From our combined motherly wisdom and feedback from most parents we have found the following tips which we hope will help all of us — I myself have my first direct encounter with boy training imminent – and my son has absolutely no desire as of yet to move from his nappies and he happily tells me this so we are waiting for the big 3 to hit in June!
1.Children must be fully conversational and understand the process of toiletting before you start them. Most children are fully toilet trained by 3.
Girls generally train quicker ! 
2.Nearly every child gets weeing first and some children can really struggle with poos so you need to accept this and not overly worried. Keeping their diet full of fruit and fibre will help and avoid hard poos which can frighten the child. They are learning the ability to hold ; stop etc so they can hold a poo and you do not want this to happen.
3.Sometimes it can be a struggle to get your child to sit on the toilet – we generally tell them a story – if you are waring a ring on your finger let them twist it around. Again it is about keeping them distracted enough so they do not get upset and at the same time getting them comfortable on the toilet.
4.Some children will want to use a potty first – if it works for them then I do recommend it and you will gradually get them on the toilet.
5.When you start toilet training you need to have the time to do it with them -normally it will take a week to kick in the actual process of going to the toilet. In the beginning it is advisable that you take them to the toilet every 15 -20 mins as they may start off with very small frequent pees. You will be able to judge this over the coming days with them and increase the intervals!
6.Summer time and dresses / shorts are best. If the child has to struggle with layers of clothes this will frustrate them and you!!
7.Praise ; Praise ; Praise – they may only get 10% of the wee in the loo the first few days but praise them for that. If their clothes get wet then explain to them what has happened and why but do not dwell on it.
8.Introduce new undwerwear for them and let them know you are very proud of them and they are becomming a big girl / boy.
9.Pull ups can help – but from some kids they do not. You do need to be realistic in the length of time that they can hold a pee so if you have a long journey which cannot be avoided then you will need to plan pee stops put a potty in the car – if you are not using pull ups.
10.Night nappies. It is recommended (and tried & tested) that nappies should be dry for a long period before you remove them or until the child asks you to take them off. You do need to work this with them. They will be proud of their day success so if they ask you to take off the night nappies you will need to honour their wishes. It may mean that you have to lift them before you go to bed at night for a few nights but it is worth it.
11.Finally try to stay calm with the whole thing and take it in your stride – you will have accidents ; you will go through lots of clothes and at the time it might feel like an eternity but it is a huge milestone in a child’s development and brings such confidence for them that it is all worth it.
Speak Your Mind