Tips for children
Each child has their own potty training pace. Your toddler should feel ready to throw his nappy away. Your toddler can only be potty trained when his nervous system is mature enough to consciously tighten and relax the sphincter muscles. In practice, this is when his nappy remains dry for at least one and a half to two hours. Girls are usually ready to be potty trained slightly earlier than boys.
A child can be potty trained during the day somewhere between his third and fourth year. This takes a little longer at night, sometimes between his fifth to seventh year.
When should I begin potty training?
Potty training is the process of changing from a nappy to real underwear.
- You see small gestures that they want to pee or poop. When you see these gestures, it is important that you take them to the potty immediately. If he or she actually does something in the potty, reward your toddler. But do not be disappointed or angry if the potty stays empty.
- Your toddler stays dry for longer periods. Your toddler needs to be able to physically go for at least 2 hours before a pee stop.
- He or she will show interest in others when they go to the toilet.
- Your toddler separates himself when he or she needs to take a pee or poop. He or she thinks it is dirty if there is poop in his nappy.
- He or she lets you know that he or she has a dirty nappy and would like a clean one.
Only when your toddler shows these signals, he or she is ready to be potty trained. In general, it makes no sense to try to potty train your toddler before he or she is ready. Forcing the issue is highly likely to backfire.
Tips
- Make your child familiar with the potty. Let him play with the potty and explain what it is for.
- Provide a suitable potty. A potty on which your toddler can sit with his feet on the ground and on which he or she can quietly sit in a squatting position. Would you prefer a child seat on the adult's toilet? That is possible, as long as you provide a suitable step up to the toilet that your child can place his feet upon.
- Set a good example yourself. Toddlers like to imitate the behaviour of adults. Take advantage of this by placing the potty next to the toilet, for example. When you have to go, you take your toddler with you.
- Not too long. Never let your child sit on his potty for too long. It is better to take him at regular times, for example, after eating. Often, your little one will take a long time to begin peeing; this can often be helped by running the tap.
- Regularly on the potty. Many children have to go to the potty at certain times. Take note of whether your child needs to go at regular times and put him on the potty at those times.
- Reward. If your toddler leaves something in the potty, however small, it is very important that he or she receives a reward. But never get angry if there is nothing in there, this is ineffective. On the contrary, your child may begin forcing themselves while they are on the potty and thus develop poor behaviour, which in turn can lead to infections.
Accidents
Of course, accidents will still occur, even if all went well for a while. There a several reasons this may happen:
- Stress
- Lack of concentration
- Resistance
- Physical reason
- Started training too early
Do not worry or fuss, just clean up the mess and get on with your day. Potty training is a natural process that you should approach as naturally as possible. Ultimately, almost all children are daytime potty trained between their third and fourth year.
During potty training, UnderWunder underwear can help absorb any accidents and make them invisible. This is great for confidence, if your child already goes to school. UnderWunder is available from size 86/92.
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