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3 Tips to Help You Focus on Your Motherhood Wellness

Inside: Tired of feeling tired and overwhelmed? Find out why you should focus on motherhood wellness and not just being healthy.

I’m the “eat dessert for breakfast” kind of gal. The gooier the chocolate chip cookie is, the happier I am!

To be honest, I’m not really a fan of being “healthy”. (I know, I know…I might get booed for this!)

As a busy mom, I barely have time to take a shower let alone drive to the gym. My time is always stretched thin between taking care of my toddler, holding the reins on my endless tasks, and trying to stay awake.

I’ve always admired the moms who have the strength to work out and the willpower to count calories. I marvel at their determination!

But I realized something that completely changed the way I view my health. It’s not about counting carbs or doing burpees—it’s about being WELL.

As moms, we have to strive for wellness. Not just aiming to lose weight, but focusing on the wellness of our emotional and mental health.

We have so many responsibilities and duties that focus on everyone else that it’s easy for our river to run dry. When our cup is empty, our wellness is nonexistent.

With this comes low energy, lack of motivation, depression, achy bodies, and foggy minds.

Let’s be honest—mom fog is very real!

But we can combat these things that weigh us down by focusing on our wellness.

Here are 3 things to do to help you start feeling healthy from the inside out!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Read my Disclosure for more info.

5 Tips to Focus on Your Motherhood Wellness

1. Make Time for Self-Care

I know this may sound really cliché, but self-care is truly the ultimate mom life energy source.
What is self-care?

Self-care is the action of taking care of YOU. Doing the things that make you happy, whatever that looks like for you!
It’s focusing on your mental, emotional, and physical health in a way that uplifts you and makes you stronger.

Whether it be a bath once a week, reading your favorite book, taking a stroll, having 5 minutes of silence, watching your favorite movie, taking a trip to the gym, or anything else that you would do to make you joyful.

Motherhood wellness is about you making time for you so you can recharge.

But the most important thing about self-care is actually making time for it. We can talk about self-care until we’re blue in the face but unless we actually *do it*, it’s all for not.

If you’re struggling with self-care or truly want to make more time for your self-care, you will love this!

2. Understand that “Mom is a Person”

It’s easy for your family to just know you as mom—the one who does the cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, and everything else that makes the world go around.

But sometimes it’s really easy to get caught up in motherhood that you forget about your own needs.
It’s also really easy for your family to just see you as “mom”.

But mom is a person who needs to eat, sleep, take showers, and have downtime.
Focusing on yourself doesn’t make you selfish, it makes you human.

Motherhood wellness begins with YOU.

Don’t miss this! Get the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle to help you focus on your mental, emotional, and physical health from A to Z—it’s 98% off but only for 5 days!

3. Talk it Out

Never underestimate the power of a great conversation. Communication is wellness for the soul and the lifeline of relationships.

Whether it’s your spouse or best friend, simply talking and enjoying each other’s company can be the very thing that you need!

Motherhood wellness thrives on key relationships and friendships…whether you need that shoulder to cry on or someone to jump up and down with you!

4. The Cover Matters

Motherhood wellness is about you feeling great about yourself, from the inside out. So now that we’ve talked about things that fuel your mental and emotional health, we’ll talk about things to help you feel confident!

Have you ever put on your favorite pair of jeans only to shimmy them up your thigh and realize that they no longer close??
#worstfeelingever

Your body has gone through some major changes—you carried life inside of you and were the home for your little one!

I’m not a fan of the phrase “getting your body back” after having a baby because reality is, you didn’t lose your body…it just underwent a major change. And instead of dismissing and trying to “fix” those changes, it’s time to embrace them.

Have you ever watched the popular TLC TV series, What Not to Wear? (I’m a 90’s baby so this show was my jam in high school!) The thing I always remembered was how the host didn’t try to make the person lose weight or told them that their body sucked.

They taught everyone how you can change your clothes to make you look better and feel confident.

It always blew my mind how by the end of the 45-minute show, the guest would look like a completely different person. Not because their body changed, but because their demeanor, countenance, and confidence changed.

They were glowing!

Why?

Because the outside matters. Not to anyone else, but to you.

What you look like will affect how you feel.

It’s not about looking good for Instagram or showing your friends that you’re a “hot mom”. It’s about feeling good in your own skin, no matter what you weigh!

