Today on The Mag we have Allison Jandu, founder of Potty Training Consultant. Learn more about Allison and her business, the best time to start potty training, her favorite training potties and much more!

Introduce yourself, your family and your business.

Hi! I'm Allison Jandu, mom of two, three time author, and owner/founder of Potty Training Consultant. I mostly spend my days reheating coffee, helping families with their potty training journeys, and loving on my babies! As daunting of a task as it seems to many parents, I have a real love for potty training and I thrive on seeing kids succeed at this important lifelong skill. I've been a professional potty training consultant for the past three years, and in that time have worked with hundreds of families with kids of all ages and abilities with a 98% success rate.

Everyone’s favorite question - when do I start potty training and… how?!

Over the years, I've honed in the ideal potty training age to be in the 22 to 28 month range (of course this increases with any delays or disabilities). But more important than age is timing. You want to be sure you choose a time that is fairly normal without a lot of other major changes going on when you don't feel rushed or under pressure to get the job done. When you notice your kiddo starting to mimic your actions, seek your approval, and follow basic directions is a great time to start. Wait too long and you could end up with a very opinionated, strong-willed, stuck-in-their-routine preschooler which has "power struggle" written all over it!

Instead of just diving in to potty training cold turkey, I always recommend getting your child on board first and exposing them to the concept without any pressure for them to do anything. There are actually some fun ways you can do this! Reading potty books, watching potty videos, and playing potty with dolls/toys helps your child learn and encourages them to want to try to! Once you've spent some time on these activities, I recommend fully committing and ditching all the diapers, spending 1 to 2 days bottomless, and then getting back to your regular routine as quickly as possible. You can always check out my new 10-Day Potty Training Challenge which makes everything much easier!

What about nighttime? How do you know it’s time to enter that phase of training? Do you have a few tips to share?

In almost every case, I recommend doing daytime and nighttime training simultaneously. The simple fact is, most kids are ready for nighttime potty training well before their parents realize! You can start by checking your child's diapers about 20 minutes before they normally wake up in the morning to see how wet/dry they are over the course of a few days. Oftentimes, kids will be dry through the night and then pee in their diaper as soon as they wake up in the morning out of habit/comfort/laziness. If your child was still mostly wet during these checks, that's still okay! You can either wait and try nighttime training once your child has a really good handle on their daytime training, or there are some tips to facilitate dry nights! First, limit fluids to four ounces or less between dinnertime and bedtime (or one to two hours). Next, try a "double void". This involves having your child pee once at the beginning of their bedtime routine and then again right before getting into bed. As a last resort, you can always try a "dream pee", or placing your child on the potty to pee during the night and then putting them right back to bed. You can find a lot more tips on nighttime training on my Instagram page!

Should you train with a floor potty or directly on the toilet? And do you have a few favorite training potties you’d like to share?

I personally prefer a floor potty initially. They are less intimidating than the regular toilet, your child can get on and off on their own, and it can be moved around the house so you can catch more successes! However, if your little one already has experience sitting on the toilet, I would definitely suggest incorporating that as well which will make the transition to using the potty places other than home much easier when the time comes. My current favorite potties are the Super Pooper Plus Potty by The First Years Brand and the Learn-to-Go Potty by Summer Infant.

For people interested in becoming a potty training consultant, can they learn with you?

Yes! I'm very excited to have launched my Potty Training Consultant Certification Program this past May! The program is perfect for moms looking to start their own business or supplement their current career. With all of the uncertainties brought about by COVID, having a reliable virtual business could be a total game changer!

Inside the program, I teach you everything you need to know to start your own successful consultancy including my proprietary methods and techniques as well as business coaching. The demand for potty experts is increasingly on the rise and I am so proud to bring these valuable resources to more families in need all around the world! All the details can be found on my website if anyone is interested in learning more.

Name a few small businesses that you admire.

Little Z's Sleep Consulting (An amazing consultancy run by an amazing lady! She inspires me to grow and expand my business with all she does!)

Lil Advents (The makers of one of my favorite potty products - potty training advent calendars! Such a great product and super nice people. I love what they do!)

And finally, where can we find you?

Website: www.pottytrainingconsultant.com

Instagram/social: @pottytrainingconsultant (both IG and Facebook!)