Potty Training a Toddler: Realistic Two Month Update

A little over two months ago we started potty training my second daughter. During that time I wrote extensively about what potty training is actually like. Pinterest moms will have you believe that potty training is normally done within 2-3 days, and all you need to do to accomplish this is read their blog post and download their e-book. Well, that’s false! Trust me, I’ve done the leg work (twice).

Many of the moms I’ve spoken with in my Instagram community expressed frustration and irritation with this culture of speed potty training. In my opinion, it puts too much unnecessary pressure on mom and baby, so do away with it! I feel it’s important that we bloggers give a realistic view into what our lives are like, and because of that, I felt it necessary to give an update on my realistic approach to potty training.

So where are we two months later?

Two Month Potty Training Update

Was my daughter potty trained within a weekend?

Absolutely not. After one weekend, the only thing we had managed to accomplish was getting her familiar with the idea of what the purpose of the potty was and that we intend for her to start using it. This was my expectation from the start so any further successes in the beginning stages were just a treat for me. Taking off the pressure to get this huge task completed in a matter of days really helped my sanity and the energy within the house.

Successes & Setbacks with potty training a two year old

Although we started out great, we did (and still do) have our ups and downs with potty training. The truth about potty training is that your success is greatly tied to your routine and consistency. If life happens while potty training, you will more than likely see an increase in accidents. That’s exactly what happened towards the end of February. I took a weekend trip and work got busy so we became lax about our “Do you have to pee-pee” checks. She started wearing pull-ups more, and because they are super absorbent and hide her accidents for a while, she started going in them a lot more often.

When things calmed down I noticed we were going through pull-ups like paper plates at a picnic so I decided we needed to stop and regroup. My husband and I had a quick team meeting and decided that we were going to let the pull-ups go and get back on track. So now, as soon as she wakes up in the morning, I put training panties on her and she wears them all day (except for nap time and bedtime).

For the most part, she is accident-free, even when we leave the house for extended times I find that her pull-up is dry when we return home. So much so that we now allow her to wear training pants when we have outings of a few hours. Her speech has been really clear and intentional for the past few months, so I was happy when she recently started vocalizing when she has to use the bathroom. She doesn’t do this all of the time though, when she is playing with other kids or wrapped up in her tablet she has had some accidents. But even these accidents are signs of progress because instead of emptying her bladder when she feels herself becoming wet she stops and finds an adult to put her on the toilet.

Potty Training Goals for the coming months

I think we’ve made great progress for our second month, especially considering our big setback last month. In my opinion, her training is right on schedule. Moving forward I’d love to see progress in getting her to do #2 on the toilet. We had some luck with this initially but it really was just that, luck. I would also love to have her dry during her afternoon naps. I plan to do this by monitoring her liquids throughout the morning, of course putting her on the potty before nap time and also waking her up promptly when naptime is over and immediately going to the potty.

My main goal is to have her 90-95% potty trained by the time she is 3 years old. I’ve set this goal because of preschool. The school I want her to go to is more like an actual school rather than a daycare. They request that the child be mostly potty trained as it is an accelerated kindergarten readiness program. My oldest daughter excelled there so I’d love for my little one to have that experience. We have plenty of time and I do believe we will accomplish that goal well before her third birthday.

Potty Training Suggestions

If you are in the beginning stages of potty training, I would recommend reading my 6 potty training tips post . If you are currently in your second or third month keep these tips in mind:

Try to remain consistent in your potty training routine.
Motivate your toddler using cool character underwear. Make them aware that the character is on their underwear and not to pee-pee on their buddy.
Try cheering when they use the potty. My daughter loves it when I act surprised that she is going in the potty (even after two months lol)
When at home, announce that you have to potty. Your toddler will see you doing this and it will encourage them to do the same. It will also encourage your toddler to use the bathroom then if they haven’t in a while. It’s a clever way to ‘ask’ them to use the potty without actually saying “Do you have to go to the bathroom?”
Don’t Give up! Some of her accidents have been… massive. And they are frustrating when you have to clean them up but do not give up. Keep pushing towards your goals!

More Potty Training Help

That has been my check in! I’ll return when we have made more progress. Make sure you read my related posts and check my instagram for more realistic potty training help!