There are many different methods for potty training children.
Each method is popular for different reasons, but the important thing to remember when doing your homework is that you must identify which method and suggestions work best for your child.
There are core strategies most methods share, but one size does not fit all when it comes to potty training.
Children grow and develop at different rates. If you have more than one chid, it can be shocking how different each child, is in spite of the consistency in parenting style.
When potty training children, choosing the right method can be the key to success. You want to train your child so you can ditch the diaper, hit the potty seat and smile at the success of your parenting.
Here are three ideas to remember in the process.
- Inch by inch. Capitalize on your child’s desire to learn and grow. Reading books related to toilet training as a family, picking out the potty seat and underwear together reinforces the process and goal in mind.
- Unnecessary Pressure. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on your child to succeed. If your child is afraid of the seat or toilet, let him sit on it fully clothed daily for a few minutes, then work towards taking the diaper off so he can sit like Mom and Dad. This is a journey, not an event. Part of the process is introduction and planning for pre-training. Children need to feel as though they are part of the process, rather than thrown into the situation with the expectation that he will do exactly what he is suppose to after you read a couple of books and buy the potty seat and underwear.
- Maintain hyperbolic excitement when potty training. Children desire our approval and this is a motivating tool to use when potty training. However, keep it real because you aren’t going to be able to maintain the confetti throwing party and treat train every time. Praise genuinely and give your child a moment to admire his success to promote the pride you both feel.
- Approval and Praise. Nobody wants to be a failure. It is job one to ensure that your response is not visibly exasperated, frustrated, or punitive when your child makes a mistake. Replace saying, “That’s not right or you missed again” with “We will try again, mistakes happen.” This keeps the child encouraged and teaches mistakes are part of learning.
- Combat of the wills and will not. Oppositional behavior is sometimes a part of potty training children, as developmentally that is where many children are at behaviorally. This is because they are discovering their independence and the power of their own will. Do not get into a power struggle about going potty. You will lose every time and be frustrated beyond belief. If you minimize the issue in front of your child then you are making it apparent that the training is for him, not you. The power is in being tenacious and consistently providing the opportunities until success is achieved.
There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your child take his steps no matter what they are.
Remember, you are your child’s first teacher.
It is the encouragement and safety net we provide when potty training children that allows them to make mistakes and propel their achievement in whatever goals we set together.
Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!
Getting started with a potty training schedule and gaining early momentum is far easier when you have a well established routine.
The more consistent your rhythm, especially in the beginning, the more you will exponentially increase your opportunities for success.
Here is a list of times to put your child on the potty each day. Use this potty training schedule to help you get started right!
- When he or she rises first thing in the morning
- Whenever the potty timer goes off throughout the day
- Right before rest time
- Immediately after rest time
- Prior to leaving the house
- Immediately after arriving back home after an outing
- The last thing before going to bed at night
- When your instincts say it’s time based on your child’s patterns
Starting out with this schedule for potty training should get your child going #1 and #2 on a proper potty training schedule in no time, but even if it doesn’t, it’s okay. Allow your child to sit on the potty for a couple of minutes at a time. If nothing happens, tell them it’s okay and that they can try again later.
In the beginning, you will want to use the timer. Set it to go off every 30 minutes or so. Once your child is remaining dry for longer periods of time, you will want to add 15-30 minutes to the length.
Never make your child feel unsuccessful when they are unable to eliminate, yet make sure you offer them praise each and every time they do. Sing a song, do a dance, act as though you just won a radio contest with free tickets to Disney World. Give your child hugs, high fives, and stickers for their potty chart. Make them feel success.
In the beginning of your new potty training schedule, it is a best practice to make going to the potty as inviting as possible. If you want your child to feel comfortable, they need to be sure that you are comfortable as well. Whenever you (or any member of the family) needs to use the restroom, try to announce it.
This demonstrates to your child that not only does everybody need to go, but it is something that takes place all throughout the day.
If your child accompanies you to the restroom every time you go, they will be far more likely to have an accelerated training. Children learn by example and there is no substitution for strong, consistent modeling.
At first you will need to remain ultra observant of your child’s rhythm if you wish to best understand it. After about a week, you should have a general idea of your child’s patterns, at least in regard to when and how often they will need to go.
Once you have internalized this potty training schedule, it is only a matter of consistent practice to move them to the finish line.
The end result is to have your child know when they must go potty, control their elimination, and do it on their own. Of course this will not all happen in an instant.
You might want to accompany your child to the restroom in the beginning, and even stay with them the entire time, but as they grow increasingly able to use the potty themselves, you will need to gradually remove yourself from the routine. Of course you can remain right on the other side of the door, but the goal is to get your child to feel confident in their potty training routine so they can do it by themselves.
Now for the shocker: Even with the best potty training schedule possible – YOUR CHILD WILL HAVE ACCIDENTS!
It is a rare child indeed that gets through potty training without a single “oops!” Though accidents can feel discouraging, they don’t have to. Understand, potty training is no different from any other life skill learned; we first must fall so that we can best learn to stand.
In the next post, we’ll discuss night time potty training as well as what to do in the somewhat inevitable event of an accident.
Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!
There are many factors you must consider before you start potty training. Age is one of the most important.
Most parents start asking for potty training advice just as their child is approaching their second birthday, some start much sooner. Books are opened, questions asked, and a ton of potty training techniques are tabulated. Everyone seems to say something slightly different and the majority of moms and dads are still left wondering when to start potty training.
This seems like such a difficult question because the proper potty training age cannot be determined by a specific formula. Though, “What is the proper potty training age” is a perfectly legitimate question, the answers are as varied the people responding. Depending on who you ask, the best potty training age is said to be from anywhere as young as six months to approaching three years. That’s quite a chasm to cross. Obviously, the best age for potty training must be determined less by months on the calendar than by your child’s emotional readiness and mental comprehension.
