How to potty train a child in 3 - 7 days: a review of the best methods from child psychologists

Due to physiological characteristics, potty training a child should not begin too early, but it should not be delayed either.

It is also necessary to remember about the individuality factor: one toddler can calmly sit on a night vase at the age of 9 months, while the other one is not always able to cope with self-care even by the age of three.

Based on the above, you need to find out when and how to potty train your baby. There are many ways to master this skill, but it is better to learn more about the most effective and most natural ones.

About your child’s readiness to use the potty

Probably, the question of when to potty train a child is the most common and pressing question among most modern mothers who want to quickly instill hygienic skills in their baby.

The answer lies in infant physiology. Scientists have proven that from the first days of life until about one year of age, a child does not control the processes of bowel and bladder emptying.

That is, such processes are unconditional and do not require the participation of the cerebral cortex. Consequently, the baby does not feel the filling of the rectal canal and bladder.

The main goal of teaching a child the skills of neatness, to put it simply, is to make an unconditional reaction conditional - that is, to make the processes of urination and defecation volitional and meaningful acts.

Success Factors

The success of transforming an unconditioned reflex into a meaningful action will be determined by three main factors:

1. 
   A primary role is played by the level of development of organs that are directly involved in ridding the body of metabolic products: the bladder, urinary canal, rectum, abdominal muscles, anal and urethral sphincters.

2. No less important is the degree of formation of the central nervous system, primarily the cerebral cortex.
3. Another important condition is the degree of activity of close relatives, that is, their desire to teach the child to go to the toilet.

These three conditions are interconnected and naturally complement each other. Analysis of these factors allows us to draw obvious and extremely important conclusions. Among them:

• The sooner parents start putting their child on the potty, the more time and effort it will take to teach this skill.
• The more developed the baby is physiologically, the faster he will begin to pee and poop in the night vase.

Can these factors and findings be ignored? Undoubtedly. However, in this case, potty training a child will be accompanied by various problems, which we will discuss below.

Difficulties of early training

On forums, you often come across comments from patient and active mothers who claim that their children at 10 months (and sometimes almost 5 months) can write after the treasured “pee-pee-pee” sounds and poop after the characteristic grunting “ah-ah” -A".

Such “successes” are explained quite simply. The characteristic sounds made by parents lead to the formation of a reflex in the child: a connection between the sounds “pee-pee-pee” and urination. There is no need to talk about the emergence of a volitional act.

It is not special sound signals that should encourage the baby to go to the potty, but a physiological process that is accompanied by an overflowing bladder or rectum.

Problems with seemingly developed skills can begin at two years of age or a little earlier. The baby, who has already learned to sit on a night vase at 9 or 10 months, suddenly refuses to pee and poop in the same way, actively protesting against being planted.

Experts associate such situations with the physiological maturation of the child. Natural control over the filling of internal organs begins to form, and parents with their “pee-pee-pee” force the baby to empty the still empty bladder.

Thus, parents’ ignorance of how and when to potty train their child often leads to the development of very superficial and unstable neatness skills.

It’s even worse when adults, upset by children’s failures in the form of puddles on the carpet, soiled panties or fear of the potty, begin to “force” the child: they force him to sit on a hygiene device, forbid him to get up early, etc. This cannot be done!

Why does a child not want to go to the potty?

There are situations when a child categorically does not accept the potty and does not want to use it. Most often, this situation is associated with mistakes that adults made when potty training the baby.

1. Often parents shame the child for his “mistakes”, laugh or punish, humiliating the baby and traumatizing the delicate child’s psyche;
2. Sometimes, if a child is immediately trained to use the toilet, the baby may be afraid of him. It is necessary to use a special child seat or still purchase a potty;
3. Some stress or problems in a child can lead to his reluctance to sit on the potty. No need to insist. Give him time.

In any case, sooner or later the baby will master the ability to go to the toilet. There is no need to force him.

What time should a child be potty trained?

So, based on physiological norms, we can conclude that teaching children the skills of neatness before 12 months is not justified by anything other than the parental desire to quickly get rid of boring diapers. Of course, this desire is understandable.

Don't know how to wean your child off diapers? Be sure to read the most detailed and informative article by a child psychologist, which examines the 3 main methods of weaning and many useful recommendations.

However, the question of at what age to potty train a child remains open. Knowing the main stages of reaction formation associated with teaching potty etiquette will help you answer it. These periods were highlighted by Professor Alexander Kazmin in his work “Diary of a Child’s Development from Birth to Three Years.”

The main stages of developing toilet skills

Most domestic and foreign pediatricians answer the same question at what age to potty train a child - at 1.5 - 2 years old. It is during this age period that the baby matures physically and psychologically and is ready to acquire full-fledged neatness skills.

