Having now potty trained three children, although I wouldn't call myself an expert, I would say I have some good knowledge on the process and what does and doesn't work. Of course all children and different, so what has worked for ours may not work for yours, but I'm hopeful that these 5 tips could lead to a successful potty training experience for all.

1: The biggest and most important tip of all, is to only start potty training if YOUR child is ready and showing signs.

Do not feel pressured into starting just because family members tell you you should, or because you see children younger than yours doing so. Every child is different and gets there at their own pace. The biggest signs your child is ready are:

- Being able to hold themselves longer (nappies staying dry longer).

- Them telling you that they have been to the toilet / need to go, and a want to get out of their dirty nappy.

- Hiding when going to the loo.

- Having a general interest in the toilet and the process of going to the loo.

2: Praise the good and don't focus on the negatives.

You cannot give enough praise when it comes to potty training - the more cheerleaders the better I say! At first you could just give praise for them sitting on the potty, and then as they progress you could introduce other rewards. We used chocolate as a treat with all three children and it worked well for us. Just a small piece for each time they went on the potty for the first week or two. You could alternatively use a reward chart or jar, and then treat them to a big 'prize' after they collect a certain number. 

There will understandably be accidents throughout the process too, but from experience we've found it's best to briefly mention what they did wrong, and then just clean up the mess and move on. Focussing on the negative could put your child off from using the potty / toilet at all. 

3: Make sure there's easy access to a potty or toilet at all times to help avoid accidents.

We have a potty downstairs, of course the toilet upstairs, and then a travel potty we use when out and about. I would really recommend a travel potty for out and about as you really never know when they're going to need to go. We have the My Carry Potty but there's a few options you can buy, and all are light enough to put under the buggy or in a backpack.

4: Buy lots of knickers / pants... and then buy some more!

You really can never have enough of these, especially for those early days. A lot of people opt for the bottom free approach, but we personally think it's best to introduce bottoms as early on as possible - it's all well and good having them nail it when naked, but you might have to start over again when you add clothes. Getting them used to wearing pants means you can carry on with your days as normal too; important if you've got school runs you can't avoid like me!

5: Follow your child's pace.

My final piece of advice is to not try and rush your child through their potty training journey. Follow their pace and try and make it enjoyable for everyone. If your child has aced being dry during the day, don't automatically assume they are ready to be dry at night or during naps. Both of these come with time - and nighttime dryness actually requires a hormone for them to be able to achieve it! There's no need to rush with anything, especially when it comes to your child.

I hope these tips have been helpful! Are there any you would add?

Potty Training at 2 Years Old | Tips & Tricks

When I first started thinking about potty training I was filled with absolute dread. It seemed scary, daunting and honestly it was something I kind of wanted to avoid! Obviously I couldn't do that, and in early March, just after she turned 27 months (2 years 3 months) Indiana's potty training journey began.

Now, just over a month later, I can say that Indiana is fully potty trained in the day - obviously she still wears nappies at nap time and bed time, but that's a whole new journey we'll tackle later on. Looking back it only really took her around a week (probably less) to crack it, and it wasn't the scary task I first thought!

She tells us when she needs to go. The potty lasted about 2/3 days until she shunned it and went straight to the toilet. She's really good at holding her bladder too, although obviously it's still the size of a pea haha.

I thought I'd share some of our top tips (mostly provided by Jack), as I found other people's blog posts about the subject really helpful. Obviously these are just my personal opinion, and Indie's my first potty training experience (although Jack sees potty training kids everyday at work), and I just know Parker's going to be completely different haha.

1. The most important thing of all. Wait until your child is ready! Honestly if you try to potty train before it will take much longer, and be harder for both you and your child. We listened to Indie and watched for the signs, to definitely know she was ready.
2. Be prepared! Make sure you have a potty close by (more than one if you feel you need one upstairs / downstairs / on the go). Stock up on knickers/pants. If you're going to use them get some pull ups.
3. Praise the good and don't focus on the bad. We used chocolate buttons as a 'prize' every time she did a wee/poop on the potty or toilet. This obviously is just how we did it, and I know a lot of people use sticker charts instead. We didn't focus on accidents either. Of course we told her it's not what you do, but we didn't make a big song and dance about it - it happened, we mentioned it, tidied up and moved on!
4. Go straight to knickers or pants! Honestly there's no point taking them out of a nappy and putting them into a pull-up, they simply won't learn. Of course we used them for trips in the car, or if we had to walk long distances. But once home or where we were going we whipped it off and she was back in knickers!
5. Don't forget the socks!! You'll of course need spare clothes incase there are any accidents, but this isn't just knickers and bottoms - remember their socks will most likely get wet too!

In my next potty training post I'll talk about the products we used and loved. Let me know if you have anything you'd like me to cover!