P for Patience - P for Potty Training

Babies aren't all smiles, giggles and hugs. Roll up your sleeves and be prepared to get your hands dirty and train yourself to be smell resistant. Yes, we are talking about diapering your child!! Initial few months after birth, babies "drink milk, pee and poop and sleep" and this cycle goes on for n-number of times in a day. That means you end up having 7-10 diaper changing sessions on an average in a day, until your child turns 1. And good part is the frequency of pee and poop gradually reduces as the little one grows and is fully potty trained. 

Potty training is not only a big milestone for the child but for the parents too. But this doesn't happen overnight. Some may be full trained before completing 2 years and some might not be ready until 3 or even 4 years. Again there is no set guidelines to train them. Each child is different. We need to figure out what suits him/ her the best. And it needs constant effort and lots of patience. 

Who doesn't like to travel hands free without carrying a diaper bag or without worrying about any accidents in public while the child is getting potty trained or buying countless diapers that costs a fortune? So generally when I meet/ talk to my friends or bump into some random mom (a total stranger) in a park with a toddler, one question that I get frequently asked is "Is your child potty trained?" or "How did you train your kid?".  If you are interested in my article on diapering and diapering needs, click here to read.

Having seen my niece and nephews in India and few friends here in Canada, one major common element I found among all the kids who got potty trained early, weren't using diapers 24/7. So they gradually picked up the ques and got trained earlier. But this comes with lots of work for parents/ caregivers, as there could be lots of accidents and mess that needs to be handled. On the other hand, kids who were on diapers full time, ditched their diapers within three days and some after few weeks.

With mine, I had a different experience. Around 2, he was diaper free and was using washroom for pee. However he wasn't ready to poo on the potty even after hitting 3. We tried to explain him that it is safe to use potty through demonstrations using his toy, through story books, through rhymes etc. Though he understands the process, he wasn't just ready. We didn't want to force him and let it go. More than us, our parents and relatives started worrying as he had a very short time before he has to start school.

While we didn't pressurize him, we continued talking to him about it and how it is an important milestone to be reached before he goes to school. I guess the bait of school, new friends and lots of play worked. He got fully trained in just a week. That includes diaper free nights with zero accidents. We made him comfortable using the potty chair in 3 steps. First we made him use the children's potty with diaper on, in an environment he is OK with. In case, he was too scared of the closed washroom or something. 

Once he was able to take the dump, after 3 days, we made him sit without a diaper and voila it worked. Right after 2 days, when I asked if he wants to try the bigger potty, to my surprise he was ready and it happened. Since then, he is showing more interest to use the washroom on his own saying he is a "Big Boy now". 

If you want to train your kid or just stuck in the process, few suggestions from my side.

• There is no set age for potty training. If he/she hides or goes to a corner while doing potty, tells you when they are doing pee or poo or when they need a diaper change, then they are ready to be trained 
• Don't force them. Figure out if they are scared of something and try to explain/ demonstrate that the process is simple and they will eventually be OK
• Create a pleasant environment. In many cases, kids could be scared of the washroom. But do not play TV or handover mobile or anything that distracts their attention while in the process. 
• Make them wear clothes that are easy for them to take off and put back on by themselves, making the whole process easy for them
• Praise them for even smaller achievements, like telling when they want to pee or actually doing it in potty. This builds confidence in them to progress to the next level
• Finally, don't be frustrated or disappointed if you fail in your attempts. Take a break for a month or two and then try again. Every child, family environment and the situations are different.    

Children won't budge in, unless they are ready. But the trick lies in how to prepare them. And as parents it is up to us to figure it out. Many suggested us to force our kid as it is high time he is ready, by comparing with other kids, but we didn't want to as it does more harm than the good. Its been quite a while since we started our attempts to make him completely diaper free. Remember, P is for Patience and P is for Potty training and they always work hand in hand.

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