As a parenting teacher and writer, my intention is to support, encourage, and answer questions. So I feel a teensy twinge of guilt when I’m asked for advice about toilet training, and my response is, essentially, don’t.
Children don’t need adults to train them to use the toilet. They do need attuned, communicative parents and caregivers to support and facilitate the toilet learning process, a process that is individual to each child.
These are the 3 main reasons I don’t recommend adult-led toilet training:
It’s unnecessary
I have no recollection of my younger two children learning to use the toilet. I vaguely remember the beginning of this process with my first child, but only because I was flabbergasted when she initiated an interest at 18 months and had completed the process by two years old.
My experiences illustrate the normal, natural, ho-hum process that successful toilet learning can be when parents don’t invest in it. Hundreds of parents I’ve worked with over the years have reported similar experiences.
This begs the question: why would we add toilet training to our already overloaded job description when doing less works just as well, if not better? Why risk the headaches, power struggles and resistance, frustrations and failures? Why be a taskmaster when we can relax, enjoy, and take pride in supporting our child’s self-directed achievement?
It’s risky
Toddlers have a developmentally appropriate need to resist parents, and if parents have an agenda around toilet training, healthy toddlers are inclined to push back, even if they might have been otherwise ready to begin using the toilet.
Child specialist Magda Gerber noted three types of readiness children need for toilet learning:
1. Physical: there is bladder and bowel capacity and muscle control.
2. Cognitive: children know when they need to eliminate urine and feces and are fully aware of what they are supposed to do.
3. Emotional: children are ready to let go of a situation they are used to and comfortable with (urinating and releasing feces into a diaper whenever they feel like it), and also let go, literally, of these waste products, which they perceive as belonging to them.
The emotional readiness factor usually comes last, is the most fragile, and also the most powerful. Bright, sensitive, aware toddlers can readily perceive a parent’s agenda. For some, the subtlest nudge toward the potty or being diaper-free can cause holding of urine or feces, delay toilet learning for months or even years, make toddlers feel ashamed, lead to severe constipation.
In this video, mother of twins Suzanne Schlosberg shares her cautionary tale about adult-led toilet training:
In It’s No Accident, the book Schlosberg coauthored with pediatric urologist Steve Hodges, parents are urged to slow down toilet training and informed that constipation — caused mostly by early/rushed potty training and poor diet -– is the root cause of virtually all bedwetting, toileting accidents, and recurrent UTIs. Schlosberg and Hodges also created this infographic (available as a free download) to increase awareness about constipation:
According to Schlosberg, “Most parents don’t know the signs of constipation (assuming it means “infrequent pooping”), it goes unrecognized, and kids suffer.”
I’ve learned over the years working with parents that toilet learning is nothing to mess with. I even cringe when parents tell me they’re “working on it,” because I’ve seen this attitude lead to problems all too often.
Granted, I hear mostly from the parents who are struggling and anxious. There must be many for whom toilet training techniques work. Why else would there be such a proliferation of toilet training books and products? Hmmm… marketers wouldn’t try to convince consumers they need something they really don’t, would they?
Kids deserve to own this accomplishment
There isn’t a long list of accomplishments toddlers can achieve. But they can do this, so I see no reason not to let them master this skill. There is no more powerful, confidence-building affirmation for toddlers than “I can do it myself.”
Toilet learning happens naturally and easily when we:
Invite children to actively participate in bathing, diaper changes, and other self-care routines from the time they are born. We invite active participation by communicating each detail respectfully: “I’m going to lift your bottom now so that I can wipe you. Can you help me lift?” Be careful not to transmit negative messages about body parts or feces and urine (“stinky, dirty”, etc.).
Model toilet use. Children naturally wish to do what parents and older siblings do.
Never force or even coax children to use the potty, but give clear behavior boundaries in general so that children aren’t tempted to use toilet learning as a testing ground. This sensitive and complex area of development needs to remain free and clear of power struggles.
Make a potty available. Some children like a small potty that allows their feet to reach the floor, while others prefer a seat that fits into the regular toilet.
Observe. Become a practiced observer. When children seem to be signaling an urge to eliminate (by touching their diapers, pressing their thighs togethers, etc.), ask matter-of-factly if they would like to use the potty. Calmly accept no for an answer.
Offer the choice of diapers or underwear when you sense children might be ready for toilet learning, always fully accepting their choice to stay in diapers.
Trust, trust, trust. As Magda Gerber advises in Your Self-Confident Baby, “Learning to use the toilet is a process that takes time. Rather than push or manipulate your child by giving him treats such as candy or a special reward for something that he will learn on his own, trust that he will learn it when he is ready. Respect is based on trust.”
For more support, here’s a podcast I recorded in response to a parent struggling with toilet training:
***
I share more about this respectful approach in
Elevating Child Care: A Guide to Respectful Parenting
Recommended reading:
Toilet Learning Made Easy by Lisa Sunbury, Regarding Baby
A Doctor Responds: Don’t Potty Train Your Baby by Steve J. Hodges, M.D.
It’s No Accident: Breakthrough Solutions to Your Child’s Wetting, Constipation, Utis, And Other Potty Problems by Steve Hodges, M.D. and Suzanne Schlosberg
In the Toilet and Toilet Troubles (on this blog)
(Photo by Russ on Flickr)
My son is 15 months. He’s not showing signs of being ready to potty train but I know between 12-18 months is a sensitive period for potty use. He’s happy to sit on his potty and read books and I’ve tried EC. When he’s going to poop I ask if he wants the potty and I have set him on it (so he knew what I meant) and he’ll happily sit and read books on it but will end up pooping later in the day. Can you give me specific ways to know when he’s ready and how to ask if he wants it? I don’t think he understands the point of a potty yet, although he sees me using the big one and I explain what’s happening. I just don’t know. I don’t want to rush him but I don’t want to somehow miss him being ready and I really don’t want him in a diaper at 5 years old. Any specific advice or experiences would be wonderful. Thank you!
The child needs to be dry for long periods of time during the daytime such as two to three hours.
The child needs to be able to undress with minimal assistance.
The child needs to be able to sit on the toilet quietly for moderate periods of time such as five to ten minutes.
The child needs to show an interest in use of the potty-chair or toilet.
The child needs to have a desire to please parents by participating in toilet training.
The child needs to notice or feel uncomfortable with wet or soiled diapers.
The child needs to have basic language skills necessary for understanding and expressing the need to go.
Many children show signs of readiness between their second and third years.
We got all these signs with tour twins. 5 days into potty practice and one of them has been accident free for 4 days, the other one is resisent and very self conscious! We let him take his time and be himself, he did hold it all in one day then relaxed and has had a few successful moments after that! It takes time and I realize that att these methods out there should be taken with a grain of salt and just follow the child! Always!
Please answer this question for me. I have a 9 year old who still wets the bed. She has had a lot of uti’s and under the care of a pediatric urologist. She has under gone test for various conditions and no doctor has come up for a reason for night wetting. She is embarrassed about it and they have basically told her , it’s up to her to learn how to wake up herself when she needs to go at night. I think there is something else going on.
