potty training

Sometimes the only way to survive the potty training phase is to laugh your way through it. We asked moms to share their funniest potty training moments and we were definitely amused by the stories that follow. (Please note that these stories do contain some fairly graphic descriptions of the potty training process...consider yourself warned!)

1. Cloud Watching

"I have potty trained nine of my ten children to date, but I have to say that my ninth child has been the most interesting. EVERY SINGLE time the child poopies in the potty, he identifies the shape, like most of us do with clouds, and he announces it. This odd practice has the whole family running to the potty each time to view his plop. Comments like this are heard at each viewing, 'Oh wow! It does look like a gun!' or 'How about that, it IS shaped like a whale!' My child's strange ways have the family doing something none of us would have ever dreamed of doing...and with great anticipation. Who would have thought..." -Terry Bonin of Bonin Family Adventures

2. At the Pool

"Last summer, working on potty training our 2-year-old:

Me: Kate, do you want to try going potty before we go swimming?

Kate: No. I pee in pool."

-Julie Burton of Bug Bytes

3. House Tour

"Oh God, I'll never forget it as long as I live.

My oldest son was three years old and really struggling with pooping on the potty. We were doing a lot of cheer leading and bribing, but nothing could convince him to make the transition from pull-up to potty.

Our house was on the market at the time and I had an agreement with the realtor that she would always call first before stopping by to show the house to potential buyers. Well, one day, she called and said she was ten minutes away and wondered if she could stop by with some clients who she thought would LOVE my house. My 3-month-old baby was napping and I explained that I didn't want to wake the baby and leave, so she would have to show the house while we were there.

I was racing around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to stash clutter and tidy up when my son announced that he really had to poop. (Of course, right?) I was tempted to tell him to just go in his pull-up, but I didn't want to confuse him, so I popped him on his potty and told him to call me when he was done.

Two minutes later the doorbell rang. As I was welcoming the realtor and the potential buyers into my foyer, my son came walking down the hallway toward us, totally naked from the waist down and holding a fresh turd in each hand. 'Mommy! I did it! I pooped on the potty!' he exclaimed with pride. 'See?'

The realtor started backing toward the door and stammered, 'Oh, we'll just reschedule when you're not so busy. Sorry to intrude!' Needless to say, that family did not buy our house." -Iris Beard of The Bearded Iris

4. Wake Up Now

"When my oldest was potty training, he just couldn't grasp the concept of peeing directly in the toilet. Or maybe he just didn't care. Anyway, since I was the one cleaning up all the accidents, I decided to lock the two of us up in the bathroom, strip him down to his birthday suit, and wait it out. How long could it possibly be until he finally felt the urge? Longer than I anticipated. He played happily with his army men while I sleepily sat Indian style on the floor struggling to keep my eyes open. Our bathroom was very small, so when the urge hit him, it was either going in the potty, or in my lap. Lap it was!! Just as I drifted off to dreamland, I felt a warm stream of "WAKE UP NOW DUMMY!" on my lap. I was jolted awake. Reacting quickly, I spun him around just in time to complete the stream in the potty! He had this light bulb moment. Finally realizing that was what I was wanting him to do all along. From that day on, he successfully pointed his stream into the mysterious white bowl beside the tub." -Christy Hughes of Chick Hughes

5. A Conversation Between Siblings

"My youngest son who is not yet three woke up the other day and wanted to wear underpants 'like the big kids,' so I figured we would try it. I asked him, repeatedly, if he had to go potty, and he continuously said no. Just as I was about to get him from the playroom to put him on the potty, I heard his brother (who is four) say, 'Do you feel like you have to go poopies?' He answered, 'No, I feel the poopies in my pants.' Needless to say he is back to diapers; I have no desire to try to train one more boy who is not remotely ready!" -Jessica of Four Plus an Angel

Potty training is an expected undertaking when you're the mom of a toddler. But you might not have given much thought to how to teach your child another toilet task — how to wipe her own bum. “Wiping butts is hard to do,” laments Circle of Moms member Melissa S. To avoid winding up like the apocryphal mom who still wipes her 21-year-old’s bum, try these Circle of Moms members’ five suggestions for perfecting poop cleanup.

