Potty training, by itself, sure can be challenging and overwhelming especially if it’s your first time. Add 3-day to that equation and that can get REALLY STRESSFUL! I know what you might be thinking… Potty training in 3 days, does it work? I totally get that! When I started hearing about those 3-day potty training methods, I thought there is no way that could be done. But that was until it worked for us! While I am certainly not a potty training expert; like you, I am just a mom who learns as I go and would appreciate all the help I can get. Which is why I decided to share with you what we did to successfully potty train my 2-year-old daughter in 3 days.
My 2-Year-Old Daughter Was Ready
Her readiness played a huge role in our successful 3-day potty training. No matter how good we were in explaining to her that the pee and poop should go in the potty, if she was not ready, she won’t do it. No matter how consistent we were in having her seat in the potty every 15 minutes, if she didn’t want to do it, she won’t do it. After all, it’s her body; only she can decide what she wants to do with it.
Forget those potty training readiness checklists available all over the internet. Those are just guides but aren’t surefire way to tell you if your child is ready or not. No one will be able to tell you if your child is ready for potty training or not better than your own child.
Potty training is similar to anything in our life – if you’re ready and open to it, everything will go smoothly. And that’s what happened to us. She was ready and no longer scared of the potty, so she learned to master it as fast as she could.
If you think your child is ready, try to introduce the potty and the concept. If it doesn’t go well, don’t stress out. It just means that your child isn’t ready yet. You can’t force someone to do something if they aren’t ready. Wait for another month or so and try again. Once your child is truly ready, without a doubt, you’ll be able to successfully potty train in just 3 days.
Remove The Diaper Entirely
I remember a friend of mine told me that her daughter got potty trained really fast as soon as she stopped using diapers. So when we started potty training, we removed her diaper entirely. My daughter did really great; and she peed and pooped most of the time in the potty. Below is her progress during the 3 days we were potty training her:
| Day | Details |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | 1 poop; 1 pee; 1 miss (pee) |
| Day 2 | 0 poop; 4 pee; 1 miss (pee) |
| Day 3 | 2 poop; 7 pee; 0 miss |
For 3 days, she did amazing! However, when she went to school on the 4th day wearing a diaper, she didn’t go to the potty AT ALL; even though I kept on reminding her that she needed to go to the potty on our way to school. Surprisingly, as soon as we got home and removed her diaper, she started going to the potty again.
The next day she went to school, we decided to not use diapers at all (only use it during nap time); and she peed in the potty the whole day. She did really great the entire week even when she was at school.
Skip the training pants, you won’t need those! They are pretty similar to diapers which only confuse your child even more. Wearing a diaper made my daughter comfortable because she knew something would catch her pee and poop, so she didn’t feel the need to go to the potty. But when she wasn’t wearing one, she had no choice but to go to the potty. And that contributed to our successful potty training in 3 days; because she grasp the concept that the poop and pee should go in the potty so much faster.
Praise & Reward
During our potty training, we gave my daughter different rewards for when she pees and when she poops. We’ve tried candies and chocolate. And sometimes we gave her an ice cream treat. You can try stickers too or anything that will make your child excited. The only important thing to remember is that the rewards should be easily sustainable. If you’re up for it, you can even promise to give them a toy that they’ve always wanted if they do really great with potty training. That will surely encourage them to do good at it.
In addition to the rewards my daughter was getting, whenever she uses the potty, everyone in the house continually praised her. I literally danced like a crazy person when she pooped in the potty for the first time and I caught her smiling. These things, seem to be little things for us, but it did mean a lot to her – to them; and did encourage her to always use the potty which contributed to our successful potty training in 3 days.
Always Remember, Accidents Do Happen
My daughter has had a couple of accidents only because we didn’t go to the potty soon enough. She’d usually cry and tell me she’s a bad girl because she peed on her pants; but I continuously reassure her that she’s not a bad girl. I would always comfort her and tell her that it’s totally fine because accidents really happen, and I still love her no matter what.
Whatever the reason is, keep in mind that accidents will happen. And it’s important to let your child know that it’s absolutely normal for them to have accidents; and that you still love them no matter what.
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What did you think of this post? What other things have you tried during potty training that you would recommend to others? Let me know in the comments. You know I always love to hear from you.
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3 days? Wow! That’s impressive. Love the graphics too. Super cute
Thank you! I couldn’t believe it either. Lol
We did it the same way when my son was a week from turning 3 and my daughter was 2 yr.,10mos. They have to be ready. My advice is to plan to stay home those days. Keep putting them on the potty. W my daughter it was summer so we did it outside!
Yay! Glad it worked for you as well. Absolutely true!
Great job Momma!! I agree the biggest key is that they have to be ready to do it otherwise no amount of tips or tricks will work. The combination of things you used was great and glad she is on the right track. It took forever for my son to poop on the potty chair – he peed in it for months and it actually took a bout of diarrhea for him to finally poop in the potty. All it took was for him to do it once. My daughter is very similar to your daughter. She was way interested at 18 months and actually pooped and peed a few times but then decided she wanted nothing to do with it. Shes 2 and 3 months now and I’ve been talking to her about using the potty but we really haven’t tried. Maybe I’ll give it another go with the tips you suggested and see how it goes.
Thank you! Sorry it took a while for your son. But yay for your daughter! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible.
Great tips! I love the graphics you used. I’ll pin it to help other moms.
Thank you!
