Are You Rushing Your Child into Potty Training?

Potty training can consume a family's life. Some couples go through months and months of trying to potty train their child. They feel that they have been a failure and that their child is less than adequate. They feel as though they have failed at some place in parenting or that their child is below average.

In reality it is likely that the parents began to push for pottying before the child was ready. It may have actually been the parents who put a delay on the entire potty training issue. May parents want to compare the ages of other children that they know instead of watching for signs of when their own child is ready.

They also like to compare their child to older siblings. However, just because one child potty trained at eighteen months does not mean that you will be lucky enough for all of them to. Each child is different and must be viewed on an individual basis.

Before attempting to potty train your child, check the signs to see if your child is ready. Trying force your child to use the potty before he/she is ready may actually have the reverse effect.

If your toddler just learn to walk or run, he/she may not be ready to sit on the potty and try to "go" for fifteen minutes at a time. Let your child enjoy his/her new found freedom of the feet before attempting to teach a new skill.

See if your child takes interest in your potty habits or the habits of older siblings. Is your child interested in helping to flush or raise the lid? If your child does not seemed to notice other family members going to the potty then he/she is likely not ready to try it.

Can your child communicate? Mush of learning to sue the potty depends on telling an adult that you need to go. Therefore if your child has not developed the language skills to tell you when he/she needs to go then you cannot expect him/her to be ready to potty train.

Even if your child is ready to begin potty training, do not expect it to come all at once. Many children still wear pull-ups or a diaper at night for weeks after they begin using the potty during the day. Also expect some accidents. Do not punish your child or frown upon them. It is all part of the learning process.