This month, we have our friend from the UK, Jason Delacey, a dad, to write to us and share about his potty training experience. We hope this will help you with the potty training journey 
Hi guys,
I was asked to write about my experience with potty training my kids. I can sit here and smile as the potty training days are behind me (well I think they are) and I want to, now I do not want to say offer advice because at the end of the day all kids are different and what worked for me may not work for you. This is something all these child books seem to forget. So instead I will just tell you how I survived the potty training phase. And I think survived is the best word to use.
I will use my son Logan as the example here. Back when he was in nappies (diapers to my American friends) life was sweet heck if I had my way he would be in these things until he was 18 it was just so easy. But my wife was really anxious to get him started potty training. I said to her “what is the big deal loads of kids who are 7 still wear nappies” I am kidding he was not really 7.
Starting Potty Training
The way we did it was we bought two potties. That way we could have one up stairs and one downstairs. This may sound a bit excessive, but when you are starting out you really do not want to have to sprint upstairs to grab a potty. Because when they need to go they pretty much need to go right away. And by the time you come back downstairs all out of breath your carpet will have a nice wet patch and it will be a wet patch if you are lucky.
Potty Training Seats
What I did was I would sit my son down on the potty every hour or so and just ask him if he needed to go. Sometimes he would force one other times he would not.
After a short while I would stop physically sitting him down. Now please do not think I was manhandling my son onto the potty. Now I would just ask him every once in a while if he needed and if he did over he would walk and take care of his business.
Potty Accidents
My god there will be accidents come to terms with this right now people. You will be cleaning pee and poop of your floors at some point. The key here is not to get frustrated. Instead what I did was calmly just said to him “remember to use your potty next time”
At first I think my son thought that he could still just go whenever he wanted as he was so used to doing it in his nappy. At the end of the day them wearing proper underwear is a huge lifestyle change and just like us adults if we have a big lifestyle change it can take a while to get used to.
Distractions
I found that the main reason my son would not go to the potty and would leave a deposit in his underpants was down to distractions. For example if he was playing with his toys and he needed the toilet. He knew he needed, but he was so into his toys that he kept putting it off and then of course it was to late.
Another thing is TV. My son would get up to go to the toilet only to keep getting distracted by what is on the TV. It got to the point where when he would get up to go to the toilet we would turn the TV off until he got back.
So patience is key here. They will get distracted and if they do they are not being naughty or it is not because they do not get it. It is just them being kids and they are more interested in what they are doing or watching rather than going to the toilet.
Bribery Is The Key, Potty Training Rewards
I have read many articles where people swear against bribery when it comes to potty training, but for us it was thanks t bribery that our son got potty trained so quickly.
I made a chart that had twenty boxes on it. After each time he used the potty he would get a sticker on his chart once he filled the chart he got a Pokemon toy just replace Pokemon toy for whatever your kid is into. It does not even have to be a toy my sister felt this was a little excessive so she re-worked it so that each time her kid used the potty they would get a chocolate button or something like that.
My son really responded to this as it in a way made potty training kind of a game. There was a accident here and there, but this tactic really worked for us and I can hand on heart say that when I started the bribery tactic I thought we would probably have to go through a few toy charts until he got it, but it only took the one.
Of course even now he is 5 we still have the odd accident once in a while. Kids are kids and sometimes they do not give them selves enough time to get to the toilet.
I hope that my experience can help you guys. Like I said I do not want to say “this is how I did it therefore this is the best way to potty train” I just wanted to share with you what worked for me.