1. Explain Why We Wipe

Besides understanding that you — and your toddler’s teachers — won’t always be there to wipe his bum, there are other reasons your child needs to know how to take care of his own business. Stinky bums are not fun, warns Phyllis H. The cost of not getting clean is "an itchy bum."

Cheryl Q. even made her son Ashton wash his own dirty drawers so he understands that not getting clean leads to a bad smell.

But more importantly, your child should know that if he makes a mess while wiping and doesn’t wash his hands well afterward, he could get sick.

2. Demonstrate Correct Technique

To get your toddler on the right track to helping himself, explain what needs to be done, including measuring the right amount of toilet paper, wiping from front to back to avoid infections, flushing, and washing hands.

Rose M. uses herself as a model to show her daughter what to do. “Every time I would go to the bathroom, she would follow me. She [has] watched me wipe so many times that she thinks she has to even if she has a diaper on.” 

Roberta says you can teach your toddler on a teddy bear, too, “so he'll get the right motion and areas ... and he'll be able to see it.”

3. Talk About How to Use Toilet Paper

Wiping well, or course, requires using the right amount of toilet paper.

“Just tell him to count off however many squares of TP (toilet paper) you think is enough and wipe. Tell him to do this over and over until there is no more poopy on the TP. Then, follow up with a wipe to make sure he got it all,” says Tisha P. “Just make sure that he is really getting between his little butt cheeks because if he doesn't, there won't be any poopy on the TP and he'll think he did a good job when he really didn't even get it.” 

A good way to measure the right amount of toilet paper is to use a length measuring from your toddler’s fingers to their elbows, Phyllis H says. She then shows her sons how to fold the paper to the size they need, to wipe, check the paper, and if it’s not clean, to wipe again. “If it’s done three times and still isn't clean, flush the toilet so it does not plug, then start again.” 

“I personally wouldn't have them wipe more than once with the same piece of toilet paper,” Jenn M. adds. “One of the kids I babysit was doing this and he was just smearing the poop all over his bum!”

4. A Word About Wipes  

Until your toddler gets the hang of toilet paper, many Circle of Moms members recommend flushable wet wipes. “I noticed that my son was uncomfortable with using tissue so I started putting baby wipes in the bathroom and showed him how to wipe himself. It a lot easier because they are moist so it helps them to completely wipe themselves,” says Latisha H.

Ana Luisa C. even uses flushable wipes to give her daughter extra encouragement. “I take her to the supermarket and make her choose some wet wipes she likes, usually showing her the character ones. After that I tell her she needs to make sure she cleans herself every time, 'cause otherwise (any name of the character you bought) is going to see she didn't clean herself and will get sad!”

5. Offer Incentives and Praise

If you believe, like Ana Luisa does, that good behavior needs encouragement, then by all means offer a reward for good wiping behavior.

Paulette M. puts stickers on a chart each time her son wipes, and when he gets ten stickers she gives him a prize. “If he can see his progress, he is more likely to wipe and flush,” she says. 

Lar R. used "bulletin board accents" with her kids rather than charts, which she describes as "the stuff teachers use in grade school classrooms." She and her husband let their kids pick out their own flower, bug, airplane and funny face accents. Then, “When our child did what he/she was supposed to (wipe his own bum), they chose the sticker to stick on the accent. . . . If they only did it partially or at least tried to, they would get half of a sticker. If they didn't even try or refused to do it they got no sticker." She reports that after just a few days "my kids were doing great on their own."

Ultimately, “you want to nudge [your children] to start using their reasoning skills and to learn to do things on their own,” says Marlena B. This mom leaves wipes by the toilet so her son can easily reach them. She makes sure there’s always a stool near the sink so he can reach the towel, soap and sanitizer. And she reminds her son that he’s such a big boy and that she’s proud of him.

Providing these words of encouragement might sound like a small thing, but they really can get your child to the point where he can take care of himself faster. As Marlena shares, “it’s a big headache relief not to have your child scream a million times that he’s done and needs you to wipe his butt."

