As a day care mom, the worry of potty training barely crossed my mind. All of the day care moms who had come before me had reassured that day care helped so much with potty training that it'd be a cinch. But when the world shut down in 2020 and my son was showing signs he was ready to ditch the diapers, it was just me, my husband, and my son's untrained booty.
I read a lot about what I thought might work best for my son.
And believe me, there is an unending amount of information out there. One technique I had came across, but felt no confidence in, was the three-day potty training method.
The oversimplified explanation for this method is for three days you go nowhere, roll up any area rugs, and allow a diaper-free toddler to roam about the house while he messes himself. Ultimately, he gets so fed up with making said mess, he starts using the potty.
It sounded like lunacy … until I started digging a little deeper.
The three-day method is far more nuanced than that.
And honestly, calling it the "three-day method" isn't totally fair. There is a lot of prep and post work that goes into getting a toddler to commit to the potty. Within the three-day concept there are quite a few approaches. For us, we landed on trying Brandi Brucks' Potty Training in 3 Days: The Step-by-Step Plan for a Clean Break from Dirty Diapers.
Brucks' version of this method felt best for us, mostly because there were concrete strategies on how to deal with a toddler who is struggling to adjust.
Leading up to the big potty weekend, we prepped him for a week. Every time we went to change his diapers, we'd comment on how much better he must feel to be all clean.
We also strictly changed him in the bathroom, to give him a sense of "this is the room where you do the deed." During the weekend, Brucks says it is essential to cut screen time, as screens distract kids from listening to their bodily cues. Since we are a pretty screen time heavy family (save your judgments, thanks) we had to wean him off it the week leading up to it, too. We also got him a few small toys to keep him engaged and his mind off Paw Patrol.
The big day arrived, and per Brucks' instructions, we rounded up every diaper in the house and said goodbye to them.
Day one was a legitimate nightmare. There was pee everywhere and I was losing my mind from being so on alert. But when day two arrived and we awoke to a dry pull-up, we regained hope. By the end of day two, he was going on the potty. By day three, we had exactly one accident.
Truthfully, he hasn't worn a diaper since. I'm not going to say we didn't have our challenges. In fact, for a month straight we had issues going No. 2. But with a little bribery (thank you M&M's) we were able to get over that hump pretty quickly.
If you're someone who likes making a plan and is good at sticking to it, no matter how things go, I'd say that this method is perfect for you.
I was so surprised at my little guy's adaptability with this method. While there is no right or wrong way to potty train, ripping off the Band-Aid for us really worked. By the end of the month, we were done with pull-ups completely and have been living that diaper-free life with minimal accidents.
Getting through this phase of toddlerhood wasn't nearly as scary as I had feared. So for any parents facing doing potty training on their own, this is definitely one route to consider taking.
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