We all want our kids to be potty trained as early as possible, not just because it makes our lives easier, but also because it has really good benefits both for you and your child. Potty Training is the process wherein you teach your children to go to the bathroom on their own, but of course they need your help getting there.
It is still your responsibility to guide them and look after them until they are old enough to go by themselves unattended, but it is best to let them use a diaper if you’re busy doing household chores and there are a lot of potty training difficulties that you will encounter.
Long ago, mothers used leaf, linen, wools or packed grass as diapers. In those conditions, you would have wanted to potty train your children as soon as possible, since it wasn’t good for your baby and might have caused rashes or skin irritations.
There are many potty training challenges that can arise during the process because sometimes the child is not yet ready for it. A lot of the awareness of how their bodies work, and how they warn them if they need to use the restroom, are learned, not instinctive.
Problems and Solutions
There are many difficulties and problems that may occur when potty training starts. Some parents claim that it is best to start potty training your child once they are ready, or else you will just prolong the process. As a parent, you should observe the warning signs for when your child needs to use the bathroom, to get them used to looking out for those cues themselves.
Take into consideration that children love routines, and that any change to their routines may cause them to feel uneasy and uncomfortable, so potty training may be difficult for both of you. Ideally, parents want to have a smooth process when it comes to potty training, but that is not always possible.
Some children feel the need to poop, but can’t determine as easily when they are about to pee because they can’t control their bladder, which causes them to pee in their pants or on the floor. So, you should observe when your child learns to control his bowel movements and you can safely assume that there’s a chance that he/ she can control his/ her bladder.
Moreover, some kids play with their poop because of their curiosity, so don’t suddenly get angry, but rather explain that it is not a toy or something to play with.
Explaining key concepts to your child is often the best way to solve issues in potty training. If you observe the behavior of your child and it seems that he/ she needs to use the restroom, you can let him/her sit down on the toilet seat and explain what they need to do.
But if they can’t, don’t get frustrated, just help them understand how to know better next time how to tell whether or not they need to use the restroom.. For boys, they will likely want to sit down while they are potty training, and this is not a bad idea –– once they learn to control their bladders, they can be easily taught to pee while standing later on.
Again, you should take care of and look after your child while they are learning to go on their own because accidents can happen. It is not advisable to scold him or her or get mad at them –– just talk to them and treat the situation like a learning experience, both for them and for yourself.
Don’t try to force the learning process to move at a particular pace –– it will only frustrate you and slow their learning process. Also, children may be upset when you flush after they use the restroom, because some of them believe that it is part of their bodies and may have an emotional attachment to them, but you have to explain to them that it is the waste in their body that needs to be disposed.
They might also be afraid of being sucked into the toilet because of the flush and the sound of rushing water, but in some cases, letting kids flush pieces of tissue can lessen this fear. In some instances, children are not ready for potty training –– they poop or pee right after you remove them from the toilet seat, so it is not advisable when this is still happening to potty train them.
Moreover, when you remove your child’s diaper they may ask you to wear let them continue wearing their diaper because they need to use the restroom. But this not a bad thing –– it’s a good sign that they are aware of the signs that they need to use the restroom.
It is very normal for kids to pee while they are sleeping because they really can’t control their bladders while they are asleep. It is advisable to talk to your child and tell him that before he goes to bed try peeing first and whenever he wakes up in the middle of the night, he can ask you to help him to go to the toilet, but some parents put diapers on their children at night, especially when the child is not yet potty trained during the day.
As previously mentioned, if somehow you change your child’s routine or there’s a new baby in the house, it can cause some problems in your potty training, which can make him or her want to go back to diapers again. Don’t give up –– it may take some time but it will pass. It is a matter of good communication for both you and your child.
There are many potty training difficulties that both you and your child may encounter during the process, but don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t succeed at first. It takes time and patience to potty train your child because there are a lot of stressors that may affect him or her during the process.
But talking to them nicely as they’re learning –– even when it’s challenging –– can go a long way in establishing good communication, and ultimately helping them learn faster. If you scold them frequently, though, they may not want to potty-trained at all and seek instead to go back to their diapers, which are not good at all.