Great tips! We have to start this in a few months and we are not looking forward to it! Little toilet is purchased….time will tell!
Thank you! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
Some great tips here! You did good mama!
Thank you!
This is such great advice! We are about to start this whole process with my 2 year old (3rd time training a boy ugh).
Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
I wish this had been around when my kids were potty training. The “when they’re ready” part is a big thing, all of my kids were different, but they primarily decided when it was time. Nobody ever told me to take the diapers, and I think that and praise are the biggest part once they decided. Awesome job!
Thank you! I agree; it really is the main thing.
This is pretty much exactly how we potty trained our son! I think it is so much easier to do when your child is ready and excited about it. Great info!
Absolutely true! Yay it worked for you as well.
We’ve been starting to talk to our daughter about using the potty and she’s just not interested yet. But we did take all the diapers away with our son and it worked great! Planning on doing the same for her when the time comes.
It’s great that it worked for your son! Good luck for when you potty train your daughter! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible.
Your number 1 tip IS the number one tip – they have to be ready. All of mine were trained in three days (day and night) because they were ready. And they wanted to wear big boy/girl pants!
Absolutely true!
Love this!! My daughter was so easy to potty train, however I think my son may be something else LOL pinned this for later, because like your #1 tip says when they are ready!! Thank you for the advice!
Thank you! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
Waiting until they are actually ready is SUCH a great tip! We tried about 6 months too early with my youngest and it was a total flop. Fast forward 6 months and he is rocking it!!
Yay! So glad it’s working for you!
We have really struggled with potty training in our house! I’ve been skeptical of these quick potty training techniques, but you have some great suggestions and it sounds like a really worked. I’ll have to keep this in mind for my second.
Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
I am not at the potty training stage yet but I’m saving these tips for when we are. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
My son didn’t use the potty until we took away his diaper and pull ups completely! Great advice!
Thank you!
I 100% agree that readiness in your child is key. I decided to potty train my son right at 2 and he wasn’t really ready and everyone paid for it. I was determined not to make the same mistake with my little girl. She decided she wanted to potty train right at 2 and I actually fought her on it lol. But lo and behold she was ready so she potty trained easily.
So sorry to hear about your son but yay for your daughter!
WE do did the three day method with my son and he did amazing! He had a few accidents the week after at school and has been dry since! Fully support this method.
Thank you!
I’m going to reference this soon! My daughter has been using the potty for a while now but I haven’t tried to make it an exclusive thing. This summer I’m planning on pushing for it!
Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
When my husband and I potty train out daughter it was a lot of fun. We are lucky that our daughter love doing the potty train. We had few accidents her and there but we are impressed how good she did on the potty train.
That is so awesome!
i am going to pass on your great tips to my friend who just had her first baby!
Thank you!
That’s awesome you were able to potty train your kid in 3 days! We did a more prolonged potty training… Wish we would have seen this post! I will save it for when my daughter is ready!
So sorry to hear about your first time. Good luck on potty training your daughter! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
Great tips! We have successfully trained two boys at 2.5 and now have a 19 month old daughter who is starting to show interest. One of my daycare girls is ready to potty train and this was a good little reminder to help me through it ;). We also had good luck with the boys being bare-bottomed (although that may not be appropriate in all circumstances).
That’s really great! Yeah, I really think taking the diaper away so nothing’s catching it for them works wonders too!
I wish I got this haha. My son didn’t show interest until he was 3 years old. As soon as he did he started to go regularly.
That’s great!
I will definitely use these when I train my second. I can’t decide whether I should start earlier this time. I haven’t decided yet so I’ll probably wait and see if he shows an interest.
Absolutely true and you’ll probably know it’s time too! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
Thank you for the helpful tips! My son is 20 months and just starting to show interest.
How great is that! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
This is amazing!! We are still a long way off from potty training, but I’m so intrigued by these “bootcamp” type plans. I’m definitely going to try something similar!
Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
I’m soaking up all the potty training tips I can, as we approach a 2nd birthday with a little boy who just figured out how to wiggle out of his diaper!
Thank you! Good luck! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!
We just finished potty training my 3 year old son. Spot on the money on the fact that you have to wait until they are ready. We tried 4 times prior to this, and it was total failure. Then he woke up one day and wanted to use the big boy potty! Great tips!
Thank you! I’m glad it worked out for you on the 4th time.
Thank so much for the tips. We have been struggling with my son for a while
Thank you! I’m glad you found this helpful. I hope it goes smoothly for you.
Great post! Lots of good stuff. Getting ready to start our second and potty training is my least favorite thing ever!
xoxo,
Sarah
http://www.slightlysarahblog.com
Thank you! Yeah, it really does cause a lot of stress!
Great post! I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award. Here’s a link to the post nominating you and the instructions for nominating others. You deserve it!http://www.armywifewithdaughters.com/2017/04/22/blogger-recognition-award-army-wife-daughters/
Thank you for nominating me. I really appreciate it!
OMG I’m so bookmarking this for when my daughter is old enough!!! Great tips!!
Thank you! I’m glad you found this helpful.
Saving this for my littlest! I definitely didn’t have my other 2 trained in 3 days…hoping my youngest is the one to do it ?
Fingers crossed! Let me know how it goes!
What do you put on them instead of a diaper?
I let them wear underwear in place of the diaper. I only let them wear diaper during naps and at night. And then I would remove the diaper as soon as they wake up and have them wear underwear again all day.