Is the idea of potty training weighing you down?

I always hoped I'd be the kind of parent who was patient and encouraging.

I mean when my kids were learning to walk, I was right there saying 'come on.... you can do it!'

Did I ever say ‘Aren’t you a bit too old to still be crawling?'

or 'Look, your brother was much younger when he took his first steps'

Of course not!

But when I'd catch my second son Felix creeping out from behind the sofa with a steaming poo swinging in his pants I'd jump in with 'Eeeeew Felix – why can’t you JUST POO ON THE POTTY!' and I know he felt my impatience and judgement.

What I discovered later was that I'd followed the wrong roadmap for Felix’s potty training.

I rushed at it, thinking that my maternity leave with my third child would be the perfect time.

I had my deadline and not his readiness in mind and I’ve since used my mistakes to help so many others get potty training nailed without the stress.

I've also spent a long time working on myself and helping other parents learn to be more patient and understanding.

So back to potty training...

Parents say to me:

• ‘How do I know how to start?’
• ‘What if I can’t get my child interested?’
• ‘She’s just so resistant and refuses to tell me when she needs to go’
• ‘We caught a couple of wees on the potty – shall we just go for it?’

If you've read my blogs before, you won’t be surprised to hear that I teach a gentle, collaborative approach that has you and your child working together and shows you how to put comparison and criticism aside.

Why? Because when you do compare and criticise, potty training takes so much longer and let’s face it, who wants to spend longer mopping up wees and poo than is absolutely necessary?

Who doesn’t want the satisfaction of crossing off ‘nappies’ from the shopping list and saving the landfill?

It is so amazing to see your child’s confidence grow when they master this complex skill. The thrill you both get is the most rewarding thing.

If you want to start (or re-start) potty training, spring can be a great time to do it so check out my fantastic FREE booklet Get Set for Potty Training.

You also might want to consider my Potty Success Academy video course.  You will have unlimited access to the programme so once you dive in and go over the step-by-step guidance, you might feel that your child just isn’t ready, in which case – no problem, no guilt, you just press pause and come back to it.