Image Source: via iStockPhoto

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

Potty training is one of the most feared, stressful, and trying times of being the parent of a toddler. The good news is that it doesn't have to be. Here are some tips and tricks I've learned while spending the better part of the last five years potty training three toddlers.

1. Hello, Potty. There are some sure signs that your child is ready to begin potty training such as dry diapers through the night as well as the child showing interest in the potty, but even before then you can introduce them to the potty. With my oldest child we even had him come to the store when we purchased the potty chair.

Potty chairs, especially in the early stages of training, should always be easily accessible, and in the introduction phase, we even had it out in the playroom. Each of my kids would sit, fully dressed at first, on the potty and I would explain what the potty was for. After a while, we moved it into the bathroom and began just sitting without a diaper on. Most times nothing would happen, but we would praise the attempt and go crazy if the kids actually went while sitting on the potty.

2. Timing is everything. Many people find that sitting your child on the potty first thing in the morning and after naps, particularly if they wake with a dry diaper, can help make the magic happen. I've also placed them on the potty around the times of the day when they usually had a dirty diaper, again praising the attempt no matter the result.

Another popular method is setting a timer and having the child try to go every twenty to thirty minutes for example. I have multiple friends who swear by this method, although for me personally it seemed to annoy my kids, and I always had a fear it would create a Pavlov response and make my kids want to pee every time the microwave beeped. One thing to keep in mind, even if you've done potty training before, is that every child is different, and using different methods can often lead to success.

3. "I'm scared!" The potty can be an intimidating and even frightening place for a child. Heck, I know it's a scary place for me, but that's because I'm the one cleaning up after five people (three of them male). There are several things you can do to make the potty a happier place.

First, consider the chair. A big potty can be particularly scary for a small child, and even with the seats that fit over top, it can be hard to access, leave them feeling like they are unsteady and high off the ground, and afraid to fall in. Smaller seats on the floor can provide a "just right" alternative for your soon-to-be potty master.

Secondly, make it fun experience by reading potty related books, making up silly potty-time songs, and even have a potty party. One of my readers suggested streamers and balloons in the bathroom to help inspire a love of the potty. I say, whatever it takes to make the toddler comfortable and it's a fun way to make childless friends think you've finally lost it.

4. Bribery...ain't nothing wrong with it. What one person calls a bribe, another might call positive reinforcement. You can try a variety of methods like stickers, treats, or even toys. I have friends that used charts and stickers that worked, while others bought special "big kid toys" once potty training was complete. My second child responded great to Raisinets, and he was going on the potty within two days. Only problem was he would pee a little, get a treat and then return to the bathroom every ten minutes only peeing small amounts to collect the treats. On the contrary my oldest, who took the longest so far, finally did it after I promised treats, a trip to the zoo, pet fish and a new DVD. What he doesn't know is I was ready to pull out the checkbook and pay him off had he gone another day in diapers.

5. Going #1 is okay, but #2 is not today (or any day). One major issue many kids encounter is that they will freely use the potty to pee, but refuse to use it to poop. Many, including one of my own, would hold off for a diaper or pull op, and when not given one would just hold it in. In this case continue to praise the peeing on the potty, and don't withhold a diaper or Pull Up if your child will then hold it in. When cleaning the poopy diaper, dump the contents in the toilet and have your potty trainee flush. Continue to encourage pooping on the potty, but don't yell or get upset if it takes a while.

6. Keep it positive. Potty training isn't easy, and although some kids seem to take to it right away, others take a little more time. This doesn't mean that you or your child is doing something wrong, so when accidents do happen, or when somethings like pooping on the potty take longer, resists any urge to yell, punish, or criticize your toddler. Working as a team, which with a toddler can feel like running a marathon backwards barefoot in a snowstorm, is really the best approach. Turning potty training into a negative experience for your toddler is only going to be counter intuitive and could cause it to be a longer and much more difficult transition for both of you.

7. Consistency. Don't make the mistake of putting your toddler back in diapers just because it's easier for you. If you are traveling or vacationing grabbing the diaper bag might seem easier, but it can cause a step in the wrong direction even if you go back to old behaviors for a few days. Instead, pack extra clothes in case of an accident, try to keep on your successful routine, and consider products like travel potties (I won't leave home without mine).

