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When Your Kids Potty Train Differently

Jen Singer

My younger son had absolutely no interest in the bright blue, yellow and green plastic potty that his big brother (my first son) had potty trained on a year-and-a-half earlier. But the toilet? Yes, he liked the toilet, because his brother used it.

I’d potty trained my first son using that plastic potty. He sat on it in the middle of the kitchen, watching his “It’s Potty Time” video at the same time (I have the photo to bribe him with later). Though we had a potty ring for the toilet, it took him a while to choose our bathroom over his little potty.

For the next few weeks, after he went “potty,” I carefully paced across the kitchen with the yellow plastic container, eventually making it to the bathroom, where I dumped everything into the toilet. Then I cleaned out the container and returned it to the potty for the next showing of “It’s Potty Time.”

So when my younger son preferred to skip right to the toilet, because he liked to imitate “Big Bro,” I was thrilled. Less mess, less fuss and no more singing about poop along with that video.

Point in case: every kid trains differently. Some kids love rewards, while others shun them. Some take a few days before they’re in underpants, and others take months or longer. Some love the plastic potty, while some prefer the toilet.

It’s really up to Mom and Dad to figure out what works – and what doesn’t – when it comes to potty training. The most important thing to remember is that what works for one child might not work for the next one, even if both kids are yours.

So, get out the potty and the toilet ring. Put on the potty video and stock up on stickers. Try a little of this and a little of that until you find the key to your child’s potty success when it’s your very own “potty time.”

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