Potty Training; A Milestone to reckon with!!!

An important milestone for every parent and their child is potty training! It requires whole lot of patience and time.

First step for potty training is assessing the when your child is ready. Some children recognize a full bladder or rectum as early as 18 months while others take more time. Since the age range for potty training readiness is wide, before forcing your child to begin the training, it might be useful to first determine the following;

1. Can your child understand and follow simple instructions?
2. Can she walk and sit down without assistance?
3. Can she pull down her pants and pull them back on?

Patience

Patience is a virtue that will come handy here. Once you know that your child is ready, get the right equipment. You may want to but a child size potty chair or an adjustment seat for your regular toilet. In case of an adjustment seat, get a stool as well on which your child will step on to reach the toilet seat.

Some children master the peeing and pooping much quicker while some might take months all together. Generally it has been seen that the younger you start training, the longer it will take.

However, don’t worry and try to keep your calm; your child will eventually learn how to use the toilet, he will not reach high school with diapers inside his pants.

Consistency

Once the training starts do not stop in between because you are going out or it is the holiday season or you have a challenging day at work. Once your child sees how consistent you are with the process, he will put in effort as well.

Routine

Timing is crucial. Once you have set a potty schedule it must be followed daily without fail. For beginners, we need to look out for signs that preempt the actual pee/potty sessions. Once she is used to the potty seat, have her sit on it bare bottomed at the pre-determined time, and let him know that doing it without pants is the grown up thing to do. In case he is scared or does not wish to sit on the seat, then you must not push him. You can re-start the seat training again after few weeks, as the child may be ready by then.

Demonstration & Explanation of the Process

Children almost always learn by imitating parents or older siblings. Hence watching you using the washroom may be the most natural method of learning. If the child in question has older siblings or friends who are already potty-trained, they can demonstrate, too. It would be helpful for him to see others closer to his age doing the thing he’s trying to learn.

Encouragement and Rewards

Have a reward policy. For example, each time your kid goes to potty on his seat, he gets 15 minutes of extra TV time. You could create a home-made token system. For every success, the child gets a token; once 50 tokens are collected, the child can choose an ice cream of his own choice. Rewards are always helpful as the child understands that there is something extra in it for him as well.

Handling setbacks positively

Keep in mind that accidents will happen; understand that getting potty trained may be a difficult task for your kid. Give him time and patience as mastering muscle control of bladder and rectum may take practice. When a potty emergency happens, be polite and positive and ask the child to use his potty instead of his pants.