At his age you can ditch diapers (you can use training pants) and bump up your EC practice to full time. Getting rid of awake time diapers really makes a difference.
My daughter has struggled with constipation since birth. She is now 12 and stays on a solid regimen of fiber and finally (most of the time) has it under control. Because of her constipation, she has ALWAYS struggled with wetting. And unfortunately it doesn’t bother her. She wets multiple times in a day and doesn’t care. I have to remind her to pee, or to change her clothes, or to go wash off.
She’s been to every doctor, specialists, counseling, tried retraining, rewards, punishments, potty watches, alarms, prescription drugs, etc and nothing has worked. She is extremely smart and is in all of the advanced classes at school, has a lot of friends and should be set emotionally, cognitively, and physically. What else can a parent do for a child that doesn’t care to manage her voiding habits?
You don’t ask him if he wants it you tell him stright he’s doing it you need to remove all nappies so they are not an option day and night then when you know he needs to go sit his backside on the toilet and tell him that’s where poo and wee go if he goes say well done if he chooses not to use the toilet and goes in his underwear you completely ignore him don’t even give eye contact and make him help to clear up the mess. Children don’t get a choice they do as they are told
Not even a dog should be treated like this! “Children don’t get a choice” when they need to use the toilet?! –
“Completely ignore him” & “make him help to clear up the mess”, firstly, is contradictory, so, well done there & secondly, it’s our job as mums to clear up accidents & guide them in learning. They are TODDLERS NOT TEENS!
Psycho narcissist!
This is by far the most insensitive comment I have read thus far, while missing the point the author is making. Let me be even clearer here than the author: The manner in which you handle this situation with your child will have implications for the rest of his or her life. As a psychologist, I can assure you of the validity of that statement.
Finally, makiing the child clean up his own mess communicates whether on a verbal or non-verbal level, just how disgusting the parent finds his/her duties which is to care for the child. And, this does not even scratch the surface of children who are on the spectrum.
I’m worried about all the diaper waste filling up landfills the longer we go with diapers. My daughter is 26 months old and I don’t think we’re close to her being able to lead this process. The landfill waste dilemma weighs on me though! Maybe we should switch to cloth….?
I just want to note (as a work at home mom myself) it is not a reasonable expectation to ask Janet to help with your child’s every toilet learning difficulty in detail when you are not giving her anything in return. If she was paid for this work as her job, she would likely make well over $60/hour. (That’s $10 for her to consider your question for 10 minutes, just as an example).
Please consider this and those who have serious difficulties maybe contact someone who is actually looking for this work?
Agreed. Good on you, Lady.
Janet, my son is 3 and uses the potty to pre but not poop. He has been popping on a diaper at night exclusively since he was about 18 months, well before using the potty to pee. He is up everynight because he’s pooped and so are we. Any suggestions?
I agree with most of this, but I think that this part is setting up unrealistic expectations: “but only because I was flabbergasted when she initiated an interest at 18 months and had completed the process by two years old.”
If you’re going to go this route, there is a good chance your kid is going to be in diapers (as mine were) until they are three or almost three. Which was totally fine as far as I was concerned. But if I were expecting this to happen at 1.5 to 2 years, I’d have been totally frustrated.
Also if you find that your kid is three before they get around to figuring out how to use the toilet, “fully accepting their choice to stay in diapers” also seems a little unrealistic. They only make diapers so big! And some kids are just resistant to change. There is going to come a point when they need to give up diapers whether they want to or not.
Finally I think this article needs to let parents off the hook a little in those cases where toilet learning is not happening naturally and easily, even though the parents are doing everything “right.” Some kids develop bladder control later than others. Some kids sleep deeper than others and won’t be able to wake up to pee at night until well into elementary school. None of that is the parents’ fault.
Great points.
My daughter started this week asking for pee… went to the bathroom, pointed to the toilet and touched her diaper. We took it off, asked her to pee and so she did!!! Before going to sleep I ask her if she wants to pee and so she does. I didn’t expect that to happen, she is 17 months old… we have always peed in front of her ant talk about it naturally, but never potty trained her, i was going to do it before she turned 3. I really believe giving them what they neef is the key, don’t force them… they have different needs.
I agree completely. I have four children, and the youngest is only two and not interested in the toilet at all. The oldest was very interested in toileting and was almost fully potty trained (not at night) by two, but at two and a half, gave up her nap and also gave up using the potty. Until age 4. Not kidding. She suffered a lot of constipation, not because we were trying to get her to use the bathroom, but because she was stubborn…she did not want to quit doing whatever it was she was doing to use the bathroom. My second child told me, at 3 years and 3 months, that she no longer wanted to wear diapers, so I said that was fine, and she potty trained herself in about 2 weeks. Still needed a pull up at bedtime until about 4.5 years old. My third child (only boy) was not interested in it at all but wanted to go to a preschool and he had to be potty trained to attend. It took two months of lots and lots of laundry (4-6 pairs of pants daily) before he got it. Mostly because he didn’t care. He understood what he needed to do, but he still didn’t care enough to do it. He was a little past 4 when he finally went pull up free during the day. He is a couple weeks shy of his 5th birthday and still needs a pullup because he sleeps so deeply. If he wets himself (without a pullup on), I can lay him on the floor, strip his bed, strip him and redress him with a pull up on, remake his bed and put him back into it and he will sleep through it all. My youngest is 2, and if she expresses any interest at all, we get her on the potty, but there isn’t much. I am not going to rush her, but that may also mean she misses out on preschool until she decides she cares enough to do it. Kids will do what they do, and there is no parenting solution that can solve everything (sleep issues, feeding issues, toileting, behavior). Sometimes, all you can do is the best you can and be patient and love them through it.
I really appreciate your post, because my son is 3years 3months and is completely disinterested in any sort of toilet/potty use or underwear. I do the things (and don’t do the things not to do) on Janet’s list.. Even though noone really says anything to me, I do feel like he’s getting to toileting pretty late.. most of the time I don’t care and I just go with the flow, but sometimes I get slightly worried that I should be doing something better or differently or if I stuffed up somewhere.. then i try to remind myself to trust that it will work out sometime in the not too distant future.. He just seems so grown up in many other ways.. Ah well! Was great to read your post, anyway 🙂
Take all nappies away so they are not an option and he should not be pooing at night at his age that’s not right
i need help, my 4yr old knows to use the big potty to pee, but when it comes to poopy, he does it in his underwear everyday after after dinner, and i dont know he does it after it happens. and i cant pin point the time because it isnt always the same time. he holds it in while at daycare and only does it at home. on weekends he can go 2 times, in the AM and PM. but he knows to potty for poopy but wont do it. i dont know what to do
My daughter was fine with urinating in the toilet, we never used a potty chair, she had a stool for her feet. But, when it came to poopoo she held it. She was so constipated! After crying for a diaper for the next few months so that she could poo and holding her while she cried as she passed this hard lump into her diaper she discovered – on her own – that the poo was going to be okay in the water. She’d tell me, “They’re going to be with their friends”, as she flushed them down the toilet.
