How to teach a child to potty: 2 techniques for 3 and 7 days, rules and tips (+ many videos)

The baby is growing and with each new month, all mothers begin to think and wonder when to start introducing their child to the potty, and how to quickly and correctly teach and accustom the baby to go to a new “toilet” for him. Some parents begin to accustom the child to the potty even before the age of one, while others do not rush into this.

If you decide to start accustoming your child to the potty, first evaluate his psychological development. For a successful result, the child must understand why they put him on an unfamiliar object, for what they take off his pants and what is required of him. Therefore, the process can drag on for several weeks or even months, and patience and calmness are required from parents.

Experts recommend teaching a child to use the potty at the age of about two years, when physiologically and psychologically, the baby is already ready for this.

Watch the video. Mom scolds the girl for going to pantyhose 🙂

At the beginning of the training, the children do not understand why they are trying to put them on the potty: some begin to be afraid of it and begin to cry only at the sight of a new “toilet”.

Parents should never raise their voice or scold the baby. In the positive case, if the child managed to go into the pot, he must be praised.

Parents at this time need to carefully monitor the behavior of the child: some babies begin to show signs that they wanted to use the toilet. Some children freeze, others - they begin to push - as soon as they notice these signs, you need to put the baby on the potty. Several times you manage to catch the moment, the child will begin to gradually understand what this item is for.

When to introduce a child to a potty

The optimal age is 18-24 months!And here's why: until 18 months, the baby simply does not control the filling of the bladder and intestines. If a neighbor's baby sits on a pot under the age of one year, this does not mean that he asks consciously for his needs.We can say that the child is guided by reflexes, they put him on a potty - do your “deeds”, did not manage to “catch”, you get dirty panties. Everything changes when the baby turns 2 years old. At this point, there are already certain skills that can be used to start potty training:

• It can bend down, squat and stand up;
• Lift small objects from the floor, put them in place;
• He understands adult speech well, you can agree with the baby, explain;
• He himself pronounces some words, can communicate his needs;
• Remains dry after a day's sleep, may not be written for about 2 hours while awake;
• Feels uncomfortable in wet or soiled laundry.

The development of children is individual, so the age at which you can accustom to the pot is also different. If a child begins to relieve his need for a pot at 7-8 months, this is due to the binding of the reflex, but not with the meaningful decision of the baby. And you need to teach your child to go to the pot precisely consciously! The child must consciously understand what he is doing! All these “letter-letter”, “aaaaaaaaa ...” are just reflexes.

Reflex can become a problem when reaching an adult age (2-3-4 years): the child will already begin to understand the internal processes associated with filling or emptying the bladder, and the parental urges of “pee” can cause confusion on his part.

Which pot to buy

In children's stores there are many models of pots for kids of different ages. They differ in material, shape and color: you should not think that having bought a pink pot for a girl and blue for a boy, you will make a good choice.

For young women it is preferable to purchase pots of a round shape, and for future peasants - oval, this is due to the anatomical features of the body structure. Also, when buying a “toilet” for a boy, you can pay attention to the pots with a ledge in front.

There are general recommendations on how to choose a pot for a child and the choice depends on several factors:

• It should not be cold. The kid will not like it, and learning will fail at the very beginning. Agree, it is unpleasant to touch the body with something cold, and even more so the baby’s pope, who touched the diaper, diaper, mother’s hands, everything warm and soft, and then you decided to put it on an iron or ceramic pot! Therefore, give preference to plastic models;
• Convenience is just as important in this delicate matter. Fortunately, the market now provides a huge selection, and you can choose the option that is convenient for yourself and your baby, both by anatomical criteria and by finance;
• It is important that the pot is stable. Otherwise, at the slightest awkward movement, the child may plop along with the pot, and this is fraught with a refusal to sit on the “dangerous” object for many months;
• Models with a removable cover are convenient for trips;
• You should not buy a pot with musical, lighting effects, kids will perceive it as a toy;
• The presence of the back will help the child to be comfortable on the pot.

