Is your child ready to begin training?
Sometimes parents feel that if their child is able to actually pee on a potty at home when the parent places them on the potty that this is the sign they are ready to train. From experience, this is not necessarily a sign. We have seen many children who are able to do this who actually trained more than a year after they were able to do this. We always say that potty training is five percent ability to get their clothes on and off, five percent ability to go pee or poop in the potty and NINETY percent being able to identify when they have to go and telling the adult BEFORE they have to go. Another misconception is that if a child tells you that they have peed or pooped in their diaper that it’s a sign that they are ready to train. I haven’t seen ANY correlation to a child’s awareness AFTER they have gone to their ability to recognize and act BEFORE they have to go.

In our experience, most girls are ready around 3 and boys are 3 and a half. Some kids do train earlier or later. There is absolutely no pressure from us to train early. Starting before your child is truly ready can be frustrating and can actually make the training period much longer in the end. Your child should be showing most of the following signs before training is started:

 

Physical signs

• Is coordinated enough to walk, and even run, steadily.

• Urinates a fair amount at one time.

• Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times.

• Has "dry" periods of at least two hours or during naps, which shows that his bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine.

 

Behavioral signs

• Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes.

• Can pull his pants up and down.

• Dislikes the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper.

• Shows interest in others' bathroom habits (wants to watch you go to the bathroom or wear underwear).

• Gives a physical or verbal sign when he's having a bowel movement such as grunting, squatting, or telling you.

• Demonstrates a desire for independence.

• Takes pride in his accomplishments.

• Isn't resistant to learning to use the toilet.

• Is in a generally cooperative stage, not a negative or contrary one.

 

Cognitive signs

• Understands the physical signals that mean he has to go and can tell you before it happens or even hold it until he has time to get to the potty.

• Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy."

• Understands the value of putting things where they belong.

• Has words for urine and stool.

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Once your child has shown most of the signs listed above, we can discuss officially potty training! These are some things we ask of you during potty training that can make it go much easier for everyone involved and go a long way to the success of your kiddo learning this skill.

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We will be more than happy to help with potty training provided that:

 

• your child has shown most of the signs listed above as being ready to potty train.

• parents initiate the process at home first, whether it is over a weekend or during vacation.

• parents work with us in this process which means once potty training is initiated, the child should remain in training pants or pull-ups at all times, other than when they are sleeping. Putting a child in a diaper for convenience will only confuse the child and delay the training process. We put in the effort while your child is here and it is expected that you put in the same effort at home.

• potty training children wear clothing that they can handle successfully on their own - no onesies, no overalls, no belts, no extremely tight leggins or jeans, no pants with buttons or snaps. Elastic waist pants are the most appropriate. You can find these in abundance at second hand stores.

• Please bring in at least one an extra set of clothes and some sort of potty training treat like skittles or MnMs.

 

We take the children to the potty at natural times during the day-- After meals/snacks, before nap, after nap, and diaper changing time. Doing the same at home is encouraged with the addition of before bedtime and right when they get up in the morning.

For sanitary reasons, Your child will need to be accident free for 2 weeks before we will allow underwear. Additionally, we will not rinse or wash poopy underwear. We will bag pee soaked underwear, but poopy underwear will be bagged and thrown away immediately for sanitary reasons. If a child who has been graduated to underwear has multiple accidents over multiple days, we will require the child to go back to pull-ups for more practice and try underwear again once the child is accident free for 2 weeks.

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A fully potty trained child is defined as follows- a child who can recognize they need to go, are able to hold it until they reach the toilet, can handle the process from beginning to end without assistance (aside from wiping), and accidents are only occasional.

 

Child not quite ready? No worries! Here are some things you can do in the meantime to better prepare for when the time is right!

• Teach your child how to dress and undress. Knowing how to do this is a HUGE part of potty training.

• Work with your child on following multi-step directions. “Pick up the ball and put it in the blue bucket.” or “Take off your socks and put them inside your shoes.”

• Talk about potty training! Read books. Talk to them about the bathroom. Make it a part of normal conversation. Let them observe you in the bathroom so that using the toilet becomes a normal part of their day.

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