If you’d love to overhaul your closet, check out the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle for the best tips on how to shop for your body, know your body type, and shop for amazing clothes on a budget.

5. Grab the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle!

Do you truly want to stay feeling confident and glowing from the inside out?

Learn all about wellness and how to get healthy and feel confident!

This bundle contains 80 products all geared toward helping you master your wellness from A to Z!

It will help you:

⭐️ Discover natural ways to improve your sleep

⭐️ Find your ideal weight (and love your body in the process)

⭐️ Fit exercise consistently into your routine

⭐️ Eat less sugar

⭐️ Live with more energy

⭐️ Balance your hormones

⭐️ Prevent and respond to illness in a healthy way

⭐️ Set loving boundaries for healthier relationships

⭐️ plus, so much more!

Learn how to focus on your mental, emotional, and mental health with the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle!

The bundle is jam-packed with phenomenal value– worth over $4,200– and it’s 97% off for only 5 days…

If you’re anything like me, now you can splurge and still eat your occasional cake for breakfast but still be so confident and comfortable with yourself!

Remember, health isn’t about what you weigh– it’s about feeling WELL from the inside out!

You got this, mama!

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The Best tips for mastering self-care without guilt — motherhood wellness tips

What you need to know about The Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle

Mom Life

Inside: Tired of having no time for self-care? Learn how to get healthy & feel confident in the easiest way possible!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Read my Disclosure for more info.

As a busy mom, I don’t have time to hunt calorie counts on food wrappers. I barely have enough time to shower and throw on a clean pair of leggings!

I understand the busy #momlife health struggle because I live it every single day.

And as much as you *want* to be better with your health, “getting healthy” seems to be a long-lost dream that inches further and further away each day.

With each passing day, it feels like a part of you is withering because you’re not tending yourself. And after a while feeling sluggish and tired seems like the norm and you don’t remember what it feels like to love the body you’re in.

Imagine what it would feel like to actually FEEL vibrant!

⭐️ To feel confident in your own skin,

⭐️ To glow from the inside out,

⭐️ To have more energy to run around with your kids,

⭐️ To spend more time on things you love!

It’s time to learn how to get healthy and feel confident—the easy way!

Having the kind of confidence that makes you feel like a million bucks is totally possible.

Enter the miraculous Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle

How can the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle help me?

The Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle is a resource curated by women for women!

They get the busyness of mom life.

They get having wild kids.

They get the mom life struggle.

And they want to help you finally focus on YOU. Even when it feels impossible.

The Women’s Wellness Bundle will help you:

⭐️ Discover natural ways to improve your sleep

⭐️ Find your ideal weight (and love your body in the process)

⭐️ Fit exercise consistently into your routine

⭐️ Eat less sugar

⭐️ Live with more energy

⭐️ Balance your hormones

⭐️ Prevent and respond to illness in a healthy way

⭐️ Set loving boundaries for healthier relationships

⭐️ plus, so much more!

What I love most is that you get 80 resources you can refer to as you make healthy baby steps so you can feel as well as possible.

With a library of health resources this big and diverse, it can meet your needs when you run into a new health concern, or as you master one area and are ready to move on to the next.

You will learn step by step how to improve your sleep, balance your hormones, have more energy, focus on self-care, love your body, find your ideal weight & more much more!

What is the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle?

When you buy the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle you’ll get access to:

33 eBooks
32 eCourses & audios
12 printables & workbooks
2 summits
1 documentary

All of these resources are worth over $4,500!

Best of all, you can get it all for just $37.

Everything You Get!

It’s no fun to buy something and then find out that you didn’t really need it or that it didn’t have what you thought it did.

#wortstfeelingever

I just wanted to give you a peek inside the bundle so you can see exactly what topics it covers!

Chronic Illness (6 products worth $720.92)
Fertility & Pregnancy (7 products worth $101.92)
Fitness & Physical Health (5 products worth $395.96)
Food & Healthy Eating (11 products worth $544.90)
For Moms (5 products worth $505.95)
Hormones (7 products worth $334.78)
Menopause & Beyond (6 products worth $212.99)
Mental & Emotional Health (8 products worth $702.87)
Natural Health (5 products worth $185.58)
Planners & Trackers (5 products worth $80.96)
Self Care & Confidence (8 products worth $727.97)
Skincare & Beauty (6 products worth $126.92)

These resources are worth over $4,500 but you get it for 97% off– only $37!