Hello, when my son was 18 months old he was very interested in using the potty. Every time I took his diaper off he would pee on his potty. I started working and later on found out I was pregnant, I was feeling very nauseous and tired from work so I kind stopped incentivizing him to use the potty and my husband never really helped in potty training my son. My son is 2.5 now and I am trying to motivate him to use the potty but he has no in interest in it. I think I missed his sensitive period for using the potty. Do you any advice to help my son regain interest in using the potty?
My daughter is 4 years 7 months. She is extremely sensitive emotionally and still very dependent. She is constantly seeking attention. She will not do most things for herself which she is supposed to be able to do. I am trying to be extremely patient with her, but it gets difficult sometimes. She was ahead of her age-group when she was two years old. Her father and I went through a rough patch when she was just over two. We didn’t disagree in front of her, but I am sure she picked up on the tension, because she completely regressed in her development to the point where she tested to be two years behind in her development and a speech therapist suggested she might have asperger’s syndrome. She has also regressed several times with peeing on the toilet. The first time she was 2 1/2, it was because her brother was born, the second was when I took in another baby to care for during the day for extra income ( I am a stay at home mom). The third time she wanted to visit her grandma on her own for 4 days. That was about 4 months ago. The fifth time was when I tried to teach her to be more independent on the toilet (I had to take her there, pull down her pants, place her on the toilet, wait for her to pee, wipe her, and pull her pants back on) the only things she did herself was flushing and washing her hands. The last time, her dad wrongfully accused her of wetting herself about a month ago. Since then I have successfully taught her to be a little more independent. She can dress herself now and go pee on the toilet on her own, but still won’t pull up her own pants afterwards. The real reason I am writing this, however, is because she cannot or will not go no.2 on the toilet. She refused to use a potty to train right from the start, I since figured out that she was scared of the potty, so I put her on the big toilet with a seat. That helped with the pee, but not the poo. She has been struggling with chronic constipation since she was 3 months old. She went through a stage where she had to be held down for me to clean her, saying that her poo were her babies. She would actually cry and try to stop me when I flushed it down the toilet. We took her to a psychologist in November and he said that she is an extremely anxious child with beginning signs of ADHD and some markers of asperger’s which she seems to be outgrowing. He said that there is medication available for the anxiousness, but he would not recommend it. He also suggested she would be greatly advantaged by a pre-school. I have since enrolled her in the only one in our neighborhood, but now I have to get her ready by teaching her more independence and pooing on the toilet. Do you have any advice or suggestions? Anything at all would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Eden,
It all sounds quite stressful and whilst your situation is quite different to mine I have experienced the guessing journey to address long term severe constipation (in both our children with very healthy diets and reasonable water intake) and the mix of emotions that go with that, incredibly traumatic bleeding inducing poos, doctors who dont seem to be able to appreciate the regular trauma of an infant with very painful pooing, altered behaviour pre-poop and then of course theres a vicious circle of anxiety induced withholding (a major factor in childhood constipation as if the poo doesnt come out of the rectum and is held in then it dries out, so when they eventually go its hard and sore). In hindsight for a long time my own emotions (compassion for the hurting child, guilt re what could i have done/fed them to create this situation, frustration at times when the child is older and you think its within their capabilities to do it etc etc) made things worse for my sensitive girl as this emotional involvement intensified the situation. I learnt from these mistakes with my second child, who had similar constipation but a very different journey.
For your girl it sounds like the number one thing that you can do is to avoid adding fuel to her anxiousness, so I’d avoid anything that says “we need to do this or xxxx bad thing will happen” e.g. You cant go to school or you might dirty your clothes. Keep things as positive and if possible as lighthearted and funny as possible. Below are some things I mentioned to another member:
1. An early break approach with my nervous girl was “personifying” the poo! I had read about it as a suggestion and thought, what harm can it do?! So when she looked like she needed to go i’d ask about Mr Poo Poo. Whilst sat on the toilet if things seemed hard i’d encourage her to talk about it, tell him its time to get out of my tummy now Mr Poo Poo (giving some sense of control over the situation. Tell him to get out! Gross I know, but we were desperate at that stage). I see that you mentioned your girl called them babies! Funnily enough my girl says “the poo poos have turned 5 now so they have to go to school” i.e. They re ready to come out into the toilet.
2. We’d have a long running toilet sitting game where I’d ask “is he going to go…..(insert ridiculous whizzy noise often with actions) or will he go ‘plop’ into the water? This developed into a popular game of silly noises but was handy for my anxious girl and touching on the issue of it will make a noise in the water and thats normal.
3. If you go for the reward approach make the first one a relatively big ticket item that she knows you have bought for when she poos in the toilet but mention it only once and if possible keep it in sight but out of reach (if u can safely do so). Take a blaze, i dont care if or when you do, approach but this reward is here for when you decide to do it. No pressure, up to you if you want to. You can go in your nappy instead if you like. I found taking this pressure off flicked her focus over.
4. If she is into princesses etc you could try a pair of pants that she can wear but she has to keep them clean. if she gets them dirty she has to change into the B pants that she’s not keen on. Again I’d suggest a “no judgement” approach. “Never mind” you can try again next day or next week.
Not sure if any of those things will help, but its some of the things we looked at. As i said below, finding her food combination that helps reduce constipation very helpful. Natural licquorice (black soft eating with extract in) helps ours plus eating pears instead of apples. Everyone is different though and yours might love figs or something else entirely.
Good luck. I am sure that she will find even greater independence once she is in an environmeny like pre-school. She’s going in the right direction with everything, they rarely progress in a straight line fashion, they seem to shoot ahead in some areas, slow down, regress and shoot ahead in others!
I have no idea how old this comment is, but just in case I thought I’d reply. There’s a pretty good chance that you’re not dealing with a potty training issue but trauma. Having a sibling or feeling that there’s something not quite right in the family can cause a child to feel helpless and powerless leading to psychological trauma. What your describing in her behavior overal sounds a lot like post traumatic stress. I recommend the book “Does my Child Have PTSD?” The symptoms of PTSD, especially in children often go unrecognized by mental health providers who don’t specialize in trauma. It is often misdiagnosed as ADHD and/or an anxiety disorder.
Eden, sorry to hear this but it is not uncommon unfortunately after the MMR vaccine for this to happen, was she vaccinated around this time? If so then you can feel confident it wasn’t yours or your husband’s fault but she has a sensitivity to the vaccines. Please very carefully look into this before giving her any more (my advice don’t at all) and look at her diet (ie gluten free often really helps, also no artificial colourings or flavours) & a gentle detox which might help. Good luck xx
Jo, but if you are referring to the study published by Andrew Wakefield asserting a link between autism and the MMR vaccine, it’s true that WAS a published scientific study. But it was falsified, problematic, and discredited.