Read in detail – how to choose a pot

Video consultation: choose a pot

Methods, rules, recommendations and methods of training for a pot

Accustoming the child to the potty, try to be patient, because this will not work out instantly, and then no one is safe from "accidents". Some simple tips will help ease this process, sometimes even speeding it up a bit:

• When you first meet your peanut with a pot, do not be persistent, it will only scare away the baby from a new, strange and incomprehensible thing. Position the pot as a toy, explain why this item is needed, what is good for it (for example, that the baby’s booty remains dry and clean), first place a doll or a bear on it. It is very good when there are older children in the family who are good examples;
• A small person should get to know his body. Having learned what the priest or genitals are for, it will be easier for the baby to explain that walking wet or dirty is unpleasant, and in order to avoid discomfort, you need to do your “things” in a pot, or maybe your child prodigy will even think of it!
• If everything worked out, encourage the baby, it will cause pleasant emotions, and the baby will definitely want to repeat it. If not, do not despair, do not swear, but only gently remind you of the existence of a miracle pot that will allow you to stay dry and clean;
• Try to keep the pot within the reach of a small user. If he himself can reach him and manage, there will be no limit to joy, and mom will get the expected pleasant result. Put a pot in the nursery, the baby must first become interested in a new subject, then get used to it. After which, the child can gradually sit on the pot for a couple of minutes;
• Be sure to explain to the baby why the pot is needed: “Baby, let's pee in a pot?” etc. Also suggest going to the potty after sleeping or eating;
• Plant the child on the potty when he already needs time to pee or poop. This will exclude various embarrassments that may happen at the wrong time.

Take advantage of the little tricks:

• Allow to flush the toilet after the contents of the pot have been sent there;
• You can buy a colorful, bright book or toys that you can play or read only when you visit the pot, but don’t put up a puppet theater or library, for a small person the act of visiting the toilet should not be a game. These "toilet things" will help the baby relax and distract from their fears, add positive emotions that can play into your hands when developing a pot.

Do not insist too much on planting the child on the potty. This can cause disgust and protest in the baby, he will do his “business” anywhere, only not on the pot, and if he can be seated, he will restrain his urges with all his strength, and this can lead to nothing good. Therefore, if you find yourself in such a situation, it is better for some time to completely forget about the existence of the pot. An alternative could be something else. Boys can be invited to go to the toilet “in an adult way”, like dad standing up. A girl can let "streams" into the bathroom or basin, of course, with the help of her parents. If the experiment is successful, you can return the pot after a while, but don’t be so persistent anymore.

Do not forget that your child is an individual. Therefore, you do not need to look up to the neighboring kids who already go to the potty, everything will surely work out over time.

It depends on the care of the parents how quickly the child will understand what is required of him. If you notice that strange actions in the behavior of the baby (the child froze, tensed, pushed), immediately put it on the pot. After several positive results, the baby will start asking for a toilet.

So, to get a successful result, there are the following recommendations:

• you can quickly accustom to the pot when the child reaches a certain psychological age;
• plant your baby in a potty after every sleep. If you see that his panties are dry, then the likelihood of urinating in a pot is more likely;
• do not start training if the child is not healthy (teething, abdominal pain);
• do not give up diapers;
• do not scold the baby if he has met the need for panties;
• do not stimulate the urination of the child by the sounds of pouring water, a similar reflex can be badly reflected at a later age.

Methodology: we teach in seven days

Most mothers want to quickly accustom their child to the potty. And this is reasonable, because it leaves a rather significant expense item - you do not need to buy diapers, and the number of washings has also decreased. There is a method of teaching to the pot for 7 days, it was approved by a large number of mothers.

If at the age of one and a half year your child is not accustomed to the potty, there is a special training system for seven days.The technique “Voluntary baby” was developed by Gina Ford and is intended for children who can perform simple actions (take off their clothes, understand the words of their parents).

