Toilet Learning 101

Posted by: Sharmila Rajah, 15-Dec-2009

It’s that time of year again. We’ve been super busy planning our Xmas list and with seasonal shopping.

 

Well, first on our list for this month is …

 

Toilet Learning

 

 

It's my potty!

 

Personally, this seems to be the most challenging task. Mainly, because I wasn’t very confident as to how to go about it or how long it was going to take. Not overnight as I discovered. Just like how it took weeks and months for Ayanna to acquire a new skill, toilet readiness as I found out will take as long.

 

We began potty training Ayanna when she was 18 months old. We put her on the potty from time to time just so she could familiarize herself with the potty and get comfortable on it. We used (and still do) a potty cushion that was placed on the potty. She was in her diapers then, which we later switched to training pants.

 

We bought Ayanna her very own potty (a rather expensive one) but she seemed keener to sit on the adult potty. It made her feel like a ‘big girl’.  

She was soon comfortable enough to have a bowel movement on the potty every morning and at other times, when we noticed her going off to a quiet corner to squat, we placed her on the potty. We also bought her the Ikea potty - cheap and easy to use.

 

However, when we spent a month in Italy, toilet training took a backseat and was only resumed when she turned two. Ayanna now wears panties when at home. Along the way she’s had several accidents, as expected as part of her learning process. She’s much better at controlling and is able to announce when she wants to have a bowel movement. We began placing her on the potty every half hour before increasing the gaps between one pee to the next by an additional half or one hour.

 

We are yet to venture out for long periods of time without her training pants or attempt to train her during the night. We do make it a point to have her visit the ‘little girls room’ when we’re out. We use a traveling potty seat to help her get comfortable on the adult toilet.  

 

As Ayanna’s language skill expands, she is able to articulate more clearly her need to use the potty.

 

More on potty learning soon. But for now, how soon before a toddler’s ready to step out of the house without their training pants on? Or what is your take on night-time training - how do we go about it? Care to share?