Praise the toilet! You’re at last ready to take on this noble of all mundane tasks. It’s been a long and winding road, but it’s finally time to ditch the diapers and leave the wiping for your child to do themselves (yay!)
Toilet training is a big step, but it doesn’t have to be difficult or stressful. Every child learns differently, and there’s no “right” or “perfect” age to start learning this pivotal skill. By watching for signs of readiness, combined with the assistance of toilet training tools, you can see better progress and make toilet time fun for everyone involved.
Here are some tips on how you can make the toilet training process fun and effective for your child.
Preparing for toilet training
Most children begin to show signs when they’re between 18 - 24 months old, although some may not be ready until later than that. Since not all children are ready at the same age, it’s important to watch for signs that your child may be ready to start their toilet training.
Signs of toilet training readiness:
- They can follow simple instructions
- Understand and use words about using the potty
- Keeps diaper dry for at least 2 hours
- Tells you with words or gestures when they go in their diapers
- Know when it’s time to go in their diaper
- Can get to the potty in time and sit on it
- Can pull their own underwear and pants up and down
Not all these signs need to be present when your child is ready. A general trend will let you know it’s time to start.
One of the biggest hurdles that parents face in toilet training is the child’s unwillingness to participate. It can be helpful to think of the toilet training process where both the parent and child have their own “jobs” to do.
It’s the parent’s responsibility to create a supportive learning environment. This means that parents:
- Recognises the child is in control of their body
- Lets the child decide whether to use the toilet or a diaper/pull-up each day
- Teach words related to using the toilet
- Offer tools to help with the process (such as small potty, potty seat, stool, toilet training kits, progress chart etc.)
- Expect and handle accidents without anger
- Avoid punishment as well as too much praise around toilet use.
It’s the child’s responsibility to:
- Decide whether to use the toilet or a diaper/pull-up
- Learn their body’s signals for when to use the toilet
- Use the toilet at their own speed
Remember that toilet training is a learning process (with many accidents along the way) that takes patience and the right support.
Toilet Training Kits are an effective tool that encourages kids into dry nights in a fun and rewarding way for everyone involved. It’s used by continence nurses across Australia and has proven to be effective for children of all ages.
Each Chart includes bright and colourful progress poster, smiley stickers, achievement certificate, tips and advice for parents.
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The Kids Toilet Training Kits can be used as a motivational aid for other learning areas apart from toilet training. Such as:
- Encouraging children to eat their veggies. Good nutrition is important in the treatment of incontinence especially bowel incontinence.
- Encouraging children to drink plenty of water and ‘non-sweetened fluids each day. Kids must drink a healthy amount of water or juice to help with continence training.
- Encouraging children to take quiet time to ‘sit on the toilet'.
Remember that toilet training is a learning process (with many accidents along the way) that takes time, patience, and support. It may seem like training a child takes forever, especially when you aren’t sure what works for them just yet. But the key is to flip this what-could-be a frustrating and stressful task into a bonding experience that’s motivated through fun and encouragement.
All our Toilet Training Products can be found here!