As a parenting teacher and writer, my intention is to support, encourage, and answer questions. So I feel a teensy twinge of guilt when I’m asked for advice about toilet training, and my response is, essentially, don’t.
Children don’t need adults to train them to use the toilet. They do need attuned, communicative parents and caregivers to support and facilitate the toilet learning process, a process that is individual to each child.
These are the 3 main reasons I don’t recommend adult-led toilet training:
It’s unnecessary
I have no recollection of my younger two children learning to use the toilet. I vaguely remember the beginning of this process with my first child, but only because I was flabbergasted when she initiated an interest at 18 months and had completed the process by two years old.
My experiences illustrate the normal, natural, ho-hum process that successful toilet learning can be when parents don’t invest in it. Hundreds of parents I’ve worked with over the years have reported similar experiences.
This begs the question: why would we add toilet training to our already overloaded job description when doing less works just as well, if not better? Why risk the headaches, power struggles and resistance, frustrations and failures? Why be a taskmaster when we can relax, enjoy, and take pride in supporting our child’s self-directed achievement?
It’s risky
Toddlers have a developmentally appropriate need to resist parents, and if parents have an agenda around toilet training, healthy toddlers are inclined to push back, even if they might have been otherwise ready to begin using the toilet.
Child specialist Magda Gerber noted three types of readiness children need for toilet learning:
1. Physical: there is bladder and bowel capacity and muscle control.
2. Cognitive: children know when they need to eliminate urine and feces and are fully aware of what they are supposed to do.
3. Emotional: children are ready to let go of a situation they are used to and comfortable with (urinating and releasing feces into a diaper whenever they feel like it), and also let go, literally, of these waste products, which they perceive as belonging to them.
The emotional readiness factor usually comes last, is the most fragile, and also the most powerful. Bright, sensitive, aware toddlers can readily perceive a parent’s agenda. For some, the subtlest nudge toward the potty or being diaper-free can cause holding of urine or feces, delay toilet learning for months or even years, make toddlers feel ashamed, lead to severe constipation.
In this video, mother of twins Suzanne Schlosberg shares her cautionary tale about adult-led toilet training:
In It’s No Accident, the book Schlosberg coauthored with pediatric urologist Steve Hodges, parents are urged to slow down toilet training and informed that constipation — caused mostly by early/rushed potty training and poor diet -– is the root cause of virtually all bedwetting, toileting accidents, and recurrent UTIs. Schlosberg and Hodges also created this infographic (available as a free download) to increase awareness about constipation:
According to Schlosberg, “Most parents don’t know the signs of constipation (assuming it means “infrequent pooping”), it goes unrecognized, and kids suffer.”
I’ve learned over the years working with parents that toilet learning is nothing to mess with. I even cringe when parents tell me they’re “working on it,” because I’ve seen this attitude lead to problems all too often.
Granted, I hear mostly from the parents who are struggling and anxious. There must be many for whom toilet training techniques work. Why else would there be such a proliferation of toilet training books and products? Hmmm… marketers wouldn’t try to convince consumers they need something they really don’t, would they?
Kids deserve to own this accomplishment
There isn’t a long list of accomplishments toddlers can achieve. But they can do this, so I see no reason not to let them master this skill. There is no more powerful, confidence-building affirmation for toddlers than “I can do it myself.”
Toilet learning happens naturally and easily when we:
Invite children to actively participate in bathing, diaper changes, and other self-care routines from the time they are born. We invite active participation by communicating each detail respectfully: “I’m going to lift your bottom now so that I can wipe you. Can you help me lift?” Be careful not to transmit negative messages about body parts or feces and urine (“stinky, dirty”, etc.).
Model toilet use. Children naturally wish to do what parents and older siblings do.
Never force or even coax children to use the potty, but give clear behavior boundaries in general so that children aren’t tempted to use toilet learning as a testing ground. This sensitive and complex area of development needs to remain free and clear of power struggles.
Make a potty available. Some children like a small potty that allows their feet to reach the floor, while others prefer a seat that fits into the regular toilet.
