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Are you really ready? Is your child really ready?
Stop right there, and wait. Though this is a relatively straightforward process, whichever of the methods you choose, many parents have failed at the first hurdle because they didnt check to make sure that both they and their little one were truly ready to make this massive change.
Though 3-days potty training method is a simple and often fun task, if it is undertaken too early and without suitable plans in place for this entire process you are setting yourself up to fail and neither you as a parent, nor your child need to have this make you feel that way. Failure just makes you both miserable, and guarantees a long drawn out agony for you both trying to achieve your goal.
Remember, you will be completely changing the way a child does their business you have been telling them for months, possibly even years that the place to pee and poop is in their diaper, and all of a sudden you are now telling them that they need to do it somewhere completely different.
This can be a difficult concept for your child to grasp, and confusion can cause stubbornness and fear. Then there is the issue of them having to learn to know when they need to go which is a whole new ball game entirely.
Especially for those of you who have been using disposable diapers your child has possibly never really even felt the effects of being wet due to the ultra-dry surfaces and the quick diaper changes that you as parents can undertake these days.
This can, I think, make it a lot tougher for todays toddlers to be aware of their own bodily functions, and the difference between feeling wet and dry that they need to be aware of to make this process happen easily and it possibly why children just arent ready to come out of diapers as early as maybe our parents or grandparents are telling us we and our parents were.
When I was younger, the only option was a terry toweling diaper, and I have vivid memories of it trailing behind me when sodden, and it being a most unpleasant sensation (I would like to point out that my Mum changed me very regularly, but I had a tendency to wander off on adventures and so when they finally caught up with me I would often be in a bit of a state!).
We were motivated to get out of our diapers in a way that todays toddlers arent we understood wet and smelly and squelchy! Interestingly enough in less well-off parts of the world where they still use linen diapers and dont use disposable nappies children are potty trained much younger than our children are ready to be but that isnt a criticism of either way. Things are what they are and the most important thing to establish before you try and become a diaper free household is whether or not you are all completely ready for the effort that will be involved to make that happen.
A fully potty trained child is one who can recognize when they need to go and is capable of using the potty or toilet, and dress and undress themselves to do so. This does not, however, mean that they will never have accidents.
When a toddler is excited, or over tired it can be easy to make mistakes much like we do so go easy on them and yourself if they arent 100% dry and clean immediately!
Bearing this in mind, potty training cannot be achieved until certain key criteria have been reached as a part of the childs actual physical development ignore this warning at your peril many an attempt at this has failed due to inadequate preparation, not waiting until your child shows
ALL signs and signals of being ready, and parents not taking into consideration the effects that life events that may be occurring might have in the process. Make it easy for you and your child wait until you do. Save yourself the heartache of failed attempts, and feeling like you just arent doing a good enough job as a parent you are.