For an lifetime access to these amazing products!

Are you apart of the 98%?

Motherhood is a constant state of “just keep going”.

Half of the time, we don’t even realize we aren’t facing our battles alone. We may look fine on the outside, but our wellness can be suffering.

I am a sufferer of Fibromyalgia. And almost no one knows. I am plagued with sleepless nights, achy muscles, and mom fog.

But I knew I couldn’t be the only mom in the world battling a health issue!

Lots of my readers are struggling with chronic illness, sleep deficiencies, and hormone imbalances. They aren’t happy with the state of their health.

Did you know that only two percent of people feel great about their health?

That means 98% of people don’t.

I still feel special, but I feel a lot more normal. 😉

But that’s why I feel compelled to tell you all about the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle.

We need this, mama!

It’s time to learn how to focus on our mental, emotional, and physical health without feeling guilty or sacrificing something else that’s important in our life.

Wellness Over Health

I’ve battled with health for a loonnngg time. And honestly, I’ve been to the point where I wanted to give up. And even though it may be easy to give up on your physical health, it’s not the outside that matters—it’s the inside.

It’s your emotional and mental health that needs to most love.

Yes, it’s great to want to fit into your old jeans. And while focusing on your physical health is very important, I would dare say it’s not the *most* important.

Your wellness is.

How you feel from the inside out is what matters.

How you feel mentally matters.

How you feel emotionally matters.

And there aren’t a lot of resources out there that help you focus on your emotional and mental health in a way that is easy to use and understand.

That’s what I love about the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle the most.

Yes, it will help you get healthy—but not just physically! Emotionally and mentally as well.

Which is the most important part of you.

Being a mom is NOT easy. There are a million things on your plate and it feels like you are constantly overflowing.

But learning how to master your emotional and mental health will give you the added strength to keep going—to be the best mom (and you!) you can be.

Learn all about the Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle here!

And remember, even when you feel like you have no time, these resources make it easy to help you ditch the exhaustion and conquer your wellness.

✔️ MORE Confidence.

✔️ MORE Energy.

✔️ LESS Stress.

✔️ LESS Guilt.

????‍♀️ Yes, Please!

It’s time to stop struggling and start thriving.

You got this, mama!

Wait! Do you love free printables??

Become part of the Mastering Mom Life Insider tribe and get instant, exclusive access to my Mom Treasury filled with FREE printables + worksheets to make mom life easier!

The Best Survival Tips for Improving Your Mental Health

Mom Life

Inside: Looking for quick wins to survive mom fog? Find out the 7 best mental health tips for moms!

Have you ever had a book you were dying to read?? You put the kids to bed early, poured yourself your favorite cup of coffee and dove head in….only to find out the book was not what you expected…

My 7th grade teacher’s voice comes ringing back into my ears– “you never judge a book by its cover”.

Mom life is like a book–you can strive to look the best but if you neglect your mental health, it’s like opening a beautiful book only to reveal the pages have been torn out…

As busy moms, sometimes the last thing on our list is to tend to YOU. Your heart. Your mind. Your soul.

We spend countless hours taking care of everyone else that we don’t even realize the pages of our book are withering.

It’s time to tend to your book–not just make the outside pretty so people think we’re awesome…but time to actually fix the torn pages.

I’m so excited to be able to share this Guest Post with you all about the best mental health tips for moms written by Katie, Nicole, and Kristine from Surviving Moms!

7 Best Mental Health Tips for Moms

As someone who has struggled with mental health on and off for several years now, I am constantly looking for ways to calm my nerves and lift my spirits. Here are some tips that have worked for me over the past few years. I hope this helps!

1. Read a chapter of Psalms every day.

The first mental health tip for moms is to dive into uplifting literature.

This book is full of encouragement! The chapters are typically small and can be read within a couple of minutes. Most of them are written by King David, as he is crying out for God in the midst of his despair.

Despite his suffering, he praises God for his goodness and faithfulness to Him.

2. Record what you are thankful for each day.

Having a journal where you can record something you are thankful for each and every day helps you have a positive mindset, even if just for a moment. It’s too easy to focus on what’s going wrong instead of the hundreds of blessings around you.

Moms, if you have a healthy child in the room next to you, that’s something to be thankful for right there.

3. Limit sugary foods and caffeine.

This tip is especially true for those who suffer from anxiety. I definitely find myself becoming more anxious when I have a lot of sugar in my diet or when I drink too much coffee during the day.