It should be understood that the time for the formation of correct conditioned reflexes is strictly individual. Some children already at one year old can consciously handle the potty, while others, even at 3 years old, cannot get used to the night vase.

Features of baby physiology and anatomy

To explain why training should begin no earlier than one and a half years old, consideration of some features of the baby’s physiology and anatomy will help. A baby can consciously ask to use the potty only at a time when he has already formed neuromuscular connections between his brain and the pelvic organs. Their formation begins only after 18 months. These are nerve fibers that form plexuses around the rectum and bladder. They are the ones who give the impulse that the bladder or intestines are full. This impulse is initially transmitted to the spinal cord, and then to the brain. This is what motivates you to go to the toilet. Consequently, the formation of the correct skill is possible only after the clear appearance of these connections. Therefore, if a child of 1.5 years does not go to the potty, this is quite normal.

Of course, some “advanced” parents, almost after the birth of the child, begin to rack their brains over how to get the child to pee in the potty. However, most attempts at training too early are doomed to failure. Even if there has been some success, children do not feel confident using the potty, and this skill is not consolidated in them as it should.

But if learning starts when the child begins to understand what is wanted from him, and when his body is ready for such a “school,” success will not be long in coming.

How to properly potty train a small child?

If you decide to start teaching your child toilet etiquette, the recommendations of specialists (including Dr. Komarovsky) will come in handy.

Of course, the following tips and rules apply more to one-and-a-half-year-old or two-year-old children, but they will also help if parents do not know how to potty train a child at 1 year old.

5 main stages:

1. First of all, show your baby the potty and explain why it is needed. Rubber toys with holes can help. They fill such a teddy bear and baby doll with water and release it into a night vase, telling them that the toy is peeing.
2. How to teach a child to go potty? At first, the baby is planted after waking up, before and after meals, before falling asleep and during the day and after it, before and after a walk, before going to bed for a night's sleep.
3. Now you should stop using diapers during the day. This way the child will be able to study his body, find out why the genitals and soft spots are needed. He will also establish the relationship between organs and urination and defecation.
4. Every time a child succeeds in asking to go to the potty and doing his “wet chores,” he should be praised. But rewards should not come in the form of toys or treats. Enough with the usual words of encouragement.
5. When a child begins to sit on the potty independently, without reference to the time of day, it means that the final stage of training has arrived. You need to consolidate the result obtained by monitoring the characteristic signs of readiness to go to the toilet - straining and redness of the face.

Small tricks

If you still have no idea how to potty train a one-year-old child, or if an older child has misfires, some small tricks will come to the rescue:

• The learning process will be simplified if the family has an older child who already knows how to use a potty. In this case, the firstborn will be able to show the younger how to use an unfamiliar device;
• We potty train your child carefully, without being too zealous. There is no need to keep your baby on the nightstand for more than 5 or 7 minutes. If you force him, he will begin to refuse to even come close to such an unpleasant object;
• It is necessary to dress the baby very easily and simply. That is why experts advise starting training in the summer, when children wear a minimum amount of clothing. And the things themselves should be without belts, buttons, ties and buckles;
• The night vase should be placed within the baby’s reach. Then he will be able to relieve himself, and mom will have a reason to celebrate, albeit a small, but victory. The potty can be installed in the nursery, not far from the play area;
• In order for the child to definitely like the hygiene device, you need to choose it together with the future owner. Go shopping or look for a potty in a chain store, focusing on the preferences of the baby (images of animals, favorite characters);
• When teaching neatness skills, you can use various books that reveal the meaning of the purpose of the night vase. For example, such works as “Fedya the Bear and the Potty” and “Max and the Potty” are very popular among mothers.

How long will the training take? Everything is purely individual. Some children, especially if they are physiologically ready for bladder and bowel control, can gain the skill in 2 to 3 weeks. Others cope in a few months.

If it seems to the mother that the process is taking too long, and the result is needed right now, you can resort to quick methods.

Types of children's potties

Standard option

This container is an ordinary plastic vessel. The first models of these types of pots were released 20 years ago. A traditional potty is a practical and convenient item. In some models you can see dividers for the legs, while others are round, ordinary.

There are options for pots with a small back. If a mother wants to send her baby to kindergarten, she should choose this option.

This is what a child's potty chair looks like

Potty - chair

Sitting on the chair, the child will feel like a little “king”, since this thing looks like a throne. Model with back and legs. It will be very comfortable for your baby to sit on such a potty. Getting up is also easy.

If you don’t know how to potty train your child, then choose this model. She's the most comfortable. The only “minus” is this: if the boy is not accustomed to writing while sitting, this model should be abandoned.

Potty - toy

Moms are always attracted to the store shelves: fairy-tale characters, animals, birds. Immediately there is a desire to buy such a thing for your baby. Of course, the child will like such a gift, but he will use it like a toy. But the task is to get used to the toilet, and not to play with this object.