Also, in order to keep things consistent, make sure that daycare providers, teachers, and baby sitters are all on board with your potty training plan. Keep them updated and request updates from them on your child's progress while away from home as well. The last thing you or your child needs is to be making strides on the potty only to have a lack of communication cause them to be in diapers or Pull Ups while away from home.

8. Get help. If you have any concerns about your child's progress talk to your pediatrician. This is especially true if your child has a significant change in bowel habits, seems constipated, or you feel they are not showing any progress after you have provided consistent potty training for some time. There are tons of resources on the web, books on Potty Training, and great forums where you can connect with other parents going through the same thing. Talk to friends or relatives who have been there done that and see if they can help with any tips and tricks that worked for them.

9. Know when to quit. For me, potty training has been the biggest challenge as a parent. Because my children are all two years apart, I have literally been changing diapers, transitioning to pull ups, and doing the potty training thing for five years straight. I have had my share of success as well as my share of utter potty training failures. It can seem like a process that is taking forever, and there are some days that I wonder if it will ever end. It's important to be patient, give it time, and know when your child is ready. My daughter, who recently turned two, showed some slight interest this Spring, so I pounced on the chance to bid diapers goodbye. Much to my disappointment her interest dwindled about as quickly as it came, and now we're back to reading books, playing around while sitting on the potty, and peeing and pooping in a diaper. This was particularly disappointing, because she wore underwear for a few days...and now she only wears them as hats.

So stay positive, for you and your child, be consistent, ask for help if you need it, and know you are not alone in the potty training marathon! Good luck!

Award winning blogger Susan McLean can be found sharing the good, the bad, and the usually embarrassing at her website The Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva.  Enjoy a look at the lighter side of motherhood.  You can also connect with Susan and over 12,000 like minded friends on Facebook for daily laughs, and check her out on Twitter too!

Image Source: Photo by Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

Is your preschool-age child potty trained all day long, but consistently wetting the bed at night? It's a common problem, and there's no shortage of consternation among Circle of Moms members as to why their 3,  4, and 5-year-olds can exercise bladder control for 12 or more waking hours every day, then routinely wet the bed while they sleep.

The answer is often fairly simple.* When kids are in deep sleep, they often don't feel their bladders filling up, and if they don't experience the sensation of fullness, they don't wake up and know they need to go to the bathroom. There's even evidence to suggest that kids who sleep lightly don't wet the bed as often. Regular bed-wetters (who are deep sleepers) often don't wet the bed when they're at a friend or relative's house, precisely because they're unconsciously worried about this and sleeping lightly.

Circle of Moms member Jennifer, whose son wets the bed regularly, reports that her pediatrician says that  nighttime bed-wetting isn't considered a problem until age seven. But even though it isn't a medical problem, neither kids nor parents enjoy it, and tend to welcome anything that might help!

Here are some great ideas for encouraging all-night dryness, all suggested by weary Circle of Moms members who got tired of midnight bedding changes.

1. Don't Withhold Liquids

While the conventional wisdom is to withhold liquids before bed (Ashley S. is among several moms who suggest no liquids for about 2 or more hours before bed), some moms proclaim the exact opposite tactic to be much more effective. (As Circle of Moms Jan G. says, "Cease holding back liquids, in fact encourage water at bed time.") With something in their bladders before sleep, the reasoning goes, kids will have more opportunities to experience fullness while they sleep and to practice getting up and going to the bathroom. RoundUp parenting expert Sharon Silver agrees; in a post about potty training regression, (, she suggests loading a child up with liquids before bed to give him the "opportunity to be successful as often as possible." 

2. Alarms That Beep When Wet

Jennifer's sister bought a blanket that beeps when it gets even slightly wet, and, over the course of about four weeks, this helped her son wake up in time to make it to the bathroom. Amy B. suggests a clip alarm as an alternative: these little gizmos attach "inside the underwear, and go off with the slightest little amount of liquid."

