A potty training child is someone nearly all adults will work with at some point in their lives.

Yet judging by the emotional stories parents share online, toilet training proves to be an area that many parents find intimidating and frustrating.

This needn’t be so! Successful potty training for most children comes down to a few basic principles.

– Is everyone ready?

This means looking for potty training readiness cues in your toddler before you even buy a potty chair. Determining your preschooler’s physical and emotional potty readiness is far more important than worrying about whether or not the rest of the parents in your playgroup are wondering when you’re going to get Suzi potty trained.

Another area that gets readily overlooked when potty training is determining your own state of readiness, Mom or Dad.

Are you willing to set aside several days to help your child focus solely on toilet training? Are you ready to behave patiently even when you don’t feel patient? Potty training a child is not something that can be added to an already jam-packed schedule and then expected to go perfectly. That attitude is a set up for failure and frustration.

– Plan, plan and oh, plan some more.

The most successful and least stressed potty trainers are the ones with a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C.

For example, what will you do when your potty training child gets bored with this new potty game you are asking him to play?

What will you do when your sweet little cherub shakes her head profusely when you ask if she has to go potty, then stands in front of you and pees in her undies quite intentionally. Don’t think it will happen? I have four kids and have potty trained them all. Chances are, it will happen.

Obviously you cannot plan for every problem that may come up in toilet training, but you will be way ahead of the power curve if you simply do a little advance research on common potty training issues and give some thought as to how you will handle them if they come up in your home.

Those answers will prepare you to calmly handle most toilet training challenges that your toddler will toss your way.

And that brings us to our next point.

– A calm and matter-of-fact attitude always wins.

Potty training has great potential to become a power struggle. This is because you cannot force your toddler to use the potty. Only he can do that for himself.

And it doesn’t take long for a two or three year old to figure out this profound truth for himself.

Getting frustrated, yelling, becoming angry and impatient, are all signs to a potty training toddler that Mom or Dad has lost control.

Such a heady moment for your youngster.

And too much power to give up easily.

So the way to not go bonkers in potty training is – to not go bonkers.

Keep your cool. Hold your temper. Bite your tongue. And then play the potty game in a way that you can play extraordinarily well, but your toddler is clueless about.

Use clever ideas and fun creativity to convince your toddler that this potty training thing is to HER advantage.

When you can do that, your child will train herself very quickly.

So remember.

– Check for potty training readiness. Both for you and your child.

– Prepare for your toilet training adventure. Make sure your plans are in place before you begin.

– Remain confident and matter-of-fact throughout the training process – no matter how you really feel.

If you follow these steps, your child may potty train quickly or he may take quite awhile. Either way is fine actually, and greatly depends upon your own child.

Most importantly, either way you will remain relaxed, confident and serene. Which will definitely prevent any unnecessary potty training obstacles from rearing their ugly heads.

A potty training child is a child making genuine progress towards growing up. This is an exciting time, Mom or Dad, and the more you understand how to work with your child towards this important goal the smoother this special season will go for all of you.

Author Bio: Colleen Langenfeld has potty trained four kids and helps other moms get more out of their mothering at http://www.paintedgold.com . Toilet train faster using her potty reward charts and creative ideas plus uncover more about a potty training child by visiting her website today.

Category: Parenting
Keywords: potty training child,potty training,potty training a child,toilet training