In addition, these models of potties have another “minus”: the baby will be distracted from the goal, focusing his attention on the potty, and not on the fact that he has to go there for its intended purpose. Sometimes he sits on it for too long.

This is what a children's potty toy looks like

Musical pot

This thing certainly cannot be called useful! If parents want their child to get to know the potty “properly,” then there is no need to buy a musical model. It will distract his attention from the purpose for which he was placed on this object.

Model - transformer

This thing will “grow” with the child. If the item is assembled, it will be a full-fledged “night vase”. If you take it apart, the potty will be in the form of a child's seat and a stand that helps the baby climb onto the toilet on his own.

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Convenient children's transforming potty

Pot + lid

As a rule, this is a standard option, without any additional devices except the lid. There will be nothing to distract the baby from the purpose of sitting on the potty. This item is perfect for both girls and boys.

Toilet seat

This item will be the next step in the process of teaching your baby to independently resolve delicate issues. Often, parents buy toilet seats for older children who no longer need diapers.

Camping potty

2 models have been developed. The first one needs to be inflated, and the second one needs to unfold. This type is convenient in conditions where conditions are not very comfortable for a child. For example, when a family is relaxing in nature. It happens that a child refuses to pee under a tree.

If this is an inflatable version of a children's potty, then in order to use it, you need to pump it with air. The child “relaxes” there. Then the children's toilet must be washed and then deflated. Usually, in hiking conditions, this model is not very convenient.

If there is no water nearby, but the pot still needs to be washed somehow? It is better to give preference to a folding model. It is more convenient. This is a plastic base that folds and unfolds. A disposable bag is attached to it, which is thrown away after use.

Children's toilet seat with ladder

How to potty train a child in 7 days: basic steps

The “Voluntary Baby” system, which was developed by Gina Ford, has helped a considerable number of mothers who do not know how to quickly potty train their child.
This method should be used only if the child is already 18 months old and can perform the simplest actions: take off his pants, understand the requests of adults.

• first day. After waking up, they get rid of the diaper, explaining to the baby that he has already grown up, so now he will wear panties. Then the child needs to be seated for about ten minutes so that he can pee and poop. If the attempt fails, repeat the process every quarter of an hour. You can sit down next to him and explain to the baby why the skill of neatness is necessary;
• second day. Now we need to carefully monitor children's behavior so as not to miss a single sign of readiness to go to the toilet. At each such sign, a pot should be offered to consolidate yesterday’s successes;
• the third day. The behavior tactics remain the same, but in addition you need to get rid of diapers even during a walk, so as not to confuse the child. Before going out, you should do some “wet work,” and on the street, ask more often if the baby wants to pee. You can take a pot with you so as not to go into the bushes;
• fourth - seventh days . On the fourth day, both the child and you already approximately know at what intervals you should use the potty. And if the baby gets carried away with toys and forgets about the need, you remind him. The child should be praised for every success, because mother’s encouragement is a wonderful incentive for acquiring a skill.

In just a week, according to the author and parents, it is possible to instill hygiene skills in the baby. But even if after 7 days there are “misfires”, you should not despair or, especially, scold the baby. Everything will definitely get better very soon.

What to do with a potty outside

When your child is potty trained at home, you can start trying to go for walks without diapers. When going for a walk, you should remind your child to go to the toilet , like other family members, and support the request with your own example.

In summer, you can invite your baby to water the grass, tree or bushes. You need to have a supply of clothes with you to replace wet ones if the child suddenly wets his pants. In winter, you should not go far from home in order to return in case of embarrassment.

How to potty train a child in 3 days: conditions and rules

In the event that it is necessary to introduce the baby to the potty as quickly as possible (for example, the baby will soon go to kindergarten or go on a trip), parents will find it useful to use emergency methods for teaching children to use the hygienic device.

Of course, in such a short time, not a single child will be able to immediately move from diapers to a potty, but kids will develop a basis for mastering toilet etiquette.

Rules for carrying out the technique

The three-day method will only work if the child is older than one and a half years old, but younger than two years old. In addition, the baby is able to explain in an accessible way that he wants to pee or poop, and strives to quickly get rid of the spoiled diaper.

How to potty train a child in 3 days? First of all, after making sure that the baby is ready for the process, you need to introduce him to the upcoming changes. Such acquaintance begins in advance - about two weeks before active steps.

Preparation consists of several steps:

• buy a potty (if you don’t already have one), explain to your child every day why this device is needed. You can also give instructions to an adult toilet, telling them that the toilet is the same as a potty, but for adults;
• tell them 7 days before the event that you will soon have to get rid of diapers, and instead of them panties and a potty will appear. Buy children's underwear for “adult” children. Let the panties be with images of your favorite characters;
• the mother will need three days in a row to be with the baby all this time. Therefore, you should take Friday or Monday off so that the technique is not interrupted, and enlist the support of your spouse;
• Since you will have to constantly be with the baby for 3 days, you need to prepare entertainment for him and yourself in advance: cartoons, movies, games, books - everything that will allow you not to get bored and irritated.

