It seems everyone has a different way to potty train children, and different people will suggest different ages for when potty-training can begin. From my personal experience with my son, here’s how my wife and I are doing it.
When Your Child is Ready to Potty-train
A lot of parents start potty-training their child between the ages of one and two. This is an ideal age range because your child can communicate his needs to you and is reasonably mobile. This means he can tell you when he needs to use the potty and can travel to the potty and sit up and down on it by himself.
An indicator that my wife and I used to know when are son was ready for potty training was “filled diaper aversion”. This means your child is actively trying to avoid filling their diaper during periods when a filled diaper is hard to change or difficult to notice. For our son, these times include when he goes to sleep and when we go out somewhere. He knows if he fills his diaper during these times, it may stay filled for a few hours. When he was around 18 months he avoided filling his diaper during these times.
Stocking Up
To begin potty-training, you’ll need to buy either a small portable child’s potty or a training seat that sits on top of the toilet rim. I recommend starting with the portable potty since children can use that all by themselves.
You’ll also need a bunch of underwear for your child. A few pairs just won’t cut it, as there are bound to be accidents, and you’ll need the spares for when some are soiled. You may also want a special basin for your child’s soiled laundry, so it doesn’t make the other laundry smell while it’s waiting to be washed. Or to deal with the smell right away, clean the soiled underwear with soap and water as soon as it gets dirty.
The Training Begins
You’ll need to put your child from diapers into underwear as soon as you’re ready to begin potty-training. Diapers should then only be reserved for times when there is a good chance the child will need to be changed away from home, such as on trips or all day outings.
Your child will not let you know every time they need to use the potty, so you’ll need to anticipate them. Typically, children need to pee when they wake up, before they go to bed, and a half hour or hour after having a meal.
Look for signs that they to use the potty as well. These include doing a little dance as they walk and standing off in a corner looking embarrassed.
There will be accidents. Your child or you will get too busy to take the time to make the trips to the potty at times. When this happens, a little punishment can help. But punishment every time an accident occurs will usually result in the child hiding when they need to use the potty.
Instead, try to reward your child when he tells you he needs to pee or after he uses the potty successfully.
Also it helps if you don’t make faces or act like their waste products are nasty. Your child already knows it is no fun to have a diaper or underwear full of pee and feces. There’s no need to make them disgusted with themselves.
The Training Continues
While potty-training can be a lot of work, it also saves a lot of money (diapers are expensive), and it builds your child’s self-confidence. Remember to be patient and know that successful potty-training does not occur over a few weeks.