Observe. Become a practiced observer. When children seem to be signaling an urge to eliminate (by touching their diapers, pressing their thighs togethers, etc.), ask matter-of-factly if they would like to use the potty. Calmly accept no for an answer.
Offer the choice of diapers or underwear when you sense children might be ready for toilet learning, always fully accepting their choice to stay in diapers.
Trust, trust, trust. As Magda Gerber advises in Your Self-Confident Baby, “Learning to use the toilet is a process that takes time. Rather than push or manipulate your child by giving him treats such as candy or a special reward for something that he will learn on his own, trust that he will learn it when he is ready. Respect is based on trust.”
For more support, here’s a podcast I recorded in response to a parent struggling with toilet training:
***
I share more about this respectful approach in
Elevating Child Care: A Guide to Respectful Parenting
Recommended reading:
Toilet Learning Made Easy by Lisa Sunbury, Regarding Baby
A Doctor Responds: Don’t Potty Train Your Baby by Steve J. Hodges, M.D.
It’s No Accident: Breakthrough Solutions to Your Child’s Wetting, Constipation, Utis, And Other Potty Problems by Steve Hodges, M.D. and Suzanne Schlosberg
In the Toilet and Toilet Troubles (on this blog)
(Photo by Russ on Flickr)
This all makes sense, but what if their interest in potty has stopped, and they are 3 and still in diapers? My daughter is 99% percentile tall and diapers are getting too small. Also, what about my needs ir our family needs? I’d prefer to spend that $80/month, which currently goes toward diapers, on educational materials, saving for college ams retirement, and family experiences. I’m supportive of my child, but she also need to learn to be resilient. It’s going to be more damaging for her to be in diapers all her life than learning now.
This. My son is three and all the freakin training advice by professionals all state their children were trained before two. This is laughable.
My LO is 3.5 and he has NO interest. He is supposed to start preschool in the fall. I dont know what to do!?
My daughter was still in nappies at until 3.5 and it was fine. She needed that extra time. She’s now 4.5 I’m glad we, and pre school staff, didn’t rush her. Her night nappy is full I’m the morning so she’s not developmentally ready for that either, we were encouraged to put her on the toilet for a night wee but soon stopped that after reading up on it. All the best, you’ll get there.
I always love hearing this, but it always seems the people that approach kids don’t need toilet training have children that toilet trained super young. My son is almost 5 and still in diapers, he’s outgrowing them and I’m about to have my third baby and the thought of changing three kids diapers daily is daunting, especially when one is 5. He has no interest and absolutely REFUSES to use the toilet. I’m doing my best to trust, but man when he’s almost 5 it’s super difficult
Hi my daughter is also almost 5 and is still in diapers, refuses to use the potty, she has used it before for a few days but had alot of accidents and got very anxious using it, her school really wanted her to use it so i think it really delayed her using the toilet, and now I don’t even try , i ask her every day if she wants to use the potty and she says no, i feel guilty and like a failure and that she will never want to do it!
My son is almost five and still uses pull ups too, at least when he’s w us (not when he’s at school – for whatever reason he’s ok w that over there). It’s hard not to think I’m doing something wrong but I’m working on trusting that he’ll transition when he’s ready. I’m glad to know I’m not alone!
I’m in this exact same boat. My daughter is about to turn five. If she gets any taller she’ll be in Depends. lol WHAT DO YOU DO??
I see so many comments about almost 5 year olds with this issue but never hear any success stories! We are in the same boat with no pooping on the potty and the ped suggested back to diapers after a week of withholding after we took them away. Seems backwards and I’m scared she’ll never get it on her own. Please share any success you’ve had!
Hi I feel you! I’m not sure if it is strictly in accordance w RIE approaches, but what worked w us was to advise kid that nappies would no longer be used as of X date (a week in the future). We made a low key deal of it, tried to make it a little but exciting and also totally a non-negotiable fact of life. We explained we’d be helping them to use potty and toilet given this change. We did so using the “staged” approach of bare butt (if they didn’t mind), then bare butt under clothes, then “woohoo check out these cool undies”. We never asked if they needed to go, but would make everyone sitting on toilet/potty part of process before leaving house. Worked for us, appreciate it is different for everyone though.