Before you can move to toilet training triumph, your child must have a bladder, capable of carrying out the responsibilities of toilet training alongside a mind willing to do so. As soon as you witness your child able to stay consistently dry for longer stretches of time, they are at the right potty training age physiologically.
If they understand what is happening, and what is expected of them, then they are at the proper potty training age emotionally as well.
Once your child is both physically and emotionally ready, you can start toilet training with a smile on your face. Just know, all the potty training tips in the world will never make it happen without consistency behind them. Potty training is a process, not an event, and it takes place between you and your child.
Like most things worth getting through, toilet training will most likely not happen overnight. It is best to enter the process with reasonable expectations. Don’t believe that just because your child has reached their optimum age for potty training, you will have a single, easy potty training day and that will be all.
Life is rarely so simple.
It is not a rarity to see claims of 3 day potty training. It is far rarer to see them successfully unfold. Unreasonable expectations lead quickly to impatience, impatience to discouragement.
Know what you are doing, and that potty training isn’t likely to happen overnight, and whatever potty training age you choose is likely the best possible decision.
Potty Training…AWAY!!!
Every parent must eventually decide when to take their child from dependence on diapers, to toilet training toddlers, then finally to independence.
Potty training tips vary, but the timeframe most often offered by potty training advice wielding experts is between one and a half and three years, though age isn’t near as relevant as readiness.
When your child can tell you they have a dirty diaper, they’re probably ready. If they can properly articulate a need to be clean, they’ve likely been ready for a while.
Toilet training is difficult, toddler toilet training especially, yet it is one of the first major chasms we must cross as mom and dad. Toilet training our toddlers involves us every bit as much as them, and must be carried out by careful thought. The potty training process isn’t just about ditching the diaper, it’s about gaining the personal responsibility that comes along with it. Starting with the proper potty training techniques is the best way to experience early success.
Allowing your child to stay swaddled in their diaper after they’ve shown they’re capable of doing otherwise (simply because they are hedging on their next step or stagnation makes it simpler for your schedule), then you are also allowing our child to draft the household decisions, and thus plotting out a poor precedent at an early age.
Even worse, you are teaching your child that you are comfortable cleaning up after them until they decide different.
You’re probably thinking, “But my daughter’s only two!”
Sure, but she’ll soon be five, then ten… then fifteen. She’s learning who she is right now and the first years couldn’t be more important.
For some toddlers, toilet training hits a home run without a lot of effort, easy as slipping wheat germ in the cake batter. Other children find it a trying time when they feel they must assert their will. Though the process can be difficult, you can not be detoured.
Remember, it’s called toilet training for a reason. You may have a few extra loads laundry, but the battle is brief. When it’s over, your child will be stronger and so will you.
Written down in black and white this all sounds perfectly pragmatic, but many a practical parent appears to lose all perspective when the subject falls to toilet training your toddler.
When to start potty training is a delicate subject – either you hedge because of the anticipated struggle, or you are afraid of possible damage to their psyche if we push our toddlers too hard.
As far as warping your little one’s childhood, no one is suggesting you wrap your child in chains until they can properly use the potty. Simply take the time to observe your child, for it is you who know them best. Be realistic. Few children glide through potty training.
Day by day is the best design.
Of all the toilet training tips, here’s the one that takes the prize: Once confident your child understands what is happening and what they are required to do, you have no excuse to straddle the road any longer. Toddler toilet training doesn’t start the second we come home from the store with a few dozen pairs of underwear. Toilet training is an awareness that you can build from the changing table forward.
Toilet training toddlers starts with us, but it finishes with them.
Potty Training Power…AWAY!!!
The right toilet training tips can be a life preserver keeping your family afloat when they need help the most.
Most families arrive at a time in their toilet training when they cross their fingers and hope the countless potty training tips that have come their way will finally pan out with some results.
It isn’t that potty training is necessary difficult, it’s just that it can be emotionally exhausting for mom, dad, and child alike.
There are as many ways to potty train as there are bums to wipe. How each family goes about the process is dependent upon the DNA of that particular family. Veteran parents pass out advice like candy on Halloween, but the three best toilet training tips you’ll ever really need are these: patience, patience, patience.
Having said that, here are a few additional toilet training tips that apply to just about every family.
Encourage Your Child
One thing to remember as your child approaches the age when potty training’s imminent and toilet training tips are necessary: never force the issue. Don’t heed the advice of those who tell you thedeed can be done in a single potty training day. Your child will let you know when they are ready.
Knowing when to start potty training is paramount. Forcing your child into toilet training tips the scales against you. Instead of taking the easy road to potty training success, you will likely find yourself crying for help while your child digs their heels into the dirt.
Remain Cool and Collected
Be Cool. If your child has an accident because they are unable to make it to the toilet in time, DO NOT make a huge deal. Accidents happen, be wary of toilet training tips suggesting otherwise.
Making a scene will never lead to accomplishing your goals. Toddler logic will simply tell your child that they are going to get into trouble no matter what, so they may as well not try. Endow them with confidence and you will encourage success.
Make it Easy
The final toilet training tip (at least for today) is to dress your child in a way that makes their clothing simple to pull down or remove entirely without assistance. Be sure to promote independence from the beginning. Making your child feel as though they are in charge is a sure way to increase your chances of successful toilet training.
Tips are everywhere – you must decide on those that deliver the most help to you and your family. Don’t expect a quick fix, or a 3 day potty training plan to answer all your problems.
Be consistent and soon enough, you will be flushing to your success!
There are many different methods for potty training children.