An examination of Wakefield’s research reveals he actually had possible financial motives to “find” that a link existed.
Additionally, Wakefield falsified his data, and results were based on a very small sample size of only 12 children. His results could not be reproduced by numerous other studies.
The Lancet, the journal that published Wakefield’s Austism and Vaccines article, formally retracted the article over a decade ago. Wakefield’s medical license has also been revoked.
There are theories as to why some parents continue to believe autism and vaccines are linked, including that the stage of development at which children are vaccinated is around the age that autism may become more noticeable.
So, this regression may be common “after MMR vaccination”, but that does not mean that vaccines are the cause of autism, any more than celebrating a child’s 3rd birthday causes autism.
Firstly you can not put grow Asperger’s I think that’s wishful thinking on your part. It’s sounds to me like this little girl needs discipline and rules. When she shits herself get down to her level and tell her in a firm voice that what she has done is not acceptable behaviour then make her clean up her own mess. I also think you are giving her far to much attention for this bad behaviour that’s why she’s doing it try ignoring her when she refuses to do something give her a firm warning then if she still doesn’t do it naughty step her look up supernanny Jo Frost and follow her techniques to the letter
Sarah,
I am not sure how you came to find this page, but your tactics are not at all in line with what is taught here. Please stop commenting and read a few of Janet’s articles instead.
i agree I’m a diaper lover
Hi
I am having severe problems related to my kid being potty trained. I m in need of help as my frustration and stress level is going higher day by day.
I introduced my boy to potty when he was 18 months for first 6 months he never did pee or poo in potty. I gave a break of 6 month and started again. I kept this trainong on and off until he was 3. Then i shifted him to toilet seat. Luckily now he starts to pee. It has been 6 months now but he keeps having 1 or 2 accidents everyday. For pee he has a control but he has no control over his poo. He doesnot like to make communications about it. He gets aggressive and throws things in washroom. Most of the times he considers washroom a play area. He never tries to poo despite all the treats and bribes. He would pee right away but everyday his poo is out and he shows this face to me like he regrets it.
I m a bi polar. And i have started to get frustrations of cleaning it and not able to get response from last 6 months. He usually doesnot talk when u ask him any question. He is not even trying to speak a lot though he knows all the words and vocabulary but 8 out 10 times he shouts to get his things done
Plz advice me what to do.
Thnx
I read this whole article but coming away I simply see a lot of what the author doesn’t like and doesn’t recommend. Not a whole lot of details about what they suggest. Vague suggestions aren’t helpful when working with toddlers. My three year old is ready and able but I am not. I need help on how to move forward but this is only telling me what not to do. Not helpful
Right, Gwen. This approach is about allowing your child to initiate a process and then facilitating that process. If your child is ready, then I would simply be open and accepting and helpful.
Many preschools (all in my area) won’t allow kids to start unless they are potty trained. I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity. I just trained my 2.5 year old in a few days (to make him more confident for when he starts at three). I guess I am just not seeing the argument. To each their own, though! Unlike the author of this article, I see validity in both sides of the argument and support either parenting choice. My friend trained her 20 month old twins in 24 hours. Hardly damaging in any way, I think. 😉
I so agree with waiting until the child is ready, but what happens when your child is nearly four and still won’t use it at all (even though she knows how to) My daughter is the only one in her church class that is still in diapers and I am required to provide pull-ups for her (which I do not want to use on her) because there is no diaper changing station in the 3-4 year old class, of course. She knows the entire routine of using the potty but she just keeps telling me she’s not ready. I am hoping it is soon because I am worn out – I never though I would be diapering my child for four years and I am close to giving up.
So what’s your take on elimination communication?
Personally, I don’t recommend it. Here are some of the reasons: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-hodges-md/potty-training_b_1424826.html
Hi Janet and all the lovely peeps who post on this thread. Firstly, I’d just like to say thanks for your time, effort and care in sharing your experiences and knowledge! I have a bit of a ramble in regards to EC:
It seems odd to me that a practice that appears to tick so many of the RIE boxes (improved communication, baby-led, observational, unrestricted movement etc) is disregarded because of problems that are not exclusive to that practice – they are problems shared by nappy or nappy-free babies! How can it be said that EC shouldn’t be practiced because babies hold elimination movements, when this is a regular experience of nappied babies (as evidenced by so many of the posts in this thread)! Isn’t that a bit pot-calling-the-kettle-blackish? What also seems odd to me is that the intention of EC is not to teach babies to hold their elimination movements, but for parents and caregivers to be able to understand and respond when a baby gives an elimination signal. If I am observant and listening, I understand the signal and can respond and help my child eliminate his waste outside of his nappy. If I’m not listening, I miss the cue and he still does his business. There’s no holding on. It’s still a child-led process.
I can completely understand that it might create anxiousness and ‘holding on’ in my child if I were to put him in daycare and he is in an environment where he is not used to eliminating and other people to attend to him that he is not comfortable communicating with. But again, isn’t this something that nappied babies also experience? There are posts here of people telling stories of their child holding on until after daycare. So again, the effect of new environments and situations on a child’s eliminating process can be subject to the same problems – nappy free or not!
With this being said, isn’t the approach to how you interact with your child more important, rather than the practice that this approach works around? Whether my child is nappy free or not, it still requires good communication, clear boundaries, respect, observation and child-led directions. For me, coupling the benefits of RIE with EC has been a very positive experience. I’ve also read stories here of parents who had a positive experience with baby-led toilet training from nappies at an older age. Could we instead focus on that rather than dissuading any particular type of toileting practice? I just didn’t find the article that you provided on the disadvantages of EC to be particularly well founded and in my experience (and my baby’s experience) the benefits of EC have been wondrous. His level of happiness, independence, physical movement and good bowel movements increased so dramatically when my husband and I started EC that it was astounding. Of course, this may change, but that is the joyous challenge of parenting! Much love,
I couldn’t agree more Nina!
That doctor in the ‘don’t potty train your baby’ sounds like a quack. Seriously, he’s never seen a kid in diapers with a UTI? Those kids are at *higher* risk of UTIs, not lower, because their urinary tracts often come in contact with poop in their diaper. If he gets that wrong, I seriously doubt he has any real qualifications.
I do agree with him. Yes, there is contact with poo in nappies – that’s why they should be changed regularly but holding it can have more damaging and long lasting effect. In many hunter gatherers societies they don’t use nappies at all but they hold their babies almost all the time and because they are very attuned to them they let them eliminate as soon as they need to. That’s different then making your baby to hold it.
my child is 4 and has been in Special School District preschool since the age of 3. He will be 5 in January and start kindergarten the next year. He is still in diapers the sight and smell of of his feces and urine makes him vomit. I’m definitely thinking there’s some cognitive issues and have begun seeking therapy for them but so far have not gotten any responses. Anyone else have a problem with this?