At 5 perhaps you could hand more of the process over to him, if you haven’t already. Taking the diaper off, wiping, disposing of the diaper etc. are all thing he should be developmentally capable of as long as there are no underlying differences impacting his toileting. In my experience in childcare the more control we gave a child in the bathroom, whether in diapers or not, the quicker they moved in the toilet training direction. It’s like a baby step towards that big scary transition.
I’m so happy to hear this message in general and definitely needed it with my first child, but my second is 4 and 1/2 and it feels a little different. She poops on the potty regularly but can’t seem to feel when she has to pee. The preschool pressure has been tough. My daughter has some sensory processing challenges (she’s hyposensitive not hyper so super high pain tolerance…..and things like feeling her body sensations are just different than for neurotypical kids. That said….if we weren’t in mental health we likely wouldn’t have known this about her yet…it isn’t an obvious difference to most parents). I think this is greatly contributing to her late potty training. She is being assessed for special Ed (no intellectual disability) and I guess I just wanted to add to this mix that there might be something more going on for our kiddos who are 5 years old and not ready yet. And it might be important to know that, although the approach might not need to be different. In fact, the approach might be even more important for these kiddos. BUT I so get the pressure when you need childcare. What I’ve learned is that my kiddo will have an exception upon entering preschool because of this. These potty training policies are quite a bit less stringent than we all think. She may even qualify for an aid to specifically help her with recognizing the body sensations during her day at preschool. I’m still a bit nervous about someone else working with her in this way over something so emotionally delicate….but I tell you…the pressure came way off when making a living no longer was being jeopardized by my child’s challenges here. Look into these options if it applies to your situation. And I guess I’m pushing back a bit at the “just wait it out” piece of advice here. Maybe the right approach is “wait it out, don’t pressure, and also watch and see if there’s more going on here…and advocate for your kiddo if there is something developmentally a little bit delayed here. Not for the sake of labeling your kiddo, but to actually understand if there’s more of a why here that could be helpful to everyone. It has really helped us with the unnecessary, external pressure on this. It’s great to say, don’t pressure…but the reality is these child care policies do the pressuring whether we like it or not, and this is the culture and works we live in, so it’s important to know where and how we can garner a little space for our kiddos who get accidentally stuck in the middle.
Bridget, I think at 5 I would let him have total control of changing himself. You can be supportive and gentle but not change him anymore.
I’ve seen so many comments on many similar posts about almost 5 year olds with this issue, but never know if there was any success! Has anyone has success with this with a child this old? We are struggling here with not pooping in the potty and and our ped advised going back to diapers to avoid the withholding behavior we’ve had this week when we cut out the diapers. It seems like a backwards move but with so much conflicting advice out there, I’m not confident.
I’m not sure when this comment was made, but just in case anyone else is nervous about this, my son didn’t start using the toilet regularly until he was almost 5. We tried a few times but he’d continue having accidents and pushing back so we backed off.
Then just before his birthday he went out on a little boys outing with his dad and asked to use the potty twice. After that we told him he was going to wear underwear and he needed to go to the potty like he had when he was out with dad. That was about 8 months ago, and since then he’s had maybe 2 accidents.
Well I guess I did something right. I didn’t toilet train my babies. I bought them underwear with their favorite characters and told them they could wear them when they were ready to use the toilet. I bought the potty seat when my daughter was 18 months. She was very interested and really wanted to use it. But it didn’t pan out. Then we went for a play date. All the other kids were using the toilet. So my daughter decided she was done with diapers and that was it. My son waited until he was 3 years and 1 week. No accidents. They had done it on their own. Now I’m advocating for their kids who are both 2 years getting closer to 3.
