Easy Clean Up for Potty Training Toddlers: 10 Easy Hacks for 2023
Our potty-training journey has been a long game as we and our toddler have been learning to navigate this together. Here are 10 easy and thrifty hacks for potty training cleaning for your toddler. We’ve probably had hundreds of accidents over the past few years. I am going to share some tips on accident-proofing and keeping your home clean while potty training a toddler. You probably have most of the needed materials at home. You can also purchase them easily at your local dollar store.
Our daughters were born 18 months apart. We had been using a tiny potty and offering it at diaper changes and routine transitional times since our daughter could hold her head up-around 4 months old. I thought it would be a pretty smooth transition to potty training. I planned to start potty training with Gerber training pants and start using our cloth diapers for our new baby. We started using training pants with our older daughter around 20 months old. After watching many videos on YouTube like “Potty Train Your Toddler in 3 days” I thought this would be fairly simple. I didn’t realize at the time that we had embarked on a potty-training journey that has been going on for over a year and a half now!
Our daughter is getting better and better over time, and I have learned a lot too. Each child is on their own timetable. The best way to handle accidents is not to get stressed out. With the right set-up in your home, you can stay more positive and encouraging despite accidents along the way. These tips also work great for cloth diapering as sometimes leaks can also leave wetness on surfaces.
1. Accident Prevention is the First Step in Keeping your home clean while potty training a toddler
Using transition times to have your child use the potty is a great way to prevent accidents. In our home, we have a routine of having our toddlers use the potty upon waking up in the morning and from naps, before eating, after mealtimes and before bedtime. There are times when they decline to use their potty, but usually this routine helps to minimize accidents.
The other motivating time to have them try going potty is before watching a program on tv. I won’t start the program until they do a potty attempt. You should see how fast she runs to the potty when her favorite program is on hold!
2. The More Potties the Better
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Finding the right potty chair for your child can seem overwhelming because of all the choices. I have found having multiple potty chairs in different locations and a potty seat for the toilet can help to prevent accidents.
You can try different styles of potty chairs, usually the simpler the better. Make sure to search the reviews about leaks. There are many potty seats that look really cute or fun, but reviewers mention they have a problem with leaking or not keeping the urine from spraying out.
Put their favorite potty chair where they use them the most-like in their room or the bathroom. We have them in their bedroom, our bathroom and one in the basement play area. We also have a child seat that fits over our toilet seat. Sometimes our daughter prefers the floor seat and sometimes she wants to sit on the full-size toilet. We also bring a small potty chair with us in our van. The ones that work best for our girls are the Ikea Little Green Potty and the Baby Bjorn seat. They are affordable, easy to clean, and I haven’t had them leak (at least for girls)
3. Waterproof Changing Pads Are Great at Containing Accidents
When our daughter was born, we purchased a 3 pack of waterproof changing pads. These have been so helpful!
While potty training, we explained to our toddler that if she wanted to sit on the couch or chairs, she can sit on her “mat”. These are soft and comfortable to sit on and are totally waterproof- (except for the very edges). When she has an accident on the pad, I just throw it in the laundry and rotate in a clean one to use. You can use these on top of any surface including in the car or booster seat.
4. Accident-Proof Your Sofas and Chairs for Easy Potty Training Clean-Up
A major part of keeping your home clean while potty training a toddler is to protect your couches and chairs. There are definitely times when there are accidents on the sofas, and you don’t want the cushions to get soiled. What we do is place puppy pads on each cushion. The pads aren’t usually large enough to cover the entire cushion, but we center it on the most sat upon part. We place the pads with the plastic side up so that we can just clean the plastic surface and be able to reuse it multiple times.
Next, you can add a cover to the couch that is washable. It is helpful to have a few to use so you can rotate them if one is in the laundry. We didn’t buy any covers, but used blankets and quilts that we already had. Since accidents rarely stain when rinsed and laundered promptly, it is a great time to display some of the blankets or quilts you have packed away. You can also use a knit or crocheted throw to just go over the cushions and tuck in. This gives you a cozy feel to your decor.
One thing about this method is that the puppy pads will need adjusted from time to time and re-tucked in. You will also need to straighten the covers up to a few times a day depending on how much they shift with use. I tried a dollar tree shower curtain liner once under the cover. I thought it would cover more area and stay in place, but the sound was so crinkly every time we sat down, I went back to the puppy pads which are silent.
Hopefully by encouraging using a waterproof pad to sit on, you won’t have to wash these covers often. That said, it is helpful to have 2 to 3 options to cover your furniture to use while one is in waiting to be washed.
5. Accident-Proof Your Toddler's Bed
Find a good waterproof mattress pad to keep your mattress safe from accidents. To avoid having to wash the protector often, try placing 2 puppy pads (plastic side up) under the fitted sheet towards the middle of the bed where your child lays most. This way you only need to wash the fitted sheet and any blankets that get wet, instead of the mattress pad too. I use a 50/50 vinegar water spray bottle and a rag to wipe down the plastic side of the puppy pad.
We do still use disposable diapers at bedtime. I read in this helpful article that staying dry all night is a developmental milestone, and until the individual child is ready, the toddler has little control over accidents at night. We had tried just doing training pants at night and it resulted in a heavily wetted bed, soaked pajamas, and trying to change our daughter while she was sleeping. When her diaper is repeatedly dry each night, we will know it is time for her to try sleeping without them. Until then, it is much easier and more peaceful for everyone when she uses diapers at night 🙂
6. Dollar Store Placemats Can Help Protect Your Carpet and Floor While Potty Training Your Toddler
We have some toys on the carpet like a doll house and blocks that our daughters really enjoy playing with. I found some attractive plastic large placemats that work well for our daughter to sit on while playing. I told her I had a special surprise for her and gave her the mats on day. She does really well at sitting on them when she is playing in that area.
