Tag Archives: Toilet-training

Jul 20 2016

Potty training with Huggies Pull-Ups #6Steps to #PottyTrainingConfidence

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You might remember I recently announced we’re all set to potty train Mini Madam. This coincides with a summer-long partnership with Huggies Pull-Ups and their newly devised Huggies Pull-Ups 6 Steps to Potty Success program. They’ve worked with renowned child psychologist, Dr Heather Wittenberg, to create practical, helpful and science-based tips to help you support your child through this exciting, yet often messy, journey.

6 Steps

At just 26 months, it might seem early, but believe me this little girl is raring to go. She watches us go to the toilet intently, knows where the potty is, and will sit on it when instructed. She’ll also regularly whip her nappy off and pop it in the bin.

This is much earlier than we started with Dexter, who had some early training experiences bordering on horrific. Let’s just say we came within inches of replacing the carpet for the entire upstairs of our then home.

So this time, we’re excited to have the expert tuition of Dr Heather Wittenberg on our side. She’s pulled together a 6 stage plan to cater for tots of all ages & abilities. On the website pottytraining.co.uk you’ll find hugely helpful advice, printables and coupons for Pull-Ups. As if that wasn’t enough, Huggies have also sent us a huge box of goodies tailored to Heidi to help her make the transition - check out my unboxing video below!

If you’re looking to join us on our journey, here’s the contents list - you might find some of these helpful in your own preparations. Highlights for us are the musical potty that Heidi has fallen a little bit in love with, the super cute Disney Princess-inspired reward chart, and the egg timer. We’ve found this infinitely helpful as a way to gently remind Heidi that a visit to the potty is due.

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As you can see from her reward chart, Heidi has really hit the ground running with her journey. She was already exhibiting many of the key indicators that she was ready to train, and we felt confident enough to ditch the nappies last week. We made a big thing of this and threw her a Little Big Girl party so she fully understood she was on the cusp of something momentous - more on this in the next few weeks.

It hasn’t all gone to plan but we’re soooo proud of her and can’t wait to update you in our next vlog in a few week’s time. In order to follow her progress, and see the toll it’s taken on poor old Craig and I (trust me you’ll see a few G&Ts consumed) head on over to the My Mills Baby YouTube channel and hit the subscribe button.

You can also follow the progress of my fellow ambassadors (and join in yourself) by following these hashtags across social media #6Steps #PottyTrainingConfidence

Remember also that Huggies Pull-Ups are also currently discounted at ASDA stores nationwide at just £2 a pack, so do stock up on your child’s favourite character while you can!

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Jan 25 2016

2 must-have baby and toddler products you’ve never heard of

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I get send thousands of press releases every year. Most are from start-ups businesses who believe they’ve come up with the Next Big Thing. In fact, as a blogger you begin to feel a little like a sixth dragon; evaluating a product’s commercial viability, or at least the usefulness of what people are proposing to bring to market. Bloggers are influencers. I don’t have the ability to make or break a product alone, but collectively, our recommendations can see ideas explode into social consciousness - think Tidy Books, Trunki or Ewan the Dream Sheep.

Yet a press release needs to really stand out for me to take notice. It needs to be wholly relevant to me and solve an issue that is either frustrating, unpleasant or time-consuming - let’s face it, parenting is a dirty, often thankless and stressful enough job as it is! Throw in additional challenges like potty training or mealtimes and you can feel like locking yourself in the shed and refusing to come out.

So I’ve decided to make a regular feature out of some of these yet-to-come-to-market products. From now on, every time an email lands in my inbox that makes me turn around to my other half and say “we so need one of these”, I’ll share it with you too.

So here are my January 2016 hotpicks - 2 must-have baby and toddler products you’ve probably never heard of…

The TIDY TOT tray with integrated bib

Okay this one is already on the market, but it’s yet to get the recognition it truly deserves.

Brainchld of mum-of-two Jennifer Unsworth, this is a wipe-clean bib and tray kit that eliminates the gap between your baby and the front of your highchair for mess-free mealtimes. The foldaway over-sized tray fits over most booster seats and highchairs, and has an integrated bib that protects your baby from accidents from the neck down. Perfect for babyled weaning, your child is free to explore her food without risk of staining her clothes, or dropping hard-to-grip foods like pasta onto your floor or down the sides of her highchair.

