3 Types of Parents at Potty Training
Which one are you?
A new beginning
Potty training. One of the most exciting parts of a toddler’s life! I know, I know… for some people, it might sound scary and something that it is hard to achieve.
So far, I helped more than 60 children to be potty trained successfully. But this great achievement could not have happened without the parents of course. Teachers and parents must work together for a better and quicker result.
There are 3 types of parents, I met over the last years.
- There are the ones, who are afraid of potty training, so they postpone it for a year or two.
- There are some parents, who want their child to be without nappies as soon as possible and so they rush the whole process.
- There are parents, who observe their child and according to their observations act in time.
But when is it time?
Potty training is exciting, because it means, that soon our children won’t be toddlers anymore. It is a “sad” reminder, that they are growing and with leaving the nappies behind, they kind of jump to the next level of their life.
The process might be hard for some people but at the end, the result is the same (except for children, who have certain conditions): the potty training will be successful, and everybody will be relieved. It is a huge achievement for everyone, for parents, for children and for teachers, too.
My experience with parents
Parents, who rushed their child
There was only one case in my practice when parents rushed their child to be potty trained and eventually the process failed, and the child had to go back wearing the nappies for another year. It was not entirely an unsuccessful story because the child has become potty trained later.
Although, the whole process of potty training was very unpleasant for both parents and teachers. For the child, I am not sure. She was the happiest child ever and seemed like that she enjoyed the attention she has got and did not mind wearing knickers or nappies. She did not mind anything, which was good for us and for her as we do not want to cause any trauma with potty training.
Parents should understand, that potty training is not a competition. We should not measure a child’s intellect based on how early he or she became potty trained or rushing them because we got fed up with buying or washing nappies.
Parents who postponed potty training
Also, there was another case, when a parent delayed the potty training saying that the child was not ready for that. That time my colleagues and I had a different opinion about this, and told the parent, that the child is ready for it and perhaps they could try it at home. We could not change the parent’s mind about the matter and so the child was still wearing nappies for another year. After that, the child left the nursery and so I do not know if they started to do potty training or not.
My advice for parents
My advice for parents, who feel the same or they think that their child is still a “baby”:
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Can my child dress and undress himself?
- Does he show interest in using a potty or a toilet?
- Does he have more dry nappies than wet nappies during the day?
- Does his nappy stay dry during the night?
( Do you need more tips on how to tell when to start potty training? Read my article, TOP TIPS – When to start potty training? here )
Miracles can happen
There was one child, who really amazed me. He did not show too many signs of being ready to leave the nappy but parents wanted him and us teachers to start the potty training. I suggested starting it at home using pull up nappies and slowly getting rid of the nappy.
But mom really wanted to just leave the nappy out of the picture and put only the pants on. After a week or so (the boy took a week of the nursery) the boy came back to the nursery fully potty trained, and he rarely had any wee accidents.
I was shocked, but actually, I shouldn’t have been. Children are amazing and can surprise you easily.
It does not mean that it will happen with all the other children, but it certainly does not mean that it cannot happen. Trials and errors, trials and errors… 🙂
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