Watching what you put in your body can have a HUGE impact on your mental health, so be conscious of that.

4. Get moving.

When you’re struggling with your mental health, it’s easy to want to just stay inside and watch movies all day. This won’t improve your mood though!

Get outside, take the kids to the park, go on a bike ride.

Do something to get your adrenaline pumping. It will make you feel better, I promise!

Related Post: 5 Hacks Every Mom Needs to Know to Stay Healthy

5. Take time for yourself.

This one is so important, especially for moms! We pour so much of our energy into our little ones that we often neglect our own needs.

My favorite way to take time for myself is to take a walk outside after dinner to get some fresh air while my husband spends time playing with our daughter.

I need those precious moments to myself!

6. Find someone you can open up to.

When you are struggling with mental health issues, it’s important to have someone to talk to.

It’s best if that person has also struggled in similar ways as they will be able to give you advice on how to cope.

This person will ideally be a close friend or family member.

7. Seek professional help before things get out of control.

Before your anxiety, depression, or other mental illnesses get out of control, seek help from a professional.

They will be able to provide help for you in ways that your family and friends can’t.

Get the Free Self-Care Cheatsheet

Never have time for yourself?? One of the best mental health tips for moms is to focus on self-care! Easily start focusing on YOU with this cheat sheet. Find out how you can make time for self-care…even when you have no time!

Get it now!

This post is written by the fantastic moms over at Surviving Moms!

Katie, Nicole, and Kristine are sister-in-laws with eight kids between them. They now blog at SurvivingMoms.com about mom survival tips, what is helping them get through their days with their kiddos, and how their true hope and encouragement comes from knowing their Savior, Jesus Christ.

Keep reading more #Momlife posts!

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How to Handle Baby Missed Naps- The Easy Way!

Baby Routines

Inside: Is your little one always fussy & overtired? Find out exactly what to do for baby missed naps and toddler skipped naps!

Have you ever experienced the wrath of a missed nap– when your child is so fussy you want to pull your hair out?

I’ve learned the hard way…

Missed naps = Fussy baby.

Not just any “fussy”– I’m talking about red face screaming and back arching tantrums…the kind of fussy that only comes about when your child has failed to go to sleep.

But the good news is, missed naps don’t have to be a normal event in your house.

Learning your child’s golden window—their window of wake time—will help you teach your baby to nap consistently, tantrum-free.

Finding out your baby’s wake time is the best thing you can do to help eliminate your baby becoming overtired.

Which means they’re less fussy and you’re happier!

We’ll talk about how to:

know your baby is overtired
know their wake time/wake window
avoid missing a nap
deal with skipped naps
help your baby actually go down for a nap

Let’s dive into all the ways you can reduce missed naps and keep your child out of the overtired danger zone!

How to deal with Missed Baby Naps and Toddler Skipped Naps

One week my daughter decided to boycott her naps for 4 days—FOUR DAYS.

That meant I was home with a toddler for over 10 hours, without her taking a single nap. Not even 2 minutes of peaceful shut-eye.

I remember sitting in my daughter’s room barely able to keep my eyes open as she was screaming and spinning circles freaking out because I told her it was time for her nap.

Her golden window of wake time was left open too long…

Whether your little one is 6 months old or 3 years old, if they still take a nap, one of the most important things you can do is be aware of their golden window—their wake time.

What is a wake window?

A wake window or wake time is the amount of time your child is up from their last sleep to the time they go back to sleep.

This wake time is used to help you understand the maximum amount of time your child can be up without being overtired and fussy—and ultimate missing the time they were supposed to nap.

The first thing to do when your baby misses a nap is to make note of the time, their mood, and why it happened.

We’re going to talk more about how to do this exactly by tracking your baby’s or toddler’s schedule.

But first, let’s talk about the signs of a missed nap…

Why is my baby so fussy?

If you’re struggling with not understanding why your child is so fussy at a certain time of day, it could be because they’ve been awake too long. And their window of wake time needs to be closed.

Some reasons a baby is up too long is because:

they were kept up (if their schedule was interrupted),
they missed their window (if they were busy doing something else),
or if they intentionally do not want to sleep.

Babies can’t verbally express to you when they are tired so their body expresses it for them and they get extremely fussy. And when your baby grows into a toddler, sometimes they refuse to nap just because they don’t want to miss anything.