As soon as you manage to prepare everything, you should proceed to active actions, carefully following all the recommendations of specialists.

First day

In the morning, as soon as the baby wakes up, the diaper is removed. It is permissible to put the child in shorts or leave him to walk around naked, if, of course, the temperature in the room and the season are conducive to this.

The night vase is placed in the children's room, closer to the baby. By the way, you can give him more liquid: water, milk or juice.

This is necessary so that the child wants to empty the bladder. Or simply place a sippy cup with your favorite drink next to your baby.

Parents carefully watch their child, tracking every sign that he wants to go to the toilet.

Ideally, the baby should notice a clear relationship between the desire to pee and being put on the potty. You can put the child on the night vase every 20 minutes.

It is for such painstaking work that at least two adults are needed. There will be a significant workload on them, since each attempt to urinate must be monitored in order for the connection to become firmly established in the mind.

How to potty train very quickly? Be sure to praise your child for every successful attempt.

Moreover, you should not say faceless phrases like “well done,” but specifically explain why you are praising the child: “Good girl for peeing in the potty.”

Failures, on the contrary, must be ignored without paying any attention to them. Moreover, you should not scold or blame the baby so that he does not develop negative associations associated with the potty.

Before going to bed in the evening, you are allowed to put on a diaper. Let the baby get a good night's sleep before the next day.

Second day

Today you can walk outside with your child without a diaper. Naturally, it is better not to go far from home, so that in case of an unpleasant “embarrassment” you can quickly return to the apartment. This is especially true in the autumn-winter period.

They go outside after the baby has peed and pooped. In the warm season, you can take things with you for changing clothes and a second potty for performing natural needs. After a successful attempt, be sure to praise the child.

The third day

In the last 24 hours, you should add one more walk so that the baby can control the process of bowel and bladder emptying both at home and outside.

Before any routine activity (walk, nap), it is necessary to place the child on a night vase. The same procedure is repeated upon returning home and after waking up.

If you don’t know how to potty train a 2-year-old child in the shortest possible time, a three-day course will come to the rescue. At the end of the technique, children usually respond well to the potty, often even sitting on it on their own.

It is best to do without clothes, but if the room is cool, you need to choose the right things - without buttons, straps, zippers and other fasteners. Otherwise, the child will not be able to quickly remove the underwear and will do a “wet or dirty thing” directly into the panties.

How to choose a pot

• First of all, it is important to choose a comfortable potty. It is quite possible that you will have to initially change several of them so that the baby gets the one on which he will be most comfortable.
• Its shape must be anatomical. It is better for girls to choose round ones, and for boys - oval pots that have a protrusion in the front.
• Stability is important so that the child's toilet does not move or fidget on the floor.
• It is preferable to buy a pot with a back.
• As for the presence of a lid, there are no special recommendations - you need to choose what you like.
• The ideal option is an ordinary, as simple as possible potty, without musical accompaniment and decoration in the form of eyes, ears, etc. Such things not only distract the baby, but are also perceived by him as a toy. Therefore, in the end, you can only confuse him, later spending a lot of time on training.
• Adults need to understand that all children learn this skill. Therefore, you should treat the process calmly, without turning it into something super important. When both mentally and physiologically the baby is ready for this, everything will definitely work out.
• We must not forget that children can finally master this skill at the age of 2-3 years. Therefore, if by the age of three mistakes still happen from time to time, there is nothing wrong with that. In this case, you cannot focus on this and swear.
• It is important to always remember the most important rule: everything has its time. The sooner you start training, the more effort and nerves you will have to waste.

Potty training in 1 day: is it possible?

The shortest possible course for teaching a child to use a night vase was developed by Nathan Ezrid and Richard Fox. In their opinion, even in 24 hours it is possible to instill neatness skills in a child and “make friends” with the potty.

This method is used if the baby is already 2 years old, he understands speech addressed to him and can communicate according to his age with his parents. You should also enlist the support of all household members, since the mother will have to be with the child all day.

Potty training in 1 day means being provided with some necessary items, including:

• rubber doll with a hole for demonstrating urination;
• the pot itself;
• children's favorite drinks;
• disposable panties.

The more a child drinks, the more often he has the urge to empty his bladder.
Consequently, the sooner parents will be able to teach the baby to use the potty. Therefore, it is necessary to give your child more fluid. To ensure that nothing distracts your baby from the learning process, you need to be alone in the room with him and limit contact with other household members. Then the baby is shown where the night vase is and taught to pull off and pull on his panties.

