5 Great Potty Training Tips with Disney Princess Magical Sparkle Potty System

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I will be the first one to admit that I do not know everything, but boy do I love a good tip or idea. Through my own experience potty training 2 children and through other moms around me, I have learned some fantastic potty training tips that I would love to share!

Start Practicing When You See Signs of Readiness

Watch for those signs of interest/readiness and slowly move forward with training. My youngest started showing signs of readiness around 13 months. I thought I was making it up in my head, but she did it every day (i.e. bring me diapers when she needed a diaper change or she would hang out near the bathroom when she was doing her biz). I think it is a bit early to start full on potty training, but I can start practicing. Every morning when she wakes up, I will have her sit on her potty chair and she will usually “go” within a few minutes. We make it fun by singing a few songs while we wait and definitely shouting for joy when she does “go”.

Pick the Right Potty Chair For Your Child

Take your time to research a good potty chair that will work for your family and more importantly one that your child will love to use. When it was time to start potty training my first child, I rushed to my local store and picked what I thought would work best for him from the three options there. We went through 2 different potty chairs and he never really liked using them, but they made great stools!

Times have changed quite a bit in the last 7 years and technology has improved. There are plenty of ways to research for a good match on a seat and you are definitely getting more bang for your buck if you can find something like the Disney Princess Magical Sparkle Potty System by The First Years that is a 3 in 1 (a potty chair, removable seat to be used on the family toilet and a stool that can be used for years to come). It is available on Walmart.com.

This particular chair is perfect for my youngest. She loves everything girly and with the pink, purple and the added “magical twinkle” sound at the push of a button, this fits her just right. An added bonus is that her big sister is so excited that it has princesses on it, she is always around to cheer our toddler on in her potty training efforts! Big sister was always a fan of the Huggies Princess Pull-Ups Brand Training Pants and this chair matches perfectly.

Other features that I really like is that is comes with a padded soft-seat that she seems to like. We have tried another chair and I simply cannot get her to sit longer than 10 seconds on it. I do not have that problem with this chair. It also comes with a lift-out pot for easy emptying and cleaning, which  is also awesome because I can see if and how much she went. And finally, I love that it can be used on the adult seat, too. I was a little confused on how to do this at first, but you basically remove the entire lighter pink part of the seat. And, at least on our toilet lid, the potty chair has some clasps that hooked under the rim of the toilet seat to prevent her from wiggling the potty chair around or accidentally tipping the whole chair forward.

Make It Exciting

Make potty training an enjoyable experience for everyone involved! If everyone is stressed out, nothing is going to get accomplished. So, find their reward button. For some it is treats, for other’s it is praise (i.e. shouts of joy and sticker charts), little toys or some other creative reward. Since I am starting my youngest daughter a lot younger than her siblings, we are aiming for the fun and praise and hope it will be enough. It took me a lot longer to figure out the magic reward for him was that he was banned from wearing shorts and flip flops unless he went on the potty. Ha! I guess he really loved his shorts and flip flops a little too much.

Think Ahead and Take It With You

This is a fantastic tip that I learned from watching a good friend potty train her oldest. At some point in the potty training journey we all have to leave our house and when we do we may be leery of trying a public bathroom. Instead you should just keep one with you in the car. A potty system just like the one above is perfect to keep in your trunk and use when you are on the go with your potty training child in hand. Before you leave your car you can have them sit and do their “business” (hopefully parked in a discreet part of the parking lot away from the public). Keep a couple plastic bags and bottle of water in the back of the car with the chair to help rinse and dispose of any potty “treasure”. This will be so much easier on you and your child.

Every Child Has Their Own Time Schedule

Most importantly you need to remember that every child has their own schedule, Even though you may want them to be potty trained yesterday, they may not be as eager or ready to start. My eldest was not ready to fully potty train until he found out at 3.5 years old that his boy cousin, who he thought was the coolest, could go to the bathroom on his own. My 2nd was on a schedule of her own. It drove me bonkers! No matter how much we bribed, pushed and encouraged, she took her sweet little time and was ready to be potty trained when she decided. My youngest, thank goodness, is a way more eager and so I am encouraging her at slow speed. She has some great examples around her, a seat she enjoys and a ton of encouragement, so I am hoping we will have an early, or at least earlier than her siblings,  potty trainer!

What Are Your Favorite Potty Training Tips?

**I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.