Potty training is different for every child. Some learn right away, without a lot of help and some still have accidents up to and even during the preschool and kindergarten years. There are many training tools and toys available today to help make the training process more attractive to toddlers. There are music playing potties, baby dolls that go potty, potty videos and children’s books. There are also a plethora of training books and websites for mommies and daddies.
When do you potty train?
When it all comes down to is, there is nothing you can do to force a child to potty train. When they are ready, they will go potty on their own. Following are some helpful hints and tips to make the process at least a little easier.
- You can tell that a child is ready when they begin telling you that their diaper is wet. Most experts agree this will happen around age 2 to 3. Often girls will start learning earlier than boys will.
- Educate your child about the process. Read them books about the subject and let them watch potty training videos.
- Let them know the benefits of using the potty. Help them understand how it is much better to be dry and clean by using the potty over diapers.
- Most doctors say that it’s better to let the child use underwear to train. Make it fun and let them pick out their first special pairs.
- Pick a special day to begin training and mark it on the calendar. Let them practice with a doll that goes potty and celebrate when the doll gets their big girl/boy underwear. Also, be sure and let the child begin to practice pulling their underwear and pants up and down. For some children it is helpful to let them run around pantless for the first couple of days, just to get the feel of when to go, without the worry of learning how to pull their pants down.
Don’t forget that you must be ready also. Pick a time to begin training when you feel relaxed and the family will be home. You can always put a potty chair in the playroom, the kitchen, the basement or wherever if your child has a hard time making it to the bathroom. Be sure you praise them for their successes and down play their failures. You never want to pressure your child to succeed, or they may become stressed and give up on the whole process.