When To Potty Train

By Carol Gray

Each child is unique when it comes to potty training, and determining if it is time for your little guy or gal to give up the diapers and start using the potty is challenging. Be forewarned, however; potty training (even though many parents claim it is easy) can become a huge undertaking. And don’t plan on junior giving up his Pampers cold turkey. Potty training takes time and patience.

No More Diapers!

Toddlers are an extremely stubborn lot, and this spills over to their toileting habits. There is no cure-all technique or fix-all method for potty training, but it is a mix of trial and error and elbow grease. Moving the child out of diapers is best accomplished when there is tangible motivation and rewards involved. Your reward will be not buying any more expensive diapers and not having to pull diaper duty.

When you get ready to begin potty training, make sure you and the child are ready because there really is no turning back. There is no specific age to begin toilet training, but anytime after 18 months is good. You will know when the time is right for your child; some parents start their child off on potty training even earlier than 18 months, while some may wait until the child is two years old or even three years old. Read the rest of this entry »

Tips for teaching excellent hygiene during Potty Training. Toilet training is an excellent opportunity to add an additional lesson; an opportune time to teach your child the ins and outs of excellent hygiene. You are already on the road to bathroom independence. Follow these few tips to help the understand the importance of regular hygiene.

• Don’t wait to change soiled pants or underwear. Change your child’s underwear or training pants immediately. Never allow your child the opportunity to feel comfortable with being dirty. This will only make it difficult later.
• Wash it if you can, toss it if you can’t. Filthy underwear falls in only two categories – salvage or garbage. If the underwear is simply soaked in urine, you can wash it to rinse the yuck right out. Number two, not so much. More than likely, the number two will be soft and mushy. In this case, you’ll want to toss them straight into the trash.
• Have your child wipe the seat themselves. Germs can regularly settle on the seat after having splashed during flushing. Have your child wipe the seat with paper and then flush the residue. A habit learned early can follow for life.
• Model proper wiping. Girls must learn to wipe from front to back (thoroughly) to prevent germs moving from back to front. You can instruct your little girl to pat instead of wiping hard so she can reduce to instances of irritation.
• Purchase the proper toiletries. Buy products that are gentle. Children have extra sensitive. Pre-moistened wipees are ideal for young users, as they are both gentle and effective, while providing enough strength and absorbency to do a good job.
• Teach your child how to wash their hands. Hand washing reduces the spread of germs. Model for your child by doing it yourself. Use antibacterial soap with warm water and thoroughly scrub your palms for maybe seconds. Count to ten or recite a rhyme while washing. This can help your child gauge the needed time. Hand washing should be routine.
• Use a bleach/water solution to clean the potty. Regularly clean the toilet, ideally after each use. Avoid cleaning carpets by placing the potty on an easy to clean floor. You can also invest in an easy to wipe mat.
• Children are curious. Your child might want to play with his number two. Try to prevent the behavior without making them feel bad by simply saying, “No. This is not something to be played with.”
• Teach etiquette. Potty training is an excellent time to teach your child (especially boys) to lower the seat and lid when finished. This is a perfect place for dad to model.

Sean Platt is a dad and teacher who runs a preschool with his wife and potty trains plenty of toddlers.

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What is it with companies who make potties these days anyway? Do we really need so many designs, shapes and colors. After all, the humble toilet has remained pretty much unchanged for ages why should the potty be any different. And do we really need ones that play music whenever the child does their business? I’m all for singing and dancing at my child’s success but having to buy batteries for what is essentially a toilet is ridiculous.

If you’re like me and also despise having to clean out a potty 5 or 6 times a day then you are probably considering buying a toilet seat. These are designed to fit babies bottom and sit over the regular toilet seat. Your child can then learn to go to the toilet like a big person.

Just like potties there is such a huge variety available that it borders on the ridiculous, and yes there are musical toilet seats. I won’t be getting one of those.

Like all good parents though I guess I should be leaving the decision up to the child. What is their personality like and what would make the whole experience more enjoyable for them. I’ll be sure to limiting the selection I present to her ones that don’t require electricity.

Toilet training is difficult despite the fact that you may have an all singing and dancing toilet seat so here’s some more information on when to potty train and tips on how to do it.

Need a potty training seat? Check out Amazon’s range. They have all sorts, sizes and colors. They even have musical ones if that’s your thing and you don’t have enough kids stuff with batteries in it.