3 Game-Changing Steps to Easier Potty Training
Jun 07, 2024
Here’s my saying: You can’t squeeze it out of them. Unfortunately, we don’t have control over our child’s pee and poop. This means we have to coach them to listen to their body and learn how to control their muscles when it comes to toileting.
In life we sometimes avoid doing things because they take up energy or we’re not sure how to start. Here’s your nudge!
IDEA:
Potty training will be easier if you incorporate coaching into your everyday life.
TIP:
Incorporate these 3 steps when potty training:
- Change diapers in the bathroom.
Each time you change your child, try to change them standing up in the bathroom. This gives them the sense that the toileting process happens in the bathroom. While you’re there, offer them opportunities to get involved – like getting their own clean diaper, flushing their poop, and even sitting down on a floor potty.
- Model the steps of the process.
Narrate what you’re doing when you go to the bathroom (nonchalantly). Don’t make it a huge deal but talk about it out loud every so often. Some children benefit from explicit description about how the body feels and each step of toileting: feel the urge, get to the toilet, pull down pants, relax muscles and pee/poo, pull pants up, flush, and wash hands).
- Build their body awareness.
Help your child recognize their body signals and how things feel to them. This doesn’t have to be just about toileting urges, it can also expand to temperature and weather, eating and feel hungry/full, and feeling textures. Also, using “I notice” language about their pee/poop signs, like if they crouch or grab their diaper when they need to pee. Describe what they are doing – “I notice you are grabbing your diaper. That’s your body telling you you need to pee.”
RESOURCE:
Building these steps into your everyday routines normalizes the toileting process. Talking about it, naming body parts and functions using correct language, and describing the experience builds comfort and sets expectations.
BONUS TIP: Use a neutral tone when talking to your child about the potty and the process. We want children to feel safe, comfortable, and understand that this is an everyday bodily function that everyone experiences.