Want to potty train your child in a weekend? Keep reading to learn more about what we did and what we used to potty train our kids in just 3 days!
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Potty Training in a Weekend
We used the Potty Training in 3 Days book to potty train our oldest and our twins! I’m still amazed at how well it went! Here is a book review and tips from our experience, including a free downloadable potty chart to help encourage your child!
Reading the Book
We bought it from Amazon and I read it the night before we planned on starting potty training. Usually, I don’t “cram” like that and leave things until the last minute but I had this time. Luckily it was a rather quick read and was nice to go through it the night before with my husband so we were on the same page. The last-minute cramming did help so it was fresh on my mind.
Part 1: Before the Three Days
The first part of the book is separated into five sections: timing is everything, always be reasonable, learn to speak potty, introduce the toilet, and prepare for the three days. Each one of those areas is further broken up which really makes this book easy to read, understand, and refer back to if you have any questions.
Step 1: Timing is everything discusses knowing when to start, signs that your kid is ready, what may happen if you start too early, or start too late, and how this may be different if your child is delayed.
Step 2: Always be reasonable discusses not picking a fight, dispelling some potty training myths, going over personality types of children, how to stick to the plan, reminding you that you’re the boss, a note to try and enjoy this, and also an encouragement to not give up.
Step 3: Learn to speak potty delves into how a bladder works, body language, plus when and how to call out the body language that tells you your little one needs to use the potty.
Step 4: Introduce the Toilet goes into saying hello to the toilet, choosing a reward, the equipment you’ll need, and why she doesn’t use potty chairs. (As you’ll see below, we did choose to use a potty chair and are fine with our decision. With any book, take what works for you and your family, it’s not like you have to follow it all 100%.)
Step 5: Prepare for the three days includes how it’s not a game, choosing the three days wisely, what to plan ahead for, making food your ally, and not to stress about all of this.
I do want to note that though she does suggest that if there are other children in the house to get a babysitter for them, we had 11-month-old twins at the time and we still did it without getting them a babysitter. We did make sure that we were home all weekend AND that both parents were available so one could be with the twins and the other could be with the potty training child.
Part 2: During the Three Days
The second part of the book is portioned into five sections, much like the first part of the book. The sections are ditch the diapers, start strong, drink drink drink, always be pottying, and repeat.
Step 1: Ditch the diapers details how to, well, ditch the diapers. This includes when and how to do so.
Step 2: Start strong goes into how to explain the potty training process to your child, how to make bathroom reminders, and how to switch up those reminders so you’re not a robot throughout the whole process.
Step 3: Drink, drink, drink is exactly what it sounds like, have your child drink a lot of liquids, and change up the liquids so they don’t get bored with them. It’s important they drink a lot so that they will get used to how it feels when their bladder is full and act on it.
Step 4: Always be pottying talks about how now we play the waiting game of them feeling they need to pee, what to say and do when they have their first accident, what happens after their first accident, and how to decide what deserves a treat.
Step 5: Repeat goes into how to progress from having your child inside all day wearing only underwear to adding pants and even going outside after a day or so, depending on your child’s progress. This chapter also goes into what NOT to do including not letting kids use technology because often they are too distracted to realize they need to pee.
Part 3: After Three Days
Now that potty training has begun, how do you move forward? Part 3 includes chapters on always celebrating, how to involve other family members and caregivers, how to handle naptime and nighttime, how to handle accidents, and to keep teaching.
Step 1: Always be celebrating includes ensuring that you keep praising your child for successfully using the potty when they need to and slowly wean them off of the high praise and rewards.
Step 2: Family members and other caregivers talks about how to ensure everyone who cares for your child is on the same page so no one becomes confused. The book talks about how to partner up with other caregivers, how to deal with the child going to school, and other tips for involving others.
Step 3: Naptime and nighttime goes into how to use “sleeping underwear” overnight, starting with an empty bladder before bed, not giving any fluids before bedtime, and a couple of “quick fixes” along the way for things that may come up.