To help you prevent your baby from entering the land of fussiness, you want to be aware of their wake window.

How to know my baby’s wake window?

As babies grow, their golden wake time window and nap times will shift.

Remember when your newborn slept all day? As they got older, their nap times changed and their number of naps was reduced.

But how do you know how long your baby’s wake window should be??

I’ve spent hhouuuurrsss asking myself this question as a new mom. Every month seemed to be a change but instead of being overwhelmed by it, I started to track it.

But figuring out your child’s schedule is the key to reducing baby missed naps!

Tracking Your Child’s Schedule

If you’re having trouble knowing when your child’s nap time “should be”, then follow these simple steps to help you!

Track their daily activities and mood for 5 days.

You’ll start to see a pattern of their super fussy times—which signals OVERTIRED.

Use that pattern to create a schedule

By seeing their sleep, wake, and eating patterns, you can create a schedule that will help them limit their fussy times.

By using this method, you’re not forcing your child on a schedule that doesn’t work for them. You’re leaning into the turn of their natural body clock.

Use the FREE Baby & Toddler Daily Tracker to help you complete these steps stress-free. Track your child’s naps, feedings, moods, and activities all in one place. Then you can easily start to see their routine so you can know without a doubt their golden wake window 🙂

Get the FREE Tracker now!

How About Toddler Skipped Naps?

The great part about this system is that it will work for toddlers too!

If you find your toddler is really irritable at a certain time when they shouldn’t be, you can track those times and moods for a week and reassess their nap times.

After tracking Baby L’s wake times and nap lengths, I was able to see an overview of her schedule. And this significantly helped me!

I started to use her own pattern as a guide for her schedule. When I saw she was off of her schedule, I noticed she was way fussier. But when she was on her schedule, she was an absolute dream.

Wake Hours per age

Here’s an example of Baby L’s wake time windows as she’s grown:

Birth-3 months: 1- 1.5 hours

4-6 months: 1.5-2 hours

7-9 months: 2-2.5 hours

10-14 months: 3-4 hours

15-24 months: 4.5-5 hours

24-36 months: so far, it’s remained at 5 hours

Feel free to use this as a guide for your baby’s wake times!

BONUS: Don’t forget to download the FREE Baby & Toddler Daily Tracker to help you understand your baby’s schedule so you can easily know their wake window! CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE!

How to help your baby/toddler actually go down for a nap

If you’re having a hard time getting your baby or toddler to even TAKE a nap, consider starting a consistent nap routine that will help them signal when it’s time for sleep. This will help wonders!

After Baby L boycotted her naps for 4 days, the only thing that helped me get her back on track was sticking to her nap routines.

Using a nap routine helps your baby signal that it’s time for sleep, as opposed to them playing. So, when their brain processes that it’s nap time, they will begin to calm down and prepare for a nap. It’s pretty awesome!

What to do if your baby misses a nap?

If your baby misses a nap that is in between another nap, just skip the nap and continue your schedule to the next nap. Try to keep your little one as comfortable as possible to reduce them from getting even fussier.

I wouldn’t recommend leaving them in their bed to cry it out until they fall asleep. I would wait until tomorrow to restart the schedule and make sure to catch their tired cues so you can be sure to put them to nap when it’s time.

If your baby misses their last nap of the day, just wait until bedtime to put them back down. Forcing them to nap after they have already missed that window can cause a disrupt in the whole day!

But if you see it’s only a half-hour after their normal nap time and you think your child will fall asleep, go ahead and put them down!

There’re no hard and fast rules when it comes to nap times, it all depends on your child and the time of the day.

So if your baby misses a nap, don’t beat yourself up! There’s always tomorrow 🙂

What about Nap transitions?

Some babies/toddlers get really fussy around their nap transition too (when they are dropping a nap). This is totally normal!

Just continue a nap routine with them and they should fall right into their rhythm.

Get the FREE Baby & Toddler Daily Tracker!

To help you track your baby’s routine and start a thriving schedule, I created a FREE Baby & Toddler Printable Daily Tracker to help you track your baby’s mood, feedings, naps, and playtimes.

Use this tracker easily figure out your child’s golden window of wake time so they never enter the overtired disaster zone!

Missed naps are no fun. But they don’t have to become a normality!

I hope with these tips and tricks you feel more confident in knowing your bay’s golden window of wake time.

They get restful naps and you save your sanity—a win win!