This is very encouraging. We are doing pretty much all of these things and our daughter does enjoy going to the potty and she knows what to do; however, she doesn’t seem to be interested in fully making the transition to panties. We have had her wear panties but she always ends up with accidents and I feel like that isn’t ideal so we have put her back in pull-ups. She can pull-up and do it herself but she also still will go several hours without actually going to the bathroom. She seems to be at that point still where she’d rather play and sit in a wet diaper than actually go the potty consistently. Do you have any recommendations to get her more consistent with going to the bathroom? She is 3 and half years old. She has had a history of delayed gross motor skills and hypotonia due to CHARGE syndrome. Which is why we haven’t pushed it too much with her and just have continually guided her in the process until she got strong enough to do it herself.
This article encouraged me because I keep asking myself if I’m not dedicated enough to getting her “potty trained” and if I needed to push more than I do.
PullUps feel like diapers to kids. Let her wet her underwear. At some point, she will dislike wet underwear and start using the toilet. She may need a small toilet you put on the floor or a seat that is solidly attached to the adult seat (homedepot $55).
This is the worst advice I’ve ever read on potty training. It WOULD be easy if your child initiated by 18 months old. My second is potty trained except for pooping. He is 4 years old next month and refuses to poop in the toilet. He is afraid of falling in. The advice is to not even tell him about using the toilet? I should just let him “hold it in” until after school every day? That is not healthy. I have not said much to him about pooping on the toilet, but will start. He has stomach aches and needs to know that he can do it and he will be ok. Our kids need emotional support and belief in them that they can do it. There would be many things they would never attempt if we did not lovingly push them to at least try.
But the problem with pushing (in this particularly delicate aspect of development) is that it causes children to push back.
My son was scared of falling in the potty, too. He’s also been very tall but extremely thin (so an even smaller tush than normal that could fall in easier).
I would encourage, but never push, a child if they are scared. Hesitant, yes. Scared, no. You are correct. What children need most is reassurance from us.
My son also showed interest in the potty at about 18-19 mos, but I wasn’t ready (I was then in a wheelchair), until a year later, so we waited. So, speaking to another comment on this tread, you both need to be ready.
My son mastered his fear of falling in by concurring pooing on the little portable plastic potty, then he graduated to our smaller ceramic flush-able potty at home, then to the often larger potties in public restrooms (which are larger, louder, and sometimes automatic, so save those for last). At each phase I held onto him (his arms or torso) until he felt confident that he could hold onto the potty with his hands and not fall in. I was his training wheels, if you will, and always his cheerleader.
I received the best advice from leading pediatric doctors in the country at Hopkins and Kennedy Krieger who said:
“Listen to your gut. I might have a PhD in pediatric medicine, but only *you,* the primary caregiver, have a PhD in your child.”
I think a great deal of teachers, assuming they are degree-holding, and authors (of which I know several, and it’s surprisingly easy to write a book) would benefit from a secondary degree in developmental psychology and an understanding that what works in their classroom might not be the best advice developmentally for them as they grow and become adults.
Okay I have a question. We have almost 3 year old triplets. Both girls use the potty independently but our son is still in diapers most of the time. The issue is that he says he wants to wear undies and is going be responsible with his pee. And sometimes he is and can go all morning diaper free. Other times he will just pee or even poop in his undies and not say anything unless/until I notice. I want to trust him and support his desire to be like his sisters, but he’s so inconsistent!
I don’t understand : “Be careful not to transmit negative messages about body parts or feces and urine (“stinky, dirty”, etc.).” we joke that it stinks and they need to know it is dirty and don’t think it’s ok to smear it on the walls or put their unwashed potty hands in their mouths.
My daughter has been diagnosed first with aspergers now it’s considered autism, even though she’s high functioning she still refuses to use the toilet or wear underwear. I’ve only known the potty “training” methods and have never heard of the learning ways till now and was wondering if autistic children are capable of learning this way as well.
Joy – many autistic people actually take issue with the labels “high functioning” and “low functioning”. Autism isn’t just “autism”, but “autism spectrum disorder”, meaning it has a range of expressions.
Different things have different levels of difficulty or impairment on an individual level, such as cognition, verbal skills, social skills, and sensory issues. Each difficulty is not necessarily connected to the others, so any one category may be more severe or less severe than others, and often it varies depending on context or other factors.
I have been dating a wonderful young woman with autism spectrum disorder for several years (she was diagnosed as an adult only a year ago), and a childhood friend of mine is also on the spectrum. They’re both considered “high functioning” but that doesn’t mean they have the same difficulties. They’re both smart and can take care of themselves, but one is incredibly verbal and precise in language while the other struggles with spoken language and verbal processing sometimes, but not always.
Routines and sensory issues may be a big factor. A change in routine can be very stressful for some on the spectrum, and maintaining a comfortable and familiar routine can sometimes be comforting and help cope with daily challenges of life. Diapers may be part of a routine.
Attachments are also formed differently in the minds of many autistic people, and so there may be some level of attachment that has developed emotionally, similar to a security blanket.
Sensory issues might mean that wearing underwear is a sensory nightmare because of the pressure or fit, or even the texture. Being incredibly uncomfortable for a long time in such a sensitive area may sounds like a terrifying proposition. Also, in a bathroom, the lighting, other people, the smells, or the feeling of sitting on a toilet seat might be sensorily overwhelming like nails on a chalkboard.
I’m no expert, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the years, so I thought I’d offer my insight.
Hi,
Do you have advice for us in supporting our almost 4 year-old who is still in diapers (day and night)? I’m pretty sure she can tell when she has to go to the bathroom but she is very upset by the idea of not wearing a diaper. I was taking the ‘wait until she’s ready’ approach but it is starting to feel as though that may never be the case…
Thank you!
This is the most backwards article I have read regarding potty training. While I respect personal opinions, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read and goes against everything else recommended.
I love this approach – this is what my mom did and she said it was so much easier than what she watched her friends do. I’m at a loss though because my daughter (2.5 years old) experiences HORRIFIC diaper rashes randomly that are impossible to prevent. The first thing I tried was a barrier cream/ointment which didn’t work. Then I changed her diet and that didn’t work, among a myriad of other things. My best guess is that she gets diaper rashes whenever she gets a bug so her sensitive skin can’t handle the increased acidity. She’s terrified of us when it comes to cleaning up an acidic poop because of course touching it hurts so she waits until nap time, sits in her dirty diaper the entire nap, and then is in so much pain when we change it after she wakes up. I’m not sure what to do since I obviously can’t control when she poops (and have no desire to try). I’ve changed the time of her nap in an effort to see if she will poop beforehand, but she just holds it. I asked her if she wanted to through out the diapers and switch to underwear but she freaked out and insisted that the underwear is what’s hurting her bum. I offered naked time and that scared her too. I’m positive that she has a VERY negative association with all things poop and parental clean up. We involve her in helping with the diaper changes and I empathize the whole time but eventually I just have to firmly insist that I clean her bottom (which of course is very painful for her) because I can’t just let her continue to sit in a acidic diaper. I’m just not sure what to do! Any ideas?