Since emptying the bladder involves complete relaxation, in simple words the child is conveyed the idea that he needs to sit quietly on the potty and wait until “the water flows.”

Demonstrate with the example of a rubber doll what you expect from your child. To reinforce instructions, use gestures to show how to sit, relax, and stand up after peeing. Be sure to praise the baby for every successful action, using verbal approval and a hug.

How to properly potty train a child in 1 day? It is important to pay special attention to personal hygiene. After each urination, you need to help the baby pour the contents of the night vase into the toilet and wash your hands with detergent.

Opinions about this technique are mixed. Some mothers recognize its effectiveness, while others note that it is almost impossible to teach a baby to pee and poop in a potty in one day.

Going potty early: is that good?

Many mothers talk about how a baby who is not even a year old goes to the potty regularly. Faced with similar stories, some mothers of small children try to teach their child to do without diapers as early as possible.

By repeatedly repeating the sounds “pee-pee” or the hysterical “ah-ah-ah” and holding the baby on the potty, it is, of course, possible to ensure that he does his job. But do not forget that in this case he will only have a conditioned reflex .

However, it should be remembered that a baby taught such “wisdom” too early, after a year and a half, may behave completely differently than his parents expect. If the child’s bladder is not full, the corresponding impulse does not arrive to the brain, and in the meantime the baby is persistently placed on the potty and encouraged to go to the toilet, the conditioned reflex may already be triggered. And since the child has not been taught the new, correct method, the problem of wet pants can again appear in all its glory. At the same time, parents will be perplexed as to why something suddenly went wrong. And in this case, repeated potty training in 1 day is impossible - parents will again have to gradually “work” with the child so that he eventually develops a lasting skill.

The table provides a comparison of the features of too early and timely training

Potty training a girl and a boy: are there any differences?

Often, even the gender of the child affects the speed and characteristics of learning neatness skills. Many experts and parents point out that little ladies are more obedient and diligent than boys.

Girls try to imitate their mother in everything, so it is somewhat easier for them to understand the principle of the process. And because of their natural perseverance, many babies spend more time on the potty, which significantly increases the likelihood of a successful completion of the event.

However, some girls are extremely shy - which is why they prefer to endure the urge to empty their bladder, which ultimately leads to wet panties.

Young gentlemen are more active, not as diligent and observant as girls, and are more drawn to their fathers. And since dads spend a lot of time at work, the boys will develop the skill a little later. Mommy won’t be able to show you how to pee standing up.

Experts advise taking into account the gender of the child when purchasing a useful device. For little ones, a product with a round hole is more suitable; for a little boy, you should choose a pot with a special recess and a roller that will prevent splashing.

How to potty train a girl? The baby's training is standard. But the process of training a boy is a little different. The young gentleman should first be taught to use the night vase while sitting, since bowel and bladder emptying occur simultaneously at such a young age.

Only after this do they move on to the “male” version. Let dad show it, and then mom will only have to monitor the accuracy of the baby, who at first will be sure to spray everything around. The problem of how to potty train a boy is best solved in a game. This is the ideal way to learn.

How do you know when your baby is ready?

If your child confidently and regularly performs the following actions, you can begin learning:

1. The baby stands well on his feet, takes steps, squats and gets up on his own.
2. Able to bend over and lift small toys and other objects and hold them.
3. Able to understand simple sentences and requests and respond to them.
4. The baby knows how to express his desires with sounds or gestures.
5. The child feels discomfort if he is in wet panties for a certain time and shows a desire to change them.
6. The process of urination is already well established, in particular, the baby does not urinate for two or more hours during the day, and urination occurs at approximately the same time during the day.
7. The child can take off and put on his pants independently.

At the same time, if the following situations occur, it is better to postpone introducing the child to the potty for some time:

• The child is sick, feels unwell, experiences irritation at the sight of a potty;
• The family changed its usual living conditions, for example, when moving to a new apartment;
• Another child appeared in the family;
• Negative changes have occurred in the family, a stressful situation is observed (for example, when parents divorce, quarrels, illness or death of a close relative).

Many parents cannot come to a common opinion about what age to potty train a child. What do experts say about this?

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Choosing a potty for a child

You can understand how to properly accustom your baby to using a night vase if you choose the most suitable hygienic device. Fortunately, children's stores have a variety of potty models.

However, making a choice based solely on the color of the most important accessory is wrong. At such a young age, a child really doesn’t care whether his potty is pink, blue or green.

