9 tips for back-to-school potty training

Feeling under pressure to get your toddler potty-trained before they head back to school?

Here are 9 tips for potty-training success that will help your toddler to stay dry, confident, and empowered by their pee and poop habits!

1.  Change your goals

If you’re feeling rushed to get your little one potty-trained in time for school, it’s time to be realistic about your goals. Focus on the time of day that your toddler will be spending at school as opposed to trying to keep them dry all day. Once you’re successful, simply extend the period of dry time!

2.  Introduce your child to outside toilets

It’s important that your toddler gets comfortable with using a potty or toilet outside the home. You might like to take them to a friend’s house so that they can experience using a new potty with you there to hold their hand.

3.  Don’t focus on nighttime, yet

Forget about nighttime until you’ve got daytime dryness handled, there’s no need to add more stress into the mix when you’re already feeling pressured! When you’re ready to move onto nights, our Oopsie Hero bedwetting alarms will be there to help.

4.  Ensure adequate sleep 

Cutting your toddlers' sleep, even by something as small as 30-60 minutes, can have a huge impact on their mood, behaviour, and control of bodily functions. Make sure that when back-to-school comes round, you’re still ensuring a good bedtime routine.

5.  Talk to your child

Explain to your child what it’s going to look like to use the potty at school. There are lots of books that can help with this! Here are some things that you might like to explain to your toddler:

• Who they need to tell when they need to use the potty
• That the teachers are happy to help them use the potty
• The importance of telling somebody as soon as they think they might need to pee or poop

6.  Use incentives

Using stickers charts can be really helpful when you’re under pressure to get your toddler potty trained in time for school. Let them place a sticker on the chart every time they sit on the potty, there’s no need for them to do something in the potty in order to be rewarded! Celebrate every attempt.

7.  Put your child in potty-friendly clothes

Putting your child in potty friendly clothes will make the entire process so much easier. Your child will be able to pull their own pants down and teachers won’t have to fumble around with awkward fastening in a rush to avoid an accident. 

8.  Have a chat with the preschool teacher 

Talk to your child’s preschool teacher about where your child is at on their potty-training journey. Every child is different - it will be helpful for the teacher to know exactly how they can support your child in staying dry.

9.  Relax

Staying relaxed is crucial to your child having a positive experience of potty training.

Be realistic, support your child, and don’t rush things when they’re really not ready - take it slow by starting with just a couple of hours a day.

You’ve got this!