Hi
My about to be 2yrold baby realizes she needs to potty,but whenever I put on her potty seat ,she losses the urge ,and again after half an hour she does it in the corner of the bed edge,or smwhrre she finds no one is looking at her.whenever I ask to go to the potty use toilet she clearly says no.
But she is always ready to take bath in the bathroom.i don’t understand how can I make her understand to use toilet for peeing and potty.
There is one more issue with me and my baby, whenever she gets angry she throws the objects offered to her to pacify her and also objects nearby her.i just don’t want to scold her and hit her like others do,and I have to go through lots of comments about my parenting skills ,that I am spoiling her by not hitting and scolding her.
Help me out please
Ook for attachment parenting theory. You are doing great ! Hold on there !
Please never hit your child. The parents that make you comments about this are the ones who need to be told not to hit their kids.
Your 2 yo hasn’t developed her frontal brain which is in control of impulse. When she throw something you can tell her it’s ok to be angry but you won’t allow her to throw things. With time she will develop impulse control and your relationship wound be damaged.
My daughter drove her own toilet training around 2. She was desperate to use the toilet and wear undies. We let her use the toilet, she still had sleep nappies and was offered pull ups too for sleep. I couldn’t believe how driven she was and how well she really did. Now though, age 3 (coinciding around the time I returned to work post maternity leave) she has 4-5 accidents a day, wets on furniture, me. Our GP suggested gentle encouragement and toilet promoting but she will refuse if offered and then wet minutes later. I really dont know what to do now.
Smugly written by the women whose child “showed interest at 18 months, trained fully at 2yrs”. Well, what do you advise for a 3.5 year old who REFUSES to sit on the potty or have anything to do with it? Is the ONLY child in her nursery class still in nappies but still refuses to sit in the potty, cries and has a melt down at the mere mention of it?! Not so easy peasy when your in the thick of that.
Hi Lauren – I understand your frustration and it is exactly what I aim to help parents avoid. “Refuses” is the common response children have (particularly in the toddler years) to feeling pushed. It’s integral to their development that they assert themselves, and when parents take on the job of potty training, children (not all, but many) are inclined to resist. Once we have done this, it’s harder to turn it back, because children read their parents feelings and agendas. But if children are trusted to lead this process when ready, as I advise, they revel in the experience of mastery and autonomy. This is a gift we can give our children if we back off.
My advice to you at this point is to stop talking about the potty, except to say to your daughter one time that you realize you have made this your agenda and you are sorry (genuinely) that you’ve upset her. You are happy to give her the comfort of nappies for as long as she needs them and if, at some future time, she would like your help to use the potty, you’ll be there. Then I would not bring it up again. And I would truly let go and trust her. In your heart.
In other words, I would stop trying to make potty training happen and give your daughter the emotional space and trust she needs to guide this development.
I appreciate the initial comment and your response. What do you do when the agenda is not only your own, but a requirement of your school/childcare provider? We are trying to gently encourage potty self-sufficiency now because our 3 year old is required to be fully “potty trained” before starting at his new public Montessori school. Thankfully we’re virtual until at least December and possibly the end of the school year, but we don’t have the privilege to wait an unknown period of time for him to be fully self-sufficient with pottying since we have a hard external limit.
Answer to this please
TBH I think what Janet would say is, “Don’t enroll in your child in that school because they don’t support children properly.”
I’ve been following the ‘RIE’ blogs and groups for a few years now and sadly many folks in this circle have a difficult time offering actual advice to parents who need to work and use child care. Sometimes the privilege exhibted can be a bit much. Best of luck to you and your kiddo.
Most schools are more flexible than they state in their requirements, and in early childhood they absolutely should be. I believe in trusting children’s readiness, which in my experience as a parent and teacher has always brought the most positive results. Countless times it has come to my attention that parent imposed potty training can backfire and end up delaying the process. So, I guess these are tough choices we have to make as parents, weighing our options. There isn’t a magic formula, but trust has never let me down and it’s central to the RIE approach.
