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When and How Should You Start Toilet Training Your Little One?
Being a mother of two little boys, one of the major challenges that I faced while raising them when they were toddlers was with regards to toilet training. When I gave birth to my first child, I didn’t start toilet training him early and took things rather lightly. As a result, he ended up using diapers all the time till 15 months of age. He used diapers for a longer period of time at night time.
Potty training him became a major issue, and we could not potty train him till he turned 2.3 years of age. It made things really tough and messy. I had learned my lesson with my firstborn, so I was more cautious when my younger one was born. I started making him sit on a potty seat as early as he was able to sit all by himself, i.e by the time he was 8 months old.
As soon as he woke up in the morning, I used to give him some water and then made him sit on a potty seat. To keep him involved I used to talk to him or give him a toy that kept him engrossed so that he literally sat for a while till he did his business.
I kept up with this regime for a week and that was it. He gradually got into the practice of pooping early morning on his potty training seat. I decided not to use diapers throughout the day and made him pee every hour or so. Gradually, he developed a habit of making a sound to indicate whenever he wanted to use the toilet and that was it. We got rid of diapers really soon and my little guy was well trained by his first birthday.
Now that he is 1.3 years old, I have got another toilet seat for him that fits on our normal toilet seat and since he is already used to sitting on the potty trainer, making him sit on the actual toilet seat was not at all difficult.
Kids are quick learners, and all they need is a routine and they get into the habit really soon.
Hope the information above helps you toilet train your child. Happy toilet training!
A word of caution:
- Don’t make your child sit on a potty trainer unless they are capable of sitting by themselves.
- Never ever leave a child unattended while they are seated on a potty trainer.
- Make sure the potty trainer that you buy does not have sharp edges.
