Potty Training a Toddler
Potty training is challenging for everyone involved, and it can take months to get down -- and then there are the setbacks. Author and mom Ann Douglas offers some potty training advice to help you determine the right time to start.
Your question:
My son is almost two-and-a-half years old and has not yet shown
any interest in learning how to use the toilet. My mother insists
that I was toilet-trained shortly after my first birthday. Is
there something wrong with my son?
Ann Douglas answers:
Given all the time and energy some parents (and grandparents!)
put into obsessing about toilet training, you'd think researchers
had uncovered a link between the age at which a toddler is fully
trained and his law school entrance exam scores two decades
later. But since no study to date has been able to demonstrate
that kind of connection, I'd urge you to do yourself and your
toddler a favor and chill out about the whole potty training
business!
Of course, that's easier said than done if all the other parents you hang out with are potty-mad -- and chances are they are! A recent study found that 65 percent of moms felt pressured to toilet train their toddlers: 32 percent because of their child's age; 26 percent because of pressure from relatives or mothers with toilet-trained children; and 15 percent because a particular daycare or preschool program required that children be toilet-trained prior to enrolling.
Do you have anything to lose by trying to jump-start the process a little early? Yes, according to the experts. One study found that children whose parents started trying to train them at age 18 months typically weren't trained until four years of age, whereas children whose parents started training them at two years of age were typically trained by their third birthday.
These articles might also be of interest to you:
- Potty training message board at SheKnows
- No interest in potty training?
- Bridging the gap: Sign language for toddlers
About the author: Ann Douglas is a bestselling pregnancy and parenting author and mother of four. Her latest books are "Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage" and "Mealtime Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage." You can find her online at www.motherofallblogs.com, or click here to read much more from Ann at SheKnows.com.
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Member Comments On...
Potty Training a Toddler
12 |
There really is some truth in the whole "when they are ready, they're ready." We tried to push it at a little over 2 with my oldest and there was no way. Then when he had just turned 3, we had a weekend where the diapers came off for good and he was more or less trained in a day. Definitely think he wouldn't have done it that quickly before.
14 |
The summer before my son turned 3, I showed him 3 packages of diapers/pullups, and I told him that when these diapers/pullups were gone, that there weren't anymore and he had to wear big boy underwear. By him seeing the diaper stack go down, he realized that he needed to start using the bathroom. He was potty trained within 3 days after the diapers were gone. My daughter was 2 1/2 years old and is very strong willed. If she wasn't ready, she just wasn't ready. The only way that we could get her to go potty on the toilet, was to tell her that if she wanted to go to school when she turned 3, she had to be potty trained, no more diapers. It took her one day!!! She cannot wait for school to start. She turns 3 next month and knows that school starts after summer vacation to Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio. She's so ready! I also heard many comments from my mom and inlaws about the ages of my children when they were potty trained.
