How to potty train a child?

When does a child start using the potty?

“At what age should you potty train your baby?” is a question that causes a lot of controversy among mothers.

The Russian Union of Pediatricians recommends introducing a child to the potty no earlier than 18 months. Training can take place from 1.5 to 2.5 years.

Pediatricians explain this age by the fact that children are already psychologically ready for training.

“What about planting and potty training before 18 months?” - you ask. When planting, the baby develops a conditioned reflex when it responds with a certain action to some signal. Planting requires a lot of effort on the part of the mother. At the same time, the baby can easily lose the skill due to his age.

Of course, all children are different and there are exceptions. You can start training at 1 year old, but there is a chance that the child will not want to go to the potty. In this case, be prepared to postpone training for a couple of months and start again when the baby grows up.

Do girls learn to potty earlier than boys? There are some differences in the training process depending on the gender of the child, but the essence is the same in any case. Potty training is teaching a child to control the urge to go to the toilet and be able to sit on the potty on time.

Some people believe that it is more difficult to educate a boy than a girl. This is not always the case, and the recommended weaning age is the same for both sexes. First of all, you need to look at the signs of a child’s readiness to learn, the baby’s development, the ability to concentrate on a task, and not his gender.

“And mine has been going potty since he was 7 months old”...

The baby sits on the potty for up to a year. What does it mean? How to get your seven month old baby to poop in the potty? Until the age of 1.4 years, only the mother’s intuition or the child’s uniqueness works. This means that the mother has taught herself to put the child on the potty at the moment when the baby wants to pee or poop. In this case, the child is not potty trained.

The child must sit on the potty
independently, on time and without reminders , only then will it be considered that the child is potty trained.
Early potty training of a child is not physiological. Excessive activity of the mother can cause stress and various disorders in the child.

The baby must be physiologically ready for the potty, so that when the bladder is full, he sits on the potty and pees.

In order to begin potty training a child, you need to take into account the maturity of the child’s nervous system, the formation of the muscular system, and the child’s ability to understand simple things.

There are physiological natural norms established by specialists:

• the formation of persistent conditioned reflexes begins by the age of three;
• the average age for developing stable potty training skills ranges from 20 to 32 months for a child (a connection is formed between the nervous system and muscles: a full intestine or bladder sends signals to the brain);
• The natural transition to control over excretion (the ability to control urination) begins closer to one year and is actively developing until the age of two.

The timing is individual and depends on the speed of physiological maturation of the child.

What else affects potty training?

It is believed that girls master this skill faster. However, according to some experts, gender does not affect the speed of habituation.

The maturity of the nervous system and the temperament of the child directly affect the ability to potty train.

Another factor that really influences a child's potty training is the activity of his parents. If the idea of ​​teaching your child to go potty is excessive, the opposite effect may occur.

How to potty train your child after dropping him off

Planting and training peas are two different things. However, many people think that if the mother drops off the child, he will learn to potty faster. After all, planting teaches the child to control his sphincters and understand the processes of excretion. Indeed, those children whose mothers began to sit down on the potty faster. But it's not about sphincter control. Those children who are dropped off do not know what it is like to be in diapers. They understand the connection between process and consequence (peed - it became wet and cold). Children who wear diapers all the time don't understand what it's like to be wet. Therefore, it will be a little more difficult to train them. The period of wet diapers is laid down by nature itself . Therefore, any interference slows down the natural development process.

When planting, we gradually change the sink to a pot: we hold the baby over the pot. Each time reducing the distance between the child’s bottom and the potty. Then we gradually seat the baby.

Signs your baby is ready for potty training:

• The baby expresses his desires and requests in simple words
• He is ready to follow simple instructions
• Able to take off simple clothes on his own - pants with elastic and panties
• His motor skills are quite developed
• The child has no problems sleeping
• The baby has no digestive problems or chronic constipation. It is important that your child's diet is rich in water, fiber and the right fat.
• If you are still breastfeeding, structure your breastfeeding. With chaotic feedings, fluid constantly enters the baby's body, the baby will constantly urinate.
• The child shows a desire for independence
• The baby is interested in the topic of the toilet

You should not focus on a dry diaper and wait for the child to start walking for a long time in a dry diaper or wake up dry.

Potty training adds stress to a child's life. Therefore, you should not combine training with other important events in his life.

Train your baby 3-4 months before or after if:

• Are you expecting a new addition to your family in the near future?
• The baby is now starting to go to kindergarten

During training, it is better to stay at home for the first 7-10 days.

Tips on How to Potty Train a Toddler

The following tips will help you toilet train your baby:

1. Be prepared for possible failures . Don't assume your child is potty trained just because he goes to the toilet several times successfully. Toilet training is a long process, and children learn and unlearn. Accidents may occur during the process. Calm and reassure your baby.

1. Discuss your toilet training plan with your spouse and your baby's caregiver. Different potty training methods from different people can be confusing for a child. Have everyone use the same words for urine, stool, and body parts. It's called the "Rule of One" - one person, one routine, one word.

1. Make toilet training reassuring and safe. Don't scold your children if they don't study or have periods of failure in between. Embarrassment can lead to a loss of trust in the child.

1. Start gradually. Don't force them to use the potty seat all the time during the day. You can start by getting them to use the seat once a day when they wake up in the morning.

1. Keep the toilet seat accessible to your baby. You can place it in different parts of the house to make it more convenient.

