Potty – Training Readiness Information
Is Your Child Ready to Use the Toilet?
“You can lead a toddler to the toilet, but you can’t make him or her pee.” Author Unknown
Colleen’s Child Care believes there are two stages or steps to potty training or toilet learning. These stages are:
1. Trip Trained – The child can use the toilet BUT it is the adult who is trained to get the child to the bathroom on time by putting the child on the toilet at certain times or on a schedule. At this stage the child often needs assistance with the whole toileting process – this includes pulling pants up and down. Accidents occur frequently in this stage.
2. Toilet learned (learning) or potty training (training) – The child is not only capable of using the toilet BUT has the developmental ability to express the need to go (both urine and bowel movement). In this stage the child will demonstrate all or most of the readiness signs as listed below. Accidents occur but very infrequently. I will assist you in potty training or toilet once your child has reached this stage.
Verbal Stages of Potty-Training Readiness
Basic verbal skills – the child can speak in three-to-four-word sentences.
1. The child tells you when he or she has wet his/her diaper (recognizes he or she is wet).
2. The child tells you when he or she is wetting his / her diaper (recognizes the sensation of wetting a diaper)
3. The child tells you that he or she needs to wet (can control self and go to use the toilet)
Physical and Psychological Signs of Potty-Training Readiness
1. Child stays dry for a long time – able to hold their urines or bowel movements.
2. Has bowel movements at regular times. The child chooses when to have a bowel movement.
3. Adult can recognize when the child is having a bowel movement.
4. The child can undress and pull up their own clothing / pants.
5. Child initiates using the toilet and asks to wear underwear. This is also a sign of wanting to be independent which is very important.
6. Emotionally ready and open to learning.
7. Can follow three to four step instructions. This is critical to learning to pee, wipe, flush and wash hands.
Potty training should be a positive experience for everyone involved. It should only take a short period of time when your child is truly ready. Problems arise when the adult’s (parents and caregivers) do not pay attention to the child’s lack of readiness. There is no right or wrong age to potty train a child. It is an individual as learning to walk. No two children will potty train in the same time frame or even in the same manner.
Potty Training / Toilet Learning Policy
It is the belief of Colleen’s Child Care that potty training or toilet learning should begin at home with the child’s parents or caregivers and at a time when there are not a lot of changes in the child’s life. Life must be fairly stress free during this time for the child. Colleen’s Child Care will assist your child becoming potty trained once the signs of readiness as outlined in the potty-training readiness information page are or have been observed by the parents as well as the childcare provider.
It is encouraged that the first steps towards potty training begin at home and on a weekend when you the parents can devote your weekend to helping your child. At that time the provider will gently remind your child from time to time (not on any set schedule) to remember to go in and use the potty. Please remember when one has 6 to 8 children by his or herself it is nearly impossible to remember to remind a child every half hour to hour to go in and use the potty. For that reason, your child needs to be able to communicate the need to go potty his or herself without reminders from an adult. There are times in the daily schedule where I do remind the children to go in and go but again it is not on a set time or schedule – the reminders come naturally throughout the day such as after breakfast, lunch or after naptime. Children CANNOT attend childcare in underwear until they have been dry and have gone potty for a week remaining dry between trips.
During this time, Colleen’s Child Care requests that the following guidelines are followed:
1. Your child MUST wear loose fitting clothing that are easy for the child to pull up or down. This step is a MUST as once the child is consistent an adult does not always follow the child to the bathroom. We need to promote independence in the toileting area.
2. NO overalls, pants that require the use of a belt, t-shirts with snaps between the legs or dresses or tights (girls cannot see to pull down their underwear) be worn.
3. A supply of clothing with no less than 3 changes of clothing including socks be kept at childcare in case of accidents everyday.
4. Bring an extra pair of shoes if available.
5. 5 to 6 pairs of training pants (the thick 5-layer underwear are preferred) or a supply of underwear when we reach this stage.
6. If your child is male, it is recommended that boys first learn to sit and pee in the potty and once they are consistent then can be taught to stand and go. This will also lessen problems with learning to put BM’s in the toilet and will also avoid constipation issues.
7. Keep a small supply of pull – ups available at childcare until the child has shown naptime dryness for a week. Your child will be in a pull-up during naptime until I see that she or he has shown me that they can stay dry for that time.
8. Colleen’s Child Care does not rinse out or wash soiled clothing so any clothing that becomes soiled during the day will need to go home that afternoon.
Please keep in mind that often children will show a readiness and have success for potty training at home before the signs are seen at childcare. There may be a period of time where your child is potty trained at home and not at childcare. That is perfectly normal and has been seen quite often! If your child comes to childcare with underwear on and has 2 accidents in a short period of time, I will put a diaper or Pull –Up on your child and we can try again another day when he or she shows signs of being ready at childcare. I cannot emphasize enough that patience is the key thing here! Potty training occurs for all children sometime in their life – there is no right or wrong age!