After Baby L’s miserable napless week, I’m thinking of making t-shirts that say “I Survived my Baby’s Missed Nap”…

And I’d wear it with pride 🙂

Have any questions about naps?? Use the comments below to ask away!

The Best Potty Tips for an Easy Training

Toddler Routines

Inside: Thinking of potty training? Learn the best toddler potty training tips to help you make this pivotal transition an easy one!

I plopped down at my kitchen table, completely exhausted from throwing my daughter’s 2^nd birthday party. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my daughter skipping around her new toys and it hit me– oh my gosh, I have a toddler!

Immediately the thought of potty training flooded my mind.

How am I going to potty train her?

Will it be hard?

At that moment, potty training seemed like a huge mountain I could never climb. I dreaded even starting because of all the horror stories I’ve heard.

But I couldn’t let my fear and anxiety keep me from teaching my daughter this essential life skill.

So I buckled down and began potty training my toddler. And to my amazement—it wasn’t that hard!

On my potty training journey, I learned some amazing tips and tricks that made toddler potty training an absolute breeze.

Within 10 days, my daughter was completely out of diapers, using the potty, and accident-free!

I don’t necessarily believe in those “potty train your baby in 3 days” articles, mainly because like with any other milestone, potty training is a process.

But with these tips and tricks, I’m hoping to make your toddler potty training process as simple and stress-free as possible 🙂

So let’s get down to it!

Best Toddler Potty Training Tips

Remember to be patient with your toddler and yourself. Trust your instincts and take it one day at a time!

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1. Stock up on Potty training essentials

The last thing you want to do is start the potty training process without your major essentials. That’s like baking cookies without any ingredients—it’s impossible!

Make sure to have all of the essentials before you start potty training. That way, nothing will disrupt your process once you’ve begun.

You can read my list of potty training essentials here.

Or you can download my free Potty Training Essentials Checklist below!

2. Involve your child in buying underwear

The first potty training tip is to involve your little one in as much as possible in this transition. Starting with buying their first training underwear. If you read my potty training essentials article, then you know how amazing these training undies can be!

They come in different characters and colors so your toddler can get excited about wearing their favorite underwear.

When you involve your toddler in the buying process and let them choose their own underwear, it sets them up for success because they feel empowered that they are making their own choice. And ultimately, entering into their “big kid” phase!

3. Make your bathroom as comfortable as possible

The next toddler potty training tip is to make your bathroom a toddler sanctuary. You want your child to know the difference between playroom and bathroom, but also not be intimidated by the bathroom.

Many toddlers are afraid of bathrooms because it is a foreign concept to them. They know diapers and wipes but the porcelain chair and flushing are completely foreign to them!

That’s why you want to get your child accustomed to the bathroom by making it comfortable for them. When you remove their reservations, they are way more likely to actually *want* to use the bathroom.

That way, you aren’t forcing your child to sit on the potty. They are asking to go.

I made some minor changes to our bathroom during potty training season. I purchased a fun Finding Nemo shower curtain, a fun toddler toilet seat, added some fun color towels, and made a “potty basket” filled with potty books and potty training dolls.

As soon as Baby L saw the bathroom with Nemo, she immediately wanted to go in!

4. Create a reward system

I am a strong believer in reward systems because not only do they work but then can be completely customized to fit ay family!

My favorite potty training tip is to use a Potty Chart. (You can get my FREE potty training chart here!)

This helps get your toddler involved with their potty training! For every time they sit on the potty, use the potty, flush the potty, and wash their hands, they get a different reward. This encourages then to learn each step of the potty training process as easy as possible!

Step by Step Reward System

Because every part of the potty training process is important, I like to reward Baby L for every time that she does anything potty related.

If she sits on the potty and tries to go, she gets to play with her fish toy in the bathroom sink.
If she actually goes, she gets a chocolate chip (I buy sugar-free chocolate chips that are healthy so no worries about overloading your child with sugar!)
If she does the whole process, flushes the toilet and washes her hands, she gets a sticker on her potty chart that she completed the steps.
If she gets 4 stickers that day, she gets a surprise.

I went to the dollar store and bought $10 worth of toys, coloring books, and little surprises to give her over the course of her potty training days. (You can find all of these on my potty training essentials checklist here!)

It’s worked like a charm!

