Potty Training With Twins: Top Tips & Parenting Guides
When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I was ecstatic! Confused and anxious; yet overjoyed. I was excited, dreaming about matching outfits, hairstyles, teaching them their ABC's; however, I failed to picture how I would get my head around potty training TWO kids! We've thankfully completed the journey a while back now and the girls are successfully potty trained both during the day and at night. It took the girls almost 2 weeks with some accidents here and there, but this was a steady pace for them. FYI, the 3 day expectation is pretty difficult for anyone to achieve, unless they've had prior encouragement or teaching IMO.
The journey from pull-ups to pants was a hurdle, but deciding to scrap the nappies for pretty knickers was like a graduation. I sent my husband out to get some undies and I’m pretty sure he never dreamt he'd be the one to buy the girls their first knickers! Once I had the underwear, the potty’s (x2) and a clear schedule, we were good to go. Now that the twins are fully trained, I thought I would offer some tips and tricks that helped me keep my sanity :)
1. Readiness
I decided to train the twins when they were 27 months. Initially, I was not 100% convinced they were ready, but they had started showing some signs and soon enough, it was pretty obvious that my daughters were ready to become BIG GIRLS. The biggest sign of all was the Covid-19 lockdown. Quarantine couldn't have come at a better time! Staying home during this period was the perfect opportunity to start teaching the girls a whole new skill. It is so important to start potty training when you have some free time e.g. a long weekend, a holiday. This is to help with maintaining consistency and familiarity - If you are potty training everyday for a few days, the likelihood that your child will learn quickly is higher than if they start and stop over a long duration. The less disruptions the better, so that your child does not feel confused.
The average potty training age tends to be around 2 to 2 1/2 years old; however, some may start earlier, and there is also nothing wrong with starting a lot later. It's best to begin when your child starts showing signs of readiness. By readiness, I mean that it's likely your child is curious about the toilet or is observant when you use it; or perhaps they're talking about wee, they hide away to do number 2's or their nappies are staying dryer for longer. My girls used to stare at the toilet and I realised their nappies were dryer during the day, especially in the mornings after waking. These were positive signs I decided to go on.
Don't forget to ensure that YOU are also ready. Are you emotionally ready to take on this challenge? Are you physically ready for multiple trips back and forth from the potty? Once you realise that you are both ready, that's when you can decide when you will start and can get stuck in! Just remember, you cannot force child who may not be ready to abandon their nappies; the most you can do is continue to offer encouragement and in time their behaviour will change.
2. Be prepared
Before you start, do you have a potty? Whether it’s a regular potty, travel size or training seat for your toilet, you need a potty that meets your needs. Toddlers often do well with a potty that has a good height, but where their feet can remain on the ground, and also resembles an adult toilet.
I purchased the Summer Infant My Size Potty in White (bought from smythstoys.com. This was such a fun investment because it looked realistic and with the added flush sounds it really resembled our own toilet. The seat flips up, allowing you to remove the container to empty out contents and it’s pretty easy to clean. It’s lightweight and has a small hidden compartment where you can keep tissues and wipes. It also comes with an added splash guard for boys, which we obviously left in the box. I decided to buy two potties going on the assumption that both may need to use the toilet at the same time, or perhaps we would leave one potty upstairs and one downstairs - both definitely came in handy!
SPOILER ALERT! Accidents WILL happen, so be prepared with cleaning products or wipes and spare clothes to hand. When travelling, preparation is also key - did your child use the potty before you left? Are you going to carry a potty with you or will there be toilets? Will you pop on some nappies whilst you’re out? Some children may find it awkward using a regular toilet, but find comfort with their own potty despite the change in environment. Perhaps consider a travel potty or packing your big potty in the boot of your car. Also, be mindful that putting a nappy back on when your toddler is potty training may be confusing to them - this is something that I learnt!
Prepare with clothing - It’s helpful if your toddler wears loose clothing when training for that quick and easy pull down when they are bursting to go. Some parents actually let their child go commando from the waist down to avoid clothing changes. I tried putting the girls in underwear and also tried the commando methods at first; however for the first 3 days we had several accidents. I had hoped that wearing underwear would deter accidents because children often feel uncomfortable when they're wet - but nope. Eventually for a few days we stuck the pull ups back on but treated them as though they were underwear and consistently used the potty to avoid the use of the nappy. Have you decided if you are going to replacing nappies with underwear or use pull ups whilst training?
