0:34 - Never try to potty train too early
1:09 - Start to make it fun
1:54 - Give them some incentive
Hi everyone. My name is Harper Jones with Bow-Tiger, and you're watching Saturdays with Harper. Today we are going to discuss potty training. Now this is a very big goal for our little kids, and this is a very significant step for us because this means, no more diapers. So let's get excited about it. Let's not make it a daunting task. We can make it fun. We want to make it fun for our kids because this is how they are going to be most successful in becoming potty trained.
Now the first thing you want to remember is never try to potty train too early. The typical age for potty training is between 18-24 months, but your child is really actually going to show you signs that they are ready for potty training. Whether it be fidgeting when they need to go to the bathroom or recognizing that they need to go to the bathroom, this is the time when you want to start potty training. Now just because they recognize it doesn't mean they are going to say, "Can I try to use the toilet?" They are likely going to still use their diaper and just go there. That's what they're used to messing so that's what they probably will.
But what we want to do is when we see that our child is ready to start potty training, we want to start to make it fun. We don't want to make it a daunting task on them. The first thing we do want to remember though is repetition is key. You want to repeatedly, throughout the day, take your child to the toilet, set them on the toilet, and whether it be reading a book or singing a song with them or playing a game while they're sitting on the toilet, let them have that time on the toilet so maybe they'll go to the bathroom, one or two on the toilet. The more times they do use the toilet by you bringing them, the more that's actually going to connect in their brain that that is where they should be going one or two. Eventually they'll recognize that when they feel like they need to go to the bathroom, they need to run to the potty.
Something else that you can do that I did do with my daughter is give them some incentive to use the potty instead of their diaper. I used a sticker chart. Sticker charts are great for everything. Little kids love stickers. My daughter was addicted to them when she was two so this was a perfect opportunity for me to use stickers as an incentive for potty training. You set the sticker board up right in front of their potty, and then every time they decide to use the potty instead of going to the bathroom in their diaper, they get another sticker on their chart. Little kids love to admire all of the stickers. They love to put the stickers on the chart, and it really gives them a feeling of success and pride in achieving the goal of potty training. So it's good for you and it's good for them. It's a win-win situation, and everybody stays happy. I hope this helps out a little bit. Of course if you're watching this video on YouTube or Facebook, please be sure to check out our blog on bow-tiger.com. Thanks and we'll see you next week.
