Potty Training

Potty Training

• Don’t get hung up on a timeline for potty training. As parents of older children will tell you, every child gets potty trained eventually. It’s better to follow your child’s timeline rather than your own.
• Get a child-size potty chair to place next to the toilet. Bring your child in with you when you go to the bathroom. Show your child her potty chair—she will soon want to “go potty” like mom or dad when she sees you do it.
• Take your child shopping for “big kid” underwear. This is usually another sign of growing up that your child can take pride in.
• Expect a lot of accidents. Children don’t go from diapers to being perfectly potty trained within a short time. The process can take a while and be messy, so be patient when accidents happen.

• Praise your child when he is successful. Downplay the accidents.

Bed-Wetting

• Children will often not be potty trained to sleep through the night for one to three years after they are potty trained during the day. Almost 1 out of 10 8-year-olds still wet the bed.
• Reassure your child when she wets the bed. Don’t scold her—she can’t help it. Bed-wetting is a biological function, not something she does on purpose.
• Have your child help you change the sheets. Make it an activity you do together.
• Protect the mattress with a plastic cover.

• For some children, cutting down on drinking liquids after dinner helps.