1. Give children foods rich in fiber and plenty of fluids to avoid constipation. Constipation can interfere with the toilet training process.

1. Watch the posture or movements your child makes during bladder or bowel movements. Once you can identify them, you will have them try it on the potty seat.

1. Praise your child when he begins to express the desire to pee or poop. Even if they can't do it on the potty, appreciate them for trying.

1. If your baby wants to, let him or her press the flush button on .

1. Avoid using negative words such as "dirty" or "disgusting" in relation to your child's toilet and pee.

1. Don't put pressure on them to toilet train.

Which potty to choose for a child

Now there is a wide range of pots of different shapes and colors. Is it worth buying a potty with toys and lights or should you pay attention to its other characteristics?

The pot should:

• Suitable for child size
• Be resilient
• Do not have entertaining elements, since we teach the child to understand his body and focus on the task. Toys will distract him from the process.

For a boy and a girl, the potty can be the same. It is not necessary to initially accustom a boy to a urinal - a potty is enough first.

Toilet rings are also not the best option as an alternative to a potty.

Children feel uncomfortable at the height of the toilet, and learning may be delayed. In addition, it will be difficult for the child to sit on the toilet on his own.

Is it necessary to first introduce a child to the potty so that he does not refuse to sit on it during training?

There is no need for special introduction to the potty. The mistake is to put the pot out in advance. The child starts playing with it, but we don’t want him to view it as a toy.

Then he will not understand why he has to write in it, and will begin to refuse to do it.

If you have already taken out the potty and the child has started playing in it, put it back and take it out in a couple of weeks.

What to expect from training

When potty training your child, you:

• Teach him to understand the needs of his body, what he feels when he wants to go to the toilet.
• Show where human waste products go

Don't expect your child to go potty right away 100% of the time. Our goal is for him to go there most of the time.

It’s normal if he refuses, you just need to understand the reasons for the refusal: whether he was in new conditions, embarrassed to ask to go to the toilet or not, whether there are problems with stool.

A child's sleep and nutrition affect the potty training process. There may be periods when the child refuses to go to the potty. This is fine.

When can you start training your child?

Children are usually ready for potty training between 18 and 24 months of age. A baby at this age will show signs of readiness, such as showing displeasure when his diapers are dirty and signaling to his parents to change his diapers.

Older children often don't like to poop or pee in front of everyone. If they start going into a separate room or hiding under the table while they poop, they are probably ready to start potty training.

Toilet training takes time and patience. It is recommended to potty train your child when you have enough time. The Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) suggests a baby-centered approach and recommends starting the process only when baby is ready. The following parameters are taken into account in the academic model of habituation.

1. Physiological maturation : when a child can sit, walk, dress and undress.

1. External feedback : When your baby can understand and respond to simple instructions.

1. Internal feedback : when the child develops self-esteem and motivation, the desire to imitate and identify with elders, self-determination and independence.

Every baby reaches the above milestones at different ages. Therefore, it is important to identify various indicators that indicate that a child is ready.

FAQ

Does your child not sit on the potty until you remind him?

There's nothing wrong with that. Children are easily distracted from internal sensations. It is normal to remind your child to go to the toilet.

Why doesn't my child want to go to the potty?

• The baby does not understand that this is not a toy, if before this the potty was just standing and the child was playing with it.
• The child is afraid of new sensations. It is unusual for him to go without a diaper and to feel that the process of going to the toilet has changed.
• If your baby refuses to sit on the potty, he may be afraid of doing something wrong, for example, peeing wrong.
• Why did the child stop going to the potty?

Think about whether there have been any changes in the baby’s life—an addition to the family, moving, changing kindergarten, transferring the child to a crib without sides? These factors can cause a child to refuse to go potty. In case of incidents, you should not scold the baby, force him to sit on the potty, force him or shame him.

The child does not sit on the potty in kindergarten. What to do?

Find out how and when children are taken to the toilet in kindergarten. Perhaps the baby is embarrassed to go potty with a group. Then ask the teacher to take him separately. Or it might be the potty/toilet itself, which is unusual for him. Bring a potty to kindergarten, just like at home, then the baby will use it.

Why does a child only ask to use the potty at home?

Potty training consists of a series of steps. First, the baby learns to go to the toilet like an adult at home, then he gradually learns to do it in public places and finally during night sleep. You cannot expect a child to go to the potty everywhere at the same time after starting training. Be patient and give your baby time to master the skill well at home. Tell us how this is done in a public place.

Until what age do children go to the potty?

Potty training will take place from 18 to 30 months - in each case the age will be individual. Gradually, when the baby masters the potty, you can transfer him to the toilet. This usually happens by 3-4 years. Don't forget to use a special circle and a footrest so that your child can sit comfortably.

How to quickly potty train a child

Quickly potty training a child is usually required in cases where the baby urgently needs to be sent to a nursery or kindergarten. Don't rush things. Your baby will learn to go to the toilet “like an adult” when she is ready for it. The addiction process can take from 3 to 6 months or more. At this stage, do not force the child to sit down, except for protests and aggression on his part, you will not achieve anything. If your baby doesn’t want to sit on the potty, don’t insist. Nowadays, when children are “equipped” in diapers from the first days of life, potty training begins with removing this convenient modern device during the day, until about three months, before sitting on the potty.

If you plan to send your child to kindergarten in the near future, then start potty training him in advance.