Scrolling through my Whatsapp conversations with Rich to see when Austin started pooping on his potty, yup welcome to parenthood XD
I remember hearing about elimination communication and being so fascinated by it all, I thought if people can read their newborns signs to go to the toilet why aren’t I doing this, it would save me washing nappies and cleaning up after Austin.
It was November 2018 and Austin became toilet trained on his potty for poops first, he was 17 months old, it took a while before he was fully potty trained but this was the start!
I would look for any signs that Austin needed to go, a certain face he would pull or the way he would go all silent and still, I would then ask him if he needs to go to the toilet, I’d sit him down, give him something to play with to distract him and hope for the best.
I’ve heard most children do it the other way around, wee’s then poops but I wasn’t complaining XD I got to know his routine and his signs for when he needed to go. Pretty quickly he was only using the potty when he needed the toilet.
We bought Austin a travel potty as we were heading abroad for a few months and I didn’t want this to stop our progress, highly recommend getting one of these, we used it on the plane and everywhere abroad, it comes in a drawstring bag and folds away which is super handy.
Now it was quite a few months later he was potty trained, we cracked it at home but I would chuck a nappy on if I was heading out in case of an accident, I realised this could confuse him so I wanted to get rid of the nappies as quickly as I could. It wasn’t until May 18th of this year we fully took nappies away in the day and put him in pants. We have had no accidents so far and he has been amazing, he will tell me when he needs to go and I take a potty with me everywhere. He does still wear a nappy at night time as he is still feeding and isn’t at the stage yet where he will wake up to go toilet.
So how did we get here and do I have any tips:
- Using cloth nappies they can be very bulky and I always liked the idea of nappy free time, so whenever I was inside or in the garden I would just have Austin in a T-shirt, I think he slowly began to understand that when he had an accident we had to clean it up. I would also say things like “Oh no Austins gone toilet on the floor” or “We do toilet in the potty Austin”. Make sure you don’t say things negative or get annoyed/upset about the accidents, this won’t encourage them to go.
- Let them pick out their pants so they become excited to wear them.
- Always have a potty around you, I would have one next to us when we were playing or in the bathroom if I was showering/getting ready.
- If you feel they are ready you could try putting them in pants. If they have an accident they will feel this which could be uncomfortable rather than the nappy absorbing everything.
- You could try using a reward, I personally didn’t do this with Austin but I know for quite a lot of people this works, try offering them something they like if they use the potty although they may see this as a game haha.
Now I’m by no means an expert at any of this and every child is different but I feel you just have to go for it. If your child seems ready don’t be scared, get them into some pants, put your potty into a bag and set out on your adventure.
Would love to hear how you all get on, good luck.
Lucy xo
Cott-enn 