Easy Potty Training In 3 Days Method Guide

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Mark is the money person in our relationship. He is always thinking of ways we can save money. That’s why there were two baby milestones that he looked forward to with both of our children. The first was when we stopped feeding our children baby formula. The second was when each of our kids was potty trained. Both times were game-changers to our baby budget since we didn’t have to purchase baby formula or diapers anymore. How did we successfully potty train our kids? We did it with the potty training in 3 days method. And, it worked flawlessly with Mackenzie and Mackayla. So, we thought it would be a good idea to explain what it is and throw in some tips and tricks we found along the way. We hope this will help parents looking for a way to potty train their children.

Before You Start Potty Training

There are a few things to be aware of and to look for before you start potty training your child. The first is at what age should you start thinking about potty training. The second is if your child is ready to be potty trained. These two factors can vary from child to child. But, here are a few guidelines to help you out with your child.

Potty Training Age

According to Healthline… most children start potty training between 18 months and 3 years of age. And, the average age of potty training is about 27 months. But, you might find that you can start sooner or later than these guidelines. It would mostly depend on if your child is ready to be potty trained.

Is Your Child Ready To Be Potty Trained?

So, how do you know if your child is ready to be potty trained? Here are a few things you can look for to answer this for yourself:

Does your child show signs that they are ready?
- Have you noticed facial expressions, crossing of legs or holding the genitals when your child needs to go to the restroom?
- Can your child verbally express their wants and needs?
- Does your child imitate adults or other siblings?
- Has your child shown the design to be more independent?
Does your child have the developmental skills that are required to potty train?
- Can your child sit on the toilet? Rise from the toilet safely?
- This isn’t a necessity but it makes it a lot easier if your child raises or lower their pants?
- Has your child’s bladder and bowel movements been on a schedule?
Can your child focus on the task?
- Does your child follow instructions readily?
Can your child control their bladder and bowels?
- Generally, experts say that children younger than 18 months cannot control their bladder or bowels enough to be potty trained. But, there are exceptions. Think about it this way. You can try as hard as you can to teach your child to go to the restroom every time they need too. But, potty training might be futile if they can’t physically control those urges (hold their pee or poo in).

If you find that you can answer yes to all or at least a majority of the questions above… your child is ready to be potty trained. Now would be a perfect time to start looking into the potty training in 3 days method.

Potty Training In 3 Days Method

Before You Start

Here are a few tips before you start. The first tip is pretty obvious but this is the Potty Training In 3 Days Method. The key words being “3 Days”. So plan on being able to dedicate the full three days when you begin. This is a little easier for those stay at home mothers and fathers in the WAYISAVE community. But, if you work outside the home… a perfect time would be a holiday weekend or something similar.

It also helps if you gather all of the supplies you will be using beforehand. These can include (but not limited to) a potty chair, children’s underwear, drinks/snacks and things for your child to do while on the potty such as books or magazines and cleaning supplies. Especially cleaning supplies! You’ll need anything that would be needed to clean either pee or poo from the floor to the wall to the toilet. Hey, it’s better to be over-prepared than under right?

Day 1

Here we go. You know that your child is ready to start potty training, you set aside three days to work with them and you gathered up everything you might need. So what now? Well, here you go…

Take off your kid’s diaper and put them in underwear soon as he or she wakes up on day one. Think of this as a break in their daily routine, which is a signal to them that they will be doing something new. Keep in mind that they will be soiling a lot of this new underwear. So, don’t get mad at them. This is the whole point. Up until now, your child has been able to pee or poo in what is essentially a portable toilet (their diaper). And, these diapers have been designed to soak up as much dampness as they can hold. Which is turn keeps your child comfortable. But underwear turns uncomfortable if wet or filled with poo. And, it’s only human nature to avoid being uncomfortable. So, this is all part of the process.

