Potty Training Readiness

How do you know when it is the right time to start potty training your child?

Potty training readiness isn’t always clear.

Deciding when, and how to move our wee ones from diapers to freedom is something every parent must eventually face.

The common timeframe offered by experts is somewhere between 18 months and 3 years of age, though age is never as relevant as potty training readiness.

• If your child can tell you about their dirty diaper, they are probably ready.
• If your child can articulate their need to be clean, they are probably ready.
• If you can have a conversation about potty training with your child, they have already been ready a while.

Toilet training might be the first major chasm we cross as parents. It involves us as much as them, delivers them from one era to the next, and must be driven by careful, consistent and considerate thought.

Learning to use the restroom isn’t just about losing the diaper, it is also about gaining personal responsibility.

When we allow our children to stay in diapers after we know they are capable of doing otherwise simply because they do not wish to take their next step, or because it is more convenient for us, then we are allowing them to make the rules and setting a poor precedent at too early an age.

Worse than bypassing potty training readiness, we are teaching our little one that weʼre comfortable with the idea of cleaning up after them, until they decide different.

We know what youʼre thinking —  “But my daughterʼs only two.” That may be true, but sheʼll soon be four, then six… then sixteen. Right now, sheʼs learning who she is and the early years are paramount.

For some children potty training is effortless, as easy as slipping vegetables into their mac and cheese. For others, potty training is a trying time when our little spawn will heavily assert their will.

This difficulty cannot detour us. Remember, itʼs called potty training.  We may have a little extra laundry, and a load of extra conflict, but the battle is relatively short, and the aftermath will leave your child (as well as yourself) stronger than ever before.

This is all pragmatic, yet perfectly practical parents seem to lose all perspective when it comes to searching for potty training readiness signs.

Itʼs delicate. Either we hedge because of the anticipated difficulty, or we allow fear to paralyze our momentum, afraid of the damage to our child’s psyche if we push too hard or too fast.

As far as cerebral ruin, weʼre not suggesting anyone wrap their child in chains until they can properly eliminate. We are simply saying that it is important to honestly observe our children to search signs of potty training readiness for it is us who know them best.

Once you feel confident your child understands what is happening (and what they are supposed to do), and you are comfortable that their bodies are capable of getting the job done, you mustn’t stand idle and allow your child to make messes without accountability.

Potty training doesn’t begin when you finally decide to grit your teeth and buy a couple dozen pair of underwear.  It is an awareness that should be woven into conversation from the changing table forward.  If approached with the proper measure of communication and warmth, potty training will be a positive and empowering experience for all involved.

Children develop at different speeds and there is no single shining moment that burns brighter than the others. You can set your child up for the greatest success by starting their toilet training at the most appropriate time.

Though the verbal and emotional parts of potty training should begin at the earliest opportunity, there are a few particular skills your child should have before moving on to the more physical part.

Make sure your child can do the following:

• Sit down without support
• Run or walk fast
• Pull his or her pants up without assistance
• Provide a verbal or visual cue to let you know they need to go potty.

If your child has difficulty with any of the above, a wee bit of practice will get them going. Again, fun is the name of the game.

Run around with your child outside. Chase birds and butterflies, make sure to use prompts such as, “Let’s go,” that precede the action. Teach your child to pull their pants up and down by themselves and be mindful of the behavior displayed prior to elimination.

• Does your child assume a certain position?
• Does your child make any particular sounds?
• Does your child’s face turn red?
• Does your child retreat to a specific location?

Once you are sure your child has achieved potty training readiness, it’s time to move on to the next step: potty training preparation.

Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!