Now that potty training is over a year behind us, I’m finally read to accept that the kid has been potty trained. Oooof, that was not great times.

Before we get started, there are a lot of potty training methods out there. I’m not going to write about them, because who the hell ever knows which one will work on which kid. I probably tried four or five of them, and we somehow magically ended up with a kid who no longer used a diaper. I’m still not sure which ones worked or didn’t. I’m guessing you’ll do the same.

And trust me, that every kid I know ended up with a weird hang-up that no one saw coming. Like, the kid who’s perfectly pee trained but has the fear of God about pooping in the toilet. Or, just when you think it’s all finally FINALLY happening, your kid regresses and waits for the middle of the night to pee and poop in an overnight diaper. Or, the kid who’s pee trained at home, but refuses to use a public restroom. There are as many toddler-work-arounds to potty training as there are toddlers.

But, I can talk about gear – what you can use to get you through this gross, frustrating time in your life to make it less-gross and less-frustrating.

 

1. Plastic-lined cotton training pants

Emphasis on plastic-lined. We bought roughly a dozen of these. The idea here is that if a kid pees, the cotton underpants will absorb enough of it that the kid’s pants will get wet, but your floors will not. Trust me, it is much much easier to maintain the wise-patient mama façade if you aren’t watching urine slowly seep into your beautiful rug or carpet. (Or, even worse, the potential for somebody to slip and fall in a puddle of urine that they just created. Pee puddles are unfortunately necessarily located right near little feet.)

We also tried the all-organic, no-plastic ones too, and they didn’t absorb more than a pair of normal underwear.

We used Carter’s Training Pants, now discontinued. Gerber seems to have a similar training pant, though. (We didn’t have luck with Under the Nile training pants.)

 

2. A dozen or more inexpensive pants

Pants are the new diapers. You’ll be going through them just as quickly. Girls are at an advantage here, since we can call leggings “pants” and they only cost $5 at Old Navy. Since we took the hands-off-potty-training route, we went through 4 or 5 of these a day at the start.

Remember to get pants that your kid will be able to pull down/pull up by themselves. Even size up on the leggings so that they aren’t too hard for little hands to pull down. That ended up being a major potty-training breakthrough at our house.

 

3. Wet Bag

For the heaps of wet pants and underpants until you have a chance to launder them. It’s actually quite nice to be able to, in the midst of an accident, have somewhere clean to put the gross things so you can focus on your kid/re-dressing them instead. These bags are made for cloth diapering, and somehow manage to keep all smells and funks inside the bag.

Ours: Planet Wise Wet Bag (comes in dozens of colors/patterns)

 

4. Floor potty seat

We had two potty options for Bean at home. She started off with this little one, which was perfect for us. No seams for grunge to build up in, and also easy to clean. Easy to pour whatever contents into the toilet without spilling. Simple, no fuss. It also comes with a potty training book, which Bean was endlessly amused by.

Ours: Once Upon a Potty Gift Box

 

5. Anti-Bacterial Botanic Cleaning Wipes

Kept near the potty seat, for post potty time wipe-downs. (Of the potty seat. Not the child.) (In case that wasn’t clear.)

 

6. Toilet-top potty seat and stool

At some point, Bean really wanted to sit on the regular toilet and not her little potty. I wasn’t going to get in the way of that. This potty seat was our rockstar. Extremely sturdy and supportive enough, so she never got anxious that she might fall in. The top cushion was easy to clean and soft for her to sit on. Once you have a kid going potty directly into the toilet, you’ll feel like your life is made.

Of course, once the kid can go up steps and take off their own pants, you’ll want a stool so that they can reach the toilet-bowl potty seat by themselves.

Ours: Prince Lionheart weePOD and KidKraft Step N’ Store

 

7. Travel-potty seat

You know how you’re kind of reluctant to go to the bathroom in the downtown Safeway? Well, guess who is absolutely TERRIFIED of going potty anywhere but home? Your kid. Given that kids need to pee roughly every 30 minutes, and I’m guessing you don’t want to be a recluse for the next 16 years of your life, you’re going to have to get them used to going to the bathroom at public restrooms.

The travel potty seat helped us get over this fear, somewhat. Public restroom toilet seats are HUUUUGE. You may have not considered this before. So huge that our kid ended up massively afraid that she would fall in and get flushed away. Reasonable fear!

Having a travel-potty seat fixed this for us. It was a constant, so she always knew what to expect no matter what kind of toilet we were looking at: standard seats at Ikea, tiny toilet seats on an airplane, outhouses on a hike, port-o-potties at a festival. With a travel potty seat, they’re all the same to her.

Of course, now I’m stuck carrying around a travel potty seat for the rest of my life.

Ours: PRIMO Folding Potty with Handles

 

8. Biodegradable doggie poop bags

There will be messes outside the house, and these handy bags are a good way to contain soiled clothes before you can get them to the wet bag. (I’ve found these to be a savior whether potty training or not.)

Ours: Greenbone Dog Poop Bags

 

7. Pad of post-it notes

Do you know what is the most UTTERLY TERRIFYING NOOO MOMMY NOOOO NOOOOOO NOOOOOOOO NOO POTTY NOOOOO HAVE TA GOOOO POTTTTTTY ALL DONNNE POTTY?

Automatic flushing mechanisms in public restrooms. Kids are so little, they don’t really register on the sensor. So, your kid will get mid-flushed while sitting on the toilet (that you just spent a solid 20 minutes coaxing them onto). I had no idea how traumatizing the loud water shooting out and up out of a toilet could be.

This is a genuine fear, so I found it easier to cover up the sensor with a post it note than try to demand (haha) compliance out of toddler who doesn’t really have much interest in going potty in this toilet in the first place.

(I somehow eventually managed to make this seem funny to Bean. OH HA HA HA HERE COMES THE WATER HA HA HA SILLY FLUSHER, BEAN IS STILL ON THE POTTY!! I have no idea how I managed it, but it’s worth a shot.)

 

8. Urine cleaner

You’re probably already familiar with this stuff if you have a pet. Yep, now you will be using it on your kid. It really does get rid of urine traces better than normal rug cleaners.

Ours: Nature’s Miracle Stain & Odor Removal

 

Did you have a potty training must-have? Let us know in the comments!