Things You Need To Know Before You Start Potty Training

As a parent, the words ‘potty training’ must be very familiar to you. Just when you think you have the diet of your baby all chalked out and feel like things are going very smoothly, someone mentions to you that you ought to start potty training. Then you also hear an account about many other children your child’s age who are completely potty trained and how you have to start right away. Like all the other advice that comes your way like a dam that has broken loose, you have to validate this advice with your own wisdom and read up about whether this is the time to potty train your little one. But don’t worry! We have put together everything you need to know before you start potty training your little one. So read on!

1. The Readiness of Your Child to be Toilet Trained:

You will always hear of the child who would pass urine only in the bathroom at the tender age of nine months.  We advise you to pay no attention to such stories. A child’s bladder continues growing till the age of three and grows stronger when the elimination is uninhibited.

The readiness of a child to toilet train depends on the physical, mental skill set of a child and this varies from child to child. So do not force your child to toilet train due to social pressure. You will get indications from your child that they are aware of the need to empty their bladder and at that point, you can facilitate the process by potty training them. Do not think of it as a personal achievement for yourself and end up forcing an unready child to potty train.

2. Your Readiness to Toilet Train Your Child:

Once you realize that your baby is showing signs of being ready for potty training, you should choose a time when you know you will be able to dedicate your time, energy and effort towards the same. Don’t start the process when you know you will be under a lot of work pressure in the coming weeks. This is because it makes no sense to start and then roll back to the old diaper ways. This will only confuse your baby which is something you definitely do not want.

3. Your Communication with Them:

Make sure you have a reliable method of communication with your toddler before you toilet train them. They should be old enough to be able to tell you either by words or by sign language that they need to go to the bathroom. Otherwise, you will certainly have accidents as your child will not be able to communicate their need which definitely means that they need more time before being toilet trained.

4. Keeping a Plan in Place:

From what you will say to your kid to what potty you will use and when you will take the baby to the bathroom for passing urine are all things you need to plan before you start potty training your child. The process itself seems intensive and something like a marathon for you as a parent.

At that time, you do not need some more things to run after. So plan all this well in advance, invest in a good potty or a soft potty seat for your baby and leave it around so that they become a little familiar with it as an object. This will help them use it when you potty train them later.

5. Practicing Positive Reinforcements:    

As a parent, it is imperative that you use tools of positive reinforcement whenever you want to influence the behavior of your baby. Telling off your child by embedding fear will lead to unnecessary tension, trauma, and negative stroking which is an undesirable outcome, eventually creating unpleasant memories for your child.

So when you decide to potty train, make a list of things you can do as rewards for your baby when you attempt to motivate them to use the bathroom to pass urine. Thinking this through during the visit to the bathroom is simply not possible and so it makes sense to keep a ready set of ideas for this exact purpose even before you attempt to toilet train your kid.

6. Create a routine

Any habit you want to create in your child needs a simple mode of operation. The mantra here is ‘Routine’. Once you make it a part of their routine, they are bound to get familiar with it leading to the desired change. So before you embark on a journey to toilet train your child, make sure their daily routine with respect to their wake up time, their potty time, and meal times are all set up correctly.

If this works on a daily basis, it will be an excellent aid when you try to toilet train your baby. They will come to expect your actions in aiding them to empty their bladder periodically and it will be easy for them to assimilate this knowledge as their basic body function is in place with respect to bowel movement, meals and sleep time.

7. Handle setbacks with grace

To be absolutely realistic, you won’t be able to potty train your child in a day. It is a process that will take time depending on how ready your child is and how well they take to the process of toilet training. In this endeavor to toilet train your baby, you will face situations that will set you back. Accidents will happen and sometimes, your words will fall on deaf ears. So be prepared for this as a parent before you decide to toilet train your baby. An awareness that you won’t succeed right away will subconsciously make you more patient, less edgy and far more relaxed which will all aid your child in getting toilet trained without any fear or trauma associated with it.

Once you get the necessary indications from your little one that they are aware of their bladder movements and need to get toilet trained, go ahead and facilitate the process with a firm plan, patient actions, and a cool head. Good luck to you! You will definitely need it!

Also Read: Top 10 Concerns of Every New Parent