Step 4: Accidents is about how to shift if extenuating circumstances arise, several ‘quick answers to common questions’ and some info about poop.
Step 5: Keep teaching is very brief and reminds the reader that we never stop teaching our children and there are additional things we can teach them in this regard, including wiping themselves and the proper way to wash their hands.
The book ends with a resource page for more information, an index that is handy for quickly finding answers, and an about the author page. The whole book is just over 100 pages and though it’s short, it’s to the point, has some great pictures, and will tell you what you need to know to successfully potty train your child.
Prepping for Potty Training
Little Undies
We also had brought our son a special shopping trip to pick out his very first packs of underwear. We got two packs since we figured he’d be peeing through them so we’d likely go through all 14 in the first weekend. He picked out one pack of Paw Patrol and one pack of Thomas the Train.
- Your child will love these Paw Patrol underwear with fun prints and designs - multiple pack sizes and silhouettes available
- Your child will love these Paw Patrol underwear with fun prints and designs - multiple pack sizes and silhouettes available
- The 7pk, 10pk and 12pk in a box Toddler Boy briefs and 5pk and 8pk Boys Briefs and boxer briefs are 100% combed cotton. Perfect for birthdays, countdowns and everyday fun
- So many great options and pack sizes available for fun daily wear. All Pairs are tagless with a brushed waistband for ultimate comfort
- All Pairs are tagless with a brushed waistband for ultimate comfort
- Thomas & Friends Toddler Boys' Briefs 7 Pair Pack
- Size 2T: waist 20 1/2 inches, weight 27-34 lbs
- Size 4T: waist 21 1/2 inches, weight 35-38 lbs
- Machine washable
- POTTY TRAINING
- [THIS PAGE IS SELLING SIZE 6] COTTON COMFORT: The Disney 100th Anniversary 7-pack underwear for girls is 100% ultra-soft combed cotton jersey knit.
- 7-PACK OF UNDERWEAR: Multipack with your favorite Disney Characters From the Disney and Pixar Universe includeing: Nemo, Dumbo, Pocahontas, Stitch, Thumper, Elsa, AristoCats, Minnie, Mickey, Chipmunks, Daffy, Cinderella, Bambi, Mirabel, Jessie, and Lady.
- MULTIPLE SIZES AVAILABLE: Girls' sizes 4, 6, and 8 and toddler girls sizes 2/3T and 4T
- TAGLESS PULL ON CLOSURE: To ensure maximum comfort, Disney 100th Anniversary underwear features a tagless, soft waistband and leg openings.
- OFFICIAL LICENSED PRODUCT brought to you by Handcraft
Personalized Underwear
If you want to make personalized underwear for your littles and you happen to have a Cricut, here is a step by step of how I got my kid’s favorite stuffed animal to make a special appearance on his underwear!! Click on the photo below for the blog post.
Potty Seat for Toilet
The book recommends using a regular toilet with a smaller seat instead of using a potty. We already had a potty before we got this book and we were concerned about our small and clumsy son climbing up and down onto the toilet, even with a step stool, in all the excitement to get to onto the toilet. If you feel that your child would do well with it though, go for it!
Though we didn’t do it at first, a year or so after our oldest was potty trained, he was outgrowing the potty seat, and quite honestly, we were sick of emptying the potty already. (Yes, it’s going to get a lot worse, we still have twin boys to potty train.) Luckily, in a sense, we needed to replace a toilet seat and figured it’d be great to get one with a smaller seat built-in.
We chose the TopSeat TinyHiney seat and got one for all the bathrooms our kids would be using. It’s been really great having this and I’m so glad that we switched. The smaller seat only comes down when you want it to and otherwise is held up by a magnet. Our son started using this when he was 4 and it was easy for him to be able to get the little seat down on his own. It’s worked out really well over the past few years.
