{"id":3435,"date":"2024-06-20T06:29:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=3435"},"modified":"2024-11-22T11:50:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T19:50:21","slug":"toilet-training-faqs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/toilet-training-faqs\/","title":{"rendered":"Toilet Training FAQs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The best age to start toilet training varies from child to child. It can be as early as 18 to 24 months but is often closer to age 3. And the process is usually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthychildren.org\/English\/ages-stages\/toddler\/toilet-training\/Pages\/Cognitive-and-Verbal-Skills-Needed-for-Toilet-Training.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">easier if you start it a bit later<\/a>! Whenever you start, keep the process positive with lots of rewards and encouragement. Avoid any scolding or negativity, and don\u2019t try to force it before your child is ready. These can cause stress and make the process take longer.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>How do I know when my child is ready to potty train?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/is-my-child-ready-for-potty-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Signs of readiness<\/a> include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Awareness of bodily sensations. They let you know when they\u2019re wet or have had a bowel movement and ask to be changed.<\/li>\n<li>Interest in trying the potty. They recognize that older kids and grownups use the toilet and they want to try too.<\/li>\n<li>Physical ability. They can pull down their pants and diaper or underwear and get on and off the potty by themselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>By what age should I worry that my child isn\u2019t potty trained?<\/h3>\n<p>First of all, try to not worry too much about this. Ignore any comments from friends and family about how fast other kids train \u2013 or how yours isn\u2019t trained yet! Most children use the toilet during the day consistently and successfully by age 3 to 4. but may need your help with the cleanup process. By about 4 to 5, most children are fully potty-trained except for nighttime wetness. One in 5 children still wet the bed at age 5. Some may continue to have accidents and bedwetting until they are older and just slowly outgrow it.<\/p>\n<p>Contact your doctor if your child:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t use the toilet during the day by age 4.<\/li>\n<li>Continues to soil pants after age 5.<\/li>\n<li>Is constipated.<\/li>\n<li>Doesn&#8217;t know when they have to pee or poop.<\/li>\n<li>Isn\u2019t dry at night by age 7<\/li>\n<li>Starts having accidents again after becoming fully toilet trained.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Are there bad times to toilet train?<\/h3>\n<p>Don\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/tips-to-start-toilet-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">start toilet training<\/a> when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your family\u2019s facing a big life change like a move or new baby.<\/li>\n<li>Your child\u2019s constipated. This can make the training process slower and more difficult. Talk with your doctor about treatment for constipation before you start training.<\/li>\n<li>You\u2019re feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. These feelings can cause you to be negative or overly harsh with your child, which will make it harder for both of you. Parenting can be a rough job! Take a break from toilet training and practice some <a href=\"https:\/\/mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org\/ncal\/structured-content\/#\/Condition_Stress.xml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">self-care<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How should I talk about toilet training with my child?<\/h3>\n<p>Stay positive! Kids are interested in and often proud of what comes out of them. So avoid negative terms like dirty, smelly, yucky. Instead, use matter-of-fact descriptions like pee, wet, urine, poop, bowel movement, poo.<\/p>\n<p>The more positively you talk, the faster and happier the experience will be. So, skip the scolding and instead cheer them on with \u201cGood try!\u201d or \u201cNext time you\u2019ll have your poop in the potty!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I remember getting frustrated with my 3-year-old after they had had an accident, and angrily saying something like \u201cWhy couldn\u2019t you poop where you\u2019re supposed to?\u201d That reaction made them feel awful (I still remember their hurt face) and slowed training down.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What words should I use for genitals?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It is best to use accurate and clear words for genitals. This shows you\u2019re not ashamed, nor should they be, of any part of their body. It also gives your child the correct words to describe their body if in the future they need to speak with a doctor or other trusted grownup about a problem.<\/p>\n<h3>When should they wipe themselves?<\/h3>\n<p>Start teaching this from the beginning by showing them what you do and talking about how you do it. Age 3 is a good age to start having them try to wipe alone. But know they won\u2019t always do a great job, so a nightly bath is a great idea!<\/p>\n<h3>Is it true that boys are usually toilet-trained later than girls?<\/h3>\n<p>Some studies have shown this to be true. What\u2019s most important is to start the process when they\u2019re really ready, stay positive, and have faith they\u2019ll learn soon \u2013 and rest assured, they won\u2019t go to college in diapers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The best age to start toilet training varies from child to child. The process is usually easier if you start it a bit later! Whenever you start, keep the process positive with lots of rewards and encouragement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[455],"tags":[61,577,79,466],"class_list":["post-3435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-development","tag-parenting","tag-potty-training","tag-toddler","tag-toddler-development","ages-toddler"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1732304915:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"_thumbnail_id":["3437"],"slide_template":["default"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["90"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["4"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["455"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["289"],"wpfp_favorites":["564"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1732305007"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3435"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4755,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3435\/revisions\/4755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}