And if she initiates to go on the potty without me asking, she gets an extra surprise. This could be her playing with a certain toy that she’s not allowed to play with all the time or something else that is meaningful to her.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel!

Use rewards that make sense to your child

It doesn’t have to be big or elaborate. Just something that is special to them.

To help you perfectly track your toddlers potty training progress, I created a customizable Potty Training Chart & Tracker for you!

The potty chart includes a chart for you to check off each time your toddler does one of the potty training steps. You can print the chart so they can see their progress and they can even use a marker to check off each star once they are done!

Then you can let them put a sticker on the chart so they can feel accomplished 🙂

It also includes a tracker to help you keep track of what is working and what isn’t. Plus it has a place for you to write notes about each potty trip as well.

This is the exact chart and tracker I used and it was perfect!

You can download the FREE Potty Training Chart & Tracker by clicking below!

5. Set some time to be home

My next potty training tip is to set a couple of days aside to just be home. You don’t want to start potty training your little one only to find that you need to run a bunch of errands. This can disrupt the training process and cause a delay.

I made the mistake of starting to potty training during a week where we had a lot to do. This confused my daughter because she didn’t know when it was okay to go in her diaper and when it wasn’t.

If you truly want potty training to stick the first time, you’ll have to teach your child that going to the bathroom in a diaper isn’t an option anymore. Of course, there will be accidents and special cases! But as a whole, the goal is to teach them the new place to do their business is on the potty, and nowhere else.

This will help them understand what it means to “hold it” and go pee-pee on the potty.

If they are confused about when they can go on themselves and when they can go on the potty, it will be hard for them to understand what going on the potty actually means.

To eliminate all confusion, being in the comfort of their own home where they can go potty as they please will really help solidify potty training!

6. It’s okay to have accidents

This potty training tip will cause some controversy but that’s okay!

I truly believe that it is okay for your child to have accidents during the potty training process. This is completely normal. After years of going to the bathroom in their diaper, they are now learning that it’s something they cannot do. And with that, comes a huge learning curve.

My daughter would have an accident at least twice a day. She either wouldn’t make it to the bathroom or she would just be playing and would pee—because she forgot she wasn’t wearing a diaper.

Don’t worry, this is normal!

Having accidents will actually help teach your toddler that they need to go on the potty. When they feel wet, they will know something isn’t right and then you can use that situation as an opportunity to take them to the potty.

Also, because they have on their training underwear, the mess isn’t as bad too!

Don’t forget to have some disinfectant on hand for those accidents too 😉

7. Set a reminder for every hour

To prevent a million accidents taking place in one day, my final potty training tip is to set a reminder for your little one to go potty.

Every time your little one has some water or juice, make a note of the time and set a reminder. At first, they won’t understand that they need to hold it until they get to the potty. So to help them, you sit them on the potty even if they aren’t telling you they have to go. Because odds are, they do!

8. Celebrate it up!

Don’t forget to celebrate every time your toddler uses the potty! Jump up and down, sing a song, clap your hands—use positive reinforcement to give them as much praise as possible.

And don’t forget to give yourself some praise too. After your baby foes to sleep, have a cup of coffee, treat yourself to your favorite snack, watch a guilty-pleasure show and take a breather. You deserve it! Potty training is not easy. Teaching your child something new is always a difficult task so don’t forget to take some time out for yourself too J

Download the Free Potty Training Chart & Tracker!

Don’t struggle through potty training! Download the free potty training chart and tracker to help you easily keep track of your child’s progress. Plus use the potty chart as a reward system to keep encouraging your toddler!

Keep track of any notes and your toddler’s potty progress during this pivotal step in their development!

Take the stress out of potty training!

Download the free chart now!

And there you have it!

I hope these potty training tips were able to bring you some relief about starting to train your toddler to use the toilet.

Now potty training doesn’t have to be a daunting mountain that feels like you can never climb. With these easy tips and resources, make potty training a celebratory step into toddlerhood!

Have any questions or other potty training tips you’d like to share? Drop it in the comments below!

You got this, mama!

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Best Toddler Potty Training Tips

1. Stock up on Potty training essentials

2. Involve your child in buying underwear

3. Make your bathroom as comfortable as possible

4. Create a reward system

Step by Step Reward System

Use rewards that make sense to your child

5. Set some time to be home

6. It’s okay to have accidents

7. Set a reminder for every hour

8. Celebrate it up!

Download the Free Potty Training Chart & Tracker!

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