Potty Training 101
When it comes to potty training every parent will have a different approach and every child will respond to certain methods differently.
When my son was about 18 months old I had this notion in my head that I had to get a jump start on potty training. Being a first-time mom and not having any experience whatsoever in potty training a child, it just seemed to me that this was the time to do it. And so I started casually reading up on the subject and found it to be more complicated and confusing than I thought it would be. There seemed to be many different methods a parent could use to potty train their child. I had no idea what to do, so I simply dived into it without much of a plan, except for getting my son to sit on the potty regularly to get him used to the idea. That was a mistake! While at first he started willingly and happily sitting on the potty and sometimes even use it for what it’s for, after a while he started to resist sitting on it, to the point that he would cry at the mere suggestion. I felt so frustrated, and decided to chat with some fellow mom friends to find out what approach they had used or were using. I also decided it was time to really learn more about potty training.
The first thing I learned was that 18 months old might be a little too young to start. I was finding that on average two years old was a better age to consider for starting potty training. I also learned that there are a few different methods that parents can try. I found this article on Today’s Parent to be helpful: http://www.todaysparent.com/toddler/potty-training/potty-training-best-strategy/
I am now starting to get into potty training my daughter and I am definitely taking the lessons I learned from potty training my son to heart. Here are my tips that I will be using as I tackle this milestone the second time around:
Follow your child’s cue. They will show signs of when they are ready to take this step, such as undressing themselves, telling you when they have a wet diaper or that they want to be changed. Other things to keep in mind are if your toddler can focus on tasks and perform simple tasks on their own (ex: put toys away). These are just a couple of signs that your child is ready.
Do some research: look into different potty training methods and decided which one might be suitable for you and especially your toddler.
Have an open mind: once you’ve picked a method, keep another possible approach in your back pocket, in case your top choice doesn’t work out. There’s no right or wrong way to do this.
Don’t get frustrated. Accidents will happen. Stay calm and supportive. Most importantly, celebrate every success with your child. Clap, high five, cheer or dance!
