Post by Sister Michelle on Aug 25, 2006 10:52:41 GMT -5
I consider myself a big failure in the potty training department so don’t even ask me about it. Perhaps waiting until they are about five would work! ............. Oh okay, if I must say something about the subject...........
There are at least 2 schools of thought regarding potty training. The first extreme says to train your children early (age one to two) by constantly taking them to the potty yourself. Some people would say that this is really training the parent, not the child, and I tend to agree.
The second school of thought says to wait, wait, wait, until your child initiates the task by asking to be trained or even training himself. That never happened once in my house. They really didn't care if they were ever trained. Maybe if I'd waited until they were ten....
The middle of the road people often wait until the child asks to be trained, then put them in training pants and remind them a lot, and then put up with months of accidents until they finally begin consistently using the potty on their own. Once again, I don't think I fit in either box or anywhere much in the middle either. Here's the way I feel about the matter:
First of all, I hate cleaning up accidents. I guess I don't see the point of cleaning up clothes and training pants when they could be messing in the potty or at least in a diaper. While it makes sense to me to wait until a child is physically and mentally ready to be trained, I don't see why you should wait until THEY initiate the process. You don't wait for them to decide on their own to brush their teeth, or to make their beds, or to wash their hands before eating, or to learn to read, or a multitude of other things, so why potty training? I can't think of a good reason.
Next, I do think you should wait until the child is old enough to follow instructions and to control his bladder, etc. If he is staying dry all night he is probably physically ready. After that it becomes a matter of education. Teaching him not to fear the potty. Teaching him how to get on and off. Teaching him how to relax and go. Teach him come and tell mom so she can help if needed. Teaching him to wipe and flush and so on. So if it is simply a matter of education, I don't see why it should take weeks or months of repeated accidents before they are potty trained. I know they are smart enough to learn these things very quickly, so that's not the problem. So if they understand what to do and how to do it, and still aren't doing it, then it becomes a training issue.....right? Seems logical to me.
There are at least 2 schools of thought regarding potty training. The first extreme says to train your children early (age one to two) by constantly taking them to the potty yourself. Some people would say that this is really training the parent, not the child, and I tend to agree.
The second school of thought says to wait, wait, wait, until your child initiates the task by asking to be trained or even training himself. That never happened once in my house. They really didn't care if they were ever trained. Maybe if I'd waited until they were ten....
The middle of the road people often wait until the child asks to be trained, then put them in training pants and remind them a lot, and then put up with months of accidents until they finally begin consistently using the potty on their own. Once again, I don't think I fit in either box or anywhere much in the middle either. Here's the way I feel about the matter:
First of all, I hate cleaning up accidents. I guess I don't see the point of cleaning up clothes and training pants when they could be messing in the potty or at least in a diaper. While it makes sense to me to wait until a child is physically and mentally ready to be trained, I don't see why you should wait until THEY initiate the process. You don't wait for them to decide on their own to brush their teeth, or to make their beds, or to wash their hands before eating, or to learn to read, or a multitude of other things, so why potty training? I can't think of a good reason.
Next, I do think you should wait until the child is old enough to follow instructions and to control his bladder, etc. If he is staying dry all night he is probably physically ready. After that it becomes a matter of education. Teaching him not to fear the potty. Teaching him how to get on and off. Teaching him how to relax and go. Teach him come and tell mom so she can help if needed. Teaching him to wipe and flush and so on. So if it is simply a matter of education, I don't see why it should take weeks or months of repeated accidents before they are potty trained. I know they are smart enough to learn these things very quickly, so that's not the problem. So if they understand what to do and how to do it, and still aren't doing it, then it becomes a training issue.....right? Seems logical to me.