I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Pull-Ups. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.
When I last updated on our
potty training progress, well I reported that we hadn't had much progress at that point. My fourth round of
potty training certainly got off to a slow start. But if there is one thing that I have learned as a parent, it is that each child is different. One child might take to using the potty like a champ and be trained in just a few short weeks while a younger sibling will take a lot more work and devotion. And this is the exact case with us. I was spoiled with my oldest son who was day trained in less than three weeks. However, here I am two months into potty training my youngest and we're still working hard on it.
So let's see...when we left off I was still struggling with just getting little man to sit on the toilet. With the help of the
Big Kid Timer desktop app, physically getting him there isn't an issue anymore. When the timer goes off we head on into the bathroom to attempt to take care of business. Now whether he goes or not is still hit or miss, but this is still progress. And at this point I'll take any progress, as little as it may be, that I can get. And when we are on the go, I use the timer on the
Big Kid mobile app to keep us on schedule. Little D has been wearing his Cars Pull-Ups out and about which is making public restroom visits much easier to manage. And while he doesn't always keep his Pull-Ups dry, we're getting there.
There are so many other useful and really fun tools to be found on the
Big Kid Academy website. One of our favorites is getting a phone call reminder from either Mike or Sully from Monsters, Inc. You can go in and schedule the date and time of your phone call, pick the character you want and then enter your phone number and then you are all set for your child to get that special call.
As I mentioned in the previous post, a rewards system is something I used when potty training all of my kids. Whether its a earning a special (inexpensive) toy or just the happiness of filling out a sticker chart, rewards work well for us. We are using the
Rewards Chart to earn a new Disney Infinity figure. As he keeps filling up his charts with stickers, he gets a little bit closer to that prize. But since I don't want him to be discouraged by how far away that goal might seem to be, we are also using
The Rewards Wheel. If he has a good day then he gets to spin the interactive wheel for a fun and easy celebration like a special arts & crafts project or a little time with a video game. This is also customizable so you can enter in any reward that you want.
Pull-Ups Partners with The First Years
In addition to needing advice and tools when you start down the potty training path, parents also need a product or two to get started. I mean, little bums are just too small to fit on a big ole toilet, so we need to get them something to help them out. Pull-Ups has recently announced their partnership with
The First Years, makers of potty training systems and seats like these:
Now when you purchase a specialty marked seat or system, you will also get a free sample pack of Pull-Ups Training Pants! For us, I skipped right over using the little mini toilets simply because I hated the idea of cleaning that. Bleh. So I stuck with a soft seat that sits right on top the regular toilet seat, just like the Cars one shown above. We have two, one for the main level and one for upstairs; that way there is always a seat in the bathroom when we get in there.
So we are getting there, albeit slowly. And as slow as the progress has been, I am still happy with it because this just happens to be the pace my child needs to get accustomed to using the potty. It looks like the cold weather might finally be behind us (we had snow last week for goodness sake!) and I always find that warm weather makes for easier potty training. Less layers to remove is always a bonus and to be honest, I think next week we might be trying a few days of naked training. This worked brilliantly for my oldest son so we'll see how it works this time around. I am so thankful for the chance to be a First Flush Ambassador because the resources available on the Pull-Ups sight were just as helpful to me as the Pull-Ups themselves. And while my time as an ambassador is at an end, you can be sure to see one final update from me once we are completely trained. Why? Because then I will be completely diaper-free and that is cause for celebration!
I'd still love to hear from you if you have any potty training tips! What worked best for your child? Have you used any of the tools available on the Pull-Ups website to help?
Pull-Ups Links
Website: www.pull-ups.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pull-ups
Twitter: @PullUpsBigKid
Big Kids Mobile App: www.pull-ups.com/activities/pull-ups-big-kid-app