I'm not sure about trend...the only potty training parties I've seen prior to this were those sponsored by Pull-Ups and the like as marketing parties. I usually go with the "any excuse for a party" theory of party planning, but this seems to be pushing it. Perhaps a small party, en famille, but that's it.

Um, no. If I'm being completely honest, I think this is just plain ridiculous. Yes, it's a great milestone when your kid potty trains, but do we seriously need to overindulge kids for everything? What's next, a party for losing their teeth? This is just silly.

This is super cute, but it's a pretty big detour from the potty parties most guides suggest. Those parties are for parents and the potty trainee - and they're all about making using the potty fun as you go cold turkey and ditch the diapers.

Ridiculous.

I think this party was just for the author and three friends with kids all potty training. Something small like this where the parents bond over the stress and the kids get a big happy shove that makes them more likely to be excited about it seems fine to me.

I also don't think this is a real thing. I think pull-up companies are getting celebrities and bloggers to do them, but I've never heard of a real person doing this. I think kids are either ready for potty training or not and that depends on their own physilogy and peer pressure from the kids in preschool, older siblings, etc. I do agree that stickers and reward charts can provide encouragement to move things along, but having a potty training party won't make a kid interested.

My neighbor had a family only potty party for her son when he was finally done potty training. He had A LOT of issues with the whole thing, so I think that they felt that this would be a good incentive for the little guy. We didn't do the party thing, but we did totally bribe him with a t-shirt featuring his favorite character, Lightning McQueen.

Everytime I see something like this I think who the h*ll has time to this?

So what do you do when your toddler regresses a couple of weeks later back into nappies? Throw *another* party?

I hate to come across as all British and up-tight, but this is a bit beyond the pale for me! The party looks totally beautiful. But I think the idea is inherently a bit ridiculous. It's like a satire on all blog entries about children's parties, showing it all up as a self-referential exercise in setting up photos.
I suppose, from a certain point of view, if you have the time and energy (and aren't worries about raising your child's expectations) then why not. But I am probably slightly embittered, speaking from the point of view of a mother of a child with many strengths, but these strengths most definitely do not include any kind of gift with potty training. Far from throwing a party, I should have hosted some kind of collective mourning session for the trauma we've been through. Argh.
*thinks* Huh. Maybe that was my mistake? Maybe with a toilet-shaped mug full of sweets I could have avoided all this? ;)
So yes, for me: lovely-looking, but entirely and completely and unremittingly insane.

Wow, usually AT is my go to site for kids and party planning ideas, but I found the Bonne Nouvelle potty party weeks ago. And wow, so many negative comments for such a benign issue. What's wrong with celebrating a new milestone in your kid's life? We had a family potty party for my 3 year old son that took all of a few hours to plan and execute, including food, decorations, and a "trash the diaps (diapers) game". He was developmently ready for potty training, but the excitement really provided the motivation to go "sans diaps" that wasn't there before.

Neomott -- I fully support a small family affair for this milestone, but did you see the spread for the party in the post!?! My wedding had less involved decor! I was just really surprised to see it. Sure, it was beautiful, clever, and incredibly well-executed, but to me that begged my initial question.

This isn't a trend. The blogger was paid to promote Huggies' add campaign with blog candy. And I think it is annoying that you featured the pictures without noting that it is basically a paid advert.

Personally, I think the Huggies campaign is gross. "Potty like a rock star" brings to mind graphic, hideous, booze and drug fueled bowel accidents.

The greatest irony is that all those parents planning parties related to pull ups are going to be very annoyed when they find out how useless they are. Pull ups to do NOT help kids potty train.

I have heard of one or two of these and I agree that they are mostly just a marketing thing for pull-ups. My kid did just fine with a sticker chart leading to something that really thrilled him...and then he had occasional (read frequent) accidents for a good year afterward. Potty training (in the case of *my* son anyway) was not so cut-and-dry.
And fondant undies? Really? That seems like the fast-track to mommy-burn-out.

Parties for potty training... what comes next, first tooth party ? (wait, not enough marketing involved here). I can imagine First time he/she ate babyfood-party (sponsored by whoever makes babyhood), first commercial seen on tv-party... Ridiculous comes to mind, yes.

The more parties you make, the less significant they all are. I'll be old-fashioned and stick to birthdays and holidays.

I wish I could see the child in 18 years. "My mom threw me a potty party with potties treats for everyone to eat" *rolls eyes*

I think a first lost tooth party might actually be fun! It could be tooth fairy themed, maybe even do goofy stuff like have healthy foods a games where you brush away evil plaque puppets from paper mâché teeth. :P Emphasize that tooth care!

I wonder if that is already a thing.

OMG! Are you serious?? A potty party?? HILARIOUS...i am laughing at the sheer foolishness of it all.....

I would never attend something like this. Snacks made in a toilet's likeness and a diaper-chucking contest? It's embarrassing for everyone involved, perhaps most of all for the poor child of the ridiculous parents.

Gross. And when is a child fully potty-trained? This is ridiculous.

From the perspective of a mama who practices elimination communication (potty learning) with my 7 month old, I find the idea of rewarding, bribing and throwing parties to celebrate what is a normal human function more than absurd. Spending months, sometimes years bribing kids to use the potty with treats or toys and then throwing them a party of this magnitude reinforces the idea that has become all too pervasive in our society that nothing is worth doing without reward. My daughter refuses to poop in a diaper because it doesn't feel good. She is not coerced to use the potty, only helped to get there when she tells me she needs to go. And when she pees in a diaper or on the floor? Oh well. That's learning. Not learning to get something tangible for something so primal.

Calderacraft- I researched elimination communication while I was still pregnant and was ready to give it a try when our son was born. I found with my schedule as a new mom, full-time student, and part-time employee who works nights I didn't have the time or energy to devote to it. Plus everything I read led me to the conclusion that using EC as a path towards independent toileting actually takes much longer than waiting to "train" a toddler who is developmentally and biologically ready to control their bladder and bowels. I think "coerce" is a strong word to use to describe toddler potty training. Like those who choose to use EC, parents who choose potty training are also helping their children get there when they need to go.

Neomott- I respect the many reasons that parents may choose to wait to help their children learn to use the potty. I have the fortune to spend all day with my daughter and that definitely makes EC more "doable". As someone who spent 20 years as a nanny to kids at potty training age, I can say that I saw a lot of coercion of toddlers who were not at all interested. I strongly believe that if children are not given opportunity to potty as babies, they will likely be much more successful if they wait until much older (very few two year olds are interested in doing anything their parents want so badly for them to do). I must disagree with you on two points. First, every child I know who has used EC even part time was fully out of diapers by 18 months old. So while it may have taken up to 18 months to fully be out of diapers, overall time spent with diapers is far shorter. Second, babies are born with the ability to control their bladder and bowels. The idea that they aren't able to do this until after 2 is an antiquated notion. We all use different methods to help our children. It was merely my point that helping through bribing unnecessary rewards often leads to children who believe that anything worth doing must have a tangible payment.

Frankly we sort of did the opposite -- low key and non-committal. Like anything else as they started using the toilet, asking to imitate the grownups, we sort of downplayed it. Really?, the toilet?, okay. The personal satisfaction of proving to us they could do it, while we were not cheerleading or rewarding them, was more than enough. No adult agenda, no clapping, no pressure. Just the occasional observation (tinged with pride) wow, you are really growing up, you can do a lot of things on your own now. We were neutral about it the whole time, diapers or underwear, your choice. Wet your pants?, no big deal, lets find new clothes, can you help me get a towel? Seriously they have so much pride in themselves, why make it about external incentives?