1. The first day, start with the fact that after sleeping, immediately remove the diaper, motivate you to be big (big), and adults walk in shorts, and put the child on a potty. You can try to work as a visual aid, take the baby with you and show why you need to go to the toilet. If the baby does not manage to “go out of need”, repeat this procedure every 15 minutes. Your goal is for the child to spend 10 minutes on the pot, this time should be enough for all "wet and dirty" cases. You can sit down and entertain the baby so that he does not jump from the pot. If you have not caught “this moment” and everything happened in your pants, do not despair and do not swear, be patient.
2. On the second day, consolidate the acquired skills, while monitoring the behavior of the baby so that he does not play too much and does not cope with the need for panties.
3. On the third day, stick to the chosen line of behavior. If you decide to accustom yourself to the pot, you should not wear diapers even for a walk, otherwise you risk simply confusing the baby. He simply does not understand going to his pot or diaper. Before going out, suggest visiting a "plastic friend." During a walk, it is better to be more often interested in whether the baby wants to write (poop) in order to avoid surprises. If you do not want to run into the "bushes", take a pot for a walk. Soon, the baby will get used to delay urination and you will not have to drag this “element” along with you for every walk.
4. Starting from the fourth day, you and the baby approximately know how long it is necessary to visit the pot, if the baby plays too much and forgot about visiting the toilet, he needs to be reminded of this. After a “successful” visit to the pot, be sure to praise the child, encouragement and mother's joy can be the starting point in the successful development of this skill.

3-day rapid training technique

As already mentioned, consistency and gradualness are important in the issue of potty training. This process can take several months if the child does not hurry. However, there are situations when you need to "make friends" of the baby with a pot as soon as possible. For example, if a child needs to be taken to kindergarten soon, or before going on vacation. In this case, methods of quick accustoming to the pot come to the aid of moms and dads.

Quick accustoming does not mean that after a week of active action on the part of the parents, the child will never “misfire”, but such techniques help to quickly convey to the baby the need to go to the potty. During the "quick accustoming" the child forms the basis for the development of "toilet" skills.

We determine readiness and create conditions

In order for the quick accustoming to the pot to be successful, you need to understand how ready the child is for this procedure, and "prepare the ground." When assessing the appropriateness of quick accustoming, it is worth focusing on the following factors:

• It is better to use “fast” methods under the age of 2 years, the deadline is 2 g. 1 month.
• The child may not write for 1-2 hours.
• The kid begins to resist the dressing of the diaper.
• A defecation regimen is developed and the child begins to poop every day at about the same time.

If by all indications the child is ready to learn, it’s worth focusing on “preparing the soil”, that is, on preparing the mind of the baby for some changes to come in his life. You can begin preparation 2 weeks before the transition to active action.

• Buy a pot and daily, as if between things, tell the child what kind of object it is, why it is needed, how to use it;
• Say that all the children go to the potty, and then to the toilet, this is natural and correct;
• About a week before training, start telling the child that soon he will not wear diapers, but will walk in shorts and write in a pot. Under these conversations, it will be useful to purchase new underwear for the baby. And so that he would be interested in changing the diaper to panties, choose underwear, for example, with the image of your favorite characters;
• Choose a moment when you can fully devote a few days to your child. It will be more convenient if, during the period of accustoming to the pot, there will be assistants nearby: a grandmother or a spouse.

After the time is chosen and the preparation is carried out, you can proceed to the active stage of training. This process takes three days.

Day 1

On the first day, the child gets used to being without a diaper, so you need to remove the diaper immediately after waking up. Immediately it is worth saying that a quick accustoming to the pot suggests that the child will not write in panties while awake. For a complete rejection of diapers, even during sleep, much more time and effort is required, because the baby still does not know how to control its excretory processes.

So, the child is left without a diaper for the whole day. You can wear panties for your baby, or you can allow them to run naked all day (if the temperature in the apartment and the time of year allow this to be done). Adults should put aside all their affairs and watch the child, literally walk on his heels with a pot in their hands. As soon as you notice that the child begins to write or poop - it needs to be seated on a pot. Of course, it’s impossible to “catch” everything, but the child should see a clear connection between his actions and sitting on the potty. That is why it is better that there are two adults and they take turns watching the child: if sitting on a pot is not stable for every attempt to pee, this connection will not be fixed in consciousness.

