Back to Toddlers Articles    Potty Training Your child   Potty training toddlers is hard work. It can be a ceaseless struggle sometimes, and it requires all your patience. After all, you don't just have to potty train your children – you have to do it right. Within psychiatric literature, it is well known early toilet training problems can sometimes lead to lifelong psychological issues.   You have to make sure that your kid is willing to take responsibility and grow up, but you can't stress them out about it too much. If you do, he will have control issues that will be extremely hard to deal with later in life. Potty training toddlers is hard work. It can be a ceaseless struggle sometimes, and it requires all your patience. After all, you don't just have to potty train your children – you have to do it right. Within psychiatric literature, it is well known early toilet training problems can sometimes lead to lifelong psychological issues. You have to make sure that your kid is willing to take responsibility and grow up, but you can't stress them out about it too much. If you do, he will have control issues that will be extremely hard to deal with later in life. One of the most important things with potty toilet training is consistency. A lot of the time, toddlers do not want to be potty trained. They are used to the routine with their parents and a little bit scared of growing up. Sometimes they can be quite manipulative with the techniques they use to convince you to let them continue to wear diapers. It is important to persevere. You have to teach them that it is time to grow up a little bit, and reward them for doing so. After all, although they lose a little bit of luxury by no longer having the parents take care of their basic needs, they also gave a lot of independence. You should emphasize this in potty training. That brings me to the second key factor: positive reinforcement. Potty training is a naturally stressful time for little kids. Sometimes they have nightmares, other times they have terrible mood swings or tantrums. You need to keep things positive and upbeat for them. Don't let them drag you down into a realm of emotional turmoil. Instead, emphasize what an exciting time it is for them in their lives. They are learning to do new things and becoming more adult and independent. That is surely a good thing for kids to do. One of the most important potty training tips that I have ever received is to be willing to adjust to your child when you need to. Different kids have different needs. Some of them will be willing to go through potty training early without having any problem with it. Others will need gentle encouragement the whole time and may take a little longer. Don't try to judge a child by norms, but by his or her own needs. Respect your child and you will get good results.   More Toddlers Articles Privacy Policy