I don’t know how old this comment is, but here are some ideas:
It would be better to put down a waterproof sheet/old blanket and let her soil that then hold the poo against her raw bum
Get a shower head wand thingie and wash her raw bum with that instead of wipes.
Instead of offering her naked time, give her a bath in the middle of the day then make a game out of running around naked
My boy gets rashes too when he has diarrhea so I know where you’re coming from
Until the invention of disposable diapers, 95% of children were out of diapers before 18 months. So, for most of human history, children would learn to control the muscles of elimination *soon after being able to walk* (between 12 and 18 months). This is the child’s “evolved expectation of care.” The problem is that when we ignore or miss this time window (because we didn’t think it was possible or “normal’) the child LEARNS to ignore their urges to gain competency and control. So, the reason that modern “toilet learning” or “potty training” is so difficult is because the child first needs to UNLEARN and break their now comfortable and ingrained habits (which, like dieting or anything else, we all know is incredibly difficult given the human brain’s reward system).
Putting children in cloth diapers or a double pair of training pants when children start walking (and therefore begin to have an awareness and conscious control of the lower half of their bodies) can make a big difference. Children will be able to look down and see that they are wet. Cloth diapers/training pants get cold and heavy when wet. Children pull at them and want them off.
Tell the child they can have their wet cold diaper off…but they will need to learn to go in the potty chair (so the pee and poop doesn’t get all over the floor). When they agree, give them a potty chair to use. Take their diaper off and let them play. As soon as they start to go, make a sound (you can say “stop!” with a smile). The child will be quite surprised by the whole affair because they have never seen themselves urinate before. Help them get to the very nearby potty chair as quickly as possible so they can finish there. Repeat this consistently several times in a row. By the end of the day, your 12-14-month-old will be “potty trained” (because they were the ones pulling their diapers off and asked you to free them from their wet and soiled discomfort). Repeat consistently for a couple days, and you’re done. Children at this age love to be naked, and able to move freely. They would never choose to go back into wet cloth diapers again.
Boys can also have this concept reinforced by letting them “water the flowers” outside. Invite them to “start” and “stop” the flow a couple of times, so they get the idea that they have control.
The problem is disposables that wick away wetness and allow children to be comfortable in their own urine for a prolonged period of time (way past the natural window of time for learning to control the muscles of elimination).
Hope this is helpful.
If you waited to until your child showed “all the signs of readiness” before you washed their hands (capable of rolling up their sleeves, pushes stool to sink, can reach the faucet, etc), people would think you were totally nuts. Amazing what advertising and commercialism can put into people’s heads. I wonder how many of the “don’t push your child” advocates would change their tune long before they found themselves squatting over a toilet dunking a 3.5 year old’s cloth diaper (possibly followed by their 2 year old’s and newborn’s).
What happened to setting clear limits? I “toilet learned” my 28 month old using a a popular book/method. She got it within days and within a few weeks I was pretty worry-free. I believe the secret of this successs was due to the clear limits set by the potty training method. Letting the child toilet when they “decide” is just a recipe for a disaster power struggle. Take note of the comments section where followers of this advice have 4 year olds still not pooing in the potty. That’s a behavioral issue because they are definitely old enough to do it themselves. What’s wrong with a simple limit like is suggested with all your other parenting advice . We don’t poo on the floor/ in our pants. Here is the potty. Consistency, calmness, handing them the control with clear limits and boundaries. I think RIE can handle that.
My almost 4 year old nephew is partially potty trained. He has all the tools and knowledge to go in the toilet. He only wears a pull up at night and big boy underwear during the day. He has very few accidents per month at school and daycare combined. We struggle with it at home though.sometimes he goes to the toilet does all the proper things and comes to happily tell us, and we praise him. Sometimes he will tell us he has to go potty and we encourage him to go sit on the toilet and he goes successfully. Unfortunately most of the time he goes in his big boy underwear. He has been in big boy underwear for 6 months now and even when we try leaving him naked he just goes on the floor please help!!!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Please & thank you very much.
Can you give guidance on what to do if we’ve done all the incorrect things? We’ve done all the wrong stuff and it’s been a VERY stressful and negative (dare I say traumatic) experience for all of us. It seems counter-intuitive to pull off of potty training altogether but we are at a loss and all the traditional “methods” have done nothing but cause tears and anxiety for all of us!!! My daughter is 3.5 and is 100% physically and cognitively ready, but not emotionally (or so it would seem). She is very very very anxious and apprehensive and scared to death to use the potty, even though she has previously. She is also very constipated. Please help!
My almost 4 year old has no problem seeing in the toilet but still will only poo in a nappy. Should I reintroduce a potty for him to get more comfortable with going outside of his nappy or is this a step back? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!
My almost 4 year old boy is still in diapers day and night, and is adamant that he does not want to use the toilet, especially for pooping. He has often used the toilet to pee, but only when he’s already naked before bathtime.
Janet, I’ve followed your advice from day one and been completely hands off, however his pre-K class which starts in 3 months unfortunately requires him to be out of diapers. He has new underwear ready for him to use, he has practiced sitting on the toilet, and is very aware of his bodily functions.
Where do I go from here?? It’s looking like I need to step in now, before we get too close to September and it becomes too urgent and stressful…. any advice?
I believe my 2 yr old is interested in using the potty but I’m afraid I have scarred her because every time she poops in her diaper I would say “yucky” and make funny faces and just make a big fuss about how stinky it was. I feel like an idiot for doing that. She tells me when she’s pooped and she keeps pulling her diaper off but she won’t poop in the potty. Did I traumatize her?
I helped my first granddaughter . She would get up in the morning, race to wherever I was…. look me in the eye with a grin on her face and pee in her pull-up!!! We would both laugh!
But, she became obsessed with all the pretty pantries and pretty much trained herself! It
was hilarious
Sounds like you have a lovely relationship, Holly!
What is described above is, in fact, potty training. Potty training is introducing and modeling for the child, the same as hand washing, manners, and anything else we wish to teach them.
There are children who will show an interest in potty learning, but they are in the minority. Waiting for readiness can lead to struggling with an older child who is diaper dependent with extreme fear or anxiety. There’s the added stress of dealing with a deadline like starting preschool or kindergarten.
There is nothing wrong with guiding a child through the process of potty learning. Just like you guide them through learning to dress, tie shoes, ride a bike, you can help them with toileting. Elimination communication (0-18 months) and non coercive potty learning (18 months+) are gentle, safe, and help you work with your child to learn to use a potty full time.
Hi, Jennifer. I’m wondering what you are basing this premise on: “There are children who will show an interest in potty learning, but they are in the minority.” In my experience, that is completely false. Every child I’ve worked with in the past 20 years, including 3 of my own, has shown an interest in potty learning. Children are intelligent people and are naturally driven toward autonomy and developing new skills.