When purchasing a night vase, parents need to pay attention to several important characteristics:

1. 
   Anatomical structure. As noted above, girls need to take an accessory with a round notch, and boys - with an oval one. It is also worth giving preference to potties that resemble a saddle, as this will help the baby sit directly on the hygienic device;

2. Material. Products made from high-quality plastic are an ideal option. First, they are cheaper than ceramic or metal fixtures. Also, the plastic does not cool much in the room, so the child will not feel any discomfort when disembarking;
3. Stable design. As soon as your baby starts using the potty, it is important to reinforce positive emotions. And so that the child does not fall with the contents of the night vase and does not develop a dislike for it, you need to choose products that stand well on the floor;
4. No frills. In stores there are products with a variety of effects: sounds and light. Such additional features attract the baby, but he may perceive the potty as a toy, which is not what we want.

Of course, every mother thinks that I can buy the best potty model for my beloved baby.
However, you should not get too carried away; it is better to take a stable, plastic night vase without additional functions. Modern manufacturers of hygiene products for children offer to purchase special underpants or diapers to teach neatness skills. Such “training” products are distinguished by a layer that remains wet and leads to noticeable discomfort.

To become dry and clean, the child tries to remove the uncomfortable diaper and relieve himself in the potty. In this case, it becomes somewhat easier to accustom the baby.

Which pot to choose

So, with age, everything is more or less clear - this is an interval of approximately one to 3 years. But where to start with this difficult task for both parents and the baby? First you need to actually buy a pot .
Choosing such a necessary subject for every child is quite a responsible matter: after all, the lion’s share of success depends on it. First of all, a children's potty should be comfortable . If the baby feels uneasy and uncomfortable, he will not have the desire to master all the intricacies of the toilet. In addition, the pot must be functional . Now in stores you can find a wide variety of models that differ in shape, color, and design. There are even musical pots. And it seems that among this variety it is very difficult to choose exactly the one that suits a particular child.

In fact, for the first acquaintance it is best to purchase a regular plastic pot . For a girl it can be round in shape. For a boy, the one with a special partition in front, a raised ledge, is preferable: this will avoid troubles and eliminate wet spots on the floor.

The potty should be within sight and reach, that is, on the floor in the children's room. Let the child get to know him, sit if he wants. You should offer your child a potty with words explaining what it is for.

Problems when training a baby

Unfortunately, teaching children hygiene skills does not always go smoothly. There is both a regression of skill and all sorts of fears of the potty. In addition, some children, due to health problems, are not able to independently learn to write in a night vase.

One step forward - two steps back

Mothers often note paradoxical situations when a child who knows how to use a potty suddenly refuses to sit on it. And if the parents insist, then he throws a real tantrum. There are several possible reasons for this phenomenon:

1. 
   Any changes in the established way of life, be it adaptation to kindergarten, moving, the birth of a younger brother/sister, can be perceived extremely negatively by the baby. Outwardly, this manifests itself as a refusal of habitual actions and regression of skills. For example, the baby starts peeing in his pants again.

2. By the age of three, the child enters another crisis period, which is accompanied by rebellion, self-will, and unwillingness to listen to the opinions of adults. It is likely that the baby will begin to do the opposite - for example, refuse to sit on the potty.
3. Scandals in the family and other domestic troubles that occur before children’s eyes have a negative impact on the child’s behavior. Some children rebel, while others withdraw into themselves. In both cases, skill regression occurs.
4. If the baby is sick, he is teething, he has been given a routine vaccination, you can observe a temporary refusal to use the potty.

To cope with the difficulties that have arisen, you need to find out the root cause of the reluctance to relieve yourself in a night vase. Once you get rid of the source of the problem, you can move on to retraining.

Fear of the plastic “friend”

Another common situation is an irrational fear of the potty. In such a situation, parents simply cannot get the baby to sit on it, because the child cries, breaks out, and becomes hysterical at the mere sight of a hygiene accessory.

There are several sources of this behavior:

1. Potty training too early, when the baby is not ready in all respects.
2. Parents are stingy with praise for their child’s successes and harsh punishment for failures.
3. Not a very successful introduction to the night vase. For example, a baby was sat on a cold object, which also turned out to be unstable.
4. Physiological or psychological constipation, in which the baby forms an association: painful sensations when sitting on the potty.
5. Common childhood shyness or reluctance to defecate and urinate in front of loved ones.

To change the situation, you need to leave the child alone for a while, wait until his fears are forgotten. Those mothers who run after a crying baby with a potty at the ready are wrong. Such short-sighted behavior will only strengthen the child's phobia.

Experts recommend playing out a disturbing situation in game stories. Let the baby place baby dolls, robots, and soft toys on the potty. The main task is to evoke positive emotions directly towards the night vase and sitting on it.

Create fairy tales with a therapeutic focus on a potty theme. In such stories, a kind and sad potty waits for its owner to play with it, and then pee and poop in it. The plot is limited only by parental imagination.

The following technique may also work. Eyes and a smiling mouth made of adhesive paper are glued onto the plastic accessory. You can additionally decorate the pot with figurines depicting your baby’s favorite characters.

