Child Potty Training

Has potty training your child not been as successful as you thought it would be? As a parent, you will have to decide when your child is developmentally ready to start using the potty. Most children are ready between two to three years old, but there are variables. Here are a few ideas that might make the process easier on you and your toddler.

Start practicing using the toilet around the age of two. Go out and purchase a small potty chair or a potty seat that fits over the regular sized toilet. If you are potty training a boy make it has a shield in front so they do not make a mess. Bring the potty chair into the room that your child spends most of their time in on a day or weekend when you have some free time. Let your child run around in just a shirt with their diaper off. If you have them in a diaper they will never get the idea that when they urinate it will run down their legs and make a mess.

Make sure you have a clear schedule for potty training. Don’t try to potty train when there is a disruption to the regular schedule. Anything, such as holidays, family visiting, a new baby, etc… can interfere with your toddler’s learning. The best time to attempt potty training is over a long weekend when you have several days free to dedicate to the process.

Once you are ready to work with your toddler, dedicate specific words to the process. Have a word for body parts and the urine and bowel movements. Avoid negative words such as naughty, so your child won’t feel self conscious. Be matter of fact with your child, and consider purchasing books to help your child with the concept of potty training.

Some parents will use a child’s action figure or a baby doll to demonstrate potty training. If you decide to do this, explain that the “baby is going pee pee in the potty”, and you can even let the toy graduate from diapers to underwear.

Incentives can streamline the training process. Not only will your child be dry and not have a diaper rash, but use rewards for successfully going to the bathroom. Use a sticker chart or other reward system to encourage positive reinforcement.

Use books and videos to help your child understand the process of potty training and see other children learning to use the potty. There are lots of books and videos available online or in your local bookstore. Let your child look at their favorite book while sitting on the potty to help the minutes pass by.

Mark the beginning of potty training on your calendar, and talk it up with your child. This will create a sense of anticipation in your child instead of dread, and your child will be ready to try. Mark it with stickers or other fun pictures and make it almost like a holiday.

Once learning to potty train, some children will enjoy the unroll the toilet paper. There is a solution for this. Take a used roll, and put it inside the new roll. This will slow down the roller speed, and allow your child to get toilet paper with less waste.

The training process can take a few days up to months. Don’t lose heart and get frustrated. Even once your child has seemingly mastered the potty, there will still be occasional accidents. With time and consistency, your child will soon be using the potty alone, and you will be wondering how your little baby grew up so fast.

The ultimate ‘kids’ party, Spiderman for kids parties atlanta.