1. Be a slacker parent.*
2. Do not even bother thinking about potty training until you realize that every other kid in the class is out of diapers.
3. Beat yourself up just a little. Then remind yourself that the year and month of actual potty training will not go down on her permanent record. Or yours.
4. Go to the store. Let your kid pick out some underwear. If it has Dora on it, fine. If it has a rainbow monkey on it playing drums, fine. If it says Home of the whopper, not fine.
5. When she has to pee, you take her to the bathroom.
6. Done.
*Step 1 is of the utmost importance. If you do not follow step 1, this plan will not work and you will email me wondering what the heck you did wrong that your 18 month old is not regularly using the toilet by himself. I will write back to you and point you towards step 1. Or actually, I probably won’t write you back at all. See also: Step 1.
55 shards of brilliance… read them below or add one
Here's what works for me.Don't potty train for a long time.The, buy a huge bag of M&Ms. Potty train one day and feed the child many M&Ms anytime he pees near the potty.Get bored and don't potty train for the rest of the week.Every day of that week, the child will beg and scream to pee on the potty.Intermittent reinforcement. It's the toughest to extinguish.
I agree…step 1 is the most important.
I’ll be sure to let you know how this works out! LOVES IT!!!
Dang, you’d think I’d be doing better this second time around, but I totally forgot step 2. I gotta print this and post on my fridge for when the third one is at that age.
Oh man, my son just turned 2 last week, and i’m feeling the pressure to get him potty trained by next January-just so i can put him in pre-preschool next January and get 4 hours a week to grocery shop with only one kid (who will be 13 months by then). God, i need help with this. Unfortunately, both of my son’s grandmothers used THEIR mothers to potty train their children. Damn.
I just stumbled upon your blog because I’m pregnant and was thinking about what I am getting myself into!My youngest brother was trained using this method when he was four years old…*after* he already knew how to read and use a computer! I think my mom was just tired of potty training kids.