I also keep a placemat under the potty chair in her room. This helps for easy cleanup if there are any leaks on the way to the potty. If you do happen to catch some liquid, always check underneath the mat just in case any urine ran under it. If it gets wet underneath, I go over the floor with some vinegar spray and wash off the mat quickly in our bathtub and prop up to try both sides.
7. Keep Your Potty-Training Accident Clean-Up- Kit Ready
I prefer to use household rags to clean up accidents. This way I am not going through a lot of paper towels. Usually a few washrags or a hand-towel size are sufficient for an accident. I can wash them along with our cloth diapers or in our weekly bleach load.
Once I have mopped up any liquids or solids, I spray the area with a water and white vinegar spray (I use a 50/50 solution). I wipe with a clean rag and try to encourage our toddler that we will try again to make it next time. If you stay positive and not scold your child for accidents, they are less likely to lose their confidence and get discouraged. Sometimes, I invite my daughter to help me clean the area, she likes to help and mirror what I am doing.
Other accidents on washable materials can go right into your next laundry load.
If your toddler has an accident on your furniture cushions. You can absorb as much as you can with a dry rag. Then you can spray the spot and soak it with your white vinegar 50/50 solution. You may want to test this in an area to make sure it agrees with your fabric and doesn’t discolor it.
Cushions can take a while to dry. My favorite method is putting them out in the sun if it is a warm day outside and they dry quickly. You can also prop them up near a heating/cooling vent on a day when the weather isn’t warm and sunny.
8. How to Clean Toddler's Clothes When Accidents Happen
For most urine accidents the clothing can be washed and usually won’t stain if rinsed promptly.
Since we do cloth diapering and cotton training pants, I don’t usually rinse the wet clothes. I toss them in our diaper bin and on wash day, everything in the bin will go through a rinse cycle with a little detergent and 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Once the rinse cycle is finished, I add the rest of our clothes to the washer and wash everything in a regular cycle.
For stains from bowel movements, do your best to flush as much of the stain away with cold water. Then you can apply white vinegar and use an old toothbrush to work it into the fabric. If you aren’t running the washing machine right away, soak it in a small tub overnight with some soap and white vinegar in the water. You can also use a stain remover of your choice. If the fabric is bleachable in a wash cycle, that is also an option.
9. You Can Repurpose Plastic Mailer Envelopes to Help Catch Accidents
If you have a place where accidents happen often, you can use a plastic-coated mailer envelope to cover a surface. I use a large one under our booster chair since accidents can run through the strap holes onto our dining room chair. You can also cut a mailer envelope to fit on a toddler chair.
We have a foam toddler chair with a removable cover. I used one on top of the cover and one underneath to protect the foam in case there were any leaks.
The plastic in itself won’t absorb liquid. If you put a pillowcase or an old hand towel over it, the liquid won’t run off of the plastic and is easy to clean.
10. The Easiest Way to Clean Your Toddler's Potty Chair
The more use a potty chair gets, the more you will need to clean it. Fortunately, it is very easy to do!
I like to use my 50/50 vinegar spray and wipe it down with a rag. I always do the basin part last. I rinse it in between uses and dump the rinse water in the toilet. When your toddler starts using the chair more frequently and independently, a mineral deposit scale can form in the basin if the urine sits in it for longer-like overnight. You can drench the basin with the vinegar spray and come back in about 10 minutes to wipe it clean.
For tougher scale, you can use a little toothpaste on some toilet tissue and scrub any stain away. Discard the toilet paper in the toilet and rinse the basin and it will sparkle!
Bonus Tip*
When using our full-sized toilet with a toddler potty seat, our daughter became fascinated with banging the toilet lid against the tank. It made such a loud noise and was quite rattling on our nerves! I placed a self-stick felt pad on the top of the lid where it would contact the front of the tank. You can purchase these at the dollar store. They are designed to stick to the bottoms of your furniture, so you don’t scratch your wood floors.
This has made things much more peaceful. It also helps to eliminate any loud noises when anyone has to use the bathroom and puts the lid up.
Conclusion: With a Little Enginuity and Positivity, Keeping Your Home Clean while Potty Training a Toddler is Possible!
Having potties available in multiple locations and having a routine of using the potty in transitional times can help to keep your home clean while potty training. Strategically placing puppy pads, and waterproof materials around your frequently used areas can help reduce clean up time for potty training accidents.
Although potty training can seem to drag on, remember that this is a very special time of learning and growth in your toddler. Let’s stay positive and not stress about accidents. I’m not proud of how I handled accidents in the beginning of this process, and I let worrying about accidents distract me from fully embracing this milestone stage. Then, I was humbled by realizing that my mother had to potty train me when I was a toddler, and she probably cleaned up even more accidents along the way! This gave me much more empathy and remined me that accidents are “no big deal”, we all go through it! We just have one chance to potty train each child. We can bless them by giving grace and unconditional love.
For more ideas on frugal solutions to potty training and diapering, check out my post about super simple homemade reusable baby wipes! I’d love for you to comment below and share any additional strategies or ideas that are helping you through potty training your toddler! Also feel free to share this with your friends who are going through this as well!