Medical factor

Sometimes problems with instilling hygiene skills in a child are associated not with psychological, but with medical factors. If daytime and nighttime involuntary urination occurs after five years, it’s time to consult a doctor.

Uncontrollable urination can be caused by several problems:

• congenital pathologies of the genitourinary organs;
• inflammation of the urinary tract;
• imperfection of the nervous system;
• heredity;
• prolonged stressful situations.

The diagnosis and treatment of enuresis is carried out by two specialists: a urologist and a neurologist. First of all, parents should show the child to a urologist, who will conduct an examination of the external genital organs (the girl may additionally be referred to a pediatric gynecologist).

In addition, the urologist can prescribe laboratory and instrumental tests such as a general urinalysis, ultrasound examination of the kidneys and bladder. If a urological anomaly is excluded, the child is sent for a consultation with a neurologist.

Advice from pediatricians

Before starting training, doctors recommend paying attention not only to the child’s readiness to control urination. It is important to take into account the character, upbringing and health of the baby.

Possible problems and ways to resolve them:

• Sudden loss of skill - a potty trained child begins to be capricious and protest against it. This reaction can be caused by adult family quarrels, illness, the period of teething, moving, adaptation to kindergarten, vaccination, the birth of a brother or sister. When a critical situation is resolved, the skill can be gradually restored.
• Fear of the potty as a result of an unsuccessful acquaintance with it. In this case, you should not run after your child all day and persuade him to go to the toilet. It’s better to imagine everything in the form of a game or compose a fairy tale about a sad pot that is waiting for its owner.
• Medical reasons include heredity, weak nervous system, pathology and inflammation of the genital organs. Consultations with a gynecologist or urologist will help cope with enuresis. An appointment with a pediatric neurologist may be necessary if the tests come back normal.

It is important to remember that every child is special and there is no single ideal age and method of training.

When and how to introduce the baby to the potty, the mother determines on her own. Girls get used to it faster than boys. And nimble children simply don’t have time to go to the toilet at the right time - they are constantly on the move.

Pediatricians recommend that parents remember that almost all healthy children know how to use a potty by the age of 5 . Everything has its time. You should not force your child to do this if he is not yet ready, trying to prove something to relatives and friends.

A few conclusions

The question of how to toilet train a child is really relevant. At the end of the article, we have collected the most important recommendations and rules that can help adults facilitate and speed up the process of teaching a child hygiene skills:

1. It is necessary to take into account the physiological and psychological readiness of children for learning.
2. The optimal age, according to experts, is from one and a half to two years. Better later than sooner.
3. You need to prepare for inevitable “misfires” when training a child; you should praise him more often and not pay attention to failures.
4. You should not insist on emptying the intestines and bladder, or force the baby to push “as hard as he can.”
5. You can choose either a long-term refusal of diapers or accelerated potty training methods. It all depends on your mood and the characteristics of the child.
6. It is better to purchase a night vase together with your baby. This way you will show the significance of the event and will be able to quickly “make friends” between the potty and the child.
7. If it doesn't work the first time, wait. Put the plastic “buddy” on the mezzanine, forget about the problem for a couple of months, and then again unobtrusively try to give up diapers.
8. If your child is afraid of the potty, wait until the fears have subsided, and only then start getting acquainted with this useful hygiene accessory again.
9. If you experience uncontrolled urination after 5 years, you should definitely consult a neurologist and urologist.

It should be understood that all the terms presented are quite arbitrary, so parents, first of all, should focus not on average data, the opinions of acquaintances and friends, but on the characteristics of their child.

They will be the ones who will answer the question of how and when to potty train. Well, many pediatricians advise remembering that almost all healthy children of 5 years of age are able to go to the bed or toilet. Therefore, you shouldn’t be too zealous trying to prove something to your girlfriends and acquaintances.

How to teach a child to sleep without a diaper

The optimal time to give up diapers at night will come when the child asks to go to the potty during the day or does it on his own. At first, the mother should lift the baby 1 or 2 times for disembarkation and mark the hours of successful attempts for herself.

Based on this observation, a decision may be made to completely abandon the night toilet. Many children sleep through the night, remaining dry until the morning. It is necessary to control the amount of liquid drunk at night and put pajamas on the child if the room is cold.

Buying a pot wisely

The “object of celebration” itself is of no small importance. Whenever a child begins to accustom himself to self-hygiene procedures, you need to be especially scrupulous when buying a potty.

Main features of the accessory:

• When the baby is sitting, his legs should be at right angles. Failure to comply with this rule may result in pressure on the diaphragm and, as a result, hemorrhoids and rectal fissures.
• The potty must be stable on the floor and not wobble under any circumstances, otherwise the baby may fall.
• The design of the pot should be made in a classic style. The child should not perceive the accessory as a toy - he needs to calmly do his business and not be distracted by playful moments.
• The best material is plastic; it is never cold and the baby will not feel discomfort in the autumn-winter period.