Can you change schools? Sounds quite inflexible and maybe not fully appreciative of the fact that children are diverse, have different developmental stages, needs etc. i get that it’s not convenient practically, but shaming and forcing is hardly great for the kid’s self esteem. This coming from a start, stop, flat out refuser 3 year old’s mom. I’m in the trenches, but won’t shame her. But her school said, sometimes it just clicks for the kids.
I don’t think I would have written it better than Lauren and Ashley.
I am sorry Janet but the post and the comment is almost laughable, unhelpful and pretty smug. It does nothing for a mom of a stubborn 3.5 year old who needs to be potty trained before stepping in preschool.
Good for you, you were done and dusted before 2 years but please don’t preach what you haven’t gone through specially as a parenting writer. It does nothing to help beside raising a few eyebrows.
I am going to need you to come and stay with us for the next 5 years so you can change our son’s diaper, and to follow him to school every day as the teachers are not going to change his diaper, I wish it was as easy as you say but it is not for everyone, oh and if you could make sure to bring the the $80 a month to buy diapers for the next 5 years that would be great!
I like a lot of what Janet says but I don’t agree with this approach at all. My son showed no interest. I pressed ahead anyway. I knew he was capable. We had a few days of resistance. I backed off prompting unless I knew he was desperate. And then he got it and things steadily improved. I honestly think the push back would have always been an issue and the idea that you can always just wait til they actively want to do something makes no sense. I don’t wait til my son wants to actively hold my hand when crossing the road. Some things do need to be done on a timeline that you, rather than they, set.
The book that helped me was The Oh Crap Potty Training book. The woman who’s written it has helped trained thousands of kids and I just respect her knowledge on this specific part of parenting. It was especially handy Re push back.
Good luck.
I couldn’t agree with this more. We tried hard with our first and it was awful. I wish we didn’t. It led to so many years and so much frustration. He was finally ready at 3.5 and never had an accident after. We didn’t push the night potty training and he on his own transitioned to underwear around 4. Definitely not pushing our second. He’ll do it when he’s ready.
I needed to read this but damn it’s so hard. My girl is 3.5 years old, speaks in full complex sentences, can count to 20, knows most of her letter sounds but is also attached to her pull-ups. For the past 6 months I’ve tried really hard to stop mentions of the potty. I had a conversation with her yesterday and told her she can use the toilet when she’s ready. She has explained she doesn’t know when to go, she can’t do it and she’s scared. She has pooped and peed on the potty in the past, after I was lucky with timing and encouraged her by telling stories and playing with toys while sitting on the potty. Another time I got her motivated with a book and she sat on the potty for an hour, didn’t go, then as soon as she walked away, trailed pee on the floor behind her. I don’t think she was trying to hold it or even understood she was letting go as she walked. So I think there is something there about not knowing how to do it. She also doesn’t seem to know when she’s feeling hungry (she just gets hangry) so I’m wondering if there’s just a delay in understanding personal needs. So then I’m conflicted about supporting her, or helping her figure out what she needs to do when it’s time to go, or just leaving her alone to figure out on her own, but then I worry she’s already made it a habit to go in her pull-ups and then there’s no telling how long this is going to go on. The uncertainty is the worst part. If someone could just say, by 4.5 years she’ll figure it out, I could probably wait patiently until that day comes. I’m sad she can’t go to the Montessori school I wish she could go tonight now. And sometimes she resists diaper changes because she’s conflicted about the whole potty thing. But even when she gets a rash on her bottom and complains it hurts it’s not enough to motivate her to use the potty. I don’t think there’s a short term solution but I needed to vent.
Maybe try asking if she wants help. Say “Do you want to use the potty? If so then I can help you with learning to go”. If she says yes let her know that you will set a timer when timer goes off we go to the bathroom.
Set it for every 30 min at first after a week or few days if she does well bump up to hour. Then she will gradually on her own begin to understand what it feels like and when she needs to go.
I don’t know my son went at about 4-41/2 and really that is normal.
