No More Diaper Duty! Potty Training Basics

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Are you looking forward to getting off of diaper duty? Is your child showing signs of readiness for toilet training? Potty training is a milestone in your child’s life as well as yours. So if you think the time is right, here’s some information to help you guide your child to success and avoid the frustrations you may both experience along the way.

Nowadays, experts say readiness for toilet training is indicated more by behavior than age. Although most children start potty training between the ages of 18 months and 3 years, it is common for training to take many months without success, leaving moms to wonder if they are doing something wrong or if there is something wrong with their child. In actuality, all children respond to training differently, so patience and trial-and-error are required!

Some hints that children may be ready to start potty training include becoming upset when they soil their diapers, staying dry for two or more hours, imitating parents or other children using the toilet or telling you they need to go. Some children will practice pulling their own pants up and down or simply spend a lot of time in the bathroom.

One of the best ways for your child to learn potty training is to let him or her learn by example. Allow your child to watch you using the potty. This may surprise you and will work better than you think.

If you think your child is ready for training, select a potty to use. Many parents like to start a child with a child potty. Some potties have a soft detachable potty seat, which can later be used on top of a regular toilet seat to make it more child friendly, since many kids are afraid of falling into the regular-sized toilet. Those fears can be extinguished by using a potty seat that sits on top of the toilet seat, effectively reducing the size of the toilet hole, thus giving your child the needed confidence to use the big toilet. It is also the least expensive solution.

A small stepladder (such as the Freedom Trainer) will give your little one easy and safe access to the regular toilet. By using the toilet for training, you will not have a separate potty to clean.

Once your child has learned to stay dry during waking hours, you will want to start overnight training. This is usually a bit more difficult for children than staying dry during the day. Training diapers help a lot—as does patience and understanding.

So watch for the signals your little one is giving and then be ready to do the long but satisfying work of training your child into this next phase of life.