The shape and color of the pot do not matter. But the accessory may have additional handles so that the baby can lean on them. It is advisable for mothers and fathers to refuse potties in the form of chairs, armchairs, cars, since the baby may confuse his hygiene object with real objects that are not originally intended for bowel movements.

Before purchasing a potty you like, parents should decide where it will be used. There are a huge number of children's potties that are indispensable when traveling.

1. Collapsible accessories in the form of a suitcase. The material is combined: the bowl is made of thick PVC film, the back, seat legs and circle are made of plastic.
2. Inflatable devices. The base is dense medical rubber. They are soft and springy.

The child does not have psychological resistance to frequent changes in habitual devices. For this reason, you need to familiarize your baby with another potty a few days before use and give him time to get used to the new item.

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Recommendations

How to teach a child to poop on the potty? If the baby steadfastly cannot stand even the appearance of the potty and flatly refuses it, then parents should change tactics.

The best way out is flexibility: you need to “forget” about an important tool and remember about it in 2–8 weeks.

Otherwise, insensitive mothers, grandmothers or nannies will cause the child to have a persistent dislike for the potty and subsequent hygiene procedures. The baby may also experience functional constipation.

Child psychologists advise conducting role-playing games with your baby before potty training. First, a bear cub, a bunny, a tiger cub sit in a toy pot, and the main character sits in a real one. If the game is organized correctly, kids should feel pleasure from the fun process.

Adults definitely need to encourage and praise the child for any achievements (smack on the cheek, clap your hands, call your mother or grandmother as witnesses). Even if he wets himself before reaching the potty, you should under no circumstances scold the baby. We must express joy, approve of his action and inform him that next time he will remember the need in advance and will have time to do his business on time.

Children have a very developed imitation mechanism. A child will learn to potty train faster if there are older brothers and sisters in the family.

When should you introduce your child to the potty?

Optimal age 18 – 24 months! And here's why: until 18 months, the baby simply does not control the filling of the bladder and intestines. If a neighbor's baby sits on a potty under the age of one year, this does not mean that he consciously asks for his needs. You can say that the child is guided by reflexes, they put him on the potty - do your “business”, if you didn’t have time to “catch” him, you will get dirty pants. Everything changes when the baby turns 2 years old. At this point, you already have certain skills that can help you begin potty training:

• Can bend, squat and stand;
• Pick up small objects from the floor and put them in place;
• He understands the speech of an adult well, he can come to an agreement with the child and explain;
• He pronounces some words himself and can communicate his needs;
• Remains dry after a nap, may not pee for about 2 hours while awake;
• Feels discomfort in wet or soiled underwear.

Children develop individually, so the age at which they can be potty trained is also different. If a child begins to relieve himself in the potty at 7-8 months, this is due to the binding of the reflex, but not to the baby’s meaningful decision. And you need to teach your child to go to the potty consciously! The child must consciously understand what he is doing! All these “pee-pee”, “ah-ah-ah-ah...” are just reflexes.

The reflex can become a problem when reaching an older age (2-3-4 years): the child will already begin to understand the internal processes associated with filling or emptying the bladder, and parental urges to “pee-pee” can cause misunderstanding on his part.

Which pot to buy

Children's stores offer many models of potties for children of different ages. They differ in material, shape and color: you should not think that if you buy a pink pot for a girl and a blue one for a boy, you will make a good choice.

For small female representatives, it is preferable to purchase round-shaped pots, and for future men, oval ones, this is due to the anatomical features of the body structure. Also, when buying a “toilet” for a boy, you can pay attention to pots with a protrusion in front.

There are general recommendations on how to choose a potty for a child, and the choice depends on several factors:

• It shouldn't be cold. The baby will not like this, and learning will fail at the very beginning. Agree, it’s unpleasant to touch something cold with your body, and even more so the baby’s butt, which touched the diaper, diaper, mother’s hands, everything warm and soft, and then you decided to put him on an iron or ceramic pot! Therefore, give preference to plastic models;
• Convenience is no less important in this delicate matter. Fortunately, the market now provides a huge selection, and you can choose an option that is convenient for yourself and your baby, both based on anatomical characteristics and financial considerations;
• It is important that the pot is stable. Otherwise, at the slightest awkward movement, the child may flop down along with the potty, and this is fraught with refusal to sit on the “dangerous” object in the future for many months;
• Models with a removable cover are convenient for travel;
• You should not buy a potty with musical or lighting effects, kids will perceive it as a toy;
• The presence of a backrest will help the child sit comfortably on the potty.

Read in detail - how to choose a pot

Video consultation: choosing a pot