10 Potty Training Rewards For Your Baby

We understand that potty training is a really messy job. However, it also serves as a big step for babies and their parents. In most cases, successful potty training involves patience, perseverance, and determination. Irrespective of when this journey starts (or ends) for you and your little one, we’re here to hold your hand and guide you through the process.

In this article, we’ve compiled 10 potty training rewards for your baby that are guaranteed to make the process easy for everyone involved.

What Is Potty Training?

In plain terms, potty training means helping your child poo or pee in a controlled and hygienic manner. Potty training can also be called toilet training. At the end of a successful potty training period, your child should be able to:

  • Anticipate the need to pee/poo
  • Communicate this need effectively
  • Successfully expel stool/urine into the toilet

This is a really important milestone in child development because it signifies a major level of independence and self-awareness. For the parents, this may also mean the end of diaper expenses and nappy changes.

When Does Potty Training Start?

Although many children begin to exhibit signs of being ready for potty training between the 18th and 24th months of life, the actual time or age varies from child to child. In fact, some kids may not be ready for potty training until they are about 3 years old.

Generally, potty training depends on various environmental, emotional, physiologic, and psychological factors which affect child development. Before potty training can begin, your baby should be able to:

  • Walk to and sit on a toilet with minimal assistance
  • Pull up and down his or her pants without help
  • Verbally communicate basic needs
  • Retain stool or urine for at least two hours at a stretch
  • Show a basic interest in toilet training or independent behavior

It is also important to note that the ease, duration, or success of potty training should not be equated with your child’s intelligence levels. Many factors, which are sometimes unrelated, come into play in this process and patience is essential. To make this journey easier for everyone involved, most parents introduce potty training rewards.

What Is A Potty Training Reward?

A potty training reward is a sort of prize or reward given to a child after going to pee/poo in a potty or toilet with the ultimate aim of encouraging or motivating the behavior.

Furthermore, it is important to note that potty training rewards aren’t bribes and they are only given immediately after task completion (delays may stop your child from making the connection).

Want to know the best part?

A potty training reward doesn’t have to be expensive, specific or elaborate. It is just something to boost your child’s confidence and encourage proper toilet hygiene.

Potty Training Rewards for Your Baby

In this article, you’re going to get tips that would make the potty training journey easier for you and your little one. To achieve this, we’ve compiled 10 potty training rewards that are guaranteed to get the job done.

And these training rewards actually work.

Here we go:

1. Verbal Praise/Encouragement

Kids respond to the easiest things. The first item on our list of potty training rewards is verbal praise. A simple ‘well done’ or ‘that’s my baby!’ would do the trick in most cases. In addition, you can add a big smile or tap dance to spice things up a little.

2. Story Time or Books

Introducing storybooks or storytelling sessions is another effective way to reward your little one during potty training. If your baby understands that a full day with dry diapers and effective potty use may result in a fun bedtime story from you, it may boost encourage the action.

3. A Potty Doll

A potty doll is guaranteed to make potty training fun for your child. It is a unique doll designed for one purpose: to drink water and wet itself.

Interesting, right?

With a potty doll, you can encourage your child to teach his/her doll how to use a potty. By extension, your baby would also learn responsibility.

4. High Fives

After a successful potty training session, remember to give your child a big high five (after hand washing, of course). You can even squeal a little, clap, turn around or dance a bit.

5. Use a Potty Reward Chart

With this, your baby gets to apply a hands-on approach to his/her potty training. With a potty training reward chart, your child can tick off/stamp every successful day of potty training. At the end of a small streak of wins (like a week or two), you can take him/her out for a day at the park or for some ice cream as long as you make sure they understand why they’re getting the treat.

6. Food Coloring

This one works for color-sensitive children. If your baby isn’t interested in going close to or using a white toilet bowl, you can use food coloring which turns the toilet water into his/her favorite color.

If a baby who’s fascinated by the color purple sees purple-colored toilet water, you can definitely predict the expected result.

7. Create a Potty Training Sticker Chart

Here’s the deal: Babies love stickers.

You can post a sticker chart on your bathroom door and let your child place a new sticker after every ‘good go’. With this potty training reward, you can even track your child’s progress and celebrate small wins on this journey.

8. Customize the Potty

As potty training progresses, allow your child decorate the seat. In addition to this, place fun and colorful wallpapers on your bathroom walls to make the poo process fun for your little one.

Potty training rewards
Customize your baby’s potty

9. Treasure Hunt

You can spice things up while potty training by placing a treasure chest at the top of the toilet seat. After a successful potty session, your child may be allowed to open the chest and claim all the exciting goodies in it (which may be a new story book or painting pad).

treasure hunt for potty training
Treasure chest as a potty training reward

10. Celebrate Each Day

Another efficient potty training reward is to celebrate each day. For every day your baby stays dry, celebrate the win. These celebrations can be as simple as an extra slice of pizza for dinner or a longer-than-usual bedtime story, however, ensure he/she knows what the reward is for.

A Final Note from Edie & Amy

Although most parents may be quick to consider food as a potty training reward, this may be very risky. We do not recommend food as a reward option because it may:

  • Create a sense in your baby that food must be earned.
  • Affect the self-motivation to complete basic tasks.
  • Develop an unhealthy emotional attachment to food.
  • Shift your baby’s focus from potty training to simply ‘earning food’.

Finally, always remember that each child learns and develops on his/her own timeline. If your baby is taking longer than his friends or siblings to potty train, there’s no cause for alarm. All you need is to be patient, caring, and always supportive.

We hope this helps you and your little one as you take the all-important potty training journey.