I helped him during COVID. He already knew when he needed to go and went most times on his own. He just would not wear underwear which would cause him to use the pull up because he still wanted to play.
We finally bought underwear with favorite character and said delivery guy was bringing no more pull ups he would be able to use what he had but when they were gone he was done.
I asked if he was scared of underwear he laughed and said no.
Underwear was sitting on the couch and we told him you can look at it touch it whatever you want. An hour later he took his pull up off put the underwear on and that was that.
His decision on his own. A few accidents during the next month but we never shamed him just a “oops missed the potty that’s ok let’s change the pants and try again”.
He was able to fully poop and pee on the potty after that. And we have nighttime now as well. He refused pull ups at night I just sleep walked him to potty at midnight he went then back to bed.
Now at 5 he either waits till he gets up in the morning or he gets up himself and goes during the night.
We are generally letting our 2.5 yo lead and she shows quite a bit of interest in the potty, wearing underwear instead of diapers etc. To the point that she has started to reject diapers but also regularly has accidents in her underwear at home. How do I address this without causing some sort of pressure/making her upset? Especially when it’s time to go out, if she clearly doesn’t have control to not have accidents constantly, but gets upset when I tell her it’s time for a diaper now because we’re going out? I can’t just have 6 changes of underwear and pants with me every time we leave the house for the afternoon!
I suggest reading “The Tiny Potty Training Book” by Andrea Olson. It’s a very gentle, no nonsense approach that really helped me. There is a section about common problems and how to handle them. There’s also no rewards or bribery, which I liked, though I know that won’t work for everyone. My daughter just turned 2 and is daytime trained, with a few poop accidents here and there. I got lucky, I know. She also loves watching Potty Time on YouTube. It’s a short, positive video about using the potty using songs, sign language, and real kids. There’s also a free app.
I guess this post is for parents who aren’t there yet! Because like many parents in the comments, it doesn’t mention how to deal with social and school pressures once your child has begun to resist. Maybe that could be a follow up post?
I have a 4.5-year-old, we spent some time when he was 3 trying to get him to start using potty and after a lot of back and forth had to finalise incentivise it. last year, for some reason (pandemic induced stress) he refused again and we had to finally call a pediatrician who suggested handing him something that will take his mind off the process (book/ phone) and doing it every day irrespective of the outcome. Just making sitting habitual and congratulate him on trying. it mostly worked. he said that once the cycle of withholding and painful passing starts, it takes 3 months at least to forget the pain and get used to it.
“Don’t potty train your kids! Instead do this.” *describes potty training*
This is very helpful for me- thanks! My now 2.5 year old has been diaper free for a bit over a year (we did elimination communication since newborn but also used diapers). She has more recently started resisting using the potty and I could feel it becoming a power struggle. This is a helpful reframing. It’s also a very empowering approach for the child, which I love. Thank you again!
I tried to let my daughter potty train herself when she was ready, but suddenly she was 3 1/2, chronically constipated and afraid of the potty, and she was starting daycare in the two-year-old class because she wasn’t potty trained (pee or poop). This is hardly an unusual requirement of daycare (it’s not always practical for a teacher to help an entire class of toddlers go whenever they feel like it). Since so many parents send their children to daycare, it would be great if we could get a compassionate alternative approach for when a child *has* to be potty trained.
Thank You for this! This is the best article I have ever read!!! I had never before even imagined that this was even an option when it comes to learning how to use the potty. Yet it makes perfect sense to me. I have always just believed the hype about potty training your kids. So up until now I have been beating my self up over the fact that my 3 and a half year old son has yet to even sit on a potty with the intention of actually using it. I wish I had read this 2 or 3 years ago because unfortunately I have made a few mistakes that you mentioned that could cause a delay in the process. Now it’s just a matter of how long is the delay I have caused for my son And where can I send my will be 4 year old, still in diapers, for pre school If when the time comes (only months away) he hasn’t accomplished it yet.?
