Our Potty Training Journey (Phase 1)

I've been apprehensive to start potty training too early, as many moons ago I worked in a day nursery. Parents had been known to try and potty train their children way too early, and then the child would end up getting so disheartened by the continuous outfit changes and negative comments, that they would end up being fully potty trained much later than the other children. The boys will be starting nursery in September, so I know by then they'll need to be dry in the day. 

In preparation I'd done a little research online, and it's recommended that you introduce the potty to your child for a while before, to ensure that they aren't alarmed by something new. Maybe just leave in the bathroom, or their play area. 

We brought the BabyBjorn pictured below, and placed it in our bathroom. To our surprise the boys were instantly intrigued by it, and wanted to try it out. We placed Ollie on and he did a wee. It was tiny, and probably a fluke, but my goodness he was proud of himself. This instantly ignited the competitiveness in Harry, and he pulled off the same the following day. 

They began squabbling over who would sit on it, so we brought another in blue. We'd ask the boys morning and night whether they fancy trying. We quickly realised that we needed a physical reward, so we introduced skittles (sweets)! One wee, equals one skittle. Within a couple of days the boys were able to squeeze one (or multiple) out to order. Then to our surprise Ollie squeezed out a HUGE poo. We knew that needed more than a skittle, so the rule now is a poo gets you a Chocolate Coin. 

We have been kindly gifted some wipes from Kandoo that are flushable. The boys love pushing the button, and pulling out a wipe.  I would highly recommend as it makes the whole process exciting. 

We have also been kindly gifted a reward chart from Sally @totsup which the boys adore. We have been using this for more than just potty training.  

I can't believe how many photos I have on my phone of wees and poos, but I'm just so super proud. They issue we have is that they don't have the communication skills to ask, so we have to continually nag them to use the potty. We haven't braved outside the house yet, but it's definitely steps in the right direction. Watch this space!