The 3 important C’s for Potty Training
The key objective to potty training is helping your child understand the feeling of pooping to the action of pooping. As a parent your goal is to help your child be able to get potty trained in the correct and easiest manner possible. When you start potty training your child be sure to keep these 3 C’s in the back of your mind
Commitment.
Consistency.
Calmness.
Commitment
You will have to dedicate 3 full days to the process of potty training. The sole focus of these 3 days is to observe your child, look for cues that they need to poop or pee and rush them to the bathroom/ potty and use it to poop or pee. For a few of you might find it overwhelming to remove 3 full days to teach your child how to use the potty, but use this time to spend some quality time with your child, play some fun games and plan activities around the house to keep yourself and your child enagaged. These might be the thought that might run through your child's brain when your decide to take a pause from potty training
Didn’t mom just say we won't be wearing diapers anymore?
Well looks like I'm back to wearing diapers?
Wait, I have to use the potty to pee and poop still?
Do I have to wear underwear now or I'm back on the diaper?
Maybe I’m not going to be learning how to use the potty yet
This whole starting and taking a pause will leave your child overwhelmed and more susceptible to throwing tantrums. Be mindful your child is in its formative years and their brain is developing unlike adults who understand how they are feeling, knowing how to process information and make changes, etc. Your child on the other hand is trying to process their new environment and understanding that they are growing up and have to now learn to do things on their own. Don’t start your child's potty training till you aren’t 100% sure you will be able to to dedicate 3 full days, also while you are in the process of deciding to start potty training make sure you don’t make any more changes in your child’s routine at that time for eg: don't
Consistency
Consistency with everything in life is the key to success. The same thing applies to potty training your child, staying consistent with your words, actions and reactions helps make things predictable for your child which is key when it comes to teaching your child something new. When you are potty training your child make sure you follow only one method from start to finish, especially if you are getting tired, frustrated or overwhelmed with cleaning up after them. Follow these simple steps to make the most of your potty teaching time
When you are taking the decision to ditch the diaper, stick to that decision and don't go back and forth.
Devote these 3 days to your child and this one time commitment from your end will lead to great results.
Watch your kid like a hack, the minute you feel that they might need to pee or poop rush them to the potty.
Don’t give them any rewards just cause they were able to pee or poop in the potty.
When you start dueling our rewards for them doing something right, that is what they will expect every time. Hence try to avoid giving them any kind of reward for an achievement. Lets try to stick to internal motivation methods as against external rewards. What we need to focus on is helping your child understand their feelings:
Making them understand how their body will feel like when they have to pee or poop
Knowing the feeling of not getting to the potty in time to pee or poop
Understanding how great it is to release all their pee and poop into the potty
Here are some ways that you could involve consistency in your potty training process
Consistent words: Make a list of words on how to explain body parts, bodily functions and potty related words and stick to the words that you have decided to use. For adults words relate and mean the same thing but for your child they are different eg: Potty and Toilet, Poop or Bowel, Urine or Pee. Try avoiding “ BIG KID” words like:
You are a big boy and big boys use the potty, or
You are a big girl and big girls don't wear diapers.
Your toddler will want to stay little for as long as possible. As much as they might have the desire to grow up , they also want to be taken care of. Don’t make a big deal of them growing up as they might want to hold onto the idea of being young, as they might feel that the idea of them being young is going away and it may lead to regression and tantrums.
Consistent reactions: Your reactions are going to make and break your child potty learning process. Your reactions, good or bad as a parent matters in case they make a mistake or they behave in the correct way matters a lot to your child. Avoid yelling at your child in case they make a mistake but also avoid being an extra happy cheerleader every time they pee or poop in the potty. If you show over excitement when your child uses the potty correctly they don’t feel the same way you do about their achievements, in fact they feel a lot of pressure in doing the same thing over and over again correctly. Over praising leads to anxiety and uncertainty instead of pride and confidence.
Calmness
Make sure you play it cool and stay calm when your child is correctly using the potty. If you pressurize your child to do something that they aren’t ready for, their brain will go into push back mode and they will rebel as they feel that you are trying to control their actions without them agreeing to it. Some ways that you are putting pressure on your child to potty train would be as follows:
Negotiating with your toddler
Rewarding them for their actions
Comparing them with their siblings or their friends
Threatening them not giving them what they want
Over cheering for them achieving their potty training
We would recommend not having to go to war with your child to potty train your child, instead play it cool and create a no pressure zone for your child to want to get potty trained instead of needing to get potty trained. Keep your end goal in mind, you want your child to pee and poop in the potty when they feel the urge. Here are some ways you can stay calm when potty training your child
Find your calm and confident energy for yourself. I need to stay calm, I am a good parent, My child will get potty trained
Make sure you have a positive body language.
Use positive, calm and a controlled voice to talk to your child.
It can be difficult to stay calm when you know that they need to use the potty but are refusing to listen to you. So go back to the 3 ways we spoke about, take your time and prepare yourself to communicate with your child in the best manner and attitude. If they make a mistake of peeing or pooping on the floor , explain to them that they should use the potty when they get that feeling in the future.
