Printable Potty Training Chart – FREE, printable potty training chart! Use stickers, or frame and use a dry erase marker to mark off success. Child earns a reward when the chart is filled!
Thank you to Clorox® for sponsoring this post. All the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Ahh, yes. I know why you’re here. You have a little one in the family who is transitioning from diapers to the potty, don’t you? Maybe you’re the parent, maybe you’re the grandparent – heck, maybe you’re a caregiver who just needs some fresh ideas for potty training toddlers. Regardless, I’m glad you’re here!
Today I’m sharing a couple tips I learned about potty training my kids when they were little and offering a printable potty training chart (FREE to download) for you to use with your kiddo(s) “in training.” Let me just preface all of this with the best piece of advice I can give to desperate parents out there. . .be patient and let your child take the lead. Your job is to be there for support. I really believe that. They’ll let you know when they’re ready. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.
I remember my daughter, as a toddler, always busting through the bathroom door when I would be in there because she was curious. Both of my kids grew up attending daycare, so they got to see their friends using the potty, too. It was when my son started waking up dry from his naps and my daughter started doing her “duty” in her diaper behind her bedroom door (wanting to be changed right away) that I knew they were ready to start “training.” Both kids started around age 2 1/2.
I decided early on with my son that I wasn’t doing the traditional little potty on the floor thing. Are you kidding me? Who wants to have to dump poo from a little dish into the toilet and then deal with cleaning said dirty dish? I mean, if you clean the dish out in the sink you have to disinfect the sink each time, too, right? Blah. Way too much work. I got a seat that fit right onto our toilet and I would hold the kids there. Eventually they learned how to hold themselves up, but it wasn’t before we had a few “butt hitting the water” incidents. 😉
Oh, we would sit there in the bathroom and we would sing. I would read books to them, they would “read” books. They chatted away like you wouldn’t believe. Just a bunch of gibberish while the dog walked in and out checking out the situation and wondering why half the family was gathered in the smallest room in our house. There I sat on the floor – encouraging, waiting. . .I remember doing sit-ups a few times while I waited. Hey, why not, right?
If we had success we would clap, hoot, holler, sing and dance – and they’d earn a couple mini M&Ms. For goodness sakes, don’t forget the M&Ms. Oh, and the big girl/boy underwear to wear around the house. All very important.
In addition to all of that, I used a chart like the one I’m sharing today.
You can either print stickers out for the chart using printable labels like these, or you can frame the chart and use a dry erase marker to make an “x” in the circles to celebrate their success. Once the chart is filled, your child should receive a reward. I always showed a picture of the reward so they knew what they were working toward.
Never show them the actual reward. It will backfire on you, and they’ll end up crying for days because all they’ll want to do is take the reward out of the box and play with it. You do need to have the reward easily accessible in the house, though, because seconds after they fill in all of the circles on the chart, they should receive what they have been promised. It’s only fair.
Download your chart and stickers here!
So, let’s talk a little bit about setting up the bathroom. If you have any rugs on the floor, remove them. My rug that I step on after coming out of the shower, I just threw over the side of the tub. Things can get messy. I’m not going to lie. Invest in some wet wipes you can flush. They’re a lifesaver for those messy moments, and kids seem to have a much easier time wiping with them.
Ok, so I know I made a big deal about those tiny potty chairs early on, but even training the way I did, you’re still not out of the woods in terms of cleaning. Did you know that toilet bowls can contain as many as 3.5 million bacteria per square inch? If you’re using a traditional toilet brush, that bacteria can cling to the brush, too. Yuck, right? I switched to the Clorox® ToiletWand®, which kills 99.9% of germs and features abrasive scrubbers to power through tough stains.
It comes with disposable refill heads already preloaded with cleaner. When you scrub the inside of the bowl, the cleaner is “unleashed” and you just toss the head away. So simple. I even made a quick video for you to see how it works! No more dripping toilet brushes – yay!
So, are you ready for this? Of course you are. Take your time, have fun with it and remember. . .accidents happen. But there’s nothing you can’t handle if you’re well-prepared!
You know I always love to hear from you, so let’s continue this conversation in the comments! SHARE WITH US! What’s your best potty training story or tip?