For each "hit in the pot" the child needs to be praised, and not just "well done", but rather to pronounce, for which you praise. But it is better to skip the misfires without focusing on them, and in no case do not scold the child: with the pot, he will be associated mainly with negative memories and the process of learning can be delayed.

Before day and night sleep, you can invite the child to sit on the potty, but if he refuses, do not insist, but simply put on a diaper.

Day 2

The second day is almost no different from the first, but if on the first day the child is at home, then on the second day you can go outside without a diaper. It is better to plan a walk so that at any time you can quickly get to your home. It is better to go for a walk right after the child went to the toilet, but just in case, you can bring along a change of clothes. If you have a camping inflatable pot, you can take it with you.

Do not forget to praise the child for every successful job!

Day 3

On the third day we add another walk so that the child not only gets used to going to the potty at home, but also to keep his urge to go to the toilet in a situation where the potty is not at hand. Before each walk and sleep, you need to unplannedly put the baby on the potty, the same thing needs to be done after waking up and upon returning from the street.

After three days of such an active immersion in the “toilet” theme, children begin to calmly perceive the pot, and some even try to ask or sit down on their own. During active training, it is better if the child is at home in clothes that can be easily removed: without buttons, straps, tight elastic bands, so that if necessary he can take off his pants or panties. Even under this condition, children do not immediately get used to taking off their clothes and sometimes sit on a pot and do their work right in it. It’s not scary and you shouldn’t blame for such behavior: getting older, kids learn the whole sequence of actions, you just need to wait a bit. And over time, you can abandon the diaper at night.

Re-training

Often there are situations when the child regularly visited the pot and suddenly began to refuse to walk on it. It can be not only at the age of 1.5-2 years, but also at 3-4. The reasons for this can be quite different.

• Relocation or change of scenery.Even the simplest changes in the lifestyle of a small person (entering kindergarten, moving, the appearance of a second child in the family) can lead to protest in many things that the baby did regularly and with pleasure. This also applies to the pot;
• By three years, the child begins a crisis of age. During this period, the baby strives to do everything in turn. This is a temporary phenomenon and it just needs to be endured;
• Family problems can cause a pot to fail. When parents scandal in front of a child’s eyes, this in any case will negatively affect the psyche and behavior of the baby. The kid may begin to rebel against everything, or vice versa, withdrawn into himself;
• Sometimes, during painful conditions and during teething, the baby may stop asking for a pot because all his powers and thoughts are directed in a completely different direction.

In any case, it is worthwhile to find out the reason for abandoning the pot, and then focus on solving it. Do not force or push the baby, be patient and everything will return to its original places.

READ ALSO:How to teach a child to wipe his ass on his own: when to start training

How to give up diapers

To give up diapers in the daytime is much easier than at night. In the afternoon, we can “catch” the baby, recall if he plays too much, but what about night sleep?

After your baby develops a steady habit of regularly visiting the pot, you may notice that the night diaper stays dry every night, which means that you are lucky and it's time to put him to sleep in his pajamas.

But not all children are the same, many babies simply do not control the act of urination in a dream, here you will be helped by a waterproof diaper or oilcloth and spare sheets. Over time, the child will get used to getting into the toilet even at night. Do not pick up crumbs at night specifically for going to the toilet, otherwise, whenever you forget or do not have time to wake him, you will end up with a puddle. The kid himself must learn to recognize his urge to go to the potty.

We can recommend that you limit fluid intake before bedtime, and also put your baby on a potty.

