Some helpful tips and ideas for parents who are working on potty training their toddlers to help make the whole thing as easy as can be.
An important part of parenthood is to help teach your children as they grow. One of the more dreaded areas of learning that needs to be taught is potty training. Although it really is something that need not be feared. The whole process is not as hard as it is often made out to be.
The first thing to remember when starting a child on potty training is to relax and take it easy. Do not make the whole thing any harder on yourself than needed. You are not going to be able to rush the whole thing and the more you push the more likely the child is going to fight back and resist. Understand that the child will learn when the child is ready.
A great way to make the whole thing unstressful for the child is to find ways to make it fun. Find ways to make it into a game for the child. Have the child throw Cheerios into the potty before they use it, then they can look to see that the Cheerios have vanished. There are also several potty papers with designs on them that you can buy which do the same kind of thing. This kind of thing helps to make them want to go potty correctly in order to play the game.
You can also try a reward system. Put up a calendar in the bathroom by the main potty that is being used by the child. Everyday in which the child does not have an accident put a sticker of some kind on the calendar. Make sure the child understands that if they get so many stickers in a row on the calendar they will get some kind of reward. Let the child put the sticker on the calendar and every time the child gets a sticker make sure the child is told just how they are showing themselves to be a big kid and how proud you are of them. Make it very clear that it is a good thing for them to be going potty. Make it so the child feels rewarded constantly for not having accidents.
You need to also make sure the child is comfortable going potty. Some of this will come from watching others go. It is actually a good thing for a child to watch parents go potty while they are potty training. Children often try to imitate what they see grown-ups doing and going potty is no different. This can be very true with teaching boys to go potty standing up, although generally they get taught to go sitting down first since it is just easier and less likely to make a mess.
One key thing to remember is to not make potty training into a power struggle with the child. When the child has an accident make sure the child understands that they are not in trouble and it is okay because they will learn. Reassure them that you know they will do better next time. If you over react the child will see that he or she is getting attention. You need to make sure they get more attention for using the potty above not using the potty.
As with any growing stage of a child there is an age most children generally become potty trained, around three years old. This is not written in stone and not all children will be potty trained by that time. While some children can be potty trained as young as two, it some times takes a little while longer for others. If your child is not getting it down, do not worry. Just relax and keep it from being stressful. Work with the child and make sure the child is comfortable with going potty. Trying to force learning is not going to help and has a good chance of making things harder in the end.
It all comes down to taking it slow, working with the child, making it fun for the child and not pushing things. Potty trainings really does not need to be as hard as it is often portrayed as being. If done right it should not stress out parent or child to go through the process for potty training.