My two cents:
My daughter (now a fully potty-trained 31-year-old) never offered a moment of struggle over this issue, and reading this site has helped me to understand why: we never made it a big deal, but gently nudged her towards a path of self-determination. She was just under 18 months for Christmas 1991, and while the family exchanged gifts, Grace excitedly unwrapped a big box that contained – you guessed it – her very own potty!
I would not otherwise tell this story, but for the payoff: she was so very proud that when we opened it and set it out in the middle of our gathering, she immediately decided, shamelessly, to use it, right there in front of the whole family. We were all so proud (although it took a moment to adjust to it) that it was never an issue again. To this day, her mom and I consider it a bullet well-dodged.
I hope this will be of help to any struggling parents out there. This was an easy one, but we too had our struggles. Nobody gets an “easy-childhood” pass. There will always be issues. Just take some comfort from those of us who have gone before: trust your child, and your own intuition, and you will all come out OK.
Hearing about an 18 month old who trained herself is not really at all helpful to a parent of a 3.5 year old who has yet to pee on the potty. Jeez. That’s like saying “don’t worry about your diet — I eat whatever I want and I’m a size 0.”
It’s easy to say kids don’t need toilet training when your own child “initiated an interest at 18 months and had completed the process by two years old.”
I’m guessing this article is not geared toward desperate parents of 3 and 4 year olds whose kids NEED to be potty trained for school, daycare, summer camp, etc.
So frustrating to come across wholly unhelpful, super unrealistic, and blatantly mom shame-y advice like this.
Hi Lisa — I am so sorry that you and others are seeing this as mom shaming. I can see how you would see it that way — that I somehow just lucked out. You could also see this as proof that an approach that wholly trusts the child and does not push or coax, works. Which was my intention in sharing my experience in this post. Our children are too important to dictated to by preschool policies. And parents also deserve better than to feel rushed by developmentally rigid or inappropriate programs. Again, I am sorry that my advice is not helpful to your situation.
I had no issues with ‘toilet training’ my 5 children, and they were all toilet trained both at night and day between18 months and 2 1/2. It was never emphasised or fussed over, but there was a potty in the living areas. My children all wore cloth nappies and co-slept until after they were nappy-free. I ditched the nappy at night as the same time as the day nappy (it just doesn’t make sense to me that my child can control their bladder in the day but not at night – I felt their wiggling and helped them to the potty near the bed).
They also all had plenty of time as babies and toddlers not wearing nappies outside, or in the house in the summer (wooden floors with any rugs rolled away).
As a kindergarten teacher I have become aware that children are toilet trining later and later, especially when it comes to night nappies. I do wonder if the increase in disposables, and especially ‘pull-ups’ leads to a lessening of awareness of toileting, and a delay in training.
In the past 3.5 years, through a lot of comments from grandparents and not-so-gentle nudging to start potty training, I must have read this article a thousand times.
I came back to it, repeatedly, when I would second-guess myself (and my son) and had thoughts about early potty training.
My 3.5yo was incredibly resistant to potty learn. He didn’t want to. I would gently ask from time to time and his answer was always a very firm and clear, “No!”
A month ago he popped up out of nowhere and asked to “use potty?” We dived right in. There have been zero accidents since the second day and he is completely day and night-trained. We went straight from his cloth diapers to underwear, no pull-ups.
So, I think I’m mostly writing this to say thank you. I am very grateful to you for this article and that I had it for so long to keep referring to. I didn’t give in to outside-pressure or my anxieties about his age ticking up and still being in diapers because I could keep coming back to this. I kept reading this article whenever I waivered. In the end, knew we were doing the right thing and that trusting my son and his readiness were imperative. It has more than paid off.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful news, Daisy!
I recently learned about infant potty training (or parent training, really), and I’m very excited to try with my next baby. It’s based in the idea that babies are ready and wanting to eliminate in the appropriate place, rather than in diapers, and will typically commnicate their needs to us if we’re ready/able to listen. So instead of training them to soil themselves, and then having to retrain them years later to eliminate in a toilet, we can just help babes eliminate in a toilet from the beginning. Super aligned with RIE principles. My favorite resource so far is Laurie Boucke’s book, Infant Potty Training.
