Potty or pee training is one of the most challenging jobs for all parents worldwide. It is going to take a very long time for your kid to completely understand the whole process of pottying and peeing in the toilet or in the potty seat. This is going to be a completely new experience for your kid and he may not like it too. Every parent is worried about their kid when it comes to potty or pee training their kids at the right age. Remember that pee training is very different from potty training. You should first give pee or toilet training to your kid before starting potty training. Pee training your kid is easier than potty training. You need to have so much patience and you have to mentally prepare yourself for all the accidents and tantrums that your kid is going to make during this whole process. You may have many questions regarding this topic. In this article, I will explain each and every things that I learned from my own personal experience with my kid. Though this job is very hard and time-consuming, you are going to be very happy and feel satisfied when your kid learns to pee in the toilet successfully.
When to start pee training?
There is no specific age to start pee training your baby. Many parents start as early as 6 months and many parents start when their kid reaches 2 to 3 years of age. According to me, it’s always better to start pee training when your kid turns 2.5 to 3 years old. Because at this time he may have some knowledge about toilets and quickly understands some words and sentences like pee, potty, bathroom, hand wash, face wash, tissues, wipes, diapers, bedsheets, clothes, etc. They may also be able to say a few words and sentences. The most important thing in this whole process is that you and your partner should be mentally and emotionally ready to face all the tough situations that are going to come your way while training your kid. It is not at all easy to train your kid. It takes a very long time and there will be times when your will be frustrated or irritated with your kid. You may even want to stop this training process completely for a while as you feel exhausted.
For toddlers and kids, everything is new and tricky. From holding a spoon in hand, taking off their pants on their own, opening the door of the bathroom, washing their hands, to sitting on a potty chair, telling you when he wants to pee, each and everything that they didn’t see or have done before will be completely new and interesting to them. But here you have to remember that potty training is going to be difficult for them. Just because many children don’t like to wet their pants often or have potty all around their bumps, pants, and legs. They feel irritated and start crying. Other than this, every other activity will be a lot of fun for them like using the bathroom for bathing, washing their hands if they are dirty, and playing with water, etc. That is why first you have to be ready to train your kid.
You have to be ready to get tired and irritated very quickly by cleaning the floor and pants of your kid very often. You have to be ready to control your anger whenever your kid pees on your bed, mattress, floors, mats, carpets, etc. To make the potty training process easier, before you start training your kid, you should buy some extra pants, washable diapers, old clothes to wipe pee, a potty chair, Dettol or floor cleaning liquid, and comfort to enhance the smell of your kid’s clothes as there are going to smell bad with all the pee and potty in it. So plan one month before you start to train your kid. It will take weeks to months to completely pee-train your kid. Then only you can start potty training your kid. For my son, it took 9 months to completely pee train on the potty chair and then to pee in the bathroom.
Your children are going to learn this process very fast if your partner is also involved in the pee and potty training process. So try to take the help of your partner in this. If you are living with your in-laws, siblings, or parents, you can also ask them to help you in this process. Because many kids don’t take their mothers seriously. They think you are just playing with them. If you have older kids, then involve them too in this whole process. Children learn many things from their elders, siblings, and parents.
You have to give so much time to your kid in this process. You have to sit along with him for 10 to 15 minutes in the bathroom, You should always keep an eye on him to understand what signs he gives when he wants to go to the toilet. So plan to start his training when you are free. Don’t plan any long vacations or trips when you want to train your kid as those can interrupt your kid’s routine. If there is an emergency to go to, then you can keep him in diapers, but still, talk to him about peeing, potty, bathroom, etc. Whenever you get a chance for your kid to pee in the toilet when you are outside, use it.
How To Pee Train Your Kid?
- First mentally prepare yourself that you have to do it no matter what comes your way.
- Prepare your kid too by telling him about the toilet and showing him pictures and cartoons related to potty training.
- Buy a potty chair or you can directly train him in the bathroom. I prefer a potty chair because, in the initial months, you have to sit alone with your kid in the bathroom for a long period. And I don’t like to sit or stay in a place that is wet and stinky.
- Make your kid sit on the potty chair in the morning after waking up and at night before going to bed initially.
- At first, your kid will not sit on the potty chair because that seems completely new to him. So first let him play with it and then make him sit on it.
