3 Things to Work on Before You Start Potty Training
Before you dive into one of the many intensive potty training programs, here are three things you can work on that will make your experience quicker, easier, and more successful. We all want to potty train as quickly as possible. There are messes, more laundry than usual, panicked dashes into retail establishments. By working on these three prerequisites before you even think about switching to underwear, you will set yourself up for the calm, successful potty training experience that you want.
Practice sitting for 3 minutes: Potty training requires sitting in one spot for multiple minutes Working on engaging in activities in one spot for 2-3 minutes is critical for preventing power struggles, and feeling like you have to hold a screaming child on the potty which can be traumatizing for both of you and detrimental to the whole process. It’s ok to pull out special “potty only” toys here to make the potty a fun place to be, and to encourage longer periods of engagement in an activity so that your child is willing to stay in one spot. You can practice this in the bathroom, or anywhere you’d like. The goal is to identify toys and materials your child will stay in one place to play with, and increase the amount of time they will stay in one place.
Teach wet and dry by doing “dry checks”: Something you can do before you start having them wear underwear, is doing dry checks. This is when you check their diaper, and praise them for having a dry diaper. If the diaper is wet, name that and change them, but don’t scold them. The goal here is to get them to start noticing when they are wet and dry, and start to learn it’s better to stay dry. Sometimes doing this naturally leads to opportunities to try sitting on the potty if they are interested, especially if they’ve been dry for a while. Doing this will also help you identify whether they are going 20-30 minutes between wet diapers, a good indicator they are starting to be physically ready to train.
Work on Independent Dressing Skills: Independent dressing skills are a great target for two reasons. First, it can help you avoid power struggles. An easy potty training power struggle to fall into is “I want to do it myself” when they aren’t quite capable yet, and “don’t touch me” which is a slippery slope to violating your child’s consent. The second reason to target independent dressing is for consent and safety. This can be especially important if your child uses the potty or is working on potty training at a daycare, friends house, etc. The more you can have your child do on their own, the safer they will be! I recommend dressing them in clothing with an elastic waist band (think a skirt, leggings, or sweatpants), and work on pulling up and down their clothing.
I hope these are helpful to you, and make you feel empowered to start preparing for potty training! If you have more questions, or you want help easily, compassionately, and effectively potty training your little one, reach out! We can get you to a place where mad dashes to the nearest Starbucks to find a potty are a thing of the past, and you feel calm, planful, and organized with your plan for potty training.
Always remember, you’re a great mom!
Claire