Children develop at different rates. It’s difficult for children below 12 months to control their bowels and urine. Beyond 24 months, they gain control over their bowels.

This is the perfect time to start potty training. Some signs that your toddler is ready for toilet training:

• They can walk on their own to the potty
• They can tell when they need to go potty
• They can control the muscles used to go potty

Once you are confident that your child is ready to ditch the diapers, try these tips to help your children with potty training:

1. Make dressing and undressing easy

As part of the training, let them practice dressing and undressing. Avoid overalls, pants with many buttons, zippers, tight clothing, or oversized clothing.

These can hinder the child’s progress in potty training. What they wear during this stage contributes to how confident and comfortable they will be with their potty training.

2. Practice with them

The best way for your children to learn is by practice. Train them through each step of going potty. Get potty training books and materials to read to your kids. Most parents who get their toddlers potty trained do it through regular practice.

According to Elissa Murnick, a parent, her son learned to sit on the potty chair through constant practice. She took him to the potty every 10 minutes. After several days, her son could sit on the potty by himself. Continuous practice indeed makes them perfect.

3. Praise and reward success

Some find success with potty training by rewarding their children. Lisa Spicer, a parent in Los Angeles, used money to teach her child how to use the potty.

She kept a plastic piggy bank in the washroom and would put a penny in it for each success (one penny for peeing and two pennies for poop). Her daughter was constantly shaking the piggy with a sparkle in her eyes anytime she entered the washroom.

They used the proceeds from her potty reward to pay for rides at the mall. It was a great source of motivation to get her on the potty. Some parents also use stickers, toys, hugs, candies, etc.

4. Make it fun

Make sitting on the potty more enjoyable. Put their dolls or stuffed animals next to their potty chair. Positive reinforcement is essential in potty training.

Telling potty time stories, giving stickers, or reading books can also make it more exciting. Sing a song together during potty time. These are all ways of reducing stress and making it more exciting for your toddler.

5. Be consistent

It is important to repeat the same process again and again. It helps you children focus and learn to do it on their own. Make a routine for potty training and follow it strictly.

Some parents use a potty “alarm”, which goes off at specific time intervals to remind them of taking their kids to the potty.

Just be sure that you don’t push your children too much to stay on a schedule. Let them learn at their own pace. Every child is unique and will do things differently. Know your child’s pace and go along with it.

Final thoughts

Potty training is certainly not an easy task. Teaching your children all the different steps involved can be challenging. But with a positive attitude, consistency, and patience, you will succeed.