- Give him plenty of fluids so that he can go to the bathroom often. And you will also be able to understand his signs when he wants to go and you can make him sit on the potty chair at that time.
- Whenever your kid shows signs of going to pee, rush him onto the potty chair. He is going to cry, run away, and not sit on the chair, but you should hold him tight and make him sit there. This can happen 5 to 6 times. After a few trips, he will understand that there is no harm in sitting and peeing in the potty chair.
- Your kid is going to hold the pee and cry and run here and there when he wants to pee urgently as he doesn’t understand where to pee. Till now he was very comfortable peeing in diapers. And now suddenly stopping the diapers can make him go mad. So be prepared to face this situation. Since he cannot hold urine for long, he will pee in his pants, at that time make him sit on the chair and politely tell him that he has to pee in it.
- Continue doing this for weeks or months. You shouldn’t stop in between. You can give him diapers at night or at bedtime.
- As soon as he wakes up remove his diaper and let him wear pants, shorts, or underwear only. At first, they will pee in their pants just like they do in their diaper. And they realize that without diapers their pants and legs are becoming wet which they don’t like at all. They get irritated and cry.
Tips for Pee training:-
- Before you start training your kid, fill his mind with all the knowledge related to peeing and pottying.
- Talk to him about pee, potty, bathroom, how you go, how others go, cartoons related to it, and books related to it before you start his training.
- To make your work easy, gather as many old clothes as possible to clean your kid’s toilet. Because you will need so many clothes to clean and throw your baby pee and potty.
- Buy washable diapers or small underwear for your kid to wear when he is not wearing any diapers in the daytime.
- The easy method to clean your baby’s toilet is to keep a separate wiper and Dettol liquid. Every time your baby pees on the floor, you can easily clean it with a wiper and wash it off without wasting any old clothes.
- Take him to the bathroom or on the potty chair after 20 minutes of having water or any juice. Liquids like coconut water, lemon juice, and buttermilk will make your kid to pee more often. Hence it will become easy for you to understand what signs your kid gives before peeing.
- Many parents will tell you that you shouldn’t scold your child if he doesn’t learn fast how to pee in a potty chair. They tell that this can make your whole training process worse and your kid will take longer than usual to learn. But according to me, sometimes you have to act strict with your kid if he is more stubborn or doesn’t listen to you at all. This can make them angry or sad but they will surely listen to you due to fear. Afterward, you can politely and lovingly explain to them why you scolded them.
- Every time your kid pees in the bathroom or on the potty chair give him rewards like candies, lollipops, biscuits, cookies, or stickers. This will motivate them to do it again and again.
- Make your kid sit on the potty chair for 10 to 15 minutes. You should also sit with him. He will try to get up from the potty seat when he wants to pee. But you should make him sit down on the potty chair at that time, no matter what happens.
- Your kid should pee in his potty chair at least 4 to 5 times to understand that the pee goes in the potty chair or in the bathroom only. Once they understand, they will easily pee in the potty chair, every time you make them sit on the chair.
- Ask your child if he wants to pee. He will say no even though he wants to go to the bathroom. You should still take him to the potty chair if he says no. Because kids don’t want to waste their precious time on things like peeing and pottying. These things might seem time-consuming to them.
Things you may need while Pee Training your kid:-
- Potty chair.
- Shorts or underwear.
- Old clothes to clean the toilet.
- Dettol to wash your baby pants.
- Floor cleaning liquid.
- Mattress protector to protect your mattress from peeing at bedtime.
- Waterproof sheets for your kid when he is asleep.
- Potty training videos for your kid to understand.
- Snacks like chocolates, candy, lollypops, or cakes whenever your kid does pee on the potty chair or in the bathroom.
- Rewards or stickers of stars, your kid’s favorite cartoon character, or hearts to keep your kid motivated while pee training.
My Personal Experience:-
When I planned to pee train my kid, he was 2.5 years old. He was in diapers for 24 hours. He didn’t have any knowledge of peeing or pottying. whenever he got to potty, he used to sit like we all do in Indian bathrooms. He used to strain and then potty in his diaper. He doesn’t even know that he did potty in his diaper. He used to play like that without realizing it. I used to check on him whenever I was free or if I see him straining. Suddenly my husband decided to stop diapers completely as he was becoming big. So I had to prepare myself mentally and physically for such a huge responsibility. I thought to potty train him when he turns 3 because I know at this age kids will understand what they are doing and how.