3. A Potty Next to the Bed

Janine H. put a potty in her son's room, right beside his bed, so that if he does wake up with a full bladder, he doesn't have far to go. She also wakes him up before she goes to bed —  several hours after he's fallen asleep — to remind him to pee, and this has helped a lot in their efforts to stay dry for the rest of the night.

4. Voiding Twice Before Bed

Nicole D. also suggests what her doctor calls a "double-void" — asking her little one to pee twice in a row before bed. The bladder doesn't always empty completely the first time around, and this technique has worked wonders for her four-year-old.

Moms are also quick to remind that there's almost always a gap between daytime and nighttime dryness.  It typically takes between six months and a year to fully achieve the transition. So, in addition to these three techniques, which might help speed the process, also remember to have patience. As Brandi K. says, "'When they are ready, they will stop.'"

* Note that if the problem is persistent, you should have your child evaluated by a pediatrician for underlying physical causes.

Image Source: Courtesy of karmekada via Flickr/Creative Commons

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

Circle of Moms member Kendal D. writes, “I am at my wits' end with this potty training thing! I have tried EVERYTHING I know to try. Reward charts, stickers, prizes, treats, bribes, positive reinforcement, EVERYTHING! I have even taken away treats and privileges. NOTHING works.”

This is a difficult situation, and not unusual, especially for boys.

A child can be well into the potty training process, then for one reason or another, either stops, or begins having problems, which puts the process on hold. Most of the time the reason lies in the way the child has interpreted something through his immature reasoning. When that happens, I suggest parents begin by looking at the situation through the eyes of a child.

When you read Kendal’s entire question you’ll see that the big clue as to why the potty training changed was that baby #2 came along. The truth is the potty training didn’t fail, the child’s focus shifted.

The child in question was ready and able to potty train and also enjoyed the praise and love his parent sent him when he was successful. This praise is a subconscious emotional pay-off that works to support his success with potty training, unless it gets misinterpreted.

It’s normal for a child to regress a bit when a major life event happens. It’s common when a new baby arrives for an older child to begin having accidents or to wish to return to baby status by being in diapers again.

What is "Parent Pie"?

In Kendal's son's case, his potty accidents became more prevalent than his potty successes, and he (most likely) unconsciously changed where he got his emotional pay-off. The emotional pay-off used to come from the praise, now it’s coming from the comments made about his lack of success. There is a good reason why this happens; I called it Parent Pie.

To a child, the amount of positive attention and emotional energy a parent gives feels like a fabulous snack that he loves and craves, it’s like getting a slice of a delicious "Parent Pie." The problem is, due to his immature reasoning, he also perceives getting negative attention as a slice of Parent Pie too; it’s just a smaller slice.

Think about how you handle things when you’re disappointed that your child has had an accident? You stop what you’re doing, look him in the eyes, and lower your voice to show him you mean business. In other words, you completely focus on him, and he eats it up. That’s a lot of Parent Pie!

In this case the child knows, because he experiences it everyday, that his lack of success on the potty keeps mom occupied with him. His immature reasoning incorrectly has him concluding that mom is choosing him over the baby.

For a child, misbehaving (in this case, regressing his potty training) to get some Parent Pie is not a conscious act; it’s a subconscious act. It’s also not something that only occurs with sibling rivalry or potty training. Parent Pie can happen with any issue since it’s all about your child's effort to get more of your focused attention.

The Potty Training Solution

Potty training becomes a success when a child makes the connection between a full bladder, the need to stop playing so he can go potty, and the fact that this is his responsibility, not his parent’s. 

In order for that to happen, a parent needs to stop being in charge of the toileting like they did when he was in diapers. As soon as you know that your child has the basic knowledge and experience to go potty, let go. Become uninterested. Adopt the attitude that he’ll go potty when he goes potty. Stop any negative comments so the child isn’t gaining Parent Pie through negative attention. Don't mention accidents, don't give lectures, make no comments, nothing. Just silently help him change or clean up, or if he’s old enough, let him do it himself.