We also read: how to wean a baby from diapers

Attention! There are special diapers-panties that help to wean from diapers and accustom to the pot -https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/eto-polezno-znat/trusiki-dlya-priucheniya-k-gorshku.html

For what reasons the child may be afraid of the pot and what to do in such cases

There are some reasons why the baby is afraid to go to the potty:

• Sometimes parents scold the baby too much for soiled pants or even slap him. These negative emotions affect the unwillingness to communicate with the pot;
• If the first meeting was not entirely successful. It happens that the baby just didn’t like the pot at first sight or it could be cold or unpleasant to the touch. Take it away for a while. And then repeat the "first acquaintance." But with something new and interesting. A bright cloak or an even more practical thing that you can do yourself: sew a soft case made of warm material (you may need more than one, as it can get dirty or wet during use). This will certainly attract the crumbs and help to successfully continue to use the pot;
• Often the child begins to be capricious due to the fact that he was put on a cold pot sleepy. These unpleasant sensations are remembered for a long time;
• Perhaps the kid was frightened by some sharp sounds, or he fell off the pot in the process and hit painfully;
• Pot of crumbs can be afraid of constipation. As a result, even in a child accustomed to the potty, a bowel movement can be associated with torture. It is difficult for him to explain that it is not the pot that is to blame, so the child can avoid contact with him.

IMPORTANT!

• 10 mistakes when teaching a baby to potty
• If the child is afraid of the pot - what to do

Komarovsky: Is it harmful for a child to sit on a pot for a long time?

... The child sits on the pot for a long time, the grandmother said that this will necessarily end with prolapse of the rectum ...

In conclusion, I want to say: give children more warmth and their love, and all problems with the pot must be solved!

Poll: When to start accustoming a child to a pot?

Next, watch a video consultation and read the opinions and advice of mommies from the forums

Marina Romanenko - we teach to the pot

Video consultation: 9 tips for parents from a psychologist, the creator of the First Children's Academy and the School of Professional Parents, a business coach and mother of four (for two with her husband) children, Marina Romanenko on how to quickly teach a child to the potty and what mistakes they most often make parents:

“The formula for easy potty training”

Do you know this? – Your child screams, arches his back and categorically refuses to sit on the pot ... You are tired of constantly wiping puddles on the floor! You don’t know how to help your child get accustomed to “toilet matters”? You're tired of spending tons of money on tons of diapers !!

Here's what moms write on the forums:

Snowflake:Do not rush very much! Our son, just at the age of 7-9 months, went to the pot several times a day - planted after eating. And then - NOT FOR ANYTHING. As a result, the husband taught when it was already 1 year and 9 months.

The guest:Children around 2 years old ask for a pot. So do not torment your little one.

miki: First, let him learn to play with him, let him be for him an unknown thing. When it’s calmer to relate to him - just sit him on him. Start substituting when pissing. And if you want to get used to the pot at a normal age, which is 1-1.5 years. Then diapers will have to be abandoned. The child must physically feel what wet pants are.

The guest: I also did not sit on the pot. I just turned on the water so that there was a noise of water and held a pot in front of it (I have a boy). Started around 9 months. After a week, she did not turn on the water, and he already began to understand what was required of him. Now a year and four he began to ask for a pot

Maryana: I don’t want to brag, but we, for example, began to accustom our own from 3.5 months. diapers were used very rarely and kept it above the pot to do their job. so already by the 5th month he began to ask - groaning, nervous, etc. immediately remove the pants and hold over the pot. Now he is already 7.5 months old, and slowly we are abandoning the night diaper. He sleeps calmly from 2 nights to 6 in the morning without a diaper, then he gets up, does his job and sleep on until 9. Here, the main thing is to start on time and not be lazy.

Julia Mamulia: You were given the only right advice - to remove the diaper AT ALL. And give the child the opportunity to write in his pants, without planting every 10 minutes. Maybe he is afraid to write when the pussy is naked, unprotected? :)
In general, all the “potty” problems in moms’s head. I’ve never bothered with the questions of “accustoming”, I just cleaned the diapers in a year, and by the age of 1.5 the children were stably asking for a pot. And poop even earlier accustomed

Book: Potty Training in 1 Day (Nathan Ezrin, Richard Fox)

The authors of this book came up with an incredible technique with which each child can be taught to potty even in 4 hours. And he will immediately be able to go to the toilet himself without any help and reminders. For a wide range of readers.

Video consultations and advice of mummies