Page 1 | Our first attempt and why I didn’t try again for another 2 years. Page 2 | Daytime Pee Training Success Page 3 | Daytime Poop Training Success Page 4 - YOU ARE HERE - Tips, FAQs, and Links to Potty Seats
Tips & FAQs
Since a lot of you asked me for tips, here’s what I’d suggest based on my EXPERIENCE (not knowledge) because I’ve only ever done this once.
- It was way quicker, easier, and peaceful to do this at a stage when Laddoo and her body were both ready for this milestone. Expecting a one year old to be able to control their bodily functions is similar to expecting a 4 month old to crawl or walk. When they’re ready, you’ll know.
- Crying, scolding, and guilting Laddoo into attaining a milestone she wasn’t ready for would have only traumatised her further. You don’t want to make a child feel horrible for something they’re not ready or able to do.
- Forcing her to do it our way, at our pace may have resulted in her taking longer to reach this stage or worse, regressing on other physical and/or mental milestones. I wasn’t willing to do that. I suggest you don’t either.
- In hindsight, I realise that it was premature of me to expect her to be able to achieve this at 12-18 months of age and I thank whatever it was that made me not push it back then. Sure, a lot of babies are able to achieve this, but I had to do what was right for MY baby. You should too. Look for signs (mentioned on Page 2) that tell you your baby is ready and start the process only then. If you cannot guess if the baby is ready, there’s no harm in giving it a try as long as your open to STOPPING if your baby isn’t ready, and continuing the process ONLY IF the baby cooperates, that’s all.
- A lot of people have used books and rhymes to talk to their children about using the toilet. Personally, I didn’t try ANY of that (she may have seen a rhyme or two on YouTube about sitting on a potty seat, but that was in passing only) which is why I cannot vouch for its effectiveness or lack of it. However, I just want to tell you that if your child is ready, this can happen without the books and the rhymes as well, just through simple conversations and understanding the child’s needs and fears (if any).
- Once potty trained, to make Laddoo more independent, we put a small stool in the bathroom for her. In case of emergencies – meaning, when she needs to rush to the bathroom and I need a minute or two to wash my hands and get to her in case I’m doing something – the stool helps her climb up and sit on the toilet without any assistance from us. Of course, if she was younger or we knew she couldn’t do it safely on her own, we wouldn’t have made it possible. You can decide for yourself if your child can handle this on their own. The stool has been in our bathroom for years. We used it to help her reach the washbasin while brushing her teeth or washing her hands, and now, it also supports her feet (she can rest them on the stool instead of letting them dangle) when she’s on the toilet. Click here to buy*.
- Most times, adults rush milestones because it’s more convenient to THEM [the adult(s)]. Sometimes the child is ready, sometimes they aren’t, and the latter is a big ‘no’ for me, personally. I am guilty of rushing a milestone when Laddoo probably wasn’t ready – weaning off breast milk. Laddoo did adapt to it in a day but had she resisted or had I felt like she was traumatised for it, I would have continued breastfeeding her. Let me tell you, even though she seemed to take the weaning really well, I feel guilty to this day because I weaned her because I was done, not because she was. In fact, I know for a fact that she wasn’t done and I feel like I have robbed her of something she could have had. I’m not repeating the same mistake with my next one. In fact, I feel like I was extremely patient with Laddoo when it came to potty training only because my own guilt from my weaning experience wouldn’t let me do that to her, for that, I am thankful. I’m grown enough to handle the guilt, she definitely doesn’t need the trauma.
- There had been some more questions that I’d answered on my stories. You can find the responses in this highlight on my Instagram Page.
Links to Potty Seats
This is not the exact one we have (we purchased that from a physical store) but these are very similar – they have a cushioned seat as well as a handle for the child to hold on to.
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