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August 8, 2022Potty Training Advice
from Early Intervention Therapists
Learning to Use the Toilet
Potty training is one of the most important milestones in a child’s development. It requires patience, persistence, and creativity from both you and your child. Use our tips to make potty training easier, while modeling good behavior and maintaining positive encouragement.
Children learn best when they are comfortable and secure, and their parents are encouraging and supportive.
Potty Training is a learning opportunity for both you and your child. Together you will accomplish potty training in record time!
When is Your Child Ready?
There’s no one way to potty train your child, and experts agree that every child is different. But most children will start showing signs of readiness sometime between 18 months and 3 years old. Some children want to be potty trained before their first birthday, but most kids tend to resist being out of diapers until 2½ or 3 years old.
Does your child recognize when they urinate or have a bowel movement? Do they seek privacy in another room or crawl under a table to go? If they are not yet aware of eliminations, it’s not time to potty train.
Is your child copying a parent’s toileting behavior? The ability to walk and pull their pants up and down is critical to starting potty training, as is the ability to sit down on and get up from the potty chair.
Does your child feel uncomfortable in a soiled diaper, and have they expressed the desire to use the potty?
How to Start
Make it an adventure by buying potty gear that makes the process easy, fun, and comfortable. Consider getting a potty-training chair or toilet insert, stepstool, and toddler training underwear. There are many choices from thoughtfully designed seats to fun and colorful undies.
- Teach your child the family’s words for peeing, pooping, and body parts.
- Make plan. Are you going to take your child to the potty every 30 or 60 minutes, or watch your child for signals that they would like to try?
- If your child doesn’t go after a minute or two, don’t force it. The next opportunity is soon to come.
- There will be accidents. Be ready to clean up without displaying anger.
- Rewards and praise can be highly motivating, but don’t overdo it. There will be setbacks, and you don’t want your child to feel too bad about them.
Delays in Potty Training
Some children are ready to potty train earlier than others. If you child isn’t making progress, stop the process and try again in another 2-3 months. Remember, every family and child’s situation is different!
Every child moves through early childhood milestones at a different pace. But if you suspect something may be wrong, or your child is experiencing delays in several areas, it might be time to seek professional help.
Early Intervention Therapies
If your child seems to have a developmental delay, there is a great deal of help and many resources you can call upon. Ask your pediatrician about Early Intervention therapies from TEIS Early Intervention.
At TEIS Early Intervention, our therapists listen to your concerns, assess your child’s individual needs, develop a customized treatment plan, and educate you along the way on simple routine-based solutions to maximize your child’s development in their natural environment.
Early Intervention evaluations and therapy services are available under the Federal Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities. Before services can be provided, an independent evaluation of your child must be completed. To assure impartiality, one agency offers evaluation services while another provides the therapeutic services
To learn more, call TEIS Early Intervention at 412-271-8347 or visit our Contact Us page to get help today.