Next, you want to instruct them on what the goal of the day is… which is going to the restroom anytime they need to pee or poo. You tell them why it’s better than going in their diaper. Show them the toilet and instruct them on how to sit on it, how to get down from it, how to flush it and how to wash your hands afterward. If your lucky and they have to pee first thing in the morning… take this opportunity to walk them through the process. Make it fun and stress that they should try to go to the restroom every time they need to pee or poo. Then praise them for using the toilet for the first time. You’ll find that children love learning new things and respond well to positive reinforcement.

You’ll have to assist them if they don’t have to use the restroom just yet. What I mean is give them liquids like water or juice to get them hydrated. Then take them to the potty every 30 mins to an hour and have them sit on the toilet and try to pee or poo. They might not want too. But, insist that they stay at least a couple of minutes to try. This is where books or magazines come into play. Then, repeat this process consistently throughout the day.

You might find that you’ll be going to the restroom even more than the hourly visits. Keep an eye on your child and take them to the restroom anytime they show signs they need to go like facial expressions, crossing of legs or holding the genitals. They might even tell you that they have to go but it ends up being a false alarm many many times. But, wouldn’t you rather deal with false alarms than accidents on the floor? So remember to praise them every time they successfully make it to the potty without an accident.

At the end of day one, tell your child to use the restroom before they go to sleep. They will insist that they don’t have to go. But insist that they do. After they do they can go to sleep (more on this later).

Day 2

Day two is pretty much a repeat of the first day. Luckily both of my children made the second day easy for me. That’s not to say that they didn’t have any accidents. They both had their fair share of spillage on the floor. But, that’s where all the cleaning supplies come into play.

You might find that day two is much harder than day one. Kids distract easily. Especially while playing with their siblings. You might even find your child hiding behind the couch going number two. Just remember to stay consistent and keep your eye on the goal.

Day 3

Your child should have caught on to the pattern by day three, which is a repetition of day 1 and two. The only difference is that you will take your child out of the house on day three for a little trip. We’re not talking about going to Disneyland or anything like that. Try walking around the block or go and play at the local park for an hour. The main thing is that you want to have your child use the restroom before you go out. Show them that’s it’s important to use the bathroom before leaving the house since there won’t always be one nearby.

Take time to emphasize how well they are doing. Praise them for how far they have come. Show them how proud you are of them. You’ll be surprised how happy your child will be when they know well they are doing.

What About At Night?

Hopefully, through lots of determination, the 3-day method worked for you and your child. But, what do you do when your child goes to sleep? This is where you can do one of two things. As stated before, younger children have difficulty controlling their bladder. This is especially true when they go to sleep. Because of this, the conventional method says that you can use night diapers at night. But, the goal is to eventually wean your child off of them. A good way to know when it is a good time to wean your child off of them is if your child’s diaper stays dry for at least a week.

Just remember that you should be removing your child’s nighttime diaper as soon as they wake up (in the morning or from a nap). This will help keep your child from experiencing potty training regression. Also, keep in mind that every child is different. They all grow at different rates. So, a week’s worth of dry diapers could take anywhere from the first week to several months.

What We Did At Night

The problem with this method that is you’ll still be purchasing diapers for nighttime use. If you don’t want to buy any more diapers… you can do what my husband and I did as an alternative. Instead of using nighttime diapers… we kept our kids in their normal underwear. Then once a night (usually when we both go to sleep and usually around midnight) we carry our children to the potty so they can pee. We eventually stopped bringing them to the bathroom at night as we experimented on how long they can go without having an accident in the bed.

But, they will have accidents. My advice is to not get mad or frustrated. Just be patient and realize that it’s normal. It will take a while for your child’s brain to be able to control those bladder urges while asleep. But, that’s why waterproof mattress covers were made. We use two of them at the same time which makes cleaning up accidents a lot easier. =)

Feel free to download the Potty Training In 3 Days PDF to keep as a reference.

By Grace – Child Development Associate Teacher in California

My husband Mark and I have been blessed with two beautiful, smart, positive (I can go on and on) girls… Kenzie & Kayla. And, we have learned many tips and tricks while raising them. Tips and tricks that we felt would be useful to other new parents out there. So, we started WAYISAVE as a website built by parents for parents to share the best baby deals, coupons, tips, tricks and the occasional piece of advice.