Congratulations, you have successfully passed the first stage of twin parenthood. Now your twin angles are a little bit more grown-up and it’s time to start doing big boy and girl things. This means entering a potty training camp.
Potty training is something that many parents feel quite anxious about because you never know how exactly it is going to go and how long it will take. Things are even more uncertain when you have two babies to train at the same time, especially if you are set on developing a tandem routine. However, once your twins learn the refined art of potty time you will have one less thing to worry about.
So how do go about potty training twins? There are quite a few do’s and don’ts to remember, so we’ve given you the top 10 tips for potty training twins to help you in the potty training process.
Our Tips for Successful Potty Training Twins
1. Make Sure Your Twins are Ready to Potty Train
The first question you are likely to ask yourself is “How do I know if my twins are ready to start potty training”? To answer it, you need to look for some of the most obvious signs:
- You are changing far fewer wet diapers. Usually, babies who are less than 20 months old are unable to control their bladder, which means you constantly have to change their diapers. But if your twins are able to hold off for an hour or two and start waking up without needing a diaper change, it means that they’re ready to transition to a baby toilet seat.
- They are asking you to change their dirty diapers as soon as possible. Once your babies can’t stand being in poop for a minute more you know they’ve outgrown the diapers
stage. - Your twins have predictable bowel movements at pretty much the same time every day. This means that they’ve built a sort of a toilet routine and it’s time to honor it.
- Your babies broadcast bodily functions. Whether they would happily announce that poop is on the way or go in the corner of the room while making grunting noises, they’re definitely ready to begin the potty training process.
- They crave privacy when they need to poop. Yes, that’s an obvious one!
2. Prime Your Twins in Advance
Once you know that your babies are ready to enter the potty training boot camp, you need to prepare them for what’s to come in advance.
Start talking openly about potty time and indulge in potty-training activities, such as reading books about potty training. Also, making a big deal out of the fact that you are going shopping for big girl and big boy underwear would add extra excitement and motivation to the mix.
Why don’t you show your babies pictures of cute underwear and let them choose what they want. For example, the BIG ELEPHANT Unisex-Baby Toddler Potty Training Pants are a favorite amongst parents of toddlers. They come in a pack of 6 and your twins can mix and match between a variety of prints and colors suitable for both boys and girls. Moreover, they’re made out of extremely soft 100% cotton material featuring an absorbent padded interlining to provide your babies with extra comfort and the softest touch.
3. Try the 3 Day Potty Training Boot Camp
Why do things on your own when others before you have walked the long way of potty training twins?
We recommend you to read the best-seller book by Brandi Brucks and Dr. Fredric Daum titled “Potty Training in 3 Days: The Step-by-Step Plan for a Clean Break from Dirty Diapers”. Packed with unmatched expert advice accrued over thousands of cases, this book is your head start and best friend along the way of potty training twins.
One customer said: “I cannot recommend this book enough, we read and prepared as outlined in the book, by day 3 our 22 month-old daughters had no accidents.”
4. Make It Fun
Training one child to use a potty is a hard enough task by itself. Training twins to use potty seats is a whole other task. The best thing you can do to keep your babies’ attention is to make potty training twins a fun game.
So how do you do this? For example, you can use stickers to decorate the potties or let your twins do the artwork. Also, make sure you use rewards to memorate their huge success, even if that success measures up to one drop of pee.
Prep up cute toys or reward them with matching onesies when they both manage to use the potty as expected. This way you encourage them to keep up the good work as a team. Plus, your twins will be absolutely in love with the idea of wearing matching onesies, such as the Best Friends Onesies by TwinStuff.
5. Do Not Compare Your Twins
Speaking of rewarding successful potty experience, one thing you should never ever do is use sticker charts. They are a visual reminder that one twin is doing better than the other and it could be quite discouraging. Also, be mindful of the language you use and never shame them for their lack of success.
It is quite common for one twin to be advancing faster than the other, especially for boys. In a case where you have a boy-girl twins situation and the girl is picking it up quicker, you should show patience. It’s likely that the other twin will show interest in learning when they see their twin doing so well.
6. Make It a Routine
Like we mentioned in the beginning, many parents strive for tandem nursing and this includes tandem training your twins to sit on the potty.
Your babies will most likely have developed natural instincts and regular toilet needs habits by this time, so you should take advantage of this. To ensure that they have the same potty time route you can use a timer set to go off every 20 minutes, for example. This way they will develop the habit of going to the toilet regularly.
You might be wondering if training your twins at the same time is better than training one child at a time. While you might feel the urge to go with each twin’s personal instincts and readiness, it’s best if you treat them as a team and let them get inspired by each other. Plus, you’re saving yourself double the effort and time.
7. Pick the Right Potty
We can’t stress enough how important it is to pick the right potties for your twin to guarantee you successful potty training. They need to be comfy, portable, and most importantly be able to make your twins fall in love with them.
Once you’ve established that “potty bond” your babies will always look forward to potty time. That’s why you need to choose colorful, fun, and eye-catching potties, preferably identical, so that you don’t cause any envy amongst your angels.
We highly recommend you the First Years Disney Themed Potty Training & Transition Potty Seat. It comes in an array of Disney-themed designs, so you can choose your children’s most favorite one, such as the classic Mickey Mouse – Minnie Mouse combo for boy-girl twins, Paw Patrol, Toy Story, and more.
You not only get a potty for your training sessions but also a splash guard to make the transition to the adults’ toilet smoother. It also features “flush” buttons that make realistic flushing and cheering sounds to encourage your toddler, as well as, extra stickers to make potty training twins even more fun and easy.
8. Bring in Reinforcements
Lastly, potty training two babies is not a job for one. Don’t shy away from asking your partner, family, or friends to give you a hand with training your twins to use potty seats.
You might be wondering why? Because while you’re trying to seat one twin, the other one has already delivered a lovely pond next to your sofa, or sometimes on your sofa. You really need two pairs of eyes and two pairs of hands from time to time to have a successful potty time more often.
Final Thoughts on How to Potty Train Twins
Your lovely twins have steadily grown in size, their toddler habits have started developing and they constantly seek their privacy when they need a poop. These are just some of the signs telling you that your babies are ready to ditch the diapers. It’s time to start the potty training twins boot camp.
We know it can be really frustrating trying to train not just one but two babies to use a potty seat, so we’ve gathered the best tips & tricks to help you master the craft of potty training twins. Go ahead and have some fun during potty time.
