Raising a baby is as difficult or as easy as you feel it. Each baby has different phases of growth, crawling, mouthing, teething, solid food intake, and many more. One such phase is that of potty training. When your baby is old enough to learn how to tell about pooping and peeing. This doesn’t happen automatically but parents have to train the child for this phase.
Teaching him about informing you when he/she wants to poop or pee and after that teaching your baby how to sit on the toilet seat. All these are part of potty training. Here we decided to give you an overview of how to give your baby the poop and pee training.
When is Your Child Ready (Potty Training Age)
Potty Training AgePoop training depends on a child’s physical, developmental, and behavioral milestones. On average, a child of 18 months to 2 years of age starts to show the sign of being ready for the potty training. There are other children who may take up to 3years of age until they are ready for their poop training. Do not rush into the potty training. If you start too early then there is a possibility that your child’s going to take more time to learn. Be patient and calm.
What are the signs that your Toddler is Ready to Potty Train
Before deciding whether your child is ready for the poop training or not, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is your child walking and can sit for a little period of time?
- Is he/she becoming more independent in completing a certain task?
- Can your child stay dry for up to 2hours?
- Is he/she curious to go into the toilet? Or interested in seeing others going into the toilet?
- Can your child understand basic direction like no, yes, okay, etc
- Is your child able to communicate by certain gestures when he/she poops or pees?
- Is your child trying to pull off the nappy when he/she has pooped or peed in it and that’s making him/her uncomfortable?
- Can he/she pull his/her pants up and down?
If the answers to the above questions are a ‘yes’ then you can presume that your child might be ready for the pee and potty training.
Potty TrainAre you ready?
Not just of your child but your readiness is important too. You have to take this task patiently and not with eagerness. Be your child’s motivation and lead the process.
Do not relate your child’s intelligence or stubbornness with his potty training. Never scold or be rough on your child for failing in this. Being tough on him can make him conscious or embarrassed and that can affect his/her health. Make sure you are consistent and give your baby’s potty training a good amount of time on an everyday basis.
Getting Ready for the Training
Here are the tips on how to begin with your child’s potty training:
- Choose a word: Children tend to catch smaller words at such a young age. Choose a smaller word for the poop and the pee. Avoid using negative words like shit, dirty, or stinky. Choose words like ‘wee’, poo, or ‘i need to go’.
- Choose the pooping equipment: Decide whether you want to use the baby potty seat or the actual toilet seat. We’d suggest you go for the potty seat as it is less scary and more attractive for your baby to be wanting to sit on it for a while.
Plus, it is perfect for a baby’s size whereas the actual toilets are for adults. Make your child simply sit on the seat for some time as a practice. You can teach your child by throwing the poop in the diaper in the toilet seat to let your child learn its use. - Dedication and time: While you start with your baby’s poop training, make sure you have a plan to stay at home only there should be no holiday, no house shifting, or no having a second child plan. Be dedicated since it is an important thing to do.
- Plan out a schedule: To begin with, have your child sit on the potty seat with a diaper for some time. Make sure to make him/her sit for a few minutes in the morning and after every nap.
Allow your child to get up whenever he/she wants. Show him pictures or videos of babies pooping. Every time your child sits on the potty chair, praise him/her for that and encourage him to try later. Clap for him/her when he finally poops in the chair for the first time. - Assist him while he tries: Whenever your child shows the signs of pooping or peeing like squirming, squatting, or holding his/her genitals, quickly run to get his/her potty seat.
Make him/her sit and after time he/she will learn the use of it. Make sure to carry your baby’s potty seat wherever you go. - Teach hygiene: Just teaching your child to poop doesn’t end the task. Teach him/her to flush and clean. These things take time to teach so don’t rush into it. Also, make sure you wash his/her hands nicely after every poop or pee. he/she must learn personal hygiene from the beginning itself.
Potty Train- Quit diapers: As soon as your baby starts to learn to poop in the potty seat, minimize the use of diapers and in the end quit them completely. But don’t hesitate to switch to diapers if your baby is unable to keep himself/herself dry.
- Eating habits: Make sure your child isn’t constipated and is taking a good amount of fibrous food. Give him/her lots of water to make sure he/she is not constipated. Constipation is not just a poop problem but also makes a child cranky all the time.
There will be times when your child will fail in his/her potty training. Be cool about it, do not scold him/her. Just handle things softly because this potty training will take some time and it’s okay for your child to progress at his/her pace. Stay calm and never shame your child.
Also Read: Know About Baby Poop
