Not your typical potty training advice

- get rid of the pull-ups already - they make you lazy and you won't give it your full effort until your cleaning up little puddles everywhere

- skip the super expensive character underwear until later on - get the econo pack with cute colours and shapes. You will be glad you did when you can just chuck a pair here or there without wasting $4 each. Once when I was out my hubby apparently cut off her panties with scissors and chucked them lol.

- by all means read the how to train your kid in 24 hours articles - but don't be discouraged when it doesn't work

- put them on the potty very first thing in the morning - good to start off the day on a positive note

- put them on every 15 minutes and an hour after they have peed, you can readjust times once you get a sense of how often they go

- if you forget to put them on, or the last time they went you can get a free potty training app or a good old fashioned egg timer

- lots of sites say kids don't like the feeling of being wet or are embarrassed when they pee their pants, this wasn't true for my daughter who barely seemed to care

- after a week if they are still having lots of accidents don't feel discouraged - trudge on it will get better

- kids need to learn to use their bladder muscles because they are used to just going whenever. After about a week and a half she started going as soon as she sat on the pot and tried

- then she learned to hold it for about three seconds. read: mommy get the potty fast!

- so it will get better we went from 50% success rate to 95% In about just over 2 weeks

- don't put on diapers to take them out, it will set you back try to keep trips short and right after they have peed so you should have an hour or so

- if they do have an accident while out just keep an extra pair of underwear and pants in your purse and a plastic bag for the wet ones and call for a clean-up in aisle 8 - If you are super embarrassed well don't be it has happened before - and if you are still embarrassed just tell them you spilt your umm... Apple juice *cough

- did I mention dresses are fantastic when potty training

- if your kids refuses to tell they have to pee it can be frustrating but eventually they will have a tell - an oh? suddenly freezing, a certain look  on their face - something. Put those college day poker skills to good use.

- do not put off potty training because there will be an easier time there rarely will be, I'm too tired because I'm uber pregnant, maybe when younger sibling isn't a newborn , etc. just do it - plus think of the money you'll save on those dang diapers

- oh yeah and don't buy the potty I did (the cute talking frog one) that has a light removable pot that sticks to their bum when they stand up- you will be standing in a puddle despite the success

-what's your potty training advice???

We have not yet mastered the potty - we still have to work on nightimes, graduating to a toilet, and going while out but we will get there -- eventually. Good luck to you and feel free to ask questions from an average mom in the comments

And if you are looking for some free potty training charts be sure to check out my Free Potty Training Chart Round-Up with lots of kids favourite characters including princesses, Cars and Dora.

*image by Juhan Sonin