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And she’s not kidding! The Tidy Tot has swiped some of the biggest baby & toddler awards here in the UK including Mumii Best Baby and Toddler Gear Awards 2015 (GOLD), Jacqueline Gold’s Women on Wednesday Award as well as getting 5* reviews for quality, value for money and ease of use by mums on the Babyworld Parent Panel. In fact 98% of parents who have given it a spin would recommend it to others.

Price: RRP £24.99

Where: tidytot.co.uk

Find out more: Twitter @tidy_tot / Facebook @TidyTot

KIDS FLUSH flush mechanism for kids

I love this simple idea from dad-of-three Jamie Lawlor. As if toilet training isn’t enough of a challenge, bum-wiping and unflushed toilets usually continue way past the bum-meets-seat moment. Sick of dashing to his loo and finding it unflushed, he set about inventing the ultimate toilet accessory for small kids - the Kids Flush.

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Far from being a gimmick, this simple device makes flushing the toilet and easy & fun. The tune might sound like overkill, but for me it serves as an additional reminder to press the button. If this works as well it sounds, it’ll give your child greater independence, encourage early personal hygiene and help parents everywhere fight germs and lingering odours in their bathrooms - it’s a winner for me.

Now in production, the first stock will be ready for retailer distribution in April 2016.

Price: RRP £10.00

Where: Find out where to buy on the Kidsflush Facebook or Twitter pages

PREORDER VIA KICKSTARTER* & Buy One Get One Free

*Crowd-funding platform Kickstarter lets you grab a bargain by pledging to buy when the stock is available. You are not charged anything until after the promotion closing date.

So there you go - would you use one of these products in your home?

 

Sep 4 2015

We’ve finally done it! Potty-training my resistant toddler

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I have written exhaustively about Dexter’s potty-training struggles. Over the last 6 months I imagine I’ve been single-handedly responsible for keeping Vanish in profit. At one point I even Googled “potty-training camps” and was shocked to discover they don’t exist - I thought there would be tons of sites promising to have your child in pants in 48 hours. Braver women than me might want to franchise this idea - they can have it for free, trust me, my heart sinks at the thought of going through it again with Heidi.

It’s been a long old slog but I’m delighted to see all my hard work finally paying off. We’ve now had a run of two dry days, and have been on our first out-of-the-house nappyless adventure. Dexter finally seems to embracing it and is actually sad at bedtime when the Pampers come out. Right now, he’s laying naked in my bed watching Peppa Pig and I have complete peace of mind that I won’t be washing our sheets in a few hours time.

It started with the potty. We finally found a cheap one on Amazon that appealed to him. He began to use it more and more frequently and reveled in surprising me in the kitchen with its contents. He’d almost rush to sit on it as soon as I left the room as though he was even prouder to produce a quick splash when he hadn’t been asked.

It was just wee at first but I began to notice he had great control of his bladder. I’d heard it said that boys struggle slightly more with training as they’re less aware when they need to go, but Dexter seems to be able pee when he wants to.

Gradually he managed a few number twos. I have to say I wasn’t expecting to get so squeamish at this having wiped thousands of mucky bums in my time, but I did. I’d panic the second he stepped off the potty lest he sit somewhere. It wasn’t long after that I began actively encouraging him to use the toilet and we’ve since had a few successes.

It’s yet another example of Dexter’s perfect timing. He’s due to start nursery in a few weeks and I’ve been dreading taking him still in nappies. At his previous nursery he was the only kid in his class still in nappies, and I actually felt quite ashamed. I tweeted about this, for want of a better word, guilt, a few times and received a fair bit of backlash from parents with disabled children and the like. They felt I shouldn’t be pushing Dexter, nor should I set him a deadline, or be openly condemning mothers who don’t manage to send their children to school fully trained.

But I stand by my comments, unless there’s a very good reason why not, I do believe kids should be trained before entering the school system, and if they’re not, in the vast majority of cases this is the parents fault.

Sending Dexter to preschool potty-trained was my ultimate goal and I’m so chuffed to bits that he’s managed it in time.

 

What do you think? Aside from children with disabilities, do you frown when you see kids in school uniform in nappies?

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