatrician’s advice gave us permission to wait until we were all ready. Katherine gained more maturity. Baby Joel turned 5 months old, and I felt a little more ready to dive into the commitment of potty training. By the time we did it, Katherine could take care of so much of the potty process herself. (Which is incredibly helpful especially when you’re caring for a baby too.) She’s caught on quickly and has able to do a lot of it independently during times I’ve been in the middle of nursing.
So many other tips we used came from Moms on Call, which you know I love and recommend. And I know they talk about how you can potty train earlier than this, and certainly some kids are able to do that. But if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about it. Waiting until age 2 1/2 has made everything immensely easier and faster. Even a few hours into potty training, I could already tell it was going better than that first attempt when she was younger. It was that much of a difference.
Make potty training easy on yourself and your child, and wait until age 2 1/2! I think you’ll be as glad as we are.
Photo: Katherine lined up the bath time animals and asked for a picture. Love her!
