Let's face it, potty training can be stressful, messy and just plain hard. There are a million of expert tips and resources available for how to successfully potty train your child, but what about the things you shouldn’t do? Here are some common mistakes that parents make when potty training that can derail the whole process.
Starting potty training before you child is ready
The more readiness signs your child displays when you start potty training, the quicker the potty training process tends to go. Lots of families start potty training before their child is ready, leading to frustration and exasperation in both the child and the parent.
Not waiting until YOU are ready
Potty training is a time-consuming commitment, so you need all hands on deck. If you are not in a position to devote 24/7 efforts to it, don’t start. If you start and then fall back to diapers, your toddler will become confused and it will make the road to success much more prolonged. It is better to wait until you have a period of time when life and work commitments are lighter so you can focus your attention on potty training.
Negativity
Negativity and getting mad at your child over accidents only causes them to feel shame and fear. Children will feed off of that and not want to participate in the process. Accidents happen so be prepared.
Lack of Consistency
While it may be tempting at times to go back to diapers, consistency matters. Putting kids in underwear all day long and then putting them in a pull-up at night causes confusion. You just told them that it is ok to wet themselves because you don’t want to be inconvenienced at night. When you switch back and forth, the child loses the experience of being wet / pooped on / uncomfortable and is getting mixed messages. Same goes for inconvenient times like long road trips or family events like weddings. Once you switch to underwear, stick with it and don’t go back to diapers.
Confusion
All parents want to help make potty training more fun, easier and more successful for their kids. They just get the details a little mixed up thanks to mass marketing. At BottomZz Up, we believe that by giving your child a separate mini-potty or travel potty you are confusing your child and lengthening the amount of time that it will take to completely potty train your kid. Tiny potties and travel potties mean that you will still have to transition to the big potty and to holding it until they can get to a toilet. Our advice is to get it over with in one fell swoop by investing in a stool so that they can get up and use (if necessary, a little seat that fits on) the big toilet.
Avoid these common potty training mistakes and your potty training experience will be LESS stressful and MORE successful!