But still, since my husband told me, I started training. First I used to remove his diaper when he woke up till he goes back to sleep in the afternoon. Because I was not physically ready to continuously work on him the whole day. It takes a lot of energy to clean, wash, and train your kid the whole day. Since he was small, he used to pee a lot. He used to pee every half an hour. There was pee everywhere now in the house, On the bed, blankets, chairs, sofas, clothes, floor, carpet, and balconies. I used to get irritated easily and I used to scold my little child. I used to tell him to pee in the bathroom or on the potty chair, every time he pees on the floor. He would just listen but didn’t understand anything. He got scared of all this and now started holding his pee for long hours. Since he cannot hold his pee for long, he used to run across the house crying when he was about to pee. When I went behind him to make him understand, or make him sit in the bathroom, he used to run away from me too. I used to scold him sometimes when I got angry.
In the afternoon when he sleeps I used to put on the diaper again. I did this for a few days. After that, I removed his diaper completely for the whole day and kept diapers only at bedtime. I used to get tired and frustrated. So I decided to stop all this for one week. At that time, we also had to go on a one-week trip to our native place. So he was in diapers again the whole day. After returning I again started his pee training. The same process repeated again and there was no improvement in his learning. This went on for weeks. I used to keep his diaper at bedtime when we went outside, and during an afternoon nap.
He peed a lot. He used to pee every half an hour. I used to change so many underwear and pants. For one day, he used to change at least 10 to 15 underwear. I used so many old clothes to clean the floor and washed many clothes every day. We should have so much patine and dedication for his milestone to achieve. It is not at all going to be easy. But if you have the support of your partner, parents, in-laws, or your siblings, then it might become a little bit easy for you to train your kid. Remember that every parent and every kid will go through this phase, and they will surely learn it someday or the other. Some kids learn very fast and some kids take longer to become fully trained.
I still remember the first time he peed on his potty chair. I was very happy at that time. I thought he understood now where to pee. But I was wrong, the next time he peed again on the floor. I had to repeat the whole process of training again and again. After so much hard work and my kid and, I successfully reached the target. My kid understood to pee in his potty chair after peeing in it four to 5 times. But the problem was he never told me when he got to pee. I had to understand his signs and take him to the potty seat. Then only he peed on the potty seat or else he would pee wherever he was.
But still, it was difficult for me to take his potty chair along with me wherever we go. So I decided to make his transition from the potty seat to the bathroom. He learned those very quickly. The first 3 times, he was scared and didn’t allow me to sit in the bathroom along with him. So I decided to take him to the bathroom when he wanted to pee very urgently. Then he understood that he has to pee in the bathroom only now.
Remember that even if your kid is completely potty trained, he might do some accidents of peeing here and there when he is busy with other activities like playing or when he is outside. This will continue for 3.5 years. Slowly, they will learn to control and tell you when they need to pee. My kid was completely pee trained when he turned 3.6 years old. He used to pee in the bathroom standing. He used to tell me when he wants to pee. He used to take off his pants and go to the bathroom all by himself. If you are planning for a second pregnancy or for a long trip, then please try to potty train your kid before it so that it will become easy for you to handle things. Some kids even if they are completely potty trained or pee trained avoid telling you to take them to the bathroom, or they hold their pee and potty because they don’t like to go to the bathroom or they are busy playing.
Conclusion:-
Potty training is one of the toughest jobs of a parent. There are going to be so many ups and downs, but remember that one day or the other your kid will surely learn to go to the bathroom by himself. Some kids learn fast and some learn slowly. So please don’t be frustrated or irritated with your child or with yourself when you don’t see any result after training him for one month, 6 months, or one year. Make up your mind that pee and potty training is going to take so much time. I have seen many videos and articles on how to potty train your kid in one day or 3 days. I don’t believe they worked for me. It also depends on the age of your kid. If your child is above 3 years, he is going to learn very fast. If he is younger than 2.5 years, then it is going to take a lot of time. Sometimes fast learning of your child also depends on the surroundings and environment he is living in. If you have parents, in-laws, and older kids in your home, then they will make it easy for your baby to understand the whole process of potty training very easily.
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