Hardest Mom Task... Potty Training (Dun Dun Dun)

What's the toughest aspect of being a mom? The dreaded "p" word... Potty training has challenged me like nothing else.

Before I dive in, I've linked the items I used for Potty Training in my Amazon Storefront. I read Potty Training in 3 Days: The Step-by-Step Plan for a Clean Break from Dirty Diaper. It was helpful, but we did not complete potty training in 3 days. The process varies for each child, and although we followed the guidelines, my child is quite stubborn. We also started somewhat early, which can be challenging.

We stuck to the book, but only recently did things finally click, and the accidents stopped. I've realized you have to take things with a grain of salt. Sure, you can read all the parenting books out there, but your kid's going to do their own thing, and you just have to go with the flow and adjust to make the best of it.

Some days, we had no accidents at all, but then there'd be a day with a bunch of them. It could be because he didn't want to stop playing or watching TV, or just being stubborn. Sometimes, I even thought he peed on purpose because I didn't do something he wanted.

It's important to cut down on distractions, so we ditched the TV for a few days. It was tough, but honestly, not a huge deal. We found other fun stuff to do. The timer was a lifesaver, reminding us when it was potty time. Skip the pull-ups for potty training; save those for bedtime and outings. You want them to get comfy with underwear and recognize when it's potty time. Sure, there were a bunch of accidents in the undies, but we handled it.

When I say no distractions, that includes you, parents. You've got to keep a close eye on them so you can step in if needed. If they have an accident, take them straight to the potty and remind them, we don't pee in our pants anymore, we use the potty now.

Doing stuff together really helped. We played games, colored, messed around with playdough... lots of playing. This made it easier to keep an eye on things. I think we started with a timer set for every 15 minutes, then moved to 20, and kept going from there.

Pooping is another story. Bradley has had issues with holding his bowel movements even when he was in diapers. The pediatrician thinks it is because it scares him and he doesn't want it to hurt which can happen in infants/toddlers. We have finally got to a point where he tells me when he has to even if he doesn't want to. We try to celebrate every time he goes in the potty so he keeps doing it.

For rewards, we started with mini M&Ms. Then, we used a potty chart with stickers, and once we got to the end of it he got a prize — a monster truck. Once he was peeing regularly, we ditched the chart and only gave rewards for pooping since it is a big deal for him.

I heard it is different for girls vs boys, I guess we will see, haha. I will share that journey when we get to Olivia.

Again, here are the items we used. I highly recommend having a good carpet cleaner for accidents around the house because it will happen. I also put pee pads on the couch with a couch cover over them, which helped with a lot of messes. May the potty training be in your favor.