- Toilet training made easy and convenient
- Embedded Magnetic closure gently grabs toddler seat back into the lid
- Toddler ring does not pull off, absolutely safe and secure
- Country of Origin: China
- Toilet training made easy and convenient
- Embedded Magnetic closure gently grabs toddler seat back into the lid
- Toddler ring does not pull off, absolutely safe and secure
- Package Dimensions: 17.0" L x 2.5" W x 15.0" H
Little Potty Chair
We already had a kid-sized potty that even had a little pretend flusher on it all ready to go. We had purchased it many months before when we thought he was ready to start potty training but then realized he really wasn’t. Here is a picture and link of the potty we used. We actually have three of them now. (This picture is from Amazon, we don’t actually store a small electronic device in any of ours for the kids to look at, we use that area for wipes. Lol)
- REALISTIC AND FUN DESIGN: The Summer My Size Potty with Transition Ring & Storage toddler toilet features a sleek potty design based off an adult toilet to ensure a comfortable and confident transition to the real thing.
- INTERACTIVE TOILET HANDLE: Designed to mimic an adult toilet, the toilet handle on this training potty features a realistic flush sound to help encourage and reward your little one.
- REMOVABLE POTTY TOPPER: The removable potty topper can be placed on the adult toilet, making the transition smooth for your little one.
- STORAGE COMPARTMENT: The large built-in storage compartment in the potty chair is 7” wide and spacious enough to hold books, tablets, wipes to promote healthy hygiene habits, and other rewarding items that assist with potty training.
- EASY TO CLEAN - The My Size Transition Ring & Storage potty training toilet includes a removable bowl and integrated splash guard to make emptying and cleaning the potty easier.
Our Potty Training Weekend
As the book suggested, we potty trained over a weekend, starting on Saturday. Reading the book, the night before we started training, I saw that we needed to have a sticker chart. Which made sense since stickers are very exciting to kids this age and sticker charts are typically one of the first intervention tactics attempted to change any behavior. Luckily I had plenty of stickers on hand and I crudely drew lines on a piece of construction paper to make columns and rows.
Apparently, he was VERY motivated by sticker charts and wanted to succeed. This was a couple of years ago but from what I can remember he seemed to be running to the bathroom almost constantly. Each time he peed at all he’d get a sticker for the chart that was right outside of the bathroom. He filled A LOT of those sticker charts. I think I still have them somewhere…
In terms of accidents, he didn’t have many, if any. He really seemed dedicated and excited to be in underwear and using the potty. Within a month or so of him starting to potty train, he started preschool, where he never had an accident. We were quite impressed!
Potty Training Twins
We also used this for one of our 3-year-old twins in 2022 and he’s doing AMAZING!! Within the first week he stayed dry for 3 nights in a row, has pooped on the potty multiple times, and has had only a couple of accidents! Yay!!
Within two weeks he was FULLY potty trained, even overnight!
The other twin potty trained months later, he had some constipation issues we had to get worked out first, and he did amazing as well! He had already been having dry diapers a few days in a row overnight and within three days of potty training he was fully potty trained during the day AND overnight!!
For the twins, we had them each use their own potty training chart, the one you can get for free below, and they could mark off the next number when they successfully used the potty or toilet. We also had a family sized bag of M&Ms on the kitchen floor next to the sheet, where they could grab 1 M&M for going potty in the toilet and 2 M&Ms if they pooped. We have been done potty training for months but there is still debate as to whether going potty and poopy = 2 or 3 M&Ms. I think 3, my husband thinks 2. By the end, I really didn’t care. Haha! I just wanted to be done with diapers!!!!
We also used a potty training chart for holding potty overnight where they’d have to get 7 dry nights in a row before they could graduate to not wearing a diaper overnight. I laminated the sheet because sometimes they ended up peeing on day 4 then had to start all over so it was easy to use a dry erase marker on a laminated sheet to just erase it and let them start new.
Overall Impression
I really like this book for potty training, I can see why so many moms recommended it on Facebook. It’s a quick read and very informative. It lays out step-by-step what to do, it has some pictures, often for humor, and even has some humor in the writing which is fun.
I highly recommend this book for potty training. I still can’t believe how well it worked with all 3 of our little guys!
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.