7 Best Potty Training Products for Toddlers

I've been on a hiatus from posting to this blog for a while now. Life as a Momma can get nonstop busy, ya'll! However, after potty training our two-year old boy and receiving lots of requests from friends to share our tips, I've decided to post a few things that were life savers to us with potty training.

(NOTE: I realize there are many different schools of thoughts on how to go about potty training, and what works for one child may not work for another... 

With one exception, we basically went by the book, "Potty Training in 3 Days: The Step by Step Plan For a Clean Break from Dirty Diapers" and it worked quite well for potty training our 2 year old boy. With that in mind, the following 7 potty training products for toddlers helped tremendously DURING the potty training process). 

FOR HOME:

1.  Sticker Rewards Chart (with Stickers)
   
   You can easily use whatever sticker chart you'd like. However, my son is really into trains and this particular Potty Training Reward Chart is train/railroad-themed and comes with 50 sheets and 800 stickers.... more than enough for initial potty training! (For reference: we did 1 sticker for pee; 2 for poop).
   
   NOTE: This sticker chart is compatible with Thomas & Friends Take-n-Play magnetic trains that go with Take-N-Play Thomas sets, so it was a win-win for us whenever our son completed his sticker chart. He could either keep it posted to the door to proudly view it or take it down and play with his trains on it. He really got a kick out of choosing which sticker he wanted, peeling it off himself and then attempting to stick it to the train track space.)
   
   
2. Potty Treat Rewards
   
   Except for special occasions, we don't typically let our son have sweets beyond fruit or the occasional popsicle. For potty training, though, we were willing to roll out the sweets to motivate him to use the potty!
   
   We used M&M's because they're delicious, small, and cost effective (especially when you consider giving your kid one each time they pee and two when they poop). If you order the 62 oz. size, they already come in their own plastic container for visual reminder to toddlers about the treats they could potentially earn, but you can also easily distribute them between clear mason jars in various bathrooms. Use whatever works best for your kid, though! You certainly know your kid best!
   
   
3. Potty Trainers
   
   We have an oval-shaped toilet and initially potty-trained our kid on the SKYROKU Potty Training Seat with Anti-Slip Ladder. It is highly reviewed on Amazon, and a lot of people seem to find it just right for their toddler. I'll be honest, though, even though the ladder is adjustable for different leg lengths, it was an inch too long on our toilet for our son who is 4T size. We mustered through and let him use it, though, because he was still able to climb up and down himself for potty training and we honestly didn't feel like scrambling to find another toilet trainer.
   
   Eventually, though, we ordered the IKEA Tossig Toilet Seat and coupled it with a folding 9" high Inspired Living stool so we'd have backup toilet trainer options in our secondary bathroom. We have been quite pleased with that. The IKEA toilet seat is very sturdy, it's an excellent width for big toddlers, and it's easily storable. (You can buy it directly at IKEA for $8 or you can buy it through Amazon for $20 with free Prime delivery.) 
   
   
4. Standalone Potty
   
   If you have a ranch-style house with toilets on the main level (or a room close to the potty where your kid spends most of his/her time), this paragraph may not apply to you. For us, however, our house is set up with no toilets on the main floor... only toilets on the 2nd floor and basement. Even though we initially trained our son to use the toilet on our 2nd floor (and self quarantined with him near that potty to ease having to constantly run him to and from the potty without using stairs), we realized our son was not often able to make it up or down a whole long flight of stairs to use the potty before an accident occurred. Hence the need for a standalone potty on our main floor.
   
   I will create a separate blog post for this later, but let me just say it was difficult finding a standalone potty that was wide enough or long enough for our large toddler son (4T size). I ended up ordering 3 standalone potties and 3 portable/travel potties to compare/contrast which worked best for him. In the end, our final choice was the Regalo 2-in-1 Potty Training & Transition Potty for home use and OXO Tot 2-in-1 Go Potty for travel/on-the-go use. I will post more on these products later. 
   
   
5. Undies (at least 3 packs)
   
   If you don't want to constantly be doing laundry the first few days of potty training, I highly recommend ordering at least 3 packs of underwear. If you have a fun character on them, like Thomas the Train, you can also potentially motivate your kid to keep them dry by reminding them that "Thomas the Train doesn't want to get wet. He thinks that's yucky. So please try to keep Thomas dry."
   
   We really liked some of the pairs we found at Target, but not all were the same fit, despite being the same size. Some of our favorites were:
• Boys' LEGO 5pk Underwear
• Toddler Boys' 7pk Dino Print Briefs - Cat & Jack™ Blue
• Toddler Boys' 10pk Shark Underwear - Cat & Jack™ Blue
• Hanes Toddler Boys' 7pk Classic Briefs (Bulldozers, Race cars)<-- definitely runs small!
  
  
6. "Night-Time Undies"
   
   On Day One of potty training my son, I went on a Scavenger Hunt with him around the house to collect all the diapers and throw them in a bag to "give to the mail truck." I explained to him that there were lots of babies who needed diapers, so the mail truck was going to bring the babies his diapers. I was so proud of him for being a big boy and giving away his diapers to the mail truck."
   
   Later on, when he asked for his diapers back (which he did several times!), I gently reminded him that we'd already given the diapers to the mail truck. Now it was time for him to wear undies and use the potty like a big boy. Since I knew he wasn't necessarily able to keep his undies dry during nap or night-time sleep, at nap time I introduced him to "Night-Time Undies" which we put on under his actual undies. (I know it sounds crazy wearing both, but there's something to having your child look down and see actual underwear, rather than pull-ups. It's much more motivating to keep them dry when they see actual underwear like they've been wearing throughout the day!)
   
   That being said, for "Night-Time Undies" I compared Pampers Easy Ups Boys Training Underwear (4T-5T) to Target's Up & Up Boys' Training Pants (4T-5T), and there is simply no comparison here. Pampers wins hands down in terms of quality, thickness/padding, similarity in appearance to underwear, ability to hold up overnight, and durability with the side tabs not easily coming undone or sticking out of the sides like the Target Up & Up Boys' Training Pants did. They may be more expensive, but they are certainly worth it! And because my son can stand up and easily put them on (as compared to lying down to put on diapers), he seems to believe they truly are "Night Time Undies" like we call them. Win win for all of us! And they fit perfectly under our son's new actual underwear.
   
   
7. Towels/Wipes/Paper Towels
   
   This we sorely underestimated on our first day potty training! I had placed a roll of paper towels close-by and lined our furniture and carpet/rugs with sheets for easy, quick clean up from accidents.  I even kept a pile of 4-5 towels stacked close by for quick grabs. However, this was not enough for us!
   
   The sheets hardly held up as well as the towels, so we found we needed more towels than anticipated for accidents the first few days. Wipes and paper towels were a must-have for the bathroom, where little boys can often struggle with aiming their pee into the potty the whole time (and even for both boys and girls- it's not always easy to make it to the potty without having an accident on the way there initially!)
   
   Beach towels, large bath towels, wipes, and paper towels are a "must" for minimizing mess while initially potty training toddlers, unless you plan to potty train outside! In our area in the winter, though, that's certainly not an option! haha. Frostbite is not the goal!

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My next blog post I hope to share with you some of the best Toddler Potty Training products that have helped us for when we are traveling or on-the-go around town. 

If you have anything you'd recommend for help with potty training toddlers, please feel free to leave a comment below. I love hearing feedback from readers!