Potty Training: Let's add clothes to the mix
Your second day of potty training or stage two of potty training starts the same way as day one, you will still be watching your child like a hack and prompting them to use the potty if they need to pee or poop. You will still be working on helping them understand the feeling of peeing or pooping with the action of going to the potty. The only thing that will change is you will be adding clothes to the mix.
Basics
You will now be telling your child to push their pants down everytime they feel the urge to use the potty. Make sure you dress your child in loose and baggy clothes with no underwear. Avoid making your child wear any underwear, this is because underwear will feel like a diaper and they might get confused. Keep an extra set of clothes handy just in case your child has an accident. Continue to doing the following:
Watch your child like a hack for any cues that you see for your child having to use the potty.
Help your child to get to the potty and use the potty
Prompt your child every 30 mins to see if they need to use the potty
Acknowledge their efforts and give them positive feedback and encouragement
Avoid hovering or over prompting your child.
Between potty training sessions, you could assist your child in pushing their pants down and pulling them up. No need to extra hydrate your child during this phase. When you are helping your child navigate stage 2 of potty training it might get a little overwhelming for your child as they would have to learn a new skill of removing their clothes before needing to use the potty. You might land up having a few more accidents and have to put a lot of clothes in the wash as they get soiled, but don’t give up, this too shall pass. Wet or soiled pants will allow your child to connect the feeling of them not liking it and wanting to take an action which would be to use the potty next time they get the urge to pee or poop.This is a learning experience so allow them some time to adjust the process and they will learn how to use the potty. If you feel your child is resisting learning how to use the potty and having meltdowns, here is the reason why they are behaving that way:
They are out of their comfort zone
They are trying to start to understand the feeling of wanting to pee or poop
They are learning how to hold their pee or poop
They get twitchy and irritable when they have to hold their pee or poop till they reach the potty
Then they have to make sure they sit properly on the potty
Remove the right piece of clothing to use the potty
Flex the right muscles and release their pee or poop into the potty
This is a lot for your child to not only understand and feel but to also be able to learn the new skill. As a parent here are some things you can do to help your child:
Stay the course no matter how difficult it is getting for you and your child
Play it cool, stay calm
Remind them to use the toilet when they are feeling the need to use the potty
Keep repeating the process in a composed manner. Repetition helps your child to join the dots and start understanding what you are trying to teach. Eventually your voice will become your child’s inner voice telling them that they need to pee when they are feeling the urge to pee or poop.
Look for their tell-tails when they want to pee or poop and guide them to use the potty where it's been kept.
Through the entire stage 2 of potty training don’t get stressed if you notice that your kid is starting to forget what they learned in stage 1 of potty training. Just push through the process with a positive attitude and be mindful that this is normal and each child learns at their own pace.
Nap and Night time
Follow the same process as you did in stage 1, make them wear pull ups when they are taking a nap or at night when they go to bed. But be sure to inform them that they will only get to wear pull ups while they are sleeping. Make sure you take them to use the potty before and after nap and night time. Remove the pull ups as soon as they wake up and go back to the potty training drill.
