Parenting and potty training can be difficult experiences. Sometimes, success comes with setbacks and accidents along the way. It’s not as simple as one size fits all when it comes to using the toilet. Your child needs support and a positive attitude while working to master this new skill, no matter what your potty training experience looks like.
You should know about and avoid a few of the “don’ts” of positivity. Listed below are some common potty training traps to keep away from seeing to it your child doesn’t fall into them.
-
Keep it simple
Before training your child to use the potty, make sure he is developmentally ready. An example of a child that is ready to transition is able to communicate their needs, shows an interest in being independent in the bathroom, and is able to handle all the physical necessities, such as dressing themselves and detecting when they have to go. Before trying again, it’s a good idea to wait a few weeks or months if your child may not be ready.
You may create a negative atmosphere if you force your child to sit on the potty if they refuse. As a result, your child may develop negative associations related to using the bathroom, which could be very difficult to overcome and may lead to her avoiding urinating or voiding, which could be very harmful.
Always aim to offer encouragement and support. If the process becomes a battle, even if your child otherwise seems “ready,” you might consider putting on the brakes. You’ll get the best success (with potty training and your relationship) if both of you are enthusiastic about this “big kid” step.
-
Stress shouldn’t be a factor when potty training
Potty training can cause even good stress. Your child may be stressed out or upset by holidays, new babies, visitors, and vacations-similar to the stress of a divorce, a death, or moving.
You might want to reconsider potty training right now if you have anything exciting planned in your life. When things settle down and activity resumes normally, you can take action. In this way, you can allow your child to relate toileting to his or her normal routines while maintaining security for him or her. Moreover, you can put more effort into helping your child transition out of diapers, and that will make the transition more seamless for him/her.
-
Don’t put a deadline on it
Young children are more likely to work poorly under deadlines and to not understand time like adults do. Your expectations for potty training need to be realistic. Alternatively, you could just throw them all out the window. Potty training occurs at a varying rate and age for kids. While some kids are ready to learn by 18 months, many take another year or two to reach that stage. Before kindergarten, some children don’t figure out how to do this. While some kids learn to use the toilet quickly, for many it takes a long time.
When programs of this kind promise that your child will become potty trained in three days, one day or even 100 days, they do not take into account your child’s unique characteristics. Since every child is different, including their temperaments, developmental schedules, and skills, there is no true one-size-fits-all approach.
It’s not uncommon for programs with a strict time schedule to suggest punitive measures, to be inflexible, or to train parents rather than children (for instance, having you monitor every grimace and race them to the bathroom every 10 minutes). This causes kids and parents who fail to meet the deadline to feel like failures and to be stressed unnecessarily.
The researchers may also not take into consideration the varying lifestyles of families, such as those with working parents, those with many children, those with special needs, and families with multiples. Using a method that’s flexible and compatible with your colleagues’ needs is best. Your child needs to experience a positive feeling about potty training, regardless of how many days or months it takes.
-
Accidents shouldn’t be taken too seriously
One of the cornerstones of an effective and positive potty training program is to remind your child that going to the bathroom is a normal part of life. Remind your child that having accidents is a normal part of life. In the event of an accident, we learn from it, and this is an expected part of the process.
Overemphasizing accidents can actually lead to more accidents by reinforcing mistakes or re-enforcing feelings of shame. You can also make fun of them if they happen. Enlist your child in clean-up activity and move on to the next opportunity to use the potty.