The Potty Playbook from Restored Nights, plus 10% off

Ask five parents how they potty trained and you'll get five different answers. My toddler isn't ready yet, but it's coming, so I read the Potty Playbook from Restored Nights, a sleep and potty training practice here in Franklin. It's something I'd use when we get there.

Restored Nights set up a code for Little Wilco readers: LITTLEWILCO10 takes 10% off, and the $29 guide comes to $26.10.

Who's behind it

Restored Nights is run by Lauren, a family nurse practitioner who is certified as a pediatric sleep consultant and a potty training consultant through the Institute of Pediatric Sleep & Parenting. She's based in Franklin and works with families around Nashville and virtually. Her background is on the Restored Nights about page.

What's in the guide

It's a 48-page PDF in three parts.

Getting ready. A short readiness quiz, potty books and videos to introduce the idea, and a prep list: a potty your child helps pick, regular underwear, a reward chart and waterproof pads for nap.

The plan. Day one gets the most pages. You start bare bottom at home, watch for your child's cues, and use one simple phrase when it's time, like "it's potty time." Days two and three are about keeping the routine going, with a first short outing on day three. A separate section covers day four and beyond, for the many kids who need more time.

When it gets bumpy. Fear of the toilet or the flush, accidents, holding poop, outings, public restrooms with automatic flushers, and tantrums each get their own pages. Nighttime gets a short section too.

It ends with printables: a reward chart, a potty cue tracker, an outings packing list, a page for working with your daycare or preschool, a thank-you note for your child's teacher and a potty steps chart to hang by the potty.

The approach

It's a gentle version of the three-day method. Daytime diapers come off on day one. Instead of running to the bathroom on a timer, you watch your child's signals and take them when they show you.

The tone stays calm the whole way through. It tells you not to force a child to sit or turn the potty into a power struggle, and to stop and try later if your child is scared. Accidents get a matter-of-fact response, something like "pee goes in the potty," then cleanup and moving on. Rewards help early, and the guide has a plan for scaling them back.

Anything medical, like constipation or holding pee for a long time, sends you to your pediatrician.

Good to know before you start

• Plan to be home for the first couple of days. The first outing it suggests is about an hour, right after a potty trip, with a travel potty in the car.
• It's mostly about daytime. If nights are your bigger question, that section is short and mostly says to wait until your child starts waking up dry.
• It says every kid moves at their own pace, and that needing more than three days is normal.
• It's written for healthy kids working through typical potty training bumps. Restored Nights asks you to check with your pediatrician first if your child has any medical or developmental concerns.

How to get 10% off

Buy the Potty Playbook on the Restored Nights site and enter LITTLEWILCO10 at checkout. It's a download, so you can use the code from anywhere. Restored Nights says digital sales are final.

Every reader code I have right now is on the Little Wilco discounts page.