Last updated on December 2nd, 2023 at 11:01 am
A Mother in Utah took potty training to a new level a couple weeks ago. How so? She took the potty training strait to the dining table… in the middle of a crowded deli. That’s right. She took along two potty chairs, one for each of her twin girls, undid their jumpsuits down to their ankles and let them sit on their potties while eating chicken nuggets. How are your children going to learn how to GO TO the potty, if they are not getting up and GOING TO the potty? Children need to learn that there is a time a place to go to the potty and to hold it long enough to make it to a bathroom.
I am potty training my twins at the moment so I know all too well how hard it is when you are in public and your child suddenly tells you “I have to go potty.” Especially if you are all alone with your multiples and there is no one to run interference with the other child/children; you have to drag everyone into the bathroom. Then you have to try to keep your other child/children from touching everything in the bathroom and from unlocking the stall door, all while you are trying to encourage your other child to do their business in this strange environment. If they have previously experienced the loud noise of auto-flushing industrial toilets, they may get apprehensive and then not go after all. But potty training has its setbacks and you have to expect that they will happen. Just go with the flow, even if that flow doesn’t happen in the potty.
So Here Are Some Guidelines for Potty Training Your Kids
1. Teach Your Kids to Communicate Their Potty Needs
If they are unable or unwilling to communicate their needs then it’s not the time to train. If you start early (as early as around one year of age according to some parents) then they can at least start to understand the concept. Try teaching them a sign with their hands that they need to go.
2. Stay Home
I don’t mean forever, but maybe for a few days while you try are trying to take them to the potty every few minutes to get them to understand what they need to do. This may be inconvenient but there is nothing convenient about potty training. It is a part of raising kids and is just something that has to be done. It is easier for a child to train when they are in a familiar, predictable environment.
3. Do Not Dress Your Kids in Jumpsuits
You need to be able to quickly and easily pull down their underclothes for the potty. If at home let them run around in their diaper/nappy or their big kid underpants. If you are going to be in public then dress them in a shirt and pants/skirt. No jumpsuits. No belts. No overalls. No onsies.
4. Be Discreet
A public place, least of all where people are dining, is not the place to pull out the potty. A child’s modesty has to be guarded in public, especially since there are so many perverts and anyone can snap a photo with their phone at any time without your knowledge. Kids need to learn at a young age about privacy to protect themselves from these things.
5. Carry a Potty in Your Car
Even after your child is going potty at home, when you go out it may be a completely different story. The events of the day can be unpredictable, he/she may be too distracted to tell you they need to go, or they may be afraid of the industrial toilets for their loud flush. By having a potty in the car it can be kept private, and controlled. Clarisse W. loves her portable potty chair and explains: “With 4 1/2 year twins and their 3 year it comes in very handy to have the portable travel potty in the minivan. I buy the liners that go with them. It isn’t for just on the road. If I am at a playground that has no potty, who wants to load up three kids to go in search of one? Or if I am on the road myself and have two sleeping kids I pull over and let the one that needs to go, go. Very handy!!! Close the biodegradable bag up and throw it away.”
6. Know Where the Restroom Is
Whenever you go to a public place so that you know which direction to head when that moment arises. A quick response is important to those new to the potty.
7. Have a Complete Change of Clothes for Each Child With You at All Times
You never know when there will be an accident. Also keep on hand a couple of towels and plastic sacks for the wet clothes. REMEMBER to take the wet clothes out of the sack as soon as you get home to wash. DO NOT forget the wet clothes in your bag/purse or car. If you do, you may just want to throw the whole bag away and never open it…. Trust me!
Your child will learn to go on the potty and will be accident free eventually. Don’t stress too much over it, but don’t break any laws or health codes either.
