From what age should children be potty trained. At what age and how to potty train a child?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Each mother carefully monitors the development of her child, worrying about whether he eats right, whether he started crawling, sitting and walking in time. She painstakingly introduces complementary foods, weaning from the breast and thinks about how to do it quickly and painlessly. Particular attention is paid to the hygiene of the baby. Despite the fact that at present the use of reusable diapers makes it much easier to keep children's skin clean and dry, sooner or later the time comes when a parent thinks: at what age should a child be potty trained? Finding an exact answer is unlikely. But this article will help to understand all the nuances and secrets of success or failure in such a responsible matter.

Savings, neatness or just nothing to do?

First you shouldto figure out where and why this hype arises around a seemingly simple and ordinary matter related to a child's uncomplicated device - a potty. After all, there is no child who has not learned how to use this simple object.

Here are the main reasons that push new mothers to teach their children about neatness.

1. They want to prove something to someone. They begin to do this, for example, from such considerations that all the children they know have been asking for “wee-wee” for a long time, and their little one is “no worse than the rest.” Sometimes, on the contrary, mothers want to stand out among their friends. After all, everyone’s babies are still in diapers, and their baby is “special”!
2. Someone wants to save money on washing clothes and buying expensive diapers, or simply tired of messing around with diapers.
3. Third reason. Mom read somewhere that after reaching a certain age, the child already goes to the pot, and got scared. Is her child behind in development?

Important moment

Some mothers are completely uninterested at what age a child should be potty trained. They are calm and confident that everything will happen by itself and in due time. This is at best. It is worse when, on the contrary, parents are overcome by doubts that the child will not cope, and they are afraid to even attempt to potty train. Indeed, in the event that the result is negative, this will entail a lot of anxieties and worries that their baby does not meet some developmental standards.

If you are wondering at what age and how to potty train a child, you need to know two important points. It is necessary to understand that this is a special skill that is of great importance for the body, and take into account the individual readiness of the baby to learn to recognize and control their urges and actions associated with these processes. Willingness comes with a certain maturity of the psyche.

Expert Opinion

No pediatrician will say when it is right to potty train a child. It is believed that it is most advisable to start this process when the baby reaches 18 months. This conclusion is based on the physiological characteristics of the body, since before this age, urination and stools are reflex in nature. The baby does not feel the filling of the excretory organs and cannot control the actions to empty them. This means, quite naturally and normally, that he can "do his own thing" at any time, no matter what he was doing before. So, the expression "children's surprises" is true. It becomes clear why the parents of the baby spend time and effort in vain to develop a stable skill. This happens if they do not know at what age to potty train children.

Scientifically speaking, all processes are controlled by the brain, which receives certain signals. To recognize the transmission of such impulses of the nervous system, the baby will become closer to two years. For example, filling the rectum of childrenbegin to feel a little earlier than the feeling of the need to empty the bladder.

How do you know if your child is ready?

Many mothers prefer to listen to the advice of a pediatrician who is constantly observed. An experienced doctor will be able, from the point of view of science, to suggest at what age it is better to start teaching a child to the potty. He is able to assess the state of the nervous system, the level of psychological development of the baby, as well as the organs that are involved in the processes of urination and defecation. The doctor will ask about the skills and achievements of the baby and help to draw a conclusion about whether the time has come to get acquainted with the potty.

Usually this period is timed to coincide with the moment when the baby can confidently sit and walk, show with gestures or sounds that he wants to go to the toilet. When he understands and knows how to follow simple instructions, expresses dissatisfaction with wet underwear, seeks to take off or put on panties himself, imitate adults.

Other signs of baby readiness

1. May stay dry for 2 hours or more throughout the day.
2. Moments of bowel movements become predictable and regular.
3. When it's easy to tell if a baby is having a bowel movement or urination (postures, facial expressions, stops playing).

Of course, not all of these signs should be. Attentive and caring mothers are usually able to identify them themselves and decide at what age to potty train their children.

Fromtheory to practice

For the baby, in this case, it is important that the training takes place in a natural and calm environment. It is unacceptable to force the baby to do something if he does not show desire, protests, and scold him. The same goes for potty training. You should not start if: the child is sick or has just recovered; the family has recently replenished; there was a move to another apartment or some kind of crisis. In such cases, it is absolutely not important at what age to teach children to the potty. It is better to postpone training so as not to expose the baby to additional stress.

Few people pay attention to the fact that you should not combine several activities. That is, sitting on the potty, the child should not be distracted, for example, by toys, TV or food.

1. Put your child on the potty at least twice a day. But without undue zeal (for 5-10 minutes). Otherwise, he will quickly get tired of it.
2. At first, you can put it right in the diaper, panties, tights or sliders (so that there are no unpleasant sensations, for example, from contact with the cold).
3. If there is no result within 5–10 minutes, raise the baby, let him play until the next time.
4. After a few days, you can try pottying without a diaper.
5. Offer your child a potty if you notice that he is tense, tight. Some children hide in the corners, under the table, when they want to go to the toilet. But be careful not to scare the baby, otherwise he will hold back his urination.
6. Should stop using diapers during the day. After all, the child practically does not know what it isbe wet, and will not understand the need to go to the potty. A baby who is used to diapers is more difficult to teach. In this sense, it is easier when the baby is accustomed to dry clothes from the first days. Then, if he pees, he does not like the feeling of wet panties. And mom, perhaps, will have fewer troubles when solving the problem of how to teach a child to a potty and at what age.
7. Be sure to offer the baby to go to the toilet before bedtime. It can also be effective to put a child on the potty after eating and sleeping. Don't let him drink a lot of fluids at night.

Expressing the joy of parents when the crumbs can do their job on the potty has a positive effect on learning outcomes. The baby will not mistakenly feel that the mother's attitude towards him does not depend on his success.

Study Tips

Tell your child what the potty is for. A child understands a clear example. Some moms use a doll or soft toy to show him how to use the potty. Other parents take the baby with them to the toilet so that he imagines how adults relieve themselves. A small child does not yet perceive gender differences in terms of how this is done. Still others demonstrate how a used diaper goes to the potty.

Gender

Sometimes mothers of girls are worried that the baby still does not go to the potty. Although it is believed that they develop faster, in fact there are no differences in this matter. How to potty train a boy and a girl? Whenstart off? Here, in each case, there should be an individual approach. In some sources, there is information that it is slightly more difficult for boys to control the corresponding muscles during urination due to physiological characteristics.

Instead of a conclusion

To wear diapers or not to wear a child, and at what age to potty train children is an individual matter. In any case, natural reflexes are also developed in the baby, and the formation of a feeling and understanding of the need to empty the excretory organs still occurs when it is provided by nature.

Hence the conclusion - the more developed the baby is by the time the mother decides to start training, the less attempts, efforts and time will be needed to achieve the final result - using the potty for its intended purpose.

However, do not be upset if you can not cope with the problem for a long time. It's just a matter of patience and time. Now we know at what age and how to potty train a child.