Potty Training: Tips for Boys and Girls

After changing countless wet and dirty diapers, parents of toddlers everywhere are more than ready to potty train their child and move past the diaper stage. Potty training comes with its own headaches and frustrations, however, and you may find yourself wishing for those peaceful days of diaper-dom. Stay patient and persevere, and you will get through this. Despite what you will hear from many sources through the potty training stage, there is no one perfect potty training method. Each child is different and so each child needs his or her own approach to conquering this milestone. With that being said, here are a few things that just don't work: 1. Copying Someone Else's Style Somewhere out there is a super child who was successfully potty trained in two days at 11 months. I'm sure you've all heard the stories. Everybody knows somebody whose child did everything faster, better, and younger than anyone else. And that's great for them. Be happy for them and also be a little jealous. But don't try to copy their style. Just because it worked for their child doesn't mean that it will work for yours. Stay consistent with your own strategies and routines. It will work better for you than anyone else's miracle fix. 2. Rushing Your Child It's a pretty accepted scientific fact that children simply don't have the muscles needed to hold their urine until they reach 18 months. Some children don't develop those muscles until 24 months or later. But even at that age, there's no guarantee that your child is ready to tackle potty training. There are mental skills that need to be developed as well and some children simply aren't ready for potty training until they are 3 or even 4 years old. Don't rush them, just wait for the signs that they are ready. (We'll talk more about these signs later in this book.) Don't rush into starting potty training, and don't try to rush through it either. This will be a multi-step process that could take three months or even longer. If you put too much pressure on your child, he or she may become nervous and start holding his or her stool, which can create health problems. 3. Punishing Your Child As I said, potty training can get very frustrating. Getting angry with your child for having an accident will only delay forward progress. If you punish your child for a natural setback, they will associate potty training with punishment and become less interested and uncooperative. As difficult as it can be, you have to stay calm and patient while dealing with whatever messes arise throughout this process. With these three things in mind, we're now going to take a look at what can work while potty training your child. We will cover how to tell when your child is ready, tips and tricks from experienced parents, the differences between potty training boys and girls, common problems that arise, and 3-day potty training.