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Home › Articles › Toilet Training › Tried and True

Tried and True

A Potty Training Refresher

By Teri Brown

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If breastfeeding is a mother's first big challenge, then potty training is the parent's first real obstacle. It's kind of like climbing Mt. Everest except that you aren't doing it because it's there – you're doing it because you have to! The good news is that all children eventually learn to use the toilet. Even after years of research and years of experience, experts and moms still go back to two main potty training points: readiness and consistency.

Readiness
According to experts, knowing when your child is ready to be potty trained is half the battle. Readiness includes your child's age (most experts recommend that your child be at least 18 months of age); a stable situation (there won't be any new events in your child's life, as in a new addition to the family, a change in daycare providers, etc.); the ability to stay dry for at least two hours at a stretch (this shows that your child's bladder is maturing); and consistent bowel movements at about the same time every day. If your child meets these criteria, they may very well be ready to begin potty training.

Debbie Glasser, a licensed clinical psychologist, past chair of the National Parenting Education Network and founder of NewsForParents.org, says that it is also important to know if your child can feel when they are going to the bathroom and have the ability to pull their pants up and down on their own. She believes that readiness is key, and the biggest mistake parents make is trying to potty train their child before they are mature enough to do so.

"One of the most common mistakes parents make is pressuring children to use the toilet by pushing them before they're ready or pulling out a big bag of tricks to entice them before they're ready," says Dr. Glasser. "Toileting is a function that is ultimately within a child's control. Each child will decide when he or she is ready. The parent's most effective role is that of patient and encouraging teacher. Hard sells usually backfire."

Methods and Means
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