3. Be consistent
Some advice recommends keeping the potty in a room where your child frequently plays or finds comfortable. I disagree with this because a child needs to acknowledge the role of the bathroom, the toilet and the sink as it's usually a part of everyday life. By enabling your child to associate the bathroom with where they use the potty, it will be easier in the long run. At first the run to the bathroom when wee is mid-stream is a nightmare; however, by remaining consistent, eventually your child will know how to get to the bathroom themselves when they have the urge to go. With the twins, they get excited now when they want to use the potty, and they have an ingrained routine whereby they head to the bathroom, they open the door, turn on the light and get ready to do their business. We also have a sing-along when washing their hands :)
4. Rewards & Incentives
How proud would you be when your child first uses the potty! Imagine the excitement on your face…now imagine that being the face your child sees whenever they make it to the potty. Your toddler appreciates all the praise they can get, and incentives also go some way towards making this toilet routine stick! Potty training should be fun, so try to find ways to liven up their experience e.g, singing songs when washing their hands, rewarding them with stickers, wearing special underwear. I tried the sticker chart with my daughters, and to be frank they could care less about the chart, but loved wearing the stickers. I also drew a picture of Minnie Mouse and put up the poster in the bathroom, and every time they went to wee they would greet the poster lol!
Toddlers often learn from role play too, So don’t be afraid to show them how it’s done! Let them watch mummy using the toilet or watch potty cartoon videos. You could also pretend that you are flushing the toilet for good practice. Do what you feel works for your child to make them feel as comfortable as possible. You could even blow bubbles, as that has been reported to help alleviate their muscles to pass urine and is always great fun.
5. Potty Patience
When the twins first started training, I was close to losing my rag over the accidents.
I slowly grasped the importance of being calm, after acknowledging that my children could sense when I was stressed, causing them to feel overwhelmed and reject the potty in the first week. One of the girls then had urine retention - she just DID NOT want to wee at all and would try to hold it. I realised that the kids were accepting of sitting on the potty, but had just not associated the readiness to wee with actually doing it IN the potty. So I decided to take a few steps backwards, take a deep breath, and keep them in their pull-ups because this was more comforting for them. The trick then was to consistently do frequent trips to the toilet, and once they had mastered using the potty by pulling their nappies down, it was easier to transition from the nappies to the underwear.
Quick Tips:
Keep potty time to a minimum - return to the potty every 30 mins, but don't keep them sitting for more than that as it’s no fun.
If resistant to the potty- introduce new skills e.g. hand-washing or flushing to keep them engaged in the process.
Sometimes there can be signs of behavioural regression when going through a new tough transition or change in routine. If your child is having trouble, there is nothing wrong in taking a break and restarting again at a later date.
6. Night Nappies
Once you’ve mastered potties during the day, the next step is to wake up with dryer nappies in the morning. As I mentioned, my girls had already started showing readiness with dry nappies and asking to go potty first thing in the morning which was a great start.
If you're planning to potty train at night, firstly start by reducing their fluid intake about 2 hours before bed. It’s great to keep your toddlers hydrated during the day, but drinking fluids before bed will likely result in a wet bed in the morning.
Remind your child to use the toilet before bed, and perhaps consider a night light for when your child wakes up during the night to go. Sometimes I still take my daughters to the loo during the night if I know they had a late drink. After a good few days of dry nappies, they started wearing their underwear throughout. I still leave a waterproof mattress protector on and I love these disposable DryNites absorbent sheets just in case!
The twin's potty training journey has been an interesting one, and amazingly, they actually prefer ‘the big toilet’ now. It’s clear on their faces that their confidence is up and a little continued praise goes a long way! Just remember that every child develops at their own pace, and potty training is a big step. Please don’t be disheartened if the process takes longer than you imagined! Once it’s all over, you’ll be wondering what the fuss was all about.
I hope you find some of these tips helpful in supporting your child through potty training, and if you have a few extra tips that have worked for you, I would love for you to share them below in the comments!
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