I toilet trained. It was so simple and easy and wonderful I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. My son was afraid of using the potty but 2 days with no nappies when he was 23 months old and the promise of skittles when he used the potty was enough for him to brave his fear and conquer. Since then it has been wonderful. People say it’s harder once they’re out of nappies but I’ve not found it to be true at all. Now at 24 months we’ve moved from the potty to the toilet with a seat insert. Nothing to clean. One quick wipe of the bum is all that’s needed. He goes off the use it by himself without needing reminders or prompting, flushes, washes his hands and comes back to play. It’s amazing. We were out all day this weekend and brought his toilet seat, despite our train being delayed when he needed a poo (waiting to use the toilet on the train) he had no accidents. And he is definitely not constipated. We all just had stomach flu and he’s still a bit loose from that. Has 3-4 large poos a day at the moment. Don’t even know where he keeps it all in his tiny body.
I’d say to anyone who is nervous about potty training to just do it. Make it final. The nappies are gone nothing will bring them back, if you want to be dry and clean you can use the toilet/potty.
And kids really don’t need to be told that poop is “stinky”. They have noses ya know. They’re not stupid.
Would also strongly agree with some of the other commenters that this should be just another area where clear boundaries are set. The idea of children not being ‘ready’ is pretty unbelievable, especially because dry diapers are a modern day invention. Wearing a dry diaper becomes a comfortable habit that just gets harder to fight as they grow older, and why should they? It might be natural for kids not to want to be wet, but the diaper keeps them from experiencing that. And as for wanting to be like adults, yes there’s a version of that wish for autonomy, but that doesn’t mean they want to start doing my taxes.
In some cases it might be possible to train with little guidance, especially if they see peers during the day. But what about night training? it’s become much more common to allow kids to stay in night diapers for years, at what environmental and economic cost? this is a first world luxury problem that’s been created.
by the way the only evidence i ever see about needing to wait to train comes from that one same urologist..is he alone or does he actually have a peer reviewed body of research to back him up?
I’m interested to know a respectful approach to helping my daughter stay dry at night time. She is 5. We took a pretty slow and relaxed approach to daytime training but when she was ready (2-3 years old?) she got it right away and never had an accident. At present she does not wake up to pee, but will go if I put her on the toilet at night. Therefore I have kept her in pull-ups at night and they are never dry in the morning. I was wondering about using trainer pants at night or something similar to help her along. I’d like any advice on this matter 🙂
Hi,
My now 2 1/2 year daughter wanted to use the toilet all on her own at 2 years old as she has an older sister. She got the hang of doing number 1s on the toilet very easily and is dry through the night. So of course we bribed her in to wearing knickers (which after reading this article I know now was a mistake). She is now constipated. We have tried going back to diapers but she still wants knickers on. She is now holding her poop for 3 or 4 days and getting tummy aches. Do you have any suggestions? Anything would be helpful as this is a very stressful time when she needs to poop but holds it in. Thanks
May I copy this off and share it with the families in the child development lab where I work?
Yes, Margaret! Thank you so much for your interest.
I had my two sons in the 1970’s. Since kids learn everything by copying the people around them, I never pottytrained them at all. Never even mentioned it. They both were completely out of diapers and keeping dry at 2-1/4 years. There were alot of older pre-schoolers around and I think they just copied the other kids. Once the nerves connecting the brain and bladder and bowels are finished growing into place and once the kid can get up onto the toilet, they do what everyone else does. Potty training was invented in the 20th century, probably by the first toddler potty chair manufacturer. Parents should read history – ex. the Hopi Indian toddlers followed the older kids into the woods to pee and poop once they could walk and control their elimination functions. Imagine forcing them to use a potty chair in the teepee! Some kids don’t want to give up the diaper because they want to remain a baby for whatever reason. In that case, after age 3, just don’t buy any more diapers. A few wet shoes and puddles on the floor and that will be the end of it.
Hi Janet,
I’m curious if there is an age range that you find the majority of children fall into for expressing readiness on their own, or an upper end to how long you would wait?
I haven’t decided what side if the fence I’m on but I want to make the right choice and there’s so much conflicting advice out there. My son is 23 months, and we’ve casually had a potty in the bathroom since he was 18 months. We barely ever mention it, just once in a while tell him he can sit on his potty while we use the big potty if he likes, or once in a blue moon ask if he’d like to go pee on his potty. He always says no and that’s no problem, there’s never any pushing or another word about it. He also isn’t bothered at all by a dirty diaper, he’d much rather keep playing than have to break to get a diaper change. I just worry that I’ll be waiting forever and doing him a disservice in the long run if it’s up to him gaining an interest in the potty on his own.
I agree, I’ve been looking on the Internet to see to purchase a Baby Potty or not. Those were one of my questions, of how long to wait for my daughter to find interest to use it. Or the kind of Baby Potty I get would influence her interest in it.
Wow,
What is going on with these comments? Regardless of your stance on potty training, parenting, or anything at all tbh, the level of neurosis and anxiety on display by some here is staggering. If you’re struggling that much, hire a coach, see a therapist etc. Don’t expect to get a long drawn out answer here! Your situation is far too complex to be answered in an internet forum.
Good lord.
my son will be three years old in July, i started to try potty train, a month ago without forcing him, trying to motivate him, he’ll go if I take him, and he can do #1 and #2, but he don’t tell me when he needs to go, and then he goes in his pull ups, that he started to use for potty training… then he had a episode of pain to pee due to his unsuccessful surgeries for his Hypospadias, we have 2 surgery’s with complications of fístulas and occasionally pain to pee. So I lay back and started to read books and show him videos to get him interested again, and then he went back to the potty occasionally when I take him or he go on the diaper… but a couple of days ago he started to cry and hold the diaper, when I go to change his dirty diaper, even wants to take it out of the trash, and does not want to let me put on the clean diaper he says that the dirty diaper is clean, it is a whole drama, I am very worried because I have to force him to put on the diaper, which is a pull ups. I wonder if I should go back to baby diapers? my son has gone through a lot, with his hypospadias and had more to come to fix the fistula and pain, he some time said that his penis is broke that we should cut it, but I explain that is going to be ok and stop hurting soon, all this breaks my heart.
the truth is my son has already had enough trauma and I do not know how to solve what is happening with the diapers now .. I would appreciate your advice …
Thank you in advance
Sincerely
A
My 3 yo has been using the potty for over a year now and seems pretty comfortable with it. The only problem that I have with him is that he wants me to clean his bottom and isn’t really interested in doing it himself. He has attended a Montessori school where they left him to care for himself in the bathroom. At home he is not interested in helping himself. He is headed to a new school this year and I worry that he will be running around with a dirty butt. How can I gently encourage him to help himself? Side note*{I tell people that he potty trained us because it seemed that we were hold him back} Anyway, love you books.
