Playing with a potty training doll doesn’t just make ditching nappies more fun, it can help speed up the toilet transitioning process too. From demonstrating how to control wee or poop to communicating the need to go, potty training doll friends are perfect for pretend potty play and social skills building.
Here, we share some of the most effective ways to incorporate potty training doll play into your little one’s toilet training routine, making the road to no-nappies a simpler one.
Benefits of a potty training doll in toilet teaching
A potty training doll is one of the most effective ways to toilet train, even for the most reluctant toddlers. For the best results (and most fun practicing), a potty training doll friend should be able to drink real water as well as wee and poop. Our potty training dolls are ideal playmates for potty-time and beyond, with controlled wetting, potty-use, and drinking real water among many other exciting functions! Take a look at these dolls can help get your own tot on the pot. They help:
- Practice potty roleplay and social skills
Children learn pooing by doing! A potty training doll provides a fun opportunity for toddlers to practice going to the toilet, as well as exploring roleplay scenarios for social skills and independence. Practicing with a potty training doll helps tots understand when and how to use the toilet, so they can easily imitate their doll friend themselves. For slightly older children who are soon to start school, the toilet education can continue with doll play. It’s important they build on their new skills and become independent, given that teachers won’t be on hand to help them with every toilet experience.
- Develop fine motor skills
Part of building a little one’s toilet independence includes being able to undress themselves – mainly to pull their pants down and then dress again afterwards. Dolls such as BABY born Magic Boy are super-movable, with clothes and accessories included that make it easy for tiny hands to assist in feeding, dressing, sitting them on their potty, or changing their dinky doll nappies. By learning these sequences with a potty training doll, they’ll be able to translate the motions themselves.
- Teach ‘toilet’ words and other communication skills
A potty training doll gives plenty of opportunities to learn and practice different words for actions, objects, feelings, and bodily processes. With life-like functions such as real tears and wetting, BABY born Little Girl helps little ones develop empathy and understanding, she even comes with her own doll potty to help encourage the subject. Asking thought-provoking questions such as ‘does BABY born need to have a try on the toilet?’ followed by controlled pooping in the doll potty can help your own tot connect the words to the actions.
How to use a potty training doll in roleplay scenarios
There are numerous books on toilet training, many including a potty training doll as a highly effective method. Some use fast-track timeframes, others let little ones go at their own pace. Every child develops differently, so whether you’re devoting a day to potty-practice or taking a zero-pressure approach, these potty training doll roleplay tips will help get you from nappy to happy in your own time.
- Set up your potty training area and potty training doll
To get the most out of potty training, it can help to have a specific area set up to practice. The bathroom or kitchen can be a good place to start (since they’re easier to clean). Have a potty chair on the floor, a potty training doll with potty (BABY Born Little Boy is perfect, and comes with all the accessories you’ll need for this), distractions such as books, and drinks (to make sure your little one has plenty to wee).
- Show your little one the toilet routine using their potty training doll
With a fun and life-like potty training doll like BABY born, you can give your doll a drink of real water. Then, tell your little one that their doll friend has to wee! Take off the doll’s nappy, help them sit on the doll potty, and squeeze BABY born’s tummy so they wee. Well done, BABY born! Be sure to praise your potty training doll, or even better – have them go on the BABY born Poo-Poo Toilet, which includes wee sounds, rainbow glitter poop, and a round of applause when done! It even has a big flush button that makes your doll’s poop magically disappear!
- Practice different scenarios with pretend play
Once you’ve shown your little one how the potty training doll goes to the potty, let them pretend-play themselves, assisting their doll friend in drinking, weeing and pooping in the potty. You can also make BABY born wee in their nappy, so your child can check to see if it’s dry or wet. If it’s dry, you can praise their clever sidekick together. If the nappy is wet, gently remind your tot that big girls and boys don’t wet their pants.
- Move the roleplay scenarios from potty training doll to your child
After going through the pretend-play routine several times, your little one will now have plenty of experience getting their dolly on the potty, watching them go without worry and being praised for trying, as well as going. With a better understanding of the toilet routine, they can now repeat the same steps as their potty training doll friend. This may take days, weeks, or months – every child is different.
- Don’t forget hygiene!
After your doll has done a wee or poop in their potty, show your little one how you empty it into the toilet before washing the doll’s hands. You can wipe your dolly down with a teeny flannel, or, if your potty training doll has wet their nappy, you can rinse them down in the BABY born Bath Bathtub or BABY born Bath Walk-In Shower. For more exciting ways to incorporate doll roleplay into hygiene routines, read our guide to making bath time fun.
Getting your little one to go on their own can be a long and often messy process. A potty training doll can speed up the toilet transitioning, making it more exciting and less stressful for little ones and parents alike, while creating important roleplay scenarios for social skills to practice before they head off to school. Learn more about learning through imaginative play and browse our full range of dolls that wee to help make potty training fun.
