As parents, with any child, we find this topic a difficult one to conquer. We want our children to be as independent as possible and going to the toilet by themselves is an important one. The thing is – our kids also want to be independent, although it might not always seem like it or the urgency is not always there.
There might be a few different reasons your child is not yet toilet trained, but the goal is always to strive for full independence. Five proven ways to support our children here:
- Use a schedule – if you have started with potty training and your child seems to have an accident every 45 minutes, you should add āpotty timeā on their visual schedule every 30 minutes at least.
- Keep it FUN! When you go to the toilet as often as your schedule reminds you to, you should keep the outing FUN! We donāt always associate the toilet as a fun outing, but itās our jobs as parents to bring along some music or make the whole experience one that they wonāt mind practicing a good few times per day. Be creative and have a āspecial potty timeā song and some water toys present when they have to sit for a little while. We all know the sound of water makes us a little more inclined to do the deed.
- Countdowns are better than meltdowns – have a countdown timer present as your child will surely want to know how long they need to sit on the potty.
- Pro-tip: there is a certain type of satisfaction in ticking off a completed activity and we often ask parents to include a tick schedule for each time their child has visited the toilet successfully.
- A big fuss for the actual deed – and of course, when your child is successful you should bring some added positive (and sincere) praise to the event. We donāt advocate any negative attention to expected accidents, but we do love to celebrate a win. I am sure your partner would love to join in the fun when your child becomes a pro pottier!
Have a look at our free video series for more resources – click here.