Boundaries When Wet

Of course you can still set boundaries about being wet. You can say, “You can’t sit on my sofa when you’re wet, pull up a chair.” Or, “I can’t give you a hug because you’re wet, but I can give you an air hug.” You’re not punishing him for being wet; you’re just giving him boundaries because he’s wet.

A Sneaky Tip

Consider loading him up with water, juice and popsicles to fill his bladder so he gets the opportunity to be successful as often as possible. And since rewards haven’t worked up to this point, don’t give him rewards when he succeeds, or you’ll be setting him up to believe the things you’re supposed to do in life all come with rewards, and they don’t! 

I’m not saying you should ignore him when he has an accident; I’m simply suggesting that you become aware of your words in order to watch the amount of negative attention your child is digesting with his Parent Pie.

Sharon Silver is the author of Stop Reacting and Start Responding: 108 Ways to Discipline Consciously and Become the Parent You Want to Be, and the founder of Proactive Parenting. Her book and site help parents gain more patience by responding instead of reacting as they deal with the whirlwind of emotions created by raising kids ages 1-10. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Image Source: Salwa's 5 alive via Flickr/Creative Commons

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

Whether your child takes to it readily or resists long past the age you think diapers are acceptable, chances are that at least somewhere along the way, you've had — or will have — questions about the process. When should I start? How long should it take? And is it okay if my child isn't fully trained by the age of three?

It can be comforting to understand — at a glance — that many other parents have the same worries. Millions of Circle of Moms members have shared the age at which their children potty trained, so we can dispel some of the myths that may be making you anxious. Read on to find out what "normal" really means when it comes to potty training, and which myths about the process have some merit.

1. Girls potty train earlier than boys

True — sort of

You’ve probably heard another mom say that girls learn to use the toilet earlier than boys. As Jan R. shared: "I believe girls learn to use the potty quicker than boys...from my experience all three of my girls were trained earlier than my lad." Our data shows that this is true — but only to a point. Girls are almost 50% more likely than boys to potty train on the early side (before the age of 2 ½), but the gap begins to narrow after the age of three, and by the age of 4, when most kids are potty trained anyway, boys and girls are equally likely to be out of diapers.

2. Potty-training should start when your child is 18 months old

False

Although we don’t know when the moms who reported the age of success actually started the process, it's clear that most kids are not actually using the toilet reliably until close to the age of 3. So while you can start the process as early as you want, success may elude both you and your child for quite some time, as only 7% of girls and 4% of boys are potty trained by the age of 2. California mom Marcy C. shares: “The best advice I can give you is to wait until he is showing signs that he is interested.” Mother-of-three Pam S. agrees: “I have twin boys who weren’t potty-trained until they were over three...I know it’s hard to wait, but honestly, for me it was worth it.”
 

3. The best age to potty train a child is 2 years old.

True

If there’s a sweet spot for learning to use the potty, it seems to be at the age of 2 ½ for both girls and boys. On average, girls are out of diapers at 2 years and 9 months, and boys at 2 years and 10 months.

4. Most kids are potty-trained by the age of 3.

True-ish

While our data shows that the majority of kids (69% of girls and 53% of boys) have accomplished this milestone by the age of 3, a sizable group — almost 30% of girls and 40% of boys — remains in diapers until the age of 4. And a few stragglers — 3% of girls and 6% of boys — are perfectly happy to avoid the potty for as long as an additional year.

Related Reading

More Potty Training articles on Circle of Moms:

5 Signs Your Child is Ready to Potty Train 

Potty-Training 101: Seven Potty-Training Tips from Moms

6 Tips for Potty Training Boys 

In Search of Dry Nights: 5 Tips for Potty Training at Night 

5 Tricks for Potty Training in Public Restrooms

5 Great Potty Training Books 

Back in Diapers? How to Handle Potty Training Setbacks 

5 Tips for Potty Training While Traveling 

The Best Tools for Potty Training

How to Potty Train an Older Child

How to Potty Train When You're a Working Mom

Dawn Meehan on When Not to Potty Train

How to Get Your Child to Poop on the Potty 

Elimination Communication: 5 Tips for Going Diaper Free By Three (Months!)

No Potty By Three? Moms Say Not to Stress