Going potty part 1 : Bambino Mio Potty Training Kit review

Finally! Wanting to wait until our move to start properly potty training I can't put it off any longer: Leon seems ready, we now have wipe clean wooden floors, some sunshine, a sprinkling of potties dotted around the house and a Potty Training starter kit from Bambino Mio!

This kit helps with encouraging toddlers to feel relaxed and comfortable with the lightweight potty by owning it with decorative stickers they can receive as a reward. Included are two fabulous reusable training pants and a potty training guide to make the experience as stress-free as possible.

Bambino Mio Potty Training Kit £14.99

The guide points out several things to look out for to determine if your child is ready to start potty training which Leon does adhere to, however it suggests waiting if you've recently had a new baby, moved house or child has started nursery. Despite ticking all 3 of these boxes, we're determined to push on! Leon's playschool actively encourage it by seating the tots on potties around the table while they play and he's now shown more of an interest in toilets so I'm aware it may take slightly longer. I'm going to follow the guide's advice on sitting him on the potty at regular intervals during the day to see what happens. At the moment, he likes to sit on it but is careful as it moves around a bit and his long legs makes him a bit wobbly.

I wasn't keen on the idea of bringing the potty to the living room but can see the sense in it and don't have to rush anywhere if he asks for the potty (not that it's happened yet!). Now we have 3 potties and a little toilet seat (though not ready for that yet!). I found the tips of how to make the toilet area more appealing very useful, suggesting adding pictures, books, or a cuddly toy - but the reward stickers were the biggest hit. I've saved some for 'rewards' for when he actually does something in the potty - but as there were 2 sheets of them and Leon loves stickers, I let him use them to decorate it. And he's very proud of his potty, showing it off to people if they come over!

Leon decorating his Bambino Mio potty

In the kit are two toddler training pants which are soft and padded, making them very comfortable and easily washable and line dry well (although they take a bit longer to dry than normal pants due to the extra absorbency - and getting it off him after a poo is a bit gross). This week I've changed him into his pants when at home for short periods, eg. late afternoon until bedtime and he's getting more comfortable with that. This doesn't mean he's necessarily dry for those periods but now I've got to work on him telling me it's time to wee. I ask him regularly if he needs to go, but he doesn't take to the idea of going to the potty and will wait until he has a nappy on.

However he's now used to me asking him if he'd like to use the potty and that it's OK if he says no.

I'm looking forward to seeing this through and getting used to mopping the floor and doing extra loads but it's amazing how grown up he is already and accepting that he'll soon be out of nappies is the end of babydom. He's a little boy, growing so fast - he's enjoyed his first week of playschool (5 mornings!) and it's oh so exciting to see Elias in my arms and imagining the journey he's going to have with Leon's two years being so incredible already. 

Elias in his Bambino Mio nappy

Elias is joining in on the Bambino Mio action too with his washable nappies I snapped up at Mothercare for £30 (reduced from £100!) that I'll mention later.

Reusable nappies are also though to to make potty training quicker as children are used to the sensation of feeling wetness.







I'll keep you informed with the rest of our potty training adventure as it progresses!

I was sent the Bambino Mio Potty Training kit for this review but I highly recommend their products and you can find out more about their range on www.bambinomio.com and follow them on Twitter @BambinoMio

Sleeping heck

Oh dear, I didn't mean to leave more than two months between posts... Time has whizzed past, though honestly, I've enjoyed abandoning the online world a little bit, but it wasn't completely intentional. Packing up home and setting it up again, while getting to know life in the centre of a new, busy city- and living it up with my new baby who doesn't seem to like going off to sleep at night... Oh yes, I'd somehow forgotten that side of babies. Now at 2 months, I've lost a lot of my maternal patience and just wish he'd sleep nicely without me lying next to him giving him more and more boob. (Tonight the magic grandma who's over visiting managed to calm him down and he's now sleeping phew!) Leon has quickly adapted to Spanish life and is sleeping after 9pm and has 2 hour siestas during the day (which I often try to join with!) but his toddler energies, running around screaming, roaring, playing, can rile Elias no end and I'm sure this has made baby bedtime harder. Bath days are better and they're so sweet together in the bath and sleep quicker. Fortunately Leon is happy with his big boy bed and his new room, despite it being far from ours separated by a long corridor. However I can be sure to hear the pitter patter of his feet running to our bed at dawn and then a squish of 4 in a bed until it's time to get up.

I'd written about my post birth experiences - but then deemed the posts too long and boring to publish. In a way it shouldn't matter as this is a record of my journey but maybe some things should be kept to ourselves?
In a nutshell, the first few weeks weren't too bad - Elias slept a lot, Leon played mostly with his dad so was very happy, I had good support and felt well despite the feeding becoming a pain, and perhaps pushed myself a bit too much getting out and about early on thinking 'I can do it', neglecting the fact my body had been through childbirth. I eventually felt rather shitty a week after. I had major nipple pain (he even drew blood!), I didn't think I felt tired but my emotions took a hold of me and I got upset about my dad not being around to see his second grandchild.

I also felt frustrated that I didn't exactly know what to do - I was probably expecting to be a pro at babies having had one already... but it was tough. One breastfeeding expert paid me a visit and gave me about a hundred 'tips' to increase my milk flow as by "2 weeks post birth you'll be stuck with what you get and theres no going back." Uhuh.... I know she was trying to help but I didn't feel there was a problem with my milk flow and she just made me feel crap. She even suggested I have 8 showers a day, BEFORE every feed, pump AFTER every feed, have 4-5 hours of skin to skin a day, and wake up baby if it's been more than 3 hours since last feed... Errr yeah right.

Then we packed up home and moved to Madrid, and I plan to give some tips in another post, but for now I'll be happy to just press publish. Phew.