I am about to start trying to potty train my 20 month old. I am open to any tips and suggestions. I also want to know how to keep the potty sanitary and/or the best way to clean up the potty after she uses it. I have a friend that just puts the part the kid potties in that you take out and puts it in the sink and leaves it there with the toothbrushes hanging 2 inches away from it!! Gross!
We keep a container of disinfectent wipes close by and after flushing the contents down the toilet, we wipe it clean and toss the gross just like we would bum wipes with diaper duty. It doesn't require nearly as many disinfectent wipes as it did bum wipes, for sure.
For both girls (8 and just shy of 3) I got their potty early and let them get to know it. I know that sounds goofy, but if they get time to sit on it and drag it around it seems less intimidating to them.
I started by taking them potty with me and we would have "potty time" about every 2 hours. We would sit on the potty together and sing songs or read books.
Also, I got a book of Disney Princess stickers at the store. When she goes in the potty, she gets to pick the sticker to put on her paper. (I taped a plain paper to the wall.) And she gets to pick one to wear. That is a slight motivator.
We got a kid toilet that "sings" when the kids goes to the bathroom. It did not scare my daughter as I have heard other moms state, but it was really annoying when the battery went haywire in the middle of the night and it started singing non-stop! LOL
We talked up using the potty for a few weeks - read a book over and over and over and over and over..... She decided she was ready. I let her pick out some panties from the store. I encouraged her. When she had an accident, I said, "It happens. Let's try to get to the potty next time!" Naps were hard - some people use plastic pants over panties for this.
Good luck - we did it at 20 months too.
I was rinsing the pot out in the sink, but then I decided that the bathtub was probably less gross. Less splash potential. And the water in the tub comes out stronger, so it's even better when you finally get a little poop in there.
Keep some books in the bathroom to help her attention span. I stock the bathroom drawer with small containers of treats and a pack of stickers. We use chocolate chips and the freeze-dried strawberries out of Special K Red Berries for treats (both my kids preferred the strawberries over chocolate when given the choice). And I got a book of like 500 little CARS stickers at the dollar store.
Good luck!
The best advice I ever heard was to keep it positive and never scold. Sometimes it's hard to not say anything that admits you're disappointed or upset. But it's important.
Also look for signs that your daughter is ready. She should provide the majority of the motivation, not you. And it won't do you any good to start training if she can't get her pants down. I'm having this problem, because my son is potty trained when he's naked, but he can't get his pants or underwear down, so he has accidents every time when he's dressed.