Nothing against this choice, but it is not at all aligned with RIE principles.
Why is that?
Yes, why not? EC is about reading babies’ body language and responding proactively to their need to eliminate. No different than offering milk at the first hunger cues, rather than waiting for crying.
Noooooo, potty training needs to start early so they have plenty of time to get used to it. Start off with elimination communication and as they hit the first year watch for signs they need to go, and if they have a pattern of needing to go (eg 30mins after eating etc) but back off if they seem to be getting sick of it and don’t make a big deal, it should be like a normal everyday thing like getting dressed or putting on shoes.
Yes!!
Thank you Janet for this post. I wish I have read it 1.5 half year ago when we started potty training with my daughter she was then 2 y 7mo old, it was more guided by me than her own idea. Now she is 4 years and 1 month old and we constantly struggle with her using the toilet. She is a sensitive child and probably she wasn’t ready at the time we started and never really owned the process. Her strategy is to hold the pee and poo as long as she can unless she has no underwear (wears only dress or skirt at home), then she goes voluntarily to the toilet by herself or ask me to join her. She avoids also using toilets in the daycare. For some time she was using it with a teacher help but now she refuses to use it all together, which often lead to wetting or soiling. In November we stayed home for 3 weeks and it help a bit but the issue came back after returning to daycare. We have consulted pediatrician, sensory integrations specialist, osteopath and some of their advises help especially with constipation but didn’t resolve the mater all together. I’m looking now for a good child psychologist who could help us to overcome the problems. Do you have any advise what we could do to help her? I’m also 6 month pregnant which may add to the issue. I can stay with her home for some time if you think it will help. Thank you for your time.
Thank you! Think one of the thing that pushes parents to is that it feels like something “we’re supposed to do”. Our school starts starting bringing it up around 2 and I’ve seen other programs require it by 3. Wish your type of approach was encouraged by the AAPA etc. There’s so little info out there about what’s best for kids vs. what needs to be accomplished.
Why no mention of Elimination Communication? A natural, time honored way to meet a child’s real need for cleanliness.
I love this advice. We’ve been struggling with potty training for a while though because I’m letting him take the lead but that means he wants to wear undies and he wants to use the potty but he also has several accidents a day. Its okay at home, I just change his pants (sometimes he won’t let me though and that’s tough on our relationship, I can’t let him stay in a soiled nappy all day) but when we’re out it’s so hard to not place some expectation on him or feel like I should be putting him back in nappies when he wets cafe seats etc.
I really thought I’d agree with this article but I really don’t. It also lacks helpful advise. As some have mentioned in comments, Preschools etc often require kids to be toilet trained. People don’t always have the option to ‘attend another one’. Nappies are also expensive and environmentally unfriendly. Kids can be TT quickly and write painlessly and they can enjoy the process and feel a huge sense of accomplishment. I have 4 kids and have just toilet trained my 2y9mo. My first two were toilet trained by 2y6m. It was not a particularly stressful or drawn out experience, thankfully (I know that’s not the case for everyone). This article seems to only apply to certain kids. For mine, I provided a potty and removed their nappy. I excitedly explained that was going to be happening from now on and they were excited too. For all the kids, it was a 2-3 day process. Day 1 resulted in a few wees on the floor, the odd poo in the undies. By day 4 there were no accidents (or extremely occasional with child #3). They were all completely night dry by the end of week 1 as well. For the first few days in the morning child #3 refused to wear undies when my husband tried to dress him and wanted a nappy. He gave in, in a rush to get to work, and almost derailed the whole thing! I would kindly tell him ‘you’re doing so well with using your potty! You don’t need your nappy any more’ and he would end up being happy to wear undies. I absolutely disagree with going back and forth with nappies and undies just because the child wants it, it draws out the whole process and makes it confusing for the child and painful for everyone. Obviously as in all situations, it depends on the child and if you started TT too early, but generally what I have said would likely be the case.