Welcome to Part 2 in my potty training series. Here’s Part 1 if you missed it which is all about setting the mood!
Once you know that your child is ready and you have started motivating them to go pee and poo on the potty, now it’s time to prepare. There really is some prep involved if you are using The 3-Day Potty Training Boot Camp technique.
Here’s what you will need to do:
- Read the manual/ebook from front to back. It will only take 30-45 minutes. Take notes, highlight, and share these important points with your partner. Anyone who is going to help you with the potty training over the three days has to be on the same page with how it works. The only person I have involved is my husband.
- Take short notes on the steps involved so on your busy three days you can refer to these cliff notes.
- Plan for some help with any other children you may have at home. My mom will be coming over to play with my 4 year old and take her out for a few hours so that she gets the attention she deserves over the course of the three days (thank you to my friend Kori for this wonderful suggestion. What would we do without our mom friends?)
Shop for supplies:
- stickers (I chose to use stickers as a motivator for pee)
- bigger prizes for the poops (my first child had a hard time with the poops but when I gave bigger prizes, it motivated her to do her big business on the potty)
- A chart to put the stickers to keep track of he successful potty visits. I used this one here and printed one of for each of the three days.
- a potty (I prefer the stand alone potties because my kids can run and go without me having to get there and lift them onto the toilet. Definitely a pain to wash it out but again, it is more important to me to have them run to the potty without me)
- Juice Boxes (you will need to be giving them extra fluids over the course of the three days)
- Hand soap (we get in the habit of washing after every bathroom visit on Day one. I have a stool so they can do this on their own.)
- Underpants (we make a big deal about this one and let the kids pick out their own on a special trip to the store!)
- A travel potty (this comes in handy for the little ones when you are out and about in public restrooms. I store it in a bag along with wipes to clean it off after each use)
- Extra clothes for the car (pack a ziplock bag with extra undies and clothing for the car in case of accidents)
- Piddle Pad (I use this pad in the car seat for the first few months in case of accidents in the car. It saves me the time of washing the car seat which we all know as mamas is not an easy task!)
- Meals-think about what your family will eat over the three days. If you don’t already meal plan, you will want to plan for the weekend. I plan on making dinner during nap time so that I am present with my little trainer the rest of the day.
So as I write this we prepare for Day 1 of the program. My little one just woke up and my husband made a big deal that today was the day! My older daughter showed her little sister her own underpants drawer and gave her a big hug congratulating her on being a big girl. It’s labor day weekend and we have some family coming over this weekend but they all know that our #1 priority is the potty training. If we can take the practice potty on the boat, it will be the cherry on top of a fine three days!