Judith
I am flabbergasted by the derision for the elimination communication approach, apparently based on….a strange article by a urologist? Doing EC with my second child (I was nervous about diving in with my first) has been such a fabulous experience, enabling me to understand what’s going on with my baby. I started at 4 months, he’s six months now. I potty him for most poops and several pees a day. It is cleaner than diapering, his diaper rash is gone, and he is so content and pleased after eliminating in a container (usually a baby potty, sometimes the sink or adult potty). Furthermore, our planet cannot sustain reliance on disposal diapers which effectively never decompose. I very much urge Janet to read more on elimination communication and look more critically at the conclusions regarding holding waste.
This article would make me laugh if it didn’t make me angry. It’s very lucky for you that your 18-month-old child decided to start using the toilet. One of my 4 kids did that at that time on his own. What a saint you must be to never have called feces “stinky”. And how nice that you loved changing disgusting diapers so much that you didn’t ever push your kids to get on with maturing. I disagree so much with your assertions that I feel compelled to post this comment even though all of my kids are long past the diaper stage. A kid in my 9yo son’s class still defecates in his pants several times a week because he feels like it. That’s the kind of situation your method could lead to. Parents are judged enough, and telling them not to act like excrement all over one’s perfectly able body is gross, is judgement we don’t need. Enjoy la-la land.
What worked for us was to let him roam naked at home when he was just shy of 2 years.
We set the correct expectations (for us): Expect pee and possibly poop on the floor as he can’t really know any better, considering he’s worn diapers for all his life. Also, those diapers are so ultra-absorbent that I believe that kids often have a hard time to connect the feeling of a full bladder to becoming wet.
We never made him feel bad about peeing on the floor. We told him neutrally, that next time he should try and pee in the potty. If we saw him peeing, we’d try and sit him down on the potty or hold the potty under the stream. For some reason he never peed on the sofa or the rug.
It was quite amazing to watch as he went from “Look, pee pee.” (All of it on the floor. Kid is visibly surprised as to where that came from.) to “Pee pee coming” (Kid is in the process of peeing, chance to catch some of it) to “go pee pee” (running for the potty) within a short time.
Admittedly, it’s not for the faint of heart, but it worked like a charm for us.
My mom used to do this. She had a butt-ton of kids and didn’t want more than two in diapers at any one time, so she aimed to toilet train early and fast. Her method was to just wait for a warm weekend and let ‘em be naked. She swore it worked in 2 days for most of her kids.
My older daughter seemed to be progressing in a “normal” and uncomplicated fashion in regards to using the potty. Then when her baby sister was about 8 months old, she stopped all together and said she would only use pull ups. She knew exactly when she had to go, and very rarely had accidents. She would just go get a pull up, put it on and go pee and poo there. This all was fine with us, until it just wasn’t after almost a year. Mainly because I reached a place of frustration and wanting her to be how I wanted her to be. I was pressuring her, even though I felt I was using positive reinforcement and encouragement. After listening to your podcast and reading your posts, I realized just how much I was making this about ME. She was very scared of using the toilet. Even sitting on the toilet would send her into tears and she would cry and say “I can’t do it.” “I don’t know how it will feel.” “Can I trust you that it will be OK?” Well on her fourth birthday I completely backed off. I told her that I trusted her and I trusted her body and I wasn’t going to talk about it anymore. That she can use whatever makes her feel safe. She cried and hugged me and that was that. Within a month she was talking about it herself — where to go. And within two months she was sitting all by herself on the toilets to pee. I restrained my excitement, as per your advice! And I am watching how her fears are her own and her accomplishments are also her own. It’s a beautiful thing to see how she is owning this process and trusting her body and the process. I am very grateful to you for your advice. You really helped me un-mesh myself and stand in a compassionate place of supporting my girl.
So we tried potty training my 2.5 yo because he was giving us a hard time changing his diapers. Didn’t want to be changed. At first he was using the potty to pee and poop. Now when he is home he refuses (I believe part of us pushing the agenda) however I have stopped urging him to use the restroom but he doesn’t want his pull-ups changed either when he pees or poops in them. It’s a battle to change him. ( he is able to use the potty at school so I it’s definitely a control issue/emotional readiness at home) my question is how do I go about having him allow us to change his diapers. I have given up trying to urge him to use the toilet but he won’t even let us change his soiled diapers.
Thanks!
My son is 3.5 and we started potty training almost exactly 1 year ago. We followed the “Oh Crap! Potty Training” book and my son did very well in the first month. However, after the very good first month, he had 2-3 accidents every week for the past year. Most recently, it’s even regressed to every single day and sometimes multiple times a day. There are no changes in our lives.
We have then tried all the approaches we can think of. We tell him firmly that it’s not ok to pee in his trousers, we give him stickers, chocolate, special 1:1 time, TV, everything a child can possibly care about when he is accident free. We have even tried negative reward when he does pee in his trousers, including no playtime with Mommy and Daddy after the accident, no books, no Mommy/Daddy to sleep with him at night, etc. We don’t change his wet clothes right away but that doesn’t bother him at all. He is also very happy to clean up his own pee.
However, so far, NOTHING works… He continues to pee in his trousers frequently and he just says he forgot when we ask him about it.
Many people tell me that this means he’s not ready but is he really not? but I truly believe he is capable of doing this. During his good month, he would tell me that he’s going to the potty, ask me to stay where I am and he can do everything all by himself (put potty seat on, wipe himself, flush, wash hands, etc). We hug, kiss, and I gave him lots of praise that month.
However, all of sudden, the big regression came. He peed in his trousers every day, he refused to pee when reminded (I had trusted him by this point and didn’t force him to go), and pees in his trousers soon afterwards.
What else can I do?
I LOVE IT!! I prefer toilet learning to training to focus it on what the child is doing. I find amusement when people cringe at my cavalier acceptance of a child squatting to poop and my response just being, “oh you’re pooping, let me know when you’re done.” or my suggestions that they just allow the child to see their pee coming out and label it or even when i show them their poop while changing their diaper.
A child learns WHEN THEY ARE READY;.
I just wanted to share how I inadvertently followed the advice here and how wonderfully it worked, When I was a first time mum, my daughter had some health issues between the age of one and two that led to a few hospitalisations, and then her brother came along just before her second birthday. With all that going on, potty training did not seem like a priority, nor did taking away her dummy ( pacifier). She needed both for the comfort at a difficult time in her and our lives. Also, she was two and a half in the winter time, so I didn’t want to potty train then. As it happened, she just became curious and ready in her own time. I left a potty in the bathroom from when she was about two and always let her watch me go. One day she just told me she didn’t want nappies anymore, and that was that. She didn’t even use the potty, she wanted to go straight to the big toilet. We bought her some big girl underwear that she chose at the shop, and bar one single accident one night, that was it. Smooth sailing since then. I hadn’t planned not to potty train, it just happened that way, and I am very glad